Archive for October 3rd, 2006
 Tuesday, October 3rd
QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 11:11 pm
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
dhanks@MiamiHerald.com
PETER ANDREW BOSCH/MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Humberto Castello, executive editor of the El Nuevo Herald taks to the employees of the Herald as former publisher of the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald Jesus Diaz resigned TuesdayThe editors of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald disagree over whether reporters should appear on U.S. government programs aired in Cuba, the two executives said Tuesday morning.
The comments from Miami Herald Executive Editor Tom Fiedler and El Nuevo Editor Humberto Castello came at a staff meeting following the resignation of Publisher Jesús DÃÂaz Jr., who oversaw both papers. DÃÂaz said he resigned over the firing of three El Nuevo reporters who were paid for their appearances on Radio and TV MartÃÂ.
Fiedler told staffers he saw a ”bright” line between government-controlled media and independent newspapers.
Read full article at the Miami Herald
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 11:04 pm
I don’t usually pimp tv shows…….but if you get a chance to catch this show later tonight….do. It was cool. Veterans come back from the dead to vote against a war. Very interesting……
Masters of Horror: Homecoming on Showtime. I believe it’s airing again later tonight.
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 10:31 pm
Ok, I think this could work. Is there anyone more difficult to get the truth out of then Republicans in congress? I didn’t know……he didn’t tell me…….yes I did……I never heard any such thing…….I didn’t have a clue…… he knew but didn’t tell me…… I never saw those emails…… nope…..not a clue. Yes….I don’t believe there’s any group harder to get the truth out of then these guys. So…..why not test Bush’s torture tactics out on the lot of them.
Shout out to the torture team. Get those waterboards out. Strap em on. See if that will make them tell the truth. And while you’re at it, why not throw in a little corruption interrorgation. I mean…..why waste a good waterboarding? And if that doesn’t work…..get them all naked and threaten to forklift Denny Hastert to the top of the heap. Oh that ought to do it!
This could be a true test on the merits of torture. If you can get the truth out of this lying, cheating, corrupt-ridden group of people, then I say maybe there’s something to this torture thing. Because if you can get them to tell the truth……you could get anybody to tell the truth!!!
They may have to contract to Boeing or Haliburton to build a waterboard big enough to strap Hastert to….but I say it would be worth the money!
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Mirth October 3rd, 2006 - 10:30 pm
 Disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley said through his lawyer Tuesday that he was sexually abused by a clergyman as a teenager, but accepts full responsibility for sending salacious computer messages to teenage male pages.
Attorney David Roth said Foley was molested between ages 13 and 15. He declined to identify the clergyman or the church, but Foley is Roman Catholic.
He also acknowledged for the first time that the former congressman is gay, saying the disclosure was part of his client’s “recovery.”
“Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man,” Roth told reporters as Republicans struggled with fallout from Foley’s resignation.
Foley “does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate e-mails” and instant messages, Roth said. “He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct.”
article here
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 9:01 pm
Jon Stewart on the Mark Foley scandal
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 5:46 pm
Ok, someone explain to me……why would he want to do this with the Taliban, yet it’s not ok to recognize Hezbollah and Hamas? Huh?
By Jim Krane
Associated Press
Last updated 03:36pm (Mla time) 10/03/2006
QALAT, Afghanistan — US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday that the Afghan war against Taliban guerrillas can never be won militarily and called for efforts to bring the Islamic militia and its supporters into the Afghan government.
The Tennessee Republican said he learned from briefings that Taliban fighters were too numerous and had too much popular support to be defeated on the battlefield.
“You need to bring them into a more transparent type of government,” Frist said during a brief visit to a US and Romanian military base in the southern Taliban stronghold of Qalat. “And if that’s accomplished, we’ll be successful.”
Read more here
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 5:21 pm
Did Mark Foley buy silence? Was his $100,000 donation to the Republican party hush money?
You know, something else that is bothering me. This guy resigned. Does he still get the lifetime benefits that are afforded Senators and Representatives?
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Mirth October 3rd, 2006 - 4:57 pm
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld passed on an offer of Venezuelan tobacco, but tried to smoke out the government of President Hugo Chavez on the country’s recent military buildup.
“I don’t know of anyone threatening Venezuela, anyone in this hemisphere,” said Rumsfeld, who is attending a meeting here of Western hemisphere military leaders _ many of them concerned about the weapons, jets and helicopters Chavez is buying.
Other countries in the region are worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Rumsfeld told reporters Monday, adding, “I can understand neighbors being concerned.”
Rumsfeld dodged a question on another subject _ what the impact would be if former Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega wins next month’s presidential election in Nicaragua. The U.S. spent millions in military aid in the 1980s opposing the Sandinistas.
“I don’t get involved in politics in the United States, so you can be certain I don’t get involved in politics in Nicaragua,” Rumsfeld said.
article here
In this news item, do you notice that “Other countries in the region are worried…” is not in quotes, when in fact it was said by Rums? It is attributed to him, but without quotes it is reported as fact and then bolstered by Rum’s understanding of neighbors of Venezuela being concerned.
Later in the article the commander of the Nicaraguan military says he is not concerned about Venezuela.
This is one example of how ‘news‘ is distorted to fit the Neocon agenda: tiny bits of A-news- slip into public discourse that in and of themselves don-t amount to much, but over a period of time these tidbits are accepted and the little stories become the Big Story.
In this case - Venezuela Is Dangerous - I suspect Rumsfeld is doing preliminary groundwork for possible actions against Chavez.
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 4:23 pm
Oh this just keeps getting worse and worse!!! This guy needs to go to J A I L.
Former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) interrupted a vote on the floor of the House in 2003 to engage in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page, according to new Internet instant messages provided to ABC News by former pages.
ABC News now has obtained 52 separate instant message exchanges, which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys under the age of 18.
This message was dated April 2003, at approximately 7 p.m., according to the message time stamp.
Read more at ABC News
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Mirth October 3rd, 2006 - 4:15 pm
By Peter Johnson, USA TODAY
 After winning her first two weeks and dropping to second place in her third week, CBS‘ Katie Couric ended the final week of September in last place behind NBC and ABC.
Preliminary Nielsen ratings show The CBS Evening News with 7.5 million viewers, behind NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams (8.2 million) and ABC’s World News With Charles Gibson (7.6 million). Final numbers will be released today.
CBS said Monday that the broadcast under Couric, the former NBC Today star, is up 10% or more in 14 demographic categories, and ABC and NBC are down.
Historically, incoming network anchors have delivered a ratings boost in their first week. But after one month, their average ratings declined compared with the previous year. Excluding Friday, News viewership is up 22% with Couric, compared with this time last year, when the newscast was anchored by Bob Schieffer.
source
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 11:59 am
Buck October 3rd, 2006 - 8:13 am
(I don’t know who this image this belongs to. My apologies if I step on anyone’s toes)
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 6:12 am
North Korea is to conduct a nuclear test to “bolster” its self-defence in the face of US military hostility, the foreign ministry has said.
In a statement, it said North Korea would carry out the test “in the future… where safety is firmly guaranteed” - but did not say when.
North Korea has come under mounting pressure over its nuclear programme.
Six-nation talks have stalled and the UN has condemned North Korea for missile tests launched in July.
North Korea is believed to have a handful of nuclear warheads but is not known to have tested one.
The statement from Pyongyang said North Korea would “in future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed”.
It accused the US of causing a “grave situation … in which the supreme interests and security of our State are seriously infringed upon and the Korean nation stands at the crossroads of life and death”.
Read more at BBC News
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QuestionGirl October 3rd, 2006 - 6:07 am
Ralston may argue that though she apparently never paid for any of the tickets, she did not violate the ethics rules because of an exemption for officials who have a “pre-existing” and personal relationship with the lobbyist.
Ahhhhhhh ……. I would think this would make it even worse. But noooooooo…..there’s an exemption if the lobbyist is a personal friend of yours. What’s wrong with that picture?????
Newsweek
Oct. 9, 2006 issue - The folks around Karl Rove are on the hot seat again. The White House has launched an internal ethics inquiry into one Rove aide in response to new e-mails showing that Rove’s office had far more extensive conduct with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff than previously acknowledged. The e-mails, obtained by a House committee, show that Rove’s executive assistant, Susan Ralston, may have violated a White House ban on accepting gifts worth more than $20 from lobbyists. At the same time, Ralston-who previously worked for Abramoff-was helping the lobbyist and his associates set up meetings with Rove and providing them with inside info about presidential appointments and White House decision making, including at least one matter relating to a business deal in Iraq for an Abramoff client, the e-mails show. Ralston also discussed future business opportunities with Abramoff, such as her plan to help him capitalize on the “rush to get lucrative government contracts” being awarded by the Department of Homeland Security-another possible breach of ethics rules.
Read more at Newsweek
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Batocchio October 3rd, 2006 - 4:51 am
I know, I know, it’s hard to keep up with all the scandals these days! Well, face it, if you-re in the GOP, you-re not spending any time actually governing the country, or discussing ways to make things better, be it in America or Iraq. And idle hands makes for securing the Devil’s massive campaign contribution to your war chest. Let’s recap, shall we? In the past week or so, we learned that:
1. The National Intelligence Estimate flatly contradicts President Bush on at least two key points. One, the war in Iraq has made the “War on Terrorists” even worse. Two, we-re losing in Iraq. Bush’s solution is to come out and play his usual poker game, claiming the NIE supports his claims - but only his diehard followers believe this crap at this point. President Bush is either a liar or delusional, but it’s an academic question. He’s unfit for leadership. But let’s note the pattern - Republican is incompetent, tries to cover it up, lies about it, is exposed and denies and downplays everything.
2. Abramoff and his staff visited the White House close to what, 500 times, versus the few times Scott McClellan, Karl Rove and George Bush claimed - hardly surprising, given the tightness of the Rove-Norquist-Reed-Abramoff-Ralston circle. E-mails with Rove show Abramoff had real influence, too (Rove offered to block a nomination at Abramoff’s request). So - the Republicans are corrupt, try to cover it up, lie about it, are exposed, and try to downplay everything.
3. Like Cofer Black on Rice: The most explosive revelation so far of Bob Woodward’s new book, State of Denial, is that George Tenet and Cofer Black demanded a meeting with then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to warn her about the pressing threat of Al-Qaeda. Rice and the other Bushies brushed this and all warnings off, continuing to be more concerned about missile defense. This past Friday, Rice admitted the meeting took place, but as of this Monday is trying to pretend it never happened, let alone that she received such dire warnings. Meanwhile, members of the 9/11 Commission are upset that they were never told of this crucial, central meeting. Rice’s meeting took place on July 10th, 2001, about a month before a CIA briefer flew out especially to Crawford, Texas to brief Bush (since Bush doesn-t like to read and prefers personal briefings). The CIA agent delivered an important PDB, “Bin Laden Determined to Attack in U.S.” and Bush responded, “All right, you-ve covered your ass now.” So - the Republicans are incompetent, try to cover it up, lie about it, are exposed, and try to deny and downplay everything.
4. GOP pedophile Mark Foley wrote sexually predatory e-mails and IMs to at least one teenage boy in the Congressional page program. The GOP House leadership knew about it for at least ten months, but Hastert initially denied this, then didn-t, then offered qualifiers before issuing a denial with dubious explanations. It took the GOP a few days to get their stories straight. And the GOP tried to cut a deal with ABC’s Brian Ross to prevent him from exposing the predatory e-mails and IMs. The GOP, the supposed party of family values and national security, had no problem with one of their congressman asking a teenage boy who their institution was charged with safeguarding about how often he masturbated. While some of the details of the IMs versus the e-mails are a little unclear, and who knew what when, what’s crystal clear is the GOP should have launched an investigation and didn-t, and that they put their obsession for continued political party control ahead of the safety and well-being of minors in their care. They also attempted, and are still attempting, a cover-up. So - the Republicans are corrupt and creepy, try to cover it up, lie about it, are exposed, and try to deny and downplay everything.
Call me crazy, but I-m sensing a pattern here. And even some the rightwingers are getting disgusted now. (Foley is a perfect litmus test to see who’s sane and who’s erupting Kool-Aid from every orifice as they lead cheers for the apologist GOP faithful.)
What ever happened to “the buck stops here?” (Never mind - it’s been outsourced to India, along with the GOP’s credibility. Meanwhile, India has thoughtfully exported something back in return - a nifty concept called karma.)
The Republicans have always been corrupt and incompetent, it’s just that the Foley scandal - and the lies around it - are very easy to understand on a gut level and produce the visceral outrage that should have been there all along for people that have remained on the sidelines, or supported the wrong side. Here’s hoping for a high bounty count in the House.
Oh, and Denny, and Condoleezza, and Bush, and Tony Snow, and the rest of you? Keep on lying, please. It’s political gold. 
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