I have one thing to say about the judge’s order to put her back in jail….

THAT’S SO HOT!!

Apparently the sheriff took it upon himself to let her go home. Pissed the judge off. When ordered back to court, the sheriff decided she could phone in. Pissed the judge off even further. Her seeing a private shrink and claiming a medical emergency while in slammer. Totally pisses the judge off. Finally the rich brat has to deal with life in the real world. She won’t eat? Stick a friggin tube in her and call it done.
As a side note….. I heard MSNBC broke away from interviewing some military guy about Pace’s not being renominated because news was coming in about this little bitch’s ordeal. The White House must be lovin em some Paris Hilton……

From USA Today:

A judge in Los Angeles has ordered Paris Hilton to return to jail to finish the remainder of her sentence, according to media reports.

Hilton was said to be screaming as she was taken from the courtroom.

The judge said Hilton must now serve the complete 45 day sentence.

His decision came after prosecutors issued a statement and filed motions in opposition to the sheriff’s decision to “reassign” Hilton to home confinement in violation of a court order.

From Deep Harm’s Diary at Dailykos

In the U.S. attorneys scandal, all eyes are on Karl Rove as the presumed architect. But, long before Karl Rove began plying his trade, Fred Malek wrote the manual for politicizing the Justice Department. Malek, a little known but influential Republican operative and “hatchet man,” devised the strategies used to remove Democrats and whistleblowers from the civil service and to turn the federal government into a Republican Party headquarters. Malek’s connections with President Bush may explain why the U.S. Attorney’s office discontinued investigation of wrongdoing at Fannie Mae, where Malek was then a board member and was one of several individuals named in a civil suit. Rather than face criminal penalties, Fannie Mae settled with the SEC and OFHEO for a $400 million civil penalty.

Deep Harm’s diary :: ::
Say “Watergate,” and most people think of the 1972 burglary of Democratic headquarters sponsored by Republican operatives. But, another, less publicized, scheme exposed by a Senate investigation would have a greater impact on the nation. The scheme, known as the “Responsiveness Program,” was a bag of ruthless tricks designed to use the “powers of incumbency” to retain control of the presidency [Senate Watergate Report, 2005]. Ultimately, though, the plan would accomplish much more; it would be used to destroy the competency of the federal government and, with that, the nation’s security.

According to a report by the Senate committee investigation report, the Program’s activities were likely illegal, but the Senate committee declined to pursue the matter. As a result, Fred Malek, a Nixon advisor and chief architect of the plan, remained free to practice his black arts, which included aiding the Bush family’s rise to power.

Like a cancer, the dirty personnel practices devised by Malek would spread from one adminstration to another; the Bush administration would embrace them with particular fervor. Political loyalty was emphasized at the expense of competence in carrying out responsibilities designated by law. For those considered uncooperative, the “Malek Manual” described ways to force them out of the civil service, despite laws supposedly protecting them from political interference. Thus, the government incompetence exposed by Hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 attacks traces back to Malek and other Nixon aides who set into motion the Republican plan to make agencies “responsive,” not to the people, but to political concerns. With Malek’s manual available, Karl Rove did not have to be a genius; merely an eager student of The Master.

It all began on March 17, 1972, according to the Senate Watergate Report, when Malek, deputy chairman of President Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign, presented his plan to H.R. Haldeman.

Continue reading here

Went out to try and see it, but it was way too cloudy out. We did hear it, though.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A patched-up Atlantis blasted off with seven astronauts Friday on the first space shuttle flight of 2007, putting NASA back on track after a run of bad luck and scandal that included a damaging hailstorm and a lurid love triangle.

Its big orange fuel tank covered with white blotches where the foam insulation had been repaired, the spaceship rose from its seaside launch pad with a roar and climbed into a clear and still-brightly lit sky at 7:38 p.m. EDT, setting a course for the international space station.

The countdown was nearly flawless, and the shuttle smoothly settled into orbit around the Earth.

During the 11-day flight, Atlantis’ astronauts will deliver a new segment and a pair of solar panels to the orbiting outpost. They will also swap out a member of the space station’s crew.

The mission had been delayed for three months after a freak storm at the launch pad hurled golf-ball’size hail at Atlantis’ 154-foot fuel tank, putting thousands of pockmarks in its vital insulating foam and one of the orbiter’s wings.

More at Yahoo

9 of them From Fred Fielding’s firm.

From Think Progress:

For six years, the Bush White House enjoyed a free ride from Congress during an era of one-party rule. Shortly after the Democrats took control over the House and Senate after the 2006 midterm elections, the White House began bracing itself for increased oversight. But back in January, the White House originally believed that its legal staff would not necessarily have to be expanded to deal with a new Congress:

Bush is moving quickly to fill vacancies within his stable of lawyers, though White House officials say there are no plans to drastically expand the legal staff to deal with a flood of oversight. “No, at this point, no,” Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said recently. “We-ll have to see what happens.” Snow rebutted the notion that Bush is casting about for legal advice in the wake of his party’s loss of control of the Congress. “We don-t have a war room set up where we-re … dialing the 800 numbers of law firms,” he said. […]

People familiar with the counsel’s office caution against reading too much into the new additions, saying that Bush has yet to go on a hiring spree akin to President Bill Clinton’s when he faced impeachment.

from CNN.com

KANSAS CITY, Kansas (AP) — More than 1,680 guitar players turned out, tuned up and took part in what organizers say was a world record rendition of Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” — a song that was the first many of them ever learned.

Some came from as far away as California and Germany on Sunday to take part in a Kansas City radio station’s effort to break a Guinness world record for the most people playing the same song simultaneously. The record had been 1,323 people playing the same song in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994.

“It was cool to see little kids playing, people who had been playing for their whole lives, like older people, and then I’m sure there were people like me who just picked up the song a couple days before,” said Autumn McPherson, of Winfield, a senior at the University of Kansas.

Preliminary numbers show 1,683 people played the popular early ’70s guitar riff on Sunday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

“I thought it was going to be kind of cheesy,” said Hannah Koch, of Prairie Village, who came clad in an elf costume. “But after I got here, I got caught up in the excitement of it.”

Tanna Guthrie, a morning show host for KYYS (99.7 FM), came up with the idea for the record attempt. She said her station will send participant sign-up lists, photos, videos and copies of media coverage to Guinness seeking official recognition of a record.

Guthrie said she chose “Smoke on the Water,” a track off Deep Purple’s “Machine Head” album, because it’s one of the first songs many guitarists learn.

“You never know if you can pull something like this off,” she said.

One of the participants, John Cardona of Hanford, California, said he brought felt-tip pens so he could get others to sign his guitar.

“It was the guitar I learned on,” the 41-year-old said. “It was very dispensable on the way here, but very valuable to me now.”

Sing like a canary! You know you can!!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Republican activist pleaded guilty on Friday to obstructing Congress and evading taxes in a deal with prosecutors probing the influence-peddling scandal involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Italia Federici faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but she will likely serve far less. Sentencing was set for November 16 and prosecutors will weigh the value of her cooperation in the ongoing investigation.

She also faces between $6,000 and $60,000 in fines and must pay taxes owed plus interest.

Abramoff, currently serving a six-year prison sentence, is at the center of a lobbying scandal that has resulted in prison time for several Bush administration officials and one congressman.

As head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, Federici, 37, had close ties to senior Interior Department officials, including former Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Founded by Federici and Norton in 1997, CREA is a nonprofit group that touts Republicans’ environmental accomplishments and criticizes established environmental groups like the Sierra Club.

More at Reuters

I pray. And I gotta tell you, I’ve worn out my rosary beads since these two have taken office……praying for forgiveness for all the bad things I wish would happen to the two of them. I’ll be praying extra tonight…..after reading this article.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney, a survivor of four heart attacks, will have his internal heart-regulating device replaced later this year, his office said on Friday after he had his annual checkup.

“The ICD (implanted cardioverter defibrillator) battery has reached the level where elective replacement of the device is indicated over the summer,” his deputy press secretary Megan McGinn said in a statement.

“This will be scheduled at a time convenient for the vice president.”

She said the internal device was functioning properly and had not treated any abnormal heartbeats, also known as arrhythmia.

A test during Cheney’s physical, conducted at George Washington University, had not uncovered any new coronary blockage, McGinn said.

Cheney, 66, had his most recent heart attack shortly after the November 2000 election, although it was considered mild. He had the defibrillator implanted in his chest in 2001 to help regulate his heartbeat.

The vice president, one of President George W. Bush’s closest advisers, has had a series of health scares in recent years, including the discovery of a blood clot in his leg after a nine-day trip through Asia and the Middle East this year.

More at Reuters

Another installment of People Against Stupid Shit……and isn’t this a fitting one! H/T to G for this Stupid Shit story! I see many things wrong with this…but the most obvious is that it’s not handicap accessible or elderly accessible, as the escape hatch in the ceiling would do them no good. And if they took too long to “go” the authorities would be called.

From the Sun Sentinel:

FORT LAUDERDALE — It speaks kindly to you, it soothes you with music, it cleans up after you.

It’s not your mother. It’s a restroom.

The automated public toilet that Fort Lauderdale plans to try out at the beach does the job of a whole crew of employees, but doesn’t need health insurance. It locks up at night, and opens for your business in the morning.

It knows when you’re inside. And if you’re not moving, it worries that you might have fallen over dead. So it flings the door open and a siren screams.

It welcomes you when you walk in, and talks you through the experience, with soothing music adding to the ambience.

City commissioners voted Tuesday to pay $25,259 to an engineering firm to design the site and deal with state permits for a structure so close to the ocean. Only Vice Mayor Carlton Moore voted no.

Fort Lauderdale can expect to spend $250,000 to $350,000 for the robotic restroom with one commode, plus about $30,000 a year to service and maintain it. The city hasn’t selected a manufacturer and will put out a request for bids. The commission then must vote to buy the restroom.

It’s a little bit bossy. The robo-john gives you a prescribed number of toilet paper squares. Government officials will decide how many squares you get to start with, although if you insist, you can get more.

It’s impatient, too. Don’t dilly-dally. The automated public restroom’s door flies open after a set number of minutes. Again, the timing isn’t up to you; that’s a call your elected city commissioners will make. But it warns you, first: “You have exceeded your time limit. Please leave immediately.”

If you refuse, it sounds an alarm and calls the authorities.

(more…)

WASHINGTON, June 8 - Gen. Peter Pace is being replaced as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a move that reflects a feeling among top civilian officials at the Pentagon and in the White House that the American military needs new leadership after years of being strained by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

General Pace is to be succeeded by Adm. Michael G. Mullen, who has been chief of naval operations since the summer of 2005, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced today.

Mr. Gates said that re-nominating General Pace would be an intolerable “divisive ordeal” for the military and the general himself.

General Pace, who has been chairman for just less than two years, is known to have wanted to be nominated for a second term as chairman, and his re-nomination by President Bush had been rumored to be in the works.

More at the New York Times