The uncaring, callous attitude of this administration is unfuckingbelievable. Just when I think Ive heard the worst thing I could possibly hear, they do something even more unfuckingbelievable. At least a soldier at the Pentagon had the good sense to inform them of this. But WTF….. why wouldn’t they know this. I think they DID know it and it was ok until this guy brought it up.

The U.S. military will no longer cremate troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan at a Dover facility that also cremates pets, the Pentagon announced Friday evening at a hastily planned new conference.

Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, said there was “no evidence whatsoever that any human remains were mistreated” or that any troops were cremated at the facility designated for pets.

Instead, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made the decision Friday after a soldier who works at the Pentagon informed the department that a crematory contracted by the department also incinerated animals.

Morrell called the practice “insensitive and entirely inappropriate for the dignified treatment of our fallen.”

More at McClatchy

These assholes aren’t going to be happy until they strike Iran. Nevermind that it will be the end of life as we know it. You think gas prices are high now? You think food prices are high now? You think our infastructure is fucked up? You think healthcare, medicare, medicaid and any social programs are bad? You think the economy is in the shitter? George Popeil Bush says……BUT WAIT! We’ll fuck it up beyond belief!

A second American aircraft carrier steamed into the Persian Gulf on Tuesday as the Pentagon ordered military commanders to develop new options for attacking Iran. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports that the planning is being driven by what one officer called the “increasingly hostile role” Iran is playing in Iraq - smuggling weapons into Iraq for use against American troops.

“What the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and -women inside Iraq,” said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

U.S. officials are also concerned by Iranian harassment of U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf as well as Iran’s still growing nuclear program. New pictures of Iran’s uranium enrichment plant show the country’s defense minister in the background, as if deliberately mocking a recent finding by U.S. intelligence that Iran had ceased work on a nuclear weapon.

More at CBS News

The thing about this is, NOW congress people are saying Iraq is not doing enough and have to contribute more to reconstruction. Yah…..it’s the Iraqi’s fault you dumb fucks voted to let Bush TOTALLY DESTROY their country. It’s the Iraqi’s fault that the U.S. hired contractors who did a shitty fucking job. Now it’s THE IRAQI’S FAULT that the reconstruction has failed. Yah, ok. Whatever.

Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors, including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government as complete, federal investigators say.

The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort that has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion. It also comes as several lawmakers have said they want the Iraqis to pick up more of the cost of reconstruction.

The special IG’s review of 47,321 reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars found that at least 855 contracts were terminated by U.S. officials before their completion, primarily because of unforeseen factors such as violence and excessive costs. About 112 of those agreements were ended specifically because of the contractors’ actual or anticipated poor performance.

More at Yahoo News

Poor Mukasey:

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says he never has sought the spotlight, instead living by his parents’ axiom of achieving success by keeping his head down and working hard.

Look where that landed him: at the helm of the Justice Department, defending unpopular Bush administration policies and picking the best among bad options for fighting terrorists and crime.

The irony is not lost on Mukasey, who has begun to settle into the job that he undertook five months ago - one he says he never asked or competed for.

This is still America, sir. You could have declined the offer.

During a Los Angeles news conference, he shut down a reporter who suggested gang members should be considered domestic terrorists and subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation tactic that simulates drowning and is called torture by critics. “I’m not going to talk about interrogation techniques,” Mukasey snapped.

You see, that’s where I think you are a crappy public servant, sir. It is your friggin’ job to talk about it! Any time yout think you’re above the position you hold, then THERE IS THE DOOR!

While we’re at it, could we please place an extremely high tax on all alcoholic beverages? Seems a logical thing to do. We got all up in smoker’s business. We decided we didn’t want them to have a choice or say, so we taxed the fuck out of them. We’re considering doing the same thing to people who happen to enjoy food. Why not alcohol too?

And don’t forget how obnoxious those screaming, crying babies on airplanes, in grocery stores, etc., can be. How about taxing the fuck out of their parents? This makes sense to me also.

After all, we really should stick our fucking noses all up in as many other people’s lives as we can. Otherwise, life would be pointless… amirite?

The Mayor of San Francisco wants to tax soft drinks made with high fructose corn syrup. While there’s a strong debate about whether unhealthy foods are deserving of a special tax, the idea of paying more for less nutritious foods is an interesting one. [...]

And as long as we’re talking about smoking, added taxes on cigarettes is not usually what prompts smokers to quit. Societal pressure–and changes in laws making it illegal to smoke in public places from office and restaurants to planes–has had more effect. So has the growing awareness of health effects for smokers and those exposed to passive smoke. Plus, we can’t overlook peer pressure.

I can’t see banning fast food, can you? Besides, who would decide what’s healthy and what’s not? So what do you think: will adding taxes to unhealthy foods work? Should government get more involved–or less involved–in what you eat?

AND THEY WONDER WHY THE HELL SO MANY DON’T EVEN TAKE THE TIME TO VOTE!

Why can’t they keep their friggin’ noses clean??? Every time a democrat has an extramarital affair, five republicans are born.

Paterson: Campaign ‘Might Have’ Paid for Hotel Tryst

NEW YORK, March 20 — Gov. David A. Paterson has admitted he might have billed a hotel tryst with his lover to his campaign, listing the expenditure as “constituent services,” adding fuel to New York state’s continuing sex scandal.

The New York Daily News wrote Thursday that an investigation showed that Paterson occasionally used campaign funds to cover personal expenses and misreported the purpose of that spending. The newspaper said he generally reimbursed the campaign for those charges.

Paterson acknowledged in an interview with the Daily News that he might not have reimbursed at least one payment.

Some argue it’s hard work. Others disagree. Digging ditches is hard work, they say. Either way, these people BEGGED for these positions. And what do they do once they obtain them? They abuse them. And I’m sick and tired of it.

Well of course he says there’s no conflict! WTF did they think he’d say? This is wrong? There is a conflict? Geezzzzzz. These crooks do any damn thing they want, legal or illegal, conflict or no conflict and they get away with it time and time and time and time again. Why ask the slime bag who has the conflict if it’s a conflict? He says there isn’t, so that makes it all A-ok, eh congress? How stupid can they be? How stupid do they think we are?

Former attorney general John D. Ashcroft today strenuously defended a government’sanctioned contract that could earn his consulting firm more than $50 million, saying there is no conflict of interest in the appointment made by one of his former U.S. attorneys.

Ashcroft has come under scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers since he accepted a no-bid contract to oversee the operations of an Indiana medical equipment company which is accused of giving kickbacks to doctors. He was chosen by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie of New Jersey, a Republican who once worked for Ashcroft.

“There is not a conflict,” Ashcroft said. “There is not an appearance of conflict.”

More at the Washington Post

A Fort Carson soldier who says he was in treatment at Cedar Springs Hospital for bipolar disorder and alcohol abuse was released early and ordered to deploy to the Middle East with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

The 28-year-old specialist spent 31 days in Kuwait and was returned to Fort Carson on Dec. 31 after health care professionals in Kuwait concurred that his symptoms met criteria for bipolar disorder and “some paranoia and possible homicidal tendencies,” according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post.

The soldier, who asked not to be identified because of the stigma surrounding mental illness and because he will seek employment when he leaves the Army, said he checked himself into Cedar Springs on Nov. 9 or Nov. 10 after he attempted suicide while under the influence of alcohol. He said his treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10 but his commanding officers showed up at the hospital Nov. 29 and ordered him to leave.

“I was pulled out to deploy,” said the soldier, who has three years in the Army and has served a tour in Iraq.

Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment.

Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical “no-gos” overseas. Officials said the soldiers were placed in light-duty jobs and are receiving treatment there. So far, at least six soldiers have been returned.

An e-mail sent Jan. 3 by Capt. Scot Tebo, the brigade surgeon, says the 3rd Brigade Combat Team had “been having issues reaching deployable strength” and that some “borderline” soldiers were sent overseas.

More at CBS4 Denver

I understand there are certain things the Democrats can’t accomplish in the Senate because they don’t have the votes, but this is not one of them. This nomination should have never gotten out of committee to go to the senate floor. Feinstein and Shumer need to to go. T

And then we have the fucktard Liebermann, who Democrats have allowed to remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, running around calling Democrats “paranoid.” Smart move letting him chair ANY committee. Idiots. To say I’m disgusted would be an understatement.

From the Hill:

Steny needs to gooooooooo.

Can republicans not find anyone better’suited for the job than this loud-mouthed b*tch?

These people aren’t just a handful of folks out to ruin your friggin’ day, Mrs. Perino. They represent me. They represent the majority of Americans. If you want to talk about wasting time, try reading up on some history first, you bubble-headed skank!

American diplomats have been ordered to compile a dossier detailing Iran’s violations of international law that some fear could be used to justify military strikes against the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme.

US trains Gulf air forces for war with Iran

Members of the US secretariat in the United Nations were asked earlier this month to begin “searching for things that Iran has done wrong”, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt.

Some US diplomats believe the exercise - reminiscent of attempts by vice-president Dick Cheney and the former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld to build the case against Saddam Hussein before the Iraq war - will boost calls for military action by neo-conservatives inside and outside the administration.

One diplomat revealed the plans for an Iran dossier to Steven Clemons, a fellow with the New America Foundation, a Washington think-tank, who has previously revealed attempts by Mr Cheney’s allies to pressurise President George W Bush into war.

More at the Telegraph

LOLITA C. BALDOR
The Huffington Post

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon will fall far short of its goal of sending 3,500 lifesaving armored vehicles to Iraq by the end of the year. Instead, officials expect to send about 1,500.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday that while defense officials still believe contractors will build about 3,900 of the mine-resistant, armor-protected vehicles by year’s end, it will take longer for the military to fully equip them and ship them to Iraq.

“Production is on pace, the issue is delivery,” he said, adding that the lag is a disappointment and the Defense Department is still committed to getting as many of the vehicles to the war as quickly as possible.

The vehicles _ known as MRAPs _ have a special V’shaped hull that provides greater protection against roadside bombs. According to the military, no troops have been killed while riding in one.

Once the MRAPs are built, the military installs necessary military equipment _ such as radios and radar _ then sends them to Iraq. Right now that process is taking about 50 days, but officials hope to shorten that to a little more than a month.

Still, Morrell said that many of the MRAPs produced in November and December won’t get to Iraq before the end of the year. He said getting 3,500 to the forces in Iraq by year’s end was an “ambitious goal” but the revised estimate of 1,500 is more realistic now.

Currently many of the MRAPs are being flown to the Middle East, in an effort to get them into Iraq more quickly. But as production rates increase, the Pentagon is likely to send them by ship _ which takes longer but is less expensive and can deliver many more at one time.

The contractors are Stewart and Stevenson Tactical Vehicle System LP, a division of Armor Holdings Inc.; BAE Systems Plc; Force Protection Industries Inc.; General Dynamics Corp.; and Navistar International Corp.’s subsidiary International Military and Government LLC.

read more HERE

Why are they such sellouts? Can someone please explain this to me? Oh wait, they had to go on vacation and the King said they had to approve this before leaving. And whatever Georgie wants, Georgie gets.

House Roll Call here

From Reuters:

The Democratic-led U.S. Congress yielded to President George W. Bush on Saturday and approved legislation to temporarily expand government’s power to conduct electronic surveillance without a court order in tracking foreign suspects.

Civil liberties groups charged the measure would create a broad net that would sweep up law-abiding U.S. citizens. But the House of Representatives gave its concurrence to the bill, 227-183, a day after it won Senate approval, 60-28. The action came amid warnings of possible attacks on the United States.

Key points in the surveillance bill passed by Congress this week:

_Expands the administration’s powers to eavesdrop, without a court order, on foreign suspects’ communications passing through the United States.

_Requires new wiretaps to be approved by the director of national intelligence and the attorney general, not just the attorney Ggeneral.

_Requires a court-issued warrant when a U.S. resident is the main target of surveillance.

_Requires Congress to reconsider the law in six months.

So what does the oversight committee do? They send Fredo a nice letter asking him if there’s anything he’d like to change in his testimony. Oh, and when Leahy was asked if it was possible to impeach the attorney general, his answer was….. Yes it is, but by the time we’d do it his term would be over. Again…… politics as usual. I’m so sick of this shit.

By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Documents indicate eight congressional leaders were briefed about the Bush administration’s terrorist surveillance program on the eve of its expiration in 2004, contradicting sworn Senate testimony this week by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The documents underscore questions about Gonzales’ credibility as senators consider whether a perjury investigation should be opened into conflicting accounts about the program and a dramatic March 2004 confrontation leading up to its potentially illegal reauthorization.

A Gonzales spokesman maintained Wednesday that the attorney general stands by his testimony.

At a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Gonzales repeatedly testified that the issue at hand was not about the terrorist surveillance program, which allowed the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on suspects in the United States without receiving court approval.

Instead, Gonzales said, the emergency meetings on March 10, 2004, focused on an intelligence program that he would not describe.

Read more at the AP