WiserBlog

"Senior White House official I. Lewis Libby was indicted today..."

You can download your very own copy of the

indictment and the the press release

from the Office of Special Counsel here.

Halliburton subcontractor hires illegal immigrants to boost $124.9 million in Katrina profits

According to HalliburtonWatch.org

As many as 100 undocumented immigrants have been hired by a Halliburton subcontractor to clean-up areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina, a United States senator revealed.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) accused Alabama-based BE&K of illegally hiring the workers after Halliburton awarded a subcontract to the firm to repair naval bases damaged by the hurricane.

The Associated Press reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained the workers for violating immigration laws.

"It is a downright shame that any contractor would use this tragedy as an opportunity to line his pockets by breaking the law and hiring a low-skilled, low-wage and undocumented work force," Landrieu said in a statement. She urged the Department of Homeland Security to investigate what she called a "chronic" use of undocumented workers by government contractors involved in Katrina cleanup.

"The federal government must ensure that every company, no matter how big, follows the law and provides Gulf Coast residents with the jobs they deserve," Landrieu said.

DeLay Charged, No Big Deal

Two grand juries have charged DeLay and in alleged scheme of funneling corporate donations to candidates in Texas state elections.

"No big deal," say his friends, "We all will be before it's all over with, but no one cares and... we'll still be rich, white and free! God Bess America!"

Times Picayune: Official says FEMA was warned

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! [T]ell her (the press secretary) that I just ate an MRE and crapped in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern about busy retaurants. Maybe tonight I will have time to move the pebbles on the parking garage floor so they don't stab me in the back while I try to sleep."
--Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA public affairs official based in New Orleans

The remark was from Bahamonde's email to a FEMA colleague after being told that the Washington FEMA office's response to his desperate pleas for help was that Brown had to "eat dinner" before appearing on an MSNBC talk show and there was "traffic to encounter . . . followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc."  This is why Washington didn't answer his call for three hours.  Of course, why Brown failed to act after his important meal and television apperance, is still not really clear.

According to today's Times Picayune, A New Orleans FEMA employee contradicts Michael Brown's account of the agency's awareness of Katrina's potential devasatation

 

Times Picayune, Friday, October 21, 2005:

 

 

By Bruce Alpert

WASHINGTON -- Immediately before and after Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans area, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's lone official in the city e-mailed agency leaders warning of a desperate need for medical help, oxygen canisters, even food and water.

Marty Bahamonde, a FEMA public affairs official with 12 years of experience in disaster areas, on Thursday told a Senate panel investigating the disaster that for reasons he still can't quite comprehend, most of his pleas for help got little or no response.

His testimony, and the printouts of his e-mails to FEMA colleagues, give the clearest indication to date of the chaotic federal response to the disaster. They also directly contradict statements by former FEMA Director Michael Brown that he wasn't aware of the grave conditions in the city for days after the hurricane, as well as his claim in recent House testimony that he had assembled a team of FEMA officials, including doctors, before Katrina made landfall.

Not Rove's Best Effort?

"Bush did not feel misled so much by Karl and others as believing that they handled it in a ham-handed and bush-league way,"
-- A source quoted by Thomas M. Defrank, The Daily News’ Washington Bureau Chief, referring to Rove's handiwork on the Wilson/Plame smear campaign not being up to snuff. 

I suppose "bush-league" is the operative phrase--not that DeFrank indicated that a pun was intended. After all, if anyone knows that Rove could have done a more skillful job of maintaining deniabiltity, and a disorienting Katrina-like spin, it's GW.

Strange that the article is basically coming out and saying that "Bush knew," yet, where are the implications of his having this knowlegde spelled out?  And where else is this story running?  Where is the outrage?

Bush to Rove:
" C- for effort, Boy Genius...We expect better from you!"

If evidence proves that Karl Rove was, indeed, behind the outing of Valerie Plame, this bit of handiwork goes beyond his usual dirty tricks. It goes beyond a mere crime.

If the allegations are true, Rove has committed treason.  It is just as simple and brazen and obvious (like the agenda of this administration) as that. But while Rove had a winning concept.  Bush and the rest are very disappointed with its execution.  Karl must have gotten tripped up by his own hubris. 

Let's revisit, yet again, some of Mr. Rove's earlier efforts... and the Marcinkowski testimony while we are at it.

Excerpt from "Over Rove's Dead Body," October 1, 2004 at 04:20 PM

The “Mark of Rove”

That's what they call it in political circles... Although somehow I suspect that Rove ve would have turned out the way he did regardless, the story of Rove always begins with Donald Segretti.  So, we’ll start there too. Rove cut his teeth under the more savage than sage tutelage of Donald Segretti, a Nixon advisor.  Segretti was responsible for, among other things, causing Senator Edward Muskie to break down in tears during the 1972 over lies Segretti leaked to a New Hampshire newspaper.  He also forged letters on fake Muskie letterhead and wreaked havoc that way as well.  Segretti also put the screws to George McGovern, George Wallace, Shirley Chisholm, and McGovern's first vice presidential choice, Senator Tom Eagleton.  Yes, Segretti would have much to teach young Karl.

However, not all of the credit goes to Segretti--Rove was quite capable of screwing people on his own at a tender age. 

Georgia Federal Court says no to "Voter ID Law"

From Associated Press (AP)

Federal Court Bars Georgia From Enforcing Voter ID Law

ATLANTA (AP) -- A federal court has barred Georgia from enforcing a new state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In the ruling issued today, the U.S. District Court in Rome agreed with critics who claimed the law amounts to an unconstitutional poll tax.

The U.S. Justice Department approved the law in August. The department said that while Attorney General Alberto Gonzales did NOT object to the state's voter I-D requirement, the federal
agency's approval did NOT preclude lawsuits against it.

The Republican-backed measure sparked racial tension during the state's legislative session last spring. Most of Georgia's black lawmakers walked out at the state Capitol when it was approved.

Dramatic loss of sea ice aka "Global Warming"

Last year, the Arctic lost a record amount of sea ice, and a new report shows we may be approaching a dangerous "tipping point." Watch an animation showing the dramatic loss of sea ice.

How does global warming in the Arctic affect the rest of the world? Click here.

Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till

Opens tomorrow.

So far there is only going to be a limited release, so, if you can go to one of the the theatres here, you should.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bush [Administration]

You'll notice that I've not written a whole lot lately.

This is because ever since I decided that I love the Bush Administration and have nothing but admiration and respect for all that it is attempting to do for our country (to say nothing of the absolute faith recently born in me), I realize that I have nothing to say.  My earlier posts did nothing but complain and criticize and condemn. However, since I committed myself to George Bush, his trusted and visionary inner circle, and their noble mission to lead this country through these dark confusing times to the greatness that is our both our heritage and our destiny, I have found peace. Writing now with this peace and enlightenment, I find little to quarrel with about the path our leaders have chosen.

Well, it's either that or..

Having returned from Costa Rica to the calalogue of horrors going on in this country, I've spiraled down into malaise and inertia.  I've got jet gag... or culture block.. or I don't know what to call it, really.  It's not jet lag, of course, and it's not culture shock, really.  It's also not resignation, apathy or desensitization. In fact, I don't have a very good explanation and I have even less of an excuse except that I just don't even know where to begin. This, combined with the fact, that some important things are being written as I sit here overwhelmed, has led me to the decision, to simply link to a number of articles.   At least until, I regain the ability to go on.

Halliburton gets another $33 million for Hurricane Katrina clean-up

You'll notice that I've not written a whole lot lately.  This is due, in part, to the fact that having returned from weeks in Costa Rica to the calalogue of horrors going on in this country, I've got jet gag... or culture block.. I don't know what to call it, really.  It's not jet lag, of course, and it's not culture shock, really.  In fact, I don't have a very good excuse at all, except that I just don't even know where to begin. This, combined with the fact, that some important things are being written as I sit here overwhelmed, has led me to the decision, to simply link to a number of articles.   At least until, I regain the ability to go on.

According to HalliburtonWatch.org, last night the U.S. Navy has awarded Halliburton another $33 for Hurricane Katrina clean up:

"The money will be added to the $12 million awarded to Halliburton on August 29, the day Katrina made landfall. Both awards, totalling $45 million, require the company to repair structures and remove debris at naval air stations in Pascagoula and Gulfport, Mississippi and in Louisiana..."