War Profiteering??!???! I'm shocked. Shocked!

Chicago Tribune
Let's start by putting service members at risk:

Former KBR procurement manager Stephen Seamans, who was wearing a wire strapped on by a Rock Island agent, wondered aloud whether to return $65,000 in kickbacks he got from his two companions, executives from the Saudi conglomerate Tamimi Global Co.

One of the men, Tamimi operations director Shabbir Khan, urged him to hide the money by concocting phony business records...

By June, Seamans and fellow KBR procurement manager Jeff Mazon, a Country Club Hills resident, had executed subcontracts worth $321 million. At least one deal put U.S. soldiers at risk.

The Army LOGCAP contract required KBR to medically screen the thousands of kitchen workers that subcontractors like Tamimi imported from impoverished villages in Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

But when Pentagon officials asked for medical records in March 2004, Khan presented "bogus" files for 550 Tamimi workers, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Lang said in a court hearing last year.

KBR retested those 550 workers at a Kuwait City clinic and found 172 positive for exposure to hepatitis A, Lang told the judge. Khan tried to suppress those findings, warning the clinic director that Tamimi would do no more business with his medical office if he "told KBR about these results," Lang said in court. The infectious virus can cause fatigue and other symptoms that arise weeks after contact.In October 2005, with federal agents tailing them, three war contractors slipped through London's posh Cumberland hotel before meeting in a quiet lounge. For the rest of that afternoon, the men sipped cognac and whiskey and discussed the bribes that had greased contracts to supply U.S. troops in Iraq...

"If you ever gave Tamimi a hard time, you'd get a call," former KBR subcontract manager Harry DeWolf told the Tribune.

When subcontracts came up for renegotiation, DeWolf said, companies like Tamimi "would say, 'Fine, we're going to pull out all of our people and equipment.' They really had KBR and the government over the barrel."

Now let's add some off-shore malfeasance:

Complicating the investigation of war-contract crimes, the government of Kuwait has denied a U.S. request to extradite two Middle Eastern businessmen accused of LOGCAP fraud.

and this really says it all:

The dollar value of Army contracts quadrupled from $23.3 billion in 1992 to $100.6 billion in 2006, according to a recent report by a Pentagon panel. But the number of Army contract supervisors was cut from 10,000 in 1990 to 5,500 currently.

Nope, nothing to see here. It's complicated, can't be told in a 7 second sound byte. Don't worry about it. Millions (billions?) are being fleeced out of the American public through fraud, corruption and endangerment of the armed forces, but pay no attention. It'll just hurt your little head. Go back to the easy-watching stuff. Pay no mind as America crumbles. Don't contact your congressperson and demand that these war criminals be indicted under terror laws (after all they're putting OUR TROOPS AT RISK). Just let them get their slaps on the wrists and go right back to their lucrative positions...

Why are California legislators debating "the path to Christ?"

SacBee

God is disgusted with California legislators – at least some of them, according to an evangelical chaplain who ruffled feathers this week in the same Capitol where he leads Bible studies for lawmakers.

Ralph Drollinger, who played basketball at UCLA in the 1970s and now heads Capitol Ministries, criticized lawmakers who participate in a separate fellowship group that embraces people of all faiths without insisting that they accept Jesus Christ as Messiah.

"Although they are pleasant men in their personal demeanor, their group is more than disgusting to our Lord and Savior," Drollinger wrote on the Capitol Ministries' Web site.

Drollinger, who has conducted Capitol Bible sessions for more than a decade, receives no compensation from the state. He is paid $120,000 annually by the nonprofit Capitol Ministries for evangelizing to politicians nationwide, records show....

Assemblyman Rick Keene, a Chico Republican who sponsors the fellowship group criticized by Drollinger, said simply that "we feel that we're doing what God wants us to do – and I'm sure he does, too."

Keene, a Protestant, said the fellowship group also meets in the Capitol and is committed to "gathering together around Jesus Christ" to pray and study Scripture....

Former Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Roseville, remembers that members of Drollinger's group split and created the fellowship sessions partly because they preferred informality to structured Bible tutoring.

Leslie, like Drollinger, is an evangelical Christian who says "my interpretation of the Bible and Ralph's (interpretation) are probably identical." But Leslie disagrees with his notion of intolerance.

"There's a path to Christ, and each person has their own path," said Leslie, who served as a longtime leader of the fellowship group.

Well Hallelujah, it's nice to know that Assemblyman Keene and Assemblyman Leslie spend so much time worrying about a path to Christ. Perhaps they may want to continue their studies OUT OF THE FREAKIN' SEAT OF GOVERNMENT OF ALL THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA. Perhaps they mistook the California State House for a Christian revival tent. Perhaps we will one day recall the fact that the Constitution says NOT ONE WORD ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. If it was good enough for the founders, it out to be good enough for Assemblymen Keene and Leslie. It's not like we aren't about to head into some very difficult economic times. It's not like the people of California are in dire need of funding for "nanny state" items like healthcare and education. It's not like THERE AREN"T MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO THINK ABOUT. I know, I know, Jesus Christ is most important to his followers. Again, perhaps they have missed their calling. But representation is NOT a synonym for proselytizing.

Matthew 6: 5-6
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

Bible quote of the day

Let's start with Exodus:

13Thou shalt not kill.

Now let's move over to Numbers where we have:

1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people."

7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man....

15 "Have you allowed all the women to live?" he asked them. 16 "They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

Nope. No inconsistencies here.

PS - killing all the ones who have slept with a man, you know, like moms and old ladies, the wicked bitches.

In the "no shit Sherlock" department

MSNBC

The Federal Reserve is ready to lower interest rates again to brace the wobbly economy even as zooming oil prices spread inflation, the Fed chairman signaled to Congress on Wednesday.

Battling cross-currents, Bernanke must make a choice: keep the economy afloat after mighty blows from the housing and credit crises [Thank you Bush administration] or focus instead on the threat of future price increases.

For now, the No. 1 job is shoring up the economy, Bernanke suggested in an appearance before the House Financial Services Committee. He pledged anew to slice a key interest rate and help the economy, which many fear is on the verge of a recession if not already in one.

Since that time, the housing slump has worsened, credit problems have intensified and the job market has deteriorated. Bernanke said that combination of bad news has made people and businesses more cautious about spending and investing — further weakening the economy.

The country should prepare for “sluggish economic activity in the near term,” Bernanke said. Concern is growing about the possible return of stagflation, when stagnant growth is combined with rising inflation, for the first time since the 1970s.

Were energy prices to continue to rise at a sharp clip — something the Fed does not anticipate — inflation would spread and growth would be further restrained, he said. If that happened, it would be a “very tough situation,” he added.

Well, I sure am glad we have such a smart Fed chief who can tell us that out-of-control oil prices combined with continued lay-offs spell disaster for our economy. Where were you and Greenspan when the housing bubble and attendant fraud and speculation were just starting and in need of solid regulation? Oh, that's right, you were celebrating with your billionaire buddies. After all, regulation inhibits the raping of the system. And now that the billionaire buddies are about to lose their shorts, you step in and keep printing money - devaluing the currency and making oil prices skyrocket.

When will Americans wake up to the fact that they have been completely and royally f(*#$ed by this administration whose entire goal has been to enact the neo-con wet dream of super-wealthy and super-expendable and nothing in between? I thought the point of a "free market" (that magical god-like system) was to ensure that the market decides who are the winners and losers. But, no, it seems like the market makes the winners and the Fed bails out the losers (on our dime). As if the middle class has not already bailed out the Iraq War, the billionaire tax cuts, and the record oil profits. No, put a little more weight on our shoulders, and then wonder why the American dream is becoming just that - a dream, not a reality.

Let these speculators feel their own pain. I'm tired of paying for nothing but guns, oil and useless, fruitless, energy-sucking, resource-using speculation. It adds nothing to the economy, but rather takes billions and billions in true value OUT of it. Speculation should be illegal. Buyers should be forced to hold positions or pay enormous penalties. All of the market crashes in our history have been tied to speculators - who make their money and then exit to secure mansions in the Caymans and South America while the house of cards tumbles to the ground.

McCain flip-floppin' all over the place

Here's the latest:

When John McCain's campaign was strapped for cash John McCain opted into the campaign financing system by requesting certification that he was eligible to collect federal money. As the New Hampshire primary approached and John McCain was broke he took material advantage of the system by using the promise of matching funds to borrow money to keep his campaign afloat. And he took advantage of a rule that gives candidates who take public financing automatic ballot access on ballots in several states. (Governor Dean estimated that he spent 3 million dollars in 2004 getting on ballots in states because he had opted out of the public financing system. )

Once John McCain had taken advantage of the system by gaining ballot access and securing a campaign saving loan, he won the New Hampshire primary and became the apparent nominee of the Republican Party. He then sent a letter saying that he was opting out of the primary process and claiming that the FEC is now impotent to stop him....

What does it mean for John McCain? It's yet another issue where John McCain tries to legislate one way and do something completely different. In this case it has to do with campaign finance issues. As Brad Smith, the former Republican FEC commissioner noted, if McCain drops out of the system the FEC will subpoena McCain, and his staff during and their records to determine whether they violated the law. If they're found to be in violation of the law they can be fined up to $25,000 and they can be jailed for up to five years.

McCain's been all over the place on a lot of issues this time around, but this one really stinks to high heaven - what with him being a champion of "campaign reform" (as if). This is just slimy and all the "conservatives" out there should be bleating away on propaganda right-wing radio. But, they're strangely silent. If HilClin or BarO had tried something this sleazy they'd be ripping them a new one. IOKIYAR. Google it.

"Is there no other way the world may live?"

Thought for the day:

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.

It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.

It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement.

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.

This is, I repeat, the best way of life to be found on the road the world has been taking.

This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron. These plain and cruel truths define the peril and point the hope that come with this spring of 1953.

This is one of those times in the affairs of nations when the gravest choices must be made, if there is to be a turning toward a just and lasting peace.

It is a moment that calls upon the governments of the world to speak their intentions with simplicity and with honesty.

It calls upon them to answer the question that stirs the hearts of all sane men: is there no other way the world may live? "

President Dwight Eisenhower, April 16, 1953

News not making the news...

AP

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran established its first oil products bourse Sunday in a free trade zone on the Persian Gulf Island of Kish, the country's oil ministry said.

A statement posted on the ministry's Web site said 100 tons of polyethylene consignment was traded at the market's opening on the island, which houses the offices of about 100 Iranian and foreign oil companies.

Oil and petrochemical products will be traded in Iranian Rials, as well as all other hard currencies, the statement quoted Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari as saying. About 20 brokers are already active in the market, it said.

"The bourse provides an economic opportunity for Iranians, other countries and foreign customers," Nozari was quoted as saying.

Iran produces more than 20 million tons of petrochemical products per year.

Iran has already registered for another oil bourse, in which it has said it hopes to trade oil in Euros instead of dollars, to reduce any American influence over the Islamic Republic's economy.

Interesting that this didn't even make the outskirts of the headlines in the US. Why? Well, here's some commentary that might elucidate that:

The trillion-dollar question is if, and when, most European and Asian oil importers may stampede towards the Iranian oil bourse. OPEC members as well as oil producers from the Caspian may be inevitably seduced by the advantages of selling at Kish – with no dreaded middlemen. If they can buy oil with euros, yen or even yuan, Europeans, Chinese and Japanese won’t need US dollars – and the same applies for their central banks....

There was frantic speculation all over the world that the bourse would start trading in euros. But according to Nozari transactions at this early stage will be in Iran’s currency, the rial. Anyway the Iranian ambassador to Moscow Gholam-Reza Ansari has already advanced that “in the future, we’ll be able to use the ruble, Russia’s national currency, in our operations”. He added that “Russia and Iran, two major producers of the world’s energy, should encourage oil and gas transactions in various non-dollar currencies, releasing the world from being a slave of dollar”. Russia’s first deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said last week that “the ruble will de facto become one of the regional reserve currencies.”

The symbolism of the Iranian oil bourse is stark; it shows that the flight from the US dollar is irreversible – and so would, sooner rather than later, the capacity of Washington to launch wars on credit. But at this early stage in the game, only one thing is certain: the Empire will strike back.

I don't know...major changes in the power of the US dollar upon which our "way of life" is staked. Seems like that ought to at least get a whisper on the national news, in the major papers? Naw, I guess we should go back to America's Next Top Model. Because the winner of ANTM is really important in our day-to-day lives.

15 Myths about Evolution

Let's review, shall we?

15. Evolution is a theory about the origin of life

The theory of evolution primarily deals with the manner in which life has changed after its origin. While science is interested in the origins of life (for example the composition of the primeval sludge from which life might have come) but these are not issues covered in the area of evolution. What is known is that regardless of the start, at some point life began to branch off. Evolution is, therefore, dedicated to the study of those processes.

10. Evolution is ‘just’ a theory

Scientifically speaking, a theory is a well substantiated idea that explains aspects of the natural world. Unfortunately other definitions of theory (such as a “guess” or a “hunch”) cause a great deal of confusion in the non-scientific world when dealing with the sciences. They are, in fact, two very different concepts.

9. Evolution is a Theory in Crisis

There is no debate in science as to whether or not evolution occurred - there is, however, debate over how it happened. The minutiae of the process is vigorously debated which can cause anti-evolutionists to believe that the theory is in crisis. Evolution is sound science and is treated as such by scientists worldwide.

4. Most Biologists have rejected Darwinism

Scientists do not reject Darwin’s theories, they have modified it over time as more knowledge has been discovered. Darwin considered that evolution proceeds at a deliberate, slow pace - but in fact it has now been discovered that it can proceed at a rapid pace under some circumstances. There has not been, so far, a credible challenge to the basic principles of Darwin’s theory. Scientists have improved and expanded on Darwin’s original theory of natural selection - it has not been rejected, it has been added to.

1. Teachers Should Teach Both Sides

There are tens of thousands of different religious views concerning creation. It is simply impossible for all of these views to be presented. Furthermore, none of the theories are based in science and therefore have no place in a science classroom. In a science class, students can debate where a creature branched off in the tree of life, but it is not right to argue a religious belief in a science class. The “fairness” argument is often used by groups attempting to inject their religious dogmas in to the scientific curricula.

I thought with the movie "Expelled" about to come out, we should get right to the myths and remember that like any good scientific theory, that of evolution is the current best explanation based on observable evidence.

Read my email

Surprise, surprise, surprise

WASHINGTON - A technical glitch gave the F.B.I. access to the e-mail messages from an entire computer network - perhaps hundreds of accounts or more - instead of simply the lone e-mail address that was approved by a secret intelligence court as part of a national security investigation, according to an internal report of the 2006 episode.

F.B.I. officials blamed an “apparent miscommunication” with the unnamed Internet provider, which mistakenly turned over all the e-mail from a small e-mail domain for which it served as host. The records were ultimately destroyed, officials said.

I love when people say "let'em read my email, I've got nothing to hide; let'em search my car in a random stop, I've got nothing to hide; let'em drug test me, I've got nothing to hide."

Well, why stop there, how about if we let'em come into your house with a master key? After all, you've got nothing to hide. How about if we let'em watch while you sleep or shower? After all, you've got nothing to hide.

The point isn't what I have to hide. The point in a constitutional democracy is what do you have to prove. Funny how people who live under the blanket of liberty can forget how many people died to provide those freedoms and will so carelessly give them away.

Now if only the FBI could "mistake" their way into finding the millions of missing White House emails. That would be something worth "mistaking."

One day of the Iraq war OR....

Don't boss me, you're a woman

Sports Illustrated

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kansas activities officials are investigating a religious school's refusal to let a female referee call a boys' high school basketball game.

The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary's Academy near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game.

The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs.

Campbell then walked off the court along with Darin Putthoff, the referee who was to work the game with her.

"I said, 'If Michelle has to leave, then I'm leaving with her,"' Putthoff said Wednesday. "I was disappointed that it happened to Michelle. I've never heard of anything like that."

Fred Shockey, who was getting ready to leave the gym after officiating two junior high games, said he was told there had been an emergency and was asked to stay and officiate two more games.

"When I found out what the emergency was, I said there was no way I was going to work those games," said Shockey, who spent 12 years in the Army and became a ref about three years ago. "I have been led by some of the finest women this nation has to offer, and there was no way I was going to go along with that."

The most heartening part about this story was the way her colleagues stood behind Michelle. Maybe things really are changing.

Funny how this backwards congregation at St. Mary's Academy obviously is in love with the part of the bible about "I will suffer not a woman to teach...", yet ignore the equally biblical

"Acts 18:26 (New International Version)

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately."

Note that Priscilla is a woman and THEY invited HIM to THEIR home and explained to HIM the way of God. Hmmmmmm....Sounds suspiciously like a man AND a WOMAN teaching to me.

If it's good enough for Priscilla, it's good enough for Michelle Campbell.

Oh, and by the way, is it too much for me to hope that the next police officer to pull over one of these St. Mary's knuckle-draggers is a woman? Oooooh, how fun it would be to hear him say that she can't write him a ticket as he does not accept her authority over him. Then maybe he can take his case to a court presided over by a woman judge. I know, but it's fun to dream isn't it? And could we possibly get it on YouTube?

Praise the Lord and Pass the Batteries

Statesman

A federal appeals court has struck down a Texas law that makes it a crime to promote or sell sex toys.

"Whatever one might think or believe about the use of these devices," said an opinion written by Justice Thomas M. Reavley of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, "government interference with their personal and private use violates the Constitution."

Under Texas law it is illegal to sell, advertise, give or lend obscene devices, defined as a device used primarily for sexual stimulation. Anyone in possession of six or more sexual devices is considered to be promoting them....

The state also argued in a brief that Texas has legitimate "morality based" reasons for the laws, which include "discouraging prurient interests in autonomous sex and the pursuit of sexual gratification unrelated to procreation."

Hallelujah. "Obscene devices" are no longer "obscene." Funny how the righties go on and on about "small government", "less regulation", but welcome the state, the police, and the prosecutors right into your/my genitals.

Butt out ladies and gentlemen (sorry, couldn't resist). Stick to laws having to do with people hurting one other and not the vague concept of "hurting morals."

The rule of law?

Nope. The rule of corporations. You can hardly sign a contract these days that doesn't waive your right to a trial by jury and replace it with "arbitration" (i.e. a process paid for by corporations which rules in favor OF corporations about 94% of the time). It seems like even criminal cases are now being outsourced to the arbitrators: ABC

A mother of five who says she was sexually harassed and assaulted while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq is headed for a secretive arbitration process rather than being able to present her case in open court.

A judge in Texas has ruled that Tracy Barker's case will be heard in arbitration, according to the terms of her initial employment contract.

Getting out the vote

Undersea cables in trouble

From Slashdot

You may have noticed a number of stories recently about undersea cables getting cut around the world. Apparently the total is now up to 5, but the scariest part of this is that Iran is now offline. You can also read Schneier's comments on this coincidence. Update: 02/06 17:42 GMT by Z : As a commenter notes, though the country of Iran is obviously experiencing some networking difficulties, it is not offline.

Hmmmm....Very interesting...Could it be the work of terrorists?...Could it be many errant ships dragging anchors?...Could it be related to the launch of the Iran Oil Bourse?....Hmmmm

Race and Gender are not the same as Religion

Science Blogs

Nicholas Kristof has a NY Times column that makes an argument we hear frequently from the religious right:

At a New York or Los Angeles cocktail party, few would dare make a pejorative comment about Barack Obama's race or Hillary Clinton's sex. Yet it would be easy to get away with deriding Mike Huckabee's religious faith.

Liberals believe deeply in tolerance and over the last century have led the battles against prejudices of all kinds, but we have a blind spot about Christian evangelicals. They constitute one of the few minorities that, on the American coasts or university campuses, it remains fashionable to mock.

But this is an absurd argument. He seems to just presume that ridiculing someone's race or gender is equivalent of ridiculing someone's religious beliefs, but that presumption is clearly false. He is committing a category error here. The difference is that religion is an idea (more properly a set of ideas) and ideas, unlike race or gender, deserve criticism. Someone's race or gender can't be wrong or absurd, but their ideas certainly can.

OK, one more time for the slow thinkers at the back: race, gender and sexual orientation are NOT chosen. Relgion (which is your ideas and beliefs) IS CHOSEN. As something chosen, it can be ridiculed, reviled or respected. It's like the difference between making fun of someone's large nose or their transparent outfit. The former is cruel, the latter is part of our continual discussion of what's acceptable and what we support.

Where your (children's) money goes

From ThinkProgress with links:

Today, the White House submitted its fiscal year 2009 federal budget request of $3.1 trillion. President Bush has asked Congress to approve $515.4 billion in funding for the Department of Defense which, when adjusted for inflation, would be the highest defense budget since World War II.

However, the costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not included in the baseline DoD request. In reality, the war costs will most likely increase the defense budget to nearly $688 billion through the first quarter of FY 2009:

$515.4 billion: Bush’s baseline Pentagon budget request.

+$70 billion: The amount Bush’s defense budget includes as separate request for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. However, this bridge fund only covers the first quarter of FY 2009.

+$102.5 billion: Current emergency war funding request that Congress not yet approved.

TOTAL = $687.9 billion: Bush’s total war budget.

War forever. Arms dealers and manufacturers will do very well under the Bush plan, as they have done for the past 5 years under this misguided notion that we can force democracy (i.e., privatized assets) at the end of a gun.