Friday, September 29, 2006

Money not well spent

We can't get money for cat 5 levees, but the contractors in Iraq sure seem to not have any problems getting money from the feds. So, how much is the war costing us?

$2,000,000,000.00......a week!

I have a hard time picturing how much that is, so I broke it down a little.

$285,714,285.74 per day
$11,904,761.90 per hour
$198,412.70 per minute

I would have to work for six weeks to clear what it costs us as a country to run this war every second. Helped me put it into perspective a bit, you?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The net sure has some crazy stuff. Today I found a disturbing page from the White House. It is titled Setting the Record Straight. It is an amazingly bizarre page that tries to show how the president's policies on everything are great, and everything bad that people say about him is just wrong. When I read some of the stuff on here the only thing I could think of was double-speak.

This is some stuff from their Hurricane Preparation page where they try to show how they were on top of things, and to disprove people who say otherwise. A lot of the "proof" they use is quotes from themselves in interviews they gave after the fact. Seems a little strange to me.


The Administration Knew Flooding Was Occurring And Focused On Saving Lives.

On August 29th, The Coast Guard Was Conducting Search And Rescue Operations. FOX NEWS' ANITA VOGEL: "Now, earlier the Coast Guard had to step in or fly in using helicopters. They're searching for residents who are stranded, people literally stranded in their attics and they're fetching people from rooftops using baskets, making very dramatic and heroic rescues and bringing them safely, dropping them onto I-10." (Fox News' "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren," 8/29/05)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Coast Guard do a lot of rule breaking and show a lot of initiative in their rescues? They didn't wait for the feds to tell them what to do or they wouldn't have done anything. The Coast Guard was great in spite of, not because of, this administration. And since when is quoting Fox news a good way for the white house to prove they were on top of things? That's like asking the president of the Brittney Spears fan club if she is a good singer.

But The President Was Closely Monitoring The Situation And Not "On Vacation."

To prove he wasn't on vacation they say that he met with wounded soldiers that morning. Somehow that is supposed to show that he was on top of the hurricane situation? Then they quote his speech urging people to evacuate....the speech he gave from Crawford Texas. But he wasn't on vacation.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Better late than never

It seems Powell has finally decided to make a stand.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed efforts to block President Bush's plan to authorize harsh interrogations of terror suspects, even as Bush lobbied personally for it Thursday on Capitol Hill.
The latest sign of GOP division over White House security policy came in a letter that Powell sent to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of three rebellious senators taking on the White House.


I had such high hopes for him at one point, before he was turned to the dark side. As much as I would like to think he is trying to make up for past mistakes, I'm a little too pessimistic to believe this comes from pure intentions. Something tells me we are going to be hearing a lot more from this man in the near future.
Chalk up another one for Algiers.

A 27-year old New Orleans man was shot to death Thursday morning near an Algiers apartment complex.

It seems like every time I look through the local paper Algiers gets noticed. Most of the time for another murder or cop shooting. One of the reasons I moved to my neighborhood was the lack of crime. This stuff is beyond getting out of control, it's just plain crazy.

More depressing Algiers stuff here, here, here, and.. I need to stop now, this is making me depressed.

But on the good side, Riley says our crime rate is actually way down. Everything must be just peachy.

Anyone wanna buy a house in Algiers?

Sunday, September 10, 2006

This story in today's TP has a couple of head shaking items from an interview with one of my least favorite people ever, Dick Cheney.

Cheney said he now recognizes that the insurgency in Iraq was not "in its last throes," as he said in May 2005. "I think there is no question but that we did not anticipate an insurgency that would last this long," the vice president said.
"It's still difficult. Obviously, major, major work to do is ahead of us. But the fact is, the world is better off today with Saddam Hussein out of power. Think where we'd be if he was still there," Cheney said.


Apparently some other people anticipated the insurgency, and were told to shut up about it. And the world is better off now? Could have fooled me. Maybe he means for Haliburton stock holders and defense contractors.

...

He said the U.S. had done a good job on "homeland security, in terms of the terrorist surveillance program we put in place, the financial tracking we put in place, and because of our detainee policy."
Cheney disputed that he ever directly said Saddam had any role in the Sept. 11 attacks.
He defended his past statements both on links between Iraq and the al-Qaida network, and on the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, saying the pronouncements were based on the best intelligence he had at the time. No such weapons were found, nor is there clear evidence of links between Saddam's government and Osama bin Laden's organization.


Is he really claiming our detainee policy has been a good thing? I thought the Supreme Court told the admin that it needed to change and that they were illegal.
...

Asked if the U.S. still would have invaded Iraq had the CIA told Bush and him that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction in 2003, Cheney answered yes. He said Iraq had the capability of obtaining such weapons and would have done so once U.N. penalties were eased.

We don't need any stinking justification. If we want to go to war then by golly we are going to war! You tell 'em Dick.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Why doesn't this suprise me?

Remember the whole "new city hall, jazz museum, and other developments" thing a couple months ago? Turns out it isn't happening. Not only that, but the developers of this project never even got an agreement to purchase the buildings where this was going to happen. It seems the big announcement and following press releases were a little premature.

What's going to happen to this site? It's being turned in to condos.

In July, negotiations between the two ended and Hertz said he was pursuing demolition of the three-story mall and the conversion of the tower into condos.

Even though it seems the whole thing is doomed, I found the following pretty funny.

A unique part of Mayne's plan is for Poydras Street to become a tunnel under the park. A two-story underground garage would be built, as would an underground 280,000-square-foot retail center.

Hmmm, seems to me like this might not be the smartest or most cost effective way to do things in a city below sea level. Maybe Nagin thinks this would be a good place for everyone to park their cars so they can take buses to evacuate if another storm comes. Trust us...they will be safe there.

Why Disney loves the GoP

From MYDD I learn the reason. Taxes....

Instead of the standard 35% tax rate I thought all big companies paid, Disney actually paid the following:
2001 - 27%
2002 - 7.5%
2003 - 3.4%

And if you think that is bad...check this out from 2001 to 2003.

Pepco Holdings (–59.6% )
Prudential Financial (-46.2%)
ITT Industries (–22.3%)
Boeing (–18.8%)
Unisys (–16.0%)

I wonder how long it will take to pay off our deficit when we are giving money to the biggest money makers.







Friday, September 08, 2006

What's in your wallet?

Lindsay Lohan's purse lost and found

LONDON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Actress Lindsay Lohan's missing handbag containing valuable jewelry has reportedly been recovered by police at Heathrow airport in London.
The contents of the bag are valued at over $988,672 and it is not yet known whether the Jewelry was taken from the bag or not, Britain's Sky News reported Friday.


$988,672!

Can you imagine carrying that much jewelery around with you? Makes the $18 in my wallet seem even sadder than it did a couple of minutes ago for some reason.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Favorite post of the day

comes from AMERICAblog. A little bit of hypocrisy you to enjoy (or cringe at).

Charles Elloie

Today the TP had a story about my favorite lenient judge....Charles Elloie.

Harrison was booked with aggravated battery by shooting. Jail logs show he entered Orleans Parish Prison shortly before noon Aug. 30 and was released shortly before midnight the same day after a $30,000 bond was set and posted, said Renee Lapeyrolerie, a spokeswoman for Criminal Sheriff Marlin Gusman.
Sunday, exactly one week after the first shooting, the same 41-year-old man was shot near Chippewa and Soraparu streets.
After police issued an arrest warrant for Harrison on Labor Day in the second shooting, the suspect -- who was convicted of cocaine possession in 2001 and sentenced to five years -- turned himself in. Police this time booked Harrison with attempted second-degree murder.


...

"We're in the midst of a violent crime wave, and here he is once again releasing a violent offender back out onto the streets without getting input from the police or prosecutors," Goyeneche said. "It's a scenario we've seen replayed with Judge Elloie for the 10-plus years he's been on the bench."

If I can dig up any of the old stories I read about this judge before I started this blog it will get even better. Some of the stuff I remember was pretty outrageous.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Bush gave a speech today

One of the things I found odd was that I couldn't find his speech anywhere on TV. It seems the main stream media is more interested in making sure people don't miss any of their precious soap operas in the afternoon. Either that or they don't care about what Bush has to say anymore.

The speech can be found here, with my favorite part below.

"I want to be absolutely clear with our people, and the world: The United States does not torture. It's against our laws, and it's against our values. I have not authorized it -- and I will not authorize it. Last year, my administration worked with Senator John McCain, and I signed into law the Detainee Treatment Act, which established the legal standard for treatment of detainees wherever they are held. I support this act. And as we implement this law, our government will continue to use every lawful method to obtain intelligence that can protect innocent people, and stop another attack like the one we experienced on September the 11th, 2001. "

Hmmm...I like how he talks about McCain's bill. Didn't he push against it, and when signing it add one of his famous signing statements?

"So today, I'm sending Congress legislation to specifically authorize the creation of military commissions to try terrorists for war crimes. My administration has been working with members of both parties in the House and Senate on this legislation. We put forward a bill that ensures these commissions are established in a way that protects our national security, and ensures a full and fair trial for those accused. The procedures in the bill I am sending to Congress today reflect the reality that we are a nation at war, and that it's essential for us to use all reliable evidence to bring these people to justice."

Silly me...I thought congress was supposed to write laws and the president signed or vetoed it. I didn't realize he could right a law and then sign his approval to it as well? I wonder if he will add a signing statement to his own bill.

I read a nice quote from Abe Lincoln earlier today that I think Bush should consider.

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."


update:

Here is the bill he is sending to congress, and here is a pretty good rundown of the highlights.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Bush and his minions strike again

Oh wait, turns out this guy isn't such a good idea after all....better appoint him with no discussion. What a tool. The more I read the news the more disgusted I become.

Taken from Think Progress

Five days before Labor Day,
President Bush has announced he will recess appoint Paul DeCamp a corporate lawyer who represented Wal-Mart and built a career fighting against unions as head of the U.S. Labor Departments Wage and Hour Division, which oversees the nation's wage and hour laws, including overtime laws, workplace discrimination laws, and child labor laws. More at AFL-CIO Now. August 31, 2006 4:53 pm

This just in....

This just in....kind of. It's actually an old article, but I just found the link on Wonkette today and I couldn't believe it.

Are americans really this stupid. If this is from the country as a whole, can you imagine if they just polled New Orleans public school graduates?