friday news dump

13 Comments

1. 

   dada on July 27, 2007 at 2:20 pm

   sometimes it seems the BushCo™ left hand hasn’t a clue that the right hand even exists. remember the taleban commander who “blew himself up” to avoid capture?

   well………….it seems that that was merely another

   fabrication

   mis-communication:

   Taleban commander Abdullah Mehsud was killed by Pakistani soldiers and did not commit suicide, one of the owners of the house in which he died says.

   The man, Shaikh Alam Mandokhel, said that Mehsud was shot in the stomach.

   Pakistani police had said Mehsud blew himself up to evade arrest after being surrounded in Balochistan province.

   Mehsud, a Taleban veteran who the US freed from custody at Guantanamo Bay, became one of Pakistan’s most wanted Islamic militant leaders.

   […]

   His account differs from the official version.

   An interior ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that Mehsud’s movements had been monitored for three days, and he blew himself up with a grenade to avoid arrest when the house was raided.

   […]

   BBC

   you think they’d at least attempt to get their

   lies

   stories coordinated.

   lTMF’sA

   

2. 

   dada on July 27, 2007 at 2:23 pm

   useless information being given to congress

   the state department “weekly status report” on conditions in iraq, has been scrubbed of any meaningful information by which to judge the success, or failure, of the surge and reconstruction efforts:

   U.S. drops Baghdad electricity reports

   The daily length of time that residents have power has dropped. The figure is considered a key indicator of quality of life.

   As the Bush administration struggles to convince lawmakers that its Iraq war strategy is working, it has stopped reporting to Congress a key quality-of-life indicator in Baghdad: how long the power stays on.

   Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that Baghdad residents could count on only “an hour or two a day” of electricity. That’s down from an average of five to six hours a day earlier this year.

   […]

   Instead, the department now reports on the electricity generated nationwide, a measurement that does not indicate how much power Iraqis in Baghdad or elsewhere actually receive.

   […]

   The State Department’s new method shows that the national electricity supply is 4% lower than a year ago, according to the July 11 report.

   […]

   LAT

   additional sources verify crocker’s…how apropos a name is that…analysis, along with other indicators that give a somewhat different cast to the effects the surge is having, specific to the baghdad populace: BBC Iraq violence: Monitoring the surge

   it doesn’t paint a pretty picture. betreaus’ got some ‘splain’ to do come september.

   lTMF’sA

   

3. 

   dada on July 27, 2007 at 2:25 pm

   aka: fun with numbers

   study: renewable energy not green

   oh boy! l’ve seen some lame studies produced in academia, but this one ranks right up near the top.

   it’s so wrong, on so many levels, starting with the basic premise, l don’t know where to start. judge for yourself:

   Renewable energy could wreck the environment, according to a study that examined how much land it would take to generate the renewable resources that would make a difference in the global energy system.

   Building enough wind farms, damming adequate number of rivers and growing sufficient biomass to produce ample kilowatts to make a difference in meeting global energy demands would involve a huge invasion of nature, according to Jesse Ausubel, a researcher at the Rockefeller University in New York.

   […]

   Other scientists are not on board with Ausubel’s analysis and say that his use of energy density–the amount of energy produced per each area of land–as the only metric may not be the correct way to calculate the impact of energy from renewable resources on the environment.

   “In general, I would say his use of energy density just does not capture the entire scope of issues and capabilities for all the different resources,” said John A. Turner, a principal scientist at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who was not involved in the study.

   Turner explains that if the entire United States were to be powered by solar cells with 10 percent efficiency, an area about 10,000 square miles would have to be covered by solar panels in a sunny place such as Arizona or Nevada.

   “Now there’s 3.7 million square miles of area for the continental U.S.” Turner told LiveScience. “This represents a very, very tiny area. And that’s just one technology.”

   “If you look at how much land area we’ve covered with roads, it’s more than double that. So yeah, it’s a large area, 100 miles by 100 miles, if you pack it into one thing, but if you scatter it across the country and compare it to all the other things we’ve already covered, it’s not an egregious area.”

   […]

   via live science

   given the author’s credentials, impressive though they be, it’s obvious that he has zero experience/credibility when it comes to the production, distribution, consumption of energy.

   , for one, would be interested to know: who funded this study?

   h/t ndd for research assistance.

   lTMF’sA

   

4. 

   dada on July 27, 2007 at 2:28 pm

   the national inquirer ain’t got nuthin’ on us…

   the intrepid fnd team has obtained exclusive photos of tony snow’s new office in the recently remodeled press briefing room in the WH:

   

   regretfully, mr. snow declined to be interviewed for this story, although high ranking officials, inside the WH claim he’s quite relieved with the results.

   later

   lTMF’sA

   

5. 

   Oui on July 27, 2007 at 3:29 pm

   .

   Senate breaks Bush’s budget in homeland security bill

   WASHINGTON — The Senate passed the first of 12 spending bills on Thursday night, smashing President Bush’s budget for border control and other homeland security programs.

   The $40.6 billion measure passed by an overwhelming 89-4 vote, as Bush’s GOP allies joined with Democrats to flout his veto threat.

   The bill also greatly exceeds Bush’s request for homeland security grants to state and local governments for improving disaster planning and training, interoperable radio equipment, and paying for new fire and rescue equipment.

   …
   Bush has threatened vetoes or signaled veto threats against nine of the 12 annual spending bills for the budget year beginning Oct. 1; all but two of those threats involve spending levels that exceed the budget the administration proposed in February.

   The differences between Bush and Congress involve $23 billion in funding added by lawmakers to the president’s $433 billion request for non-defense programs — about a 5 percent increase — as well as $3.5 billion shifted by Democrats from the Pentagon to domestic programs.

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

   • 

     Man Eegee on July 27, 2007 at 4:12 pm

     sigh…and, of course, the egregious amounts of border security can be attributed to my beloved senator Kyl.  I want a product exchange, this government is broken.

6. 

   Man Eegee on July 27, 2007 at 5:02 pm

   Interesting…

   A sharply divided Arizona Supreme Court ruled that it violates Fourth Amendment rights for police to search an arrested person’s car without a warrant when the scene is secure and the person is handcuffed, seated in a patrol car and under an officer’s supervision.

   The issue has implications for personal privacy and police officers’ safety, and the state high court’s 3-2 ruling issued Wednesday in the Tucson case represents a dramatic departure in how such everyday circumstances involving traffic stops and other common situations have been handled by law enforcement. – linkage

7. 

   Oui on July 27, 2007 at 5:26 pm

   .

   Liberals go after Fox News advertisers

   NEW YORK (AP) –Liberal activists are stepping up their campaign against Fox News Channel by pressuring advertisers not to patronize the network.

   MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America’s Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos.

   The groups have successfully pressured Democratic presidential candidates not to appear at any debate sponsored by Fox, and are also trying to get Home Depot Inc. to stop advertising there.

   At least 5,000 people nationwide have signed up to compile logs on who is running commercials on Fox, Gilliam said. The groups want to first concentrate on businesses running local ads, as opposed to national commercials. The groups seem particularly angry at Fox’s Bill O’Reilly.

   Tell Fox to Back Off

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

8. 

   dada on July 27, 2007 at 5:41 pm

   qwest kingpin gets close to the max…

   Judge sentences Nacchio to six years, orders him to forfeit $52M, pay $19M fine

   Friday July 27, 3:18 pm ET

   Joe Nacchio, the former Qwest CEO convicted of enriching himself on stock sales while other shareholders lost millions, was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison.

   U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham also ordered Nacchio, 58, to forfeit $52 million of the money he made from selling Denver-based Qwest stock and to pay a $19 million fine.

   Addressing Nacchio, Nottingham accused the ex-CEO of “crimes of over-arching greed,” adding that insider trading under Nacchio was, “a familiar, accepted occurrence at Qwest.“

   […]

   He also sentenced Nacchio to three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.

   On Friday, Nottingham also denied a defense motion to toss out Nacchio’s conviction.

   Nottingham ordered Nacchio to surrender to prison authorities within 15 days of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons assigning him to a particular prison.

   The judge denied Nacchio’s request that he be allowed to stay free on bail during his appeal process, which is expected to take as long as two years.

   […]

   Federal sentencing guidelines recommended a minimum of five years and three months and a maximum of six years and six months.

   Nottingham gave Nacchio 15 days to pay the $52 million in restitution and 30 days to pay the $19 million fine.

   Nottingham said that in addition to punishing Nacchio for his crimes, he wanted his sentence to promote respect for the law. “If it is perceived that there is one law for the rich and one law for everyone else, then the law will fall into disrespect,” the judge said.

   link

   won’t be long before you can look him up on BOP

   lTMF’sA

   

9. 

   Man Eegee on July 27, 2007 at 5:50 pm

   Never fails to set my blood on fire…

   Chevron Corp.’s profits soared to new heights in the second quarter, capping another round of astounding oil industry earnings that have piled up as high gasoline prices squeeze household budgets.

   The San Ramon-based company said Friday that it made $5.38 billion, or $2.52 per share, during the three months ended June 30. That represented a 24 percent increase from net income of $4.35 billion, or $1.97 per share, a year earlier. – linkage

   • 

     dada on July 27, 2007 at 6:18 pm

     now, where’s that oil law, malarki?

     lTMF’sA

     

   • 

     hens teeth on July 28, 2007 at 12:53 am

     So that’s why gas prices dropped this week.

10. 

    Oui on July 27, 2007 at 5:53 pm

    .
    See my follow-up diary –

    Dole-Shalala Report: Overhaul Urged in Care for Soldiers

    (WaPo) – A presidential commission examining the care given to wounded U.S. service members yesterday recommended “fundamental changes” aimed at simplifying the military’s convoluted health-care bureaucracy and overhauling the veterans disability system for the first time in more than half a century.

    
    "The ball's in their court now," Robert J. Dole,
with panel co-chairman Donna E. Shalala,
said after meeting with President Bush.  

    "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."