friday news dump

15 Comments

1. 

   dada on August 3, 2007 at 12:21 pm

   eeewwwwwww!…what’s that smell?
   

   just arlen sphincter, doing what he does best..letting his mouth overload his ass again, and backing down:

   Giving it all away

   The good news for Alberto Gonzales: Arlen Specter, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he has come to the conclusion that the attorney general is not guilty of perjury.

   The bad news for Alberto Gonzales: Specter says the attorney general is a “wily” and “misleading” witness, and that, “when the committee finishes its investigation and files a report, we may well see the end” of his tenure in office.

   The bad news for the rest of us: Specter seems willing to give up the farm in order to get to the end of the investigation, and yet there’s still no reason to think that the president will dump the “wily” and “misleading” attorney general when it’s over.

   At a Judiciary Committee hearing today, Specter said he’s willing to cave in on virtually every sticking point between the committee and the White House when it comes to the testimony of Harriet Miers, Karl Rove and others. The requirement that the witnesses testify under oath? “I have said some time ago that I’m prepared to give up the oath,” Specter said. The requirement that the testimony be public? “It doesn’t have to be public. I’d prefer public . . . but I would agree to a closed session.” The requirement that there be a transcript of the witnesses’ testimony? “I think a transcript is minimal,” Specter said, “but I’d even be prepared to give that up.”

   […]

   Tim Grieve @ salon reg or day pass req’d

   pennsylvania progressives!…had enough of this guy yet? got anybody to challenge him next time he’s up?

   lTMF’sA

   

   • 

     CabinGirl on August 3, 2007 at 1:20 pm

     I’m always shocked that there are still people who get excited when Arlen says something reasonable, and follows it up with the opposite action.  He’s been doing it for decades now…

2. 

   dada on August 3, 2007 at 12:25 pm

   Chiquita: perfect for life
   

   ahh, shit man!…you didn’t say *stop

   !

   US stayed silent on Chiquita payments to Colombian paramilitaries: report

   Banana giant Chiquita told US government officials in 2003 it was paying protection money to Colombia’s paramilitaries but allegedly did not receive clear advice to stop the illegal payments.

   A board member of Chiquita International Brands, Roderick Hills, told Justice Department official Michael Chertoff, now the US secretary of homeland security, that the firm was paying a paramilitary group to secure its banana plantations in Colombia and needed advice, the Washington Post reported.

   […]

   Chertoff, then the US assistant attorney general, allegedly confirmed the payments were illegal but “said to wait for more feedback,”…

   Sources “close to Chiquita” say that Chertoff never came back to the company with advice and neither did another top Justice Department official, the Post said.

   The meeting is at the center of a criminal investigation and comes after Chiquita pleaded guilty to paying 1.7 million dollars to one of Colombia’s most notorious paramilitary groups, the United Self-Defense Committees of Colombia.

   […]

   afp via raw story

   wink, wink, nudge, nudge…..meh

   lTMF’sA

   

   • 

     BooMan on August 3, 2007 at 12:58 pm

     love the photo.  Does it fire banana chips?

     • 

       KNUCKLEHEAD on August 3, 2007 at 1:32 pm

       BooMan, I think this model fires Bannana slugs.
       Splaaat.

   • 

     cruz del sur on August 3, 2007 at 3:23 pm

     I guess this doesn’t qualify as supporting terrorism.

     I keep forgeting that right wing terrorism is a sign of patritism

3. 

   dada on August 3, 2007 at 12:30 pm

   just another reichwing fantasy talking point…until it’s a fair and balanced decision:

   Katrina Victims Lose in Appeals Court

   NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Katrina victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed when floodwaters breached levees in the 2005 storm cannot recover money from their insurance companies for the damages, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

   The case could affect tens of thousands of rebuilding residents and business owners in Louisiana, Daniel E. Becnel, who represented 21 plaintiffs in the case, said. Insurers could have taken a “multibillion dollar hit” if the ruling had gone against the industry, said David Rossmiller, an insurance attorney and analyst.

   […]

   The decision overturns a ruling by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr., who in November sided with policyholders arguing that language excluding water damage from some of their insurance policies was ambiguous.

   […]

   latfree  reg req’d

   how many ways have these poor people been screwed by every governmental agency in sight?

   l’ve lost track.

   recommended reading: oui’s outstanding diary, Riding Shotgun in Bourbon Street

   *lTMF’sA

   

4. 

   dada on August 3, 2007 at 12:32 pm

   
   clik image to view message

   lTMF’sA

   

   • 

     Oui on August 3, 2007 at 12:47 pm

     .
     I love it!

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

   • 

     keres on August 3, 2007 at 7:14 pm

     “Will satirize for food.”

     Great!

5. 

   Oui on August 3, 2007 at 1:13 pm

   .

   Review of road bridges in England

   
   US Dep't of Transportation

   The Highways Agency has ordered a review of its road bridges in England, following the collapse of a bridge in Minnesota. Are any in danger of falling down?

   It is highly unusual for a bridge to collapse in the manner of Minnesota, where at least four people were killed in scenes resembling a disaster movie.

   But the Highways Agency in England is taking no chances, checking whether the 17,000 road bridges on its motorways and A-roads have any similar characteristics.

   Its computers so far indicate no identical steel girder structures in Britain. But unlike in the US, here there are bridges that are hundreds of years old. So how safe are bridges in the UK?

   “The inspection regime is rigorous and undertaken by very professional people,” says Tom Foulkes, director-general of the Institution of Civil Engineers. “It’s well-structured, it was updated in the 1970s and the Highways Agency and National Rail and the local authorities are all very conscious of their responsibilities.”

   Two famous suspension bridges are undergoing expensive repairs after faults were detected during inspections.

   The Forth Road Bridge is having an £8m dehumidification to dry out the cables, after engineers recorded the sound of wires snapping inside seven layers of waterproofing. And the Severn Bridge is getting a similar £20m “blow-dry”.

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

6. 

   Oui on August 3, 2007 at 2:25 pm

   .
   Mistress of France Foreign Policy Signs a military arms and nuclear technology pact

   Libya and France sign €168 million ($230m) arms deal

   (AFP) – Libya has reached a multimillion-dollar deal to buy anti-tank missiles and radio systems from European aerospace giant EADS in what would be the first such purchase since an arms embargo was lifted on Tripoli in 2004.

   French Defence Minister Herve Morin confirmed that a letter of intent had been signed for the sale of Milan anti-tank missiles and a radio communications system worth, according to a Libyan official, $405-million.

   The deal is likely to spark some controversy, coming so soon after France played a key role in brokering the release of six foreign medics sentenced to life imprisonment in Libya.

   …
   Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi’s son, Saif ul-Islam, said resolution of the medics’ case had paved the way for the signing of major arms contracts, and the leader of the opposition Socialist Party in France, Francois Hollande, called for a parliamentary enquiry into the deal.

   “If there was no exchange, if there was no bartering, why sign a military agreement with the Gadaffi regime, which has been responsible for terrorist acts, which has been a rogue state?” Hollande said.

   
   French President Nicolas Sarkozy is welcomed by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi upon his arrival in Tripoli in July. (AFP)

   The Libyan purchases were agreed with subsidiaries of the European aerospace and defence giant EADS, which is controlled by French and German public and private interests. EADS confirmed on Friday that it had “finalised” a deal for the Milan anti-tank missiles.

   The company said in a statement that the deal had been secured after 18 months of negotiations and was now “waiting the signature of the Libyan client”.

   The sale of the Tetra communications system, was still in the process of being finalised, it added.

   President Sarkozy to supply nuclear technology to Libya – for peaceful purpose of course!

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

7. 

   dada on August 3, 2007 at 4:01 pm

   you can’t go home till l get what l want…

   the democratic response should be: “bite me chimpy.”

   WASHINGTON – President Bush said Friday that Congress must stay in session until it approves legislation modernizing a U.S. law governing eavesdropping on foreigners.

   […]

   The president said lawmakers cannot leave for their August recess this weekend as planned unless they “pass a bill that will give our intelligence community the tools they need to protect the United States.”

   […]

   At issue is how the government would spy on foreign terror suspects overseas without invading Americans’ privacy rights. Democrats want the special FISA Court to review the eavesdropping process to make sure the surveillance does not focus on communications that might be sent to and from Americans.

   The law now generally requires court review of government surveillance of suspected terrorists in the United States. It does not specifically address the government’s ability to intercept messages believed to come from suspects who are overseas, opening what the White House considers a significant gap in protecting against attacks by foreigners targeting the U.S.

   […]

   In a statement late Thursday, McConnell said he would agree to a review by the FISA court, but only after the surveillance had begun, not before as some Democrats are demanding.

   [ed note: McConnell, you will do what the law says, don’t hand me this “only if shit!]

   The FISA court review would happen 120 days after the surveillance began, another senior administration official said Friday. Until then, McConnell and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would oversee and approve the process of targeting foreign terrorists, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.

   The administration is demanding that this apply to monitoring of all foreign targets, no matter whether they end up communicating with another foreigner or someone in the U.S, and no matter whether they are a suspected terrorist or a target for some other reason, said the first official.

   Democrats leery of Gonzales’ involvement said that seemed far too long a period of time before the FISA court could step in.

   Bush said that he would judge any bill sent to him by one measure alone: McConnell’s judgment as to whether it provides “what you need to prevent an attack on the country.”

   “If the answer’s `no,’ I’m going to veto the bill,” he said.

   […]

   link

   l don’t think, correct me if l’m wrong, that they were going to adjourn anyway, due the threat of recess appointments and other reasons.

   it appears that Bu$hCo™ hasn’t noticed that this isn’t the same synchophantic congress they had before…and l will be, personally, offended if the d‘s allow this to pass.

   lTMF’sA

   

   • 

     Oui on August 3, 2007 at 4:11 pm

     .
     so I posted topic as a diary –
     Intelligence Bill – Bush May Call Congress Back from Recess

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

8. 

   stormkite on August 3, 2007 at 6:15 pm

   MEXICO CITY — Mexican archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.

   here.