On the front page of the Chicago Tribune this morning: A north suburban school district could become one of the first in the state to adopt rules holding students accountable for what they post on blogs or social-networking Web sites like MySpace.com. The school board of Community High School District 128, which includes Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools, is expected to vote Monday on a change to student conduct codes that would make evidence of “illegal or inappropriate behavior” posted on the sites grounds for disciplinary action. “We’re really making parents and students aware that they would be accountable” … Continue reading Two Stories

From Holden:

It looks like Little Scottie left his bag of tricks on Air Force One as today Pony Blow pulled the old “I haven’t read that story so I can’t comment on it” ploy in order to avoid an unpleasant topic.

Q Tony, what’s your reaction to Prime Minister Prodi’s comments today that Italy is going to withdraw their troops from Iraq?

MR. SNOW: Unfortunately, look, we’re in the air and I’m not in a position to start talking about ongoing breaking news at this point, so I have no comment. What I’ll do is I can double-check for you, but I don’t have any comment on it right now.

Obsession continues, click Read More….

Continue reading “Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle”

From Scout:

The Leesville Daily Leader reports this on FEMA trailers (via Gentilly Girl)

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) – An environmental group says thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims in Mississippi and Louisiana may be living in unsafe conditions after tests it conducted showed dangerous levels of formaldehyde in some government trailers.

The Sierra Club on Wednesday asked for a congressional hearing after it claimed that 30 out of 32 Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers it tested had levels of formaldehyde that were unsafe.

‘‘We started doing this testing because people were getting sick, having nosebleeds and having constant coughs,” said Mississippi Sierra Club spokeswoman Becky Gillette. ‘‘The government is making people sick. They are putting people back in harm’s way.”

OK bad enough but FEMA says their experts believe there is “no ongoing risk” and their recommendation is what caught my attention…

(For the Catch 22…Click Read More)

Continue reading “FEMA (Trailers): Unsafe at any speed???”

From Holden: Looks like the economy is ripe for a summer nosedive. A barometer of America’s economic activity slipped in April, while the number of people signing up for jobless benefits rose sharply last week, according to reports released Thursday. The big jump in filings for jobless benefits was mainly due to the lingering effects of a partial government shutdown in Puerto Rico. But the dip in the Conference Board’s Index of Leading Indicators more clearly pointed to slowing economic activity ahead. The board’s index fell to 138.9 in April, from a reading of 139 in March. The index is … Continue reading Bush Boom Indicators Disappoint

From Holden: Chimpy is interviewed by CNN Espaol, March 28, 2006. Q The White House supported the Sensenbrenner bill in the House, making the exception that you were going to pursue a temporary guest worker program. Now, that bill includes the construction of 700 miles of border, and that is seen not only in Mexico but in many Latin American countries as a sign that the U.S. wants to isolate itself from the region. Is that — THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think people ought to read that into it. I think people ought to — first of all, the House … Continue reading Fence Flip-Flop

From Holden: That image is from the movie Brazil, if you were wondering. Continue reading General Hayden At Work

From Holden: Continue reading Separated at Birth?

From Scout: Generally in the press I see the Katrina death toll put at 1300, as seen here today. However the State of Louisiana now reports “there have been 1,577 deceased victims of Hurricane Katrina from Louisiana.” The Katrina death toll from MS, Fl, GA and AL is 256. The total Katrina death toll would then be 1833 One possible explanation for the discrepancy between the numbers reported by the press and states is that the press does not count the 480 LA victims who died out of the state of LA following Katrina though LA officials consider these Katrina … Continue reading Katrina Death Toll Rises..

From Holden: George Bush’s approval rating plunges to 36% in the Republican-leaning Rasmussen poll. Continue reading Chimpy Sets Assmussen Record

From Scout: From WaPo Another U.S. ally in the war in Iraq distanced itself from the U.S.- led effort today when Italy’s new prime minister, Romano Prodi, called the invasion and occupation a “grave error” and said he would propose a withdrawal of Italian troops. “We consider the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country a grave error,” Prodi told the upper house of Parliament, wire services reported. “It has not resolved, but complicated the situation of security.” Italy has about 3,000 troops in Iraq in peacekeeping roles. They are already due to be withdrawn in groups before … Continue reading The New Italy

From Scout: From AP KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Some of the fiercest violence since the Taliban’s 2001 ouster erupted across Afghanistan, with coalition forces engaging in multiple firefights, two suicide car bombs and a massive rebel assault on a small village. Up to 105 people were killed. The estimates of Taliban fighters and suicide bombers killed ranged up to 87, with 14 Afghan police, an American civilian, an Afghan civilian and a Canadian soldier also killed in the multiple attacks late Wednesday and Thursday, officials said. The battles between Afghan or coalition forces and Taliban militants — which were concentrated in … Continue reading Escalation in Afghanistan

From Holden: New jobless claims shot up again for the third consecutive week. In the week ending May 13, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 367,000, an increase of 42,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 325,000. The 4-week moving average was 333,250, an increase of 15,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 317,500. Continue reading New Bush Boomless

From Holden: The Wayne Madsen Report is fanning the Fitzmas fires. WMR can confirm that the appearance of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before the Grand Jury at the US Federal Courthouse in Washington was a formality in which the jury informed the Attorney General of their decision to indict Karl Rove. That proceeding lasted for less than 30 minutes and took place shortly after noon. Gonzales’s personal security detachment was present in the courthouse during the Grand Jury briefing. From the courthouse, Gonzales’s motorcade proceeded directly down Constitution Avenue to the Department of Justice. According to sources within the Patton … Continue reading Wayne Madsen: Rove Indictment to be Announced Friday

Hats off to Ruthalice Anderson: Reading an article or watching news on TV should not require ESP, but that seems to be what journalists demand of us. They present opinion set A and opinion set B, sometimes with completely contrasting sets of “facts” and provide little or no information on what is observably, verifiably true. This is worse than useless because it creates learned helplessness — the idea that we can’t know and can’t make a difference. Because that’s exactly it. If it’s all subjective anyway, and one side’s just as bad and dishonest as the other, and all politicians … Continue reading Truth Vs. Balance

From Holden:

Mucho interest in Unka Karl in today’s gaggle

Q Is there any change in the status of Karl Rove contemplated in the near future — status in the White House?

MR. SNOW: Not that I know of, Helen, no.

[snip]

Q Has Karl Rove spoken to you about the CIA leak case?

MR. SNOW: No, he hasn’t.

Q Has any member of the administration spoken to you about the CIA leak case?

MR. SNOW: Yes.

Q Who?

MR. SNOW: I’m not going to tell you. (Laughter.)

Q Has any White House lawyer spoken to you about the case?

MR. SNOW: Again, I just — didn’t I just tell you that I’m not going to tell you who I’ve spoken with?

Q I’m just asking.

MR. SNOW: I know. Good questions. (Laughter.)

[snip]

Q On Karl’s meeting on the Hill this morning, do you know if there were any questions or concerns from the House Republicans there about Karl’s potentially precarious situation here?

MR. SNOW: His potentially precarious situation? In other words, whether they were talking about the special counsel?

Q And whether he’s going to be around for the elections, and in what capacity?

MS. PERINO: In the meeting today?

Q Yes.

MS. PERINO: No, it was about immigration.

MR. SNOW: No, it was about immigration.

Q No concerns were raised by them?

MS. PERINO: No.

MR. SNOW: Dana was there for every moment of it, so you have a full and complete readout.

Obsession continues, Read More…

Continue reading “Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle”

From Holden: Holy Shit! Sounds like the Electronic Frontier Foundation has the Bush Assministration and AT&T by the short and curlies. Secret documents that allegedly detail the surveillance of AT&T Inc. phone and e-mail lines under the Bush administration’s domestic spying program can be used in a lawsuit against the telephone giant, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, but the records will remain sealed. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker rejected a bid by AT&T to return the records given to the privacy advocate Electronic Frontier Foundation by a former AT&T technician. But Walker said the records would remain under seal until … Continue reading EFF Has Documents!

From Holden: Chimpy’s fake ranch lies in McLennan County. McLennan County commissioners on Tuesday declined to adopt a resolution apologizing for lynchings in the area in the 1800s and early 1900s. But after rejecting the Community Race Relations Coalition’s document by a 4-to-1 vote, commissioners said they would work on a resolution they all could accept. [snip] At least two commissioners have said they oppose an apology because the lynchings happened before current leaders and residents were born. They also have said the murder or rape victims of the black men who were lynched should not be forgotten. Yeah, we … Continue reading The County Bush Calls Home

Good riddance:

The clergy sex abuse scandal didn’t chase Bishop Joseph Imesch out of the Joliet diocese.

Age did.

The 74-year-old bishop declined Tuesday to offer a strong defense of his handling of abuse claims during his resignation speech.

“I’m comfortable with what I tried to do. Not always the best,” he said. “I’m comfortable meeting with the Lord, when that time comes.”

On June 27, Imesch will turn the diocese over to Bishop J. Peter Sartain, who has run the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas for the past six years.

Sartain is taking over a diocese facing more than 120 clergy abuse allegations — and at least 13 related lawsuits.

I covered religion for four years as a reporter, and I was raised a Roman Catholic. As such, I knew many, many good priests, guys who’d do anything for you, guys who were the last thing standing between their neighborhoods and gang warfare, guys who were more angry than anybody that the high standards to which they held themselves were not the same standards to which their leaders were subjected.

I was a part of the team of people who brought this to light:

The very first year Imesch arrived in Joliet, one of his priests was questioned by the DuPage County sheriff’s police. Parents at the Rev. Lawrence Gibbs’ Lombard parish complained to Imesch about Gibbs’ inappropriate behavior with their sons, but Imesch dismissed their concerns and transferred Gibbs to another parish without telling his new parishioners about the accusations. Gibbs was later accused of molesting numerous altar boys at a cabin in the north suburbs.

The Rev. Fred Lenczycki, now serving a prison sentence for child sexual abuse, was transferred to various parishes and eventually to California, where his new pastor was told only that Lenczycki had been unjustly accused of abuse. It took authorities decades to catch up with the priest.

However, the most egregious example of Imesch’s disregard for his parishioners was the case of the Rev. Gary Berthiaume. Berthiaume had served along with Imesch in the Archdiocese of Detroit, and the priest had been convicted of child sexual abuse and served time in prison. In 1987, after being exposed as a molester at yet another parish, Berthiaume asked Imesch to find him a place in Joliet.

Imesch installed the convicted sex offender at a west suburban hospital where Berthiaume worked as a chaplain. Berthiaume also began assisting at Masses, including children’s Masses, at a nearby parish. The pastor there said he wasn’t told of Berthiaume’s past until well after the priest’s appointment — and then only by Berthiaume himself.

It gets worse. Yes, it does. Click “Read More” …

Continue reading “Molester-Protecting Bishop Resigns”

From Holden: It’s nice to see the science of prosthetics advance, but I’m sure the thousands of Iraq War vets who lost their limbs for a lie would rather have their real limbs back. At the urgent request of the Pentagon, scientists and engineers are rushing to create an artificial arm that works like a flesh-and-blood one for the growing number of soldiers who are losing their limbs in the Iraq war. “The goal is to develop an arm that moves like a real biological arm, feels like a real biological arm and looks like a real biological arm,” said … Continue reading Wonderful

From Holden: On the heels of yesterday’s announcement that wholesale prices increased by an unexpected 0.9% last month today we learn that consumer prices jumped up as well. Consumer prices jumped by 0.6 percent in April, the most in three months, pushed higher by rising costs for a wide range of goods and services including gasoline, clothing, rent and medical care. The big increase in the government’s most closely watched inflation barometer, the Consumer Price Index, came after a stong 0.4 percent advance in March, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Excluding energy and food products, which can swing widely from … Continue reading My Bush Boom Just Can’t W.I.N

From Holden: Jeebus, I have to update this list again? Blame ABC News/Washington Post, because Chimpy hit another all-time low approval rating in their poll last night. Just to be clear, this is a list of the national polls in which George Bush’s current job approval rating constitutes an all-time low for him in each poll. ABC News/Washington Post: 33% American Research Group (ARG): 34% AP/Ipsos: 33% CBS News: 33% CNN: 32% UPDATE: Chimpy leaps up to 34% in the latest CNN poll. Fox News: 33% Chimpy surges in the latest Fox News poll to 38%, so that Pony Blow … Continue reading All-Time Lows, Again

From Scout: You got to hand it to Chris Matthews (backhand). No matter where he goes he’s a Republican Talking Points Magnet. He could swoop into your town and pick up their view to then pass off as Insider Perspective just like he did as “moderator” of the NOLA mayoral debate tonight. In the process Matthews proved his ignorance of what doomed New Orlean (FEDERAL levees) and also stayed clear of the dirty secret behind the charge against Mitch Landrieu, a charge which Matthews of course obligingly passed along. (BTW Republicans are backing Nagin) First the charge against Landrieu? Well … Continue reading Tweety…A Republican Talking Points Magnet wherever he goes

Aaaaand Ripley cracks me the hell up today. A. Continue reading James Fucking Bond with a Bat-Phone to God

From Holden:

Pony Blow is in da’ housze. But you wouldn’t know it from a casual glance at today’s gaggle transcript as it still sports an image of Little Scottie’s face by the video link.

Helen Thomas gives Pony a thorough going-over.

Q The President today denied he’d ever broken the law in terms of wiretaps. He also indicated that anything that was looked into, any calls, had some sort of foreign aspect either to or from. And he has said he’s always obeyed the law. Are all of these stories untrue that we’ve been reading for the last several days that millions of Americans have been wiretapped?

MR. SNOW: Well, let’s —

Q Are the phone calls turned over to the government?

MR. SNOW: Okay, let’s try to segregate the stories here. What he’s said about the terror surveillance program is that these are foreign-to-domestic calls and they were all done within the parameters of the law. He has not commented on the —

Q He, himself, has said he didn’t obey that law.

MR. SNOW: No, he didn’t. What he said is that he has done everything within the confines of the law. The second thing is, you’re mentioning a USA Today story about which this administration has no comment. But I would direct you back to the USA Today story itself, and if you analyze what that story said, what did it say? It said there is no wiretapping of individual calls, there is no personal information that is being relayed. There is no name, there is no address, there is no consequence of the calls, there’s no description of who the party on the other end is.

Q Privacy was breached by turning over their phone numbers.

MR. SNOW: Well, again, you are jumping to conclusions about a program, the existence of which we will neither confirm, nor deny.

Q Why? Don’t you think the American people have a right to know —

MR. SNOW: Because — what’s interesting is, there seems to be a notion that because the President has talked a little bit about one surveillance program and one matter of intelligence gathering, that somehow we have to tell the entire world we have to make intelligence gathering transparent. Let me remind you, it’s a war on terror, and there are people — I guarantee you, al Qaeda does not believe —

Q He doesn’t have a right to break the law, does he?

MR. SNOW: No, the President is not talking about breaking the law. But al Qaeda doesn’t believe in transparency. What al Qaeda believes in is mayhem, and the President has a constitutional obligation and a heartfelt determination to make sure we fight it.

Q — to obey the Constitution —

MR. SNOW: Absolutely right.

Q — the Fourth Amendment —

MR. SNOW: Absolutely right, and he believes in obeying it.

There’s more, click Read More…

Continue reading “Today on Holden’s Obsession with the Gaggle”

From Scout: I still hear it…..”Why didn’t those people just leave”? Well aside from the fact that One Million did evacuate from the greater New Orleans area pre-Katrina about 100,000 did not evacuate. But a new poll shows that “Those People” who did not evacuate are really no different than anyone else in vulnerable areas,this even AFTER the Katrina wake-up call. Mayfield [National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield] outlined the poll at the launch of the 2006 National Hurricane Survival Initiative, an educational campaign aimed at preparing and protecting residents in vulnerable coastal areas. He said 13 percent of residents … Continue reading So much for “those people”

From Holden: They have no shame. Hardball, last night: MATTHEWS: How can conservatives go back to their basically gerrymandered Republican districts of people, our native Americans, who are upset about too much illegal immigration going on and say, yes, I signed the president‘s bill, he leaned on me a little bit, so I did it? How do you defend that? [snip] MATTHEWS: What about the argument that Pat makes that they want the road not just to citizenship for the illegal immigrants but the road to membership in the Democratic Party. FINEMAN: Well, of course they do. But they figure … Continue reading Put Whitey On A Reservation!

From Holden: Yeah, sure Rover — everyone just loves the Chimp. This as the President’s overall job approval numbers fall to 32%, according to a separate Zogby International survey conducted via telephone before the immigration speech Monday. That’s an all-time personal low for the Chimpster in the Zogby poll, so I have to update the list again. Zogby: 32% Newsweek: 35% Harris Interactive: 29% USA Today/Gallup: 34% USA Today/Gallup: 31% AP/Ipsos: 33% CBS News: 33% American Research Group (ARG): 34% NBC/Wall Street Journal: 36% CNN: 32% UPDATE: Chimpy leaps up to 34% in the latest CNN poll. Fox News: 33% … Continue reading Latest Zogby Poll: 32%

From Holden: I guess warrants and shit are only important if you are a Republican Member of Congress. The United States attorney’s office in San Diego has asked for copies of “tens of thousands” of documents from the House Appropriations and Intelligence Committees, the official said, as part of its inquiry into whether Mr. Cunningham illegally influenced the process the committees use to designate money for military projects. But lawyers for the Republican-controlled House rebuffed the request as unreasonably broad, the official said, and asked the United States attorney’s office for a shorter list. [snip] The documents were requested in … Continue reading Congressional Republicans Balk At DOJ Requests