Letter I Sent to Senator Chuck Shumer, D-NY
Why are we not hearing about the connection between Dubai Ports World, John Snow, David Sanborn, Carlyle Group and George Bush in the mainstream media? Seriously, this isn't about racism. Racism is the specious argument that the neocons are using to move the deal forward. This is about conflicts of interest and their potential for compromising our nation's security.
I've been waiting and waiting for the mainstream media and/or our Democratic congressional delegation to start talking about this, and so far, you all have been silent. It's very disturbing. I watched Face the Nation this past Sunday, and you, Mr. Shumer, were a guest. I was hoping and hoping you'd bring this up, but you didn't. I was disappointed.
I do feel that the only way for the Dubai ports scam to be properly scrutinized and possibly stopped is to bring up this horrific example of war profiteering. It's appalling, and as far as I'm concerned, reason alone for the impeachment of President (choke....) Bush.
Please visit these two sites:
Dusty Doggie, http://dustydoggie.blogspot.com ,my personal blogsite
and
Buzzflash, http://www.buzzflash.com/analysis/06/02/ana06011.html
I look forward to your response.
Thank you.
History We Do NOT Want to Repeat
Harold Meyerson, op-ed columnist with the
Washington Post, hit the nail on the head. I've been saying all along that it's not about racism. It's not about national security, per se. It's not about the dubya cockroach knowing about it, or not. It's about
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. It's about the prospect of making so much goddamm money that the administration would be, and has been tempted to turn a blind eye to possible security issues regarding the Dubai ports sale. It's so scary, I think I'm gonna throw up. I'm so angry that I've yet to see even the most miniscule mention of the Dubai/Bushies/John Snow/Carlyle Group connection, that I just hope that the spineless democrats grow some cahones and TALK ABOUT THIS ISSUE. I've even had people request that I give them permission to send my blog to their Congressional representatives. My blog isn't the most studied on the issue, not by a long shot, but it's a start.
I watched Face The Nation this morning. The guests were Tom Friedman, that lowlife asswipe apologist, Senator Graham (R-SC, I think), and Chuck Shumer (D-NY) on the show to talk about the Dubai ports deal. Friedman sees no problem. He even brought up the rather specious arguement that it's about racism. What an amazing idiot. Even the republican, Sen. Graham, is outraged by the deal. Sen. Shumer wants to not only put the deal through a rigorous 45-day review period, as required by law, but also leave it open-ended, wherein if things are not copasetic, then kill the deal.
I watched the show, breathlessly waiting for someone to bring up the conflicts of interest issue, but no one did. Why, oh why is the mainstream media giving the bushie cockroaches a free pass on this? They did the free-pass thang about the fraudulent Niger documents before we invaded Iraq, and now look what a mess we're in. I cannot believe they are willing to do it again. I shudder to think what kind of mess the Dubai deal will present for the United States in the not too distant future.
"What's clear is that neither the task of building democratic nations around the world nor ensuring secure ports and cities here at home is our primary national purpose. Our mission is to maximize shareholder value. Which, by the measure of our strategic interests and our historical ideals, amounts to selling America short."
Please read the rest of his column,
"Wanna Buy a Port". He's one of the good guys. But, we have to get the message from the columnists and liberal bloggers and onto the front pages of mainstream media. If we don't, we're doomed to repeat some very bad history.
Tagged...........
I've been tagged by
Latour. This means that I have to answer these specific questions, then tag four more people. Here goes............
1: Black and White or Color; how do you prefer your movies?Usually color, unless the director is using B&W to stress a point, like in Schlinder's List.
2: What is the one single subject that bores you to near-death?Economics. I know I'm at a disadvantage, but I hate learning about US economy, or even my own personal economy.
3: MP3s, CDs, Tapes or Records: what is your favorite medium for prerecorded music?Definitely MP3's. It's the only format I use anymore.
4: You are handed one first class trip plane ticket to anywhere in the world and ten million dollars cash. All of this is yours provided that you leave and not tell anyone where you are going … Ever. This includes family, friends, everyone. Would you take the money and ticket and run?Nope. I couldn't do it. I respect my family and friends way too much to do that to them. I know I'd not be able to live with myself afterwords.
5: Seriously, what do you consider the world’s most pressing issue now?Greed. It leads to all the rest of the world's ills.
6: How would you rectify the world’s most pressing issue?Tough question. If I knew it, I'd have done it already. But, I guess the best way to reach past greed is to provide education free of charge to the entire world.
7: You are given the chance to go back and change one thing in your life; what would that be?I'd un-break my left leg that I broke when I was a kid. That has caused me a lifetime of issues and misery.
8: You are given the chance to go back and change one event in world history, what would that be?Run Hitler over with a truck when he was ten years old, squashing him into historical oblivion.
9: A night at the opera, or a night at the Grand Ole’ Opry –Which do you choose?The opera, without a doubt.
10: What is the one great unsolved crime of all time you’d like to solve?Well, it's already been solved, by I'd like to see the entire world informed. The neocons stole both the 2000 and the 2004 presidential elections.
11: One famous author can come to dinner with you. Who would that be, and what would you serve for the meal?Ursula LeGuin. We'd drink fine ale (IPA) or wine, salad with arugula and goat cheese, asparagus, roasted peppers and salmon, and something chocolate for desert. Nah...... just head straight for the chocolate. We'd get mildly giddy (not drunk) (OK, maybe drunk) from the IPA or wine, and just enjoy some great conversations.
12: You discover that John Lennon was right, that there is no hell below us, and above us there is only sky — what’s the first immoral thing you might do to celebrate this fact?I already know this to be true. Although I resent the question, given that I know that morality is not associated with religion, I'll play along. Never mind. I cannot print it here. I'd likely be renditioned to Syria or worse by the neocon cockroaches.
To be perfectly honest, I don't know who to tag. All the people I know who have blogs have already been tagged. I'll think on this and maybe get back and post an update.
Thinking........................
What do Carlyle Group, Bushies and the UAE Have in Common?
The short answer -- the desire to make money. The desire to control the world. The desire to hold as much as the world's wealth as humanly possible, even if by inhumane means. Dubai is, after all, a part of UAE. The port deal will put the control of major US ports into the hands of the DP World (Dubai Ports World). The cockroaches are even threatening a veto to uphold this dispiccable and self-serving deal.
For those of you who haven't been watching the news lately, though I sure that most of my readers do watch the news, I'd like to report that our fearless and stupid leader, dumbya the cockroach, has vowed to veto any bill that would block the sale of US ports to DP World, the Dubai company. I don't know if US security will definitively be compromised by such a deal, but I am totally convinced that this administration's multitude of conflicts of interest and collection of strange (for lack of a better word) bedfellows has indeed led to our compromise security. I have never actually bought into the notion that this administration actually orchestrated the 9/11 tragedy, but their conflicts of interest certainly, and without a doubt led to the security failures that allowed for it to happen. Of that, I am sure.
This is why this sale of our ports to the United Arab Emerates (UAE) is so disturbing. It's the conflicts of interest. This is a
HUGE, ENORMOUS, GIGANTIC AND UTTERLY OUTRAGEOUS CONFLICT OF INTEREST. I am outraged. Apparently, there is this sleazy business connection between, John Snow, US Secretary of the Treasury, David Sanborn, Maritime Administrator, and the Carlyle Group, dubya daddy's corporate ties to the Saudis, to name one conflict. This is just an incestuous bunch of people conspiring to sell off the control of US ports and military shipments to an Arab country for only one fucking reason --
MONEY. Lots and lots of money. Please read on............
According to
DP World, "
Dubai, 24 January 2006: - Global ports operator DP World today welcomed news that one of its senior executives, Dave Sanborn, has been nominated by US President George W. Bush to serve as Maritime Administrator a key transportation appointment reporting directly to Norman Mineta the Secretary of Transportation and Cabinet Member.
The White House has issued a statement from Washington DC announcing the nomination. The confirmation process will begin in February.
Mr Sanborn currently holds the position of Director of Operations for Europe and Latin America for the Dubai-based company."
It gets worse................
According to
MMP Weekly,
"MM&P-CONTRACTED CSX LINES PURCHASED BY THE CARLYLE GROUP
MM&P-contracted CSX Lines, the US-flag container shipping subsidiary of CSX Inc., will be sold to the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm based in Washington, DC for $300M. The acquisition will give Carlyle control over the nation's largest Jones Act container fleet and will add to the company's growing transportation portfolio.
CSX Lines will be renamed Horizon Lines LLC, when the transaction is completed early next year pending regulatory approval. CSX Lines is the nation's largest ocean transport company, with 17 US-flag vessels and 22,000 containers, providing ocean transportation and logistics services to and from the US, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
Carlyle's other maritime holdings include Seabulk International, formerly Hvide Marine, which owns and operates 10 Jones Act tankers in the Gulf of Mexico. Through United Defense Industries, Carlyle controls United States Marine Repair, the nation's largest non-nuclear ship repair and conversion company.
Carlyle Group is a politically-connected global private equity firm with reportedly more than $13.9 billion under management. The company's directors and advisors include former President George H.W. Bush, former British Prime Minister John Major, and former Secretary of State James Baker. IBM Chairman Louis Gerstner is slated to become chairman of Carlyle on January 7, replacing former Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci.
John Snow, the CEO of CSX, was appointed Treasury Secretary by the younger President Bush last week. The current CSX Lines President and Chief Executive Charles Raymond and his management team will remain in place. Raymond will also serve as chairman of the board."Even the neocons are disgusted. And, that says alot. I'm waiting for all these conflicts of interest to actually make it HUGE into the mainstream media. If it doesn't, then we have surely reached
Number 6 - Conrol of Mass Media of the
14 Points of Fascism, according to this listing by
Old American Century.
Sweet Mary From Hell
Yesterday morning was a comfortable Sunday morning. On Sundays, I love to lounge about, drinking coffee, and checking out some of the talking head TV shows. As I was scrolling around, I came onto Meet the Press with Tim Russert. But, what I saw first was an image of Mary Matalin that caused me to think
"Oh miggod! Holy freakin' shit!" She looked like a Katherine Harris wannabee, only worse. Much worse, if you can picture that. She was so pathetic looking that I stopped surfing, and stayed to watch the show. It was truly amazing.
I'm not usually hung up on fashion statements, but this one is worth the descriptions. It was hilarious. First off, her hair looked like her finger was residing in an electric outlet.
"Take your fucking finger outta the outlet", I screamed at the tube. Every once in a while she just sorta brushed it back. Useless effort, if your finger is still absorbing inordinate amounts of electrical currents.
Secondly, she was wearing this, I dunno, a cross between a brooch and a cheap wall hanging that you'd find in a doctor's waiting room. It was huge. It was some kind of flower, possibly made of metal, possibly enameled, possibly plastic, possibly wired with a mic. As far as fashion statements go, I guess you'd have to say this was indeed quite the statement. But what was it saying? That's the question....
There was also the black dress, offset with the brilliantly painted red fingernails. which she used to brush back her coiffure now and again. Picture the red nails gliding past this huge pink flower wall hanging stuck on her chest, on past the eye makeup job that would have put Katherine Harris to shame, and finally finding themselves brushing back a rat's nest. I laughed out loud, by myself, almost choking on my coffee.
"But, what did she say?", you ask. Nothing. At least, nothing relevant. She is a shill and an apologist for Dubya's Dick, The Sharpshooter. Admittedly, I was really tiring of the whole "cheney shooting his friend in the face" affair, but I was hooked on this show. The other guests were Paul Gigot, Maureen Dowd, and David Gregory. They were probably wondering how the hell they got roped into appearances with this cheney bitch from hell. (Is she still married to that democrat whathisname?) The guests were all rather civil, except Sweet Mary from Hell. She was insulting, disengenuous, and nasty like you wouldn't believe.
Maureen Dowd was great. Her response to the whole affair was great, and it was worth watching the show. Dowd has this brilliant ability to say things like they are, and in an intelligently succinct way. I envy her that ability, but here is her reaction to the cheney affair, in her nutshell way:
"The reason this story has evoked such fascination is because the vice president is like the phantom. You know, we hear the creak of the door as he passes, but we don't really know what he's up to. We don't know his schedule. We don't always know where he is. We don't know what democratic institution he's blowing off at any given minute, and so this allowed us to see how his behavior and judgment operated pretty much in real time -- with the delay, but pretty much in real time. ... And it covered all the problems of the Bush/Cheney administration: secrecy and stonewalling, then blowing off the rules that are at the heart of our democracy, then using a filter to try and put the truth out in a way that would most suit their political needs, and then bad political judgment in bungling a crisis. I mean, if there's one thing the Republicans are great at since Reagan, it's damage control. But he is such a control freak, you know, he doesn't even care about the damage. ... Mary, it isn't only the press. He blows off the FISA courts, he blows off the Geneva Conventions, he blows off the U.N. to go to Iraq. He wants to blow off everything. He's got a fever about presidential erosion just the way he had a fever about going into Iraq."I have to thank
Arianna Huffington for putting up her own take on this episode of Meet the Press, because I knew I wasn't alone in my take on this whole show. It was bizzare. And, thank you, Arianna, for hosting the images which I reprint above for my readers. You can find her article at
Russert Watch: The Mary Matalin Horror Show. You can also find links to other bloggers who saw what we saw, and heard what we heard. You can also find links to videos of the show. In my humble opinion, it sure is worth reading Arianna's take on this. She's a very decent writer, and she has a great sense of humor.
Niger Yellowcake/Plame Affair Timeline
This
article from Informed Consent has got to be one of the best Niger Yellowcake/Plame Affair timelines out there. The one piece that I find missing, however, is that the Niger forgeries were already known before the Plame leak, and was already on the internet before we actually went to war. In fact, I distinctly remember asking people how we can actually invade a country based on forgeries
BEFORE WE ACTUALLY INVADED THE COUNTRY. I wish I had the link from where on the internet I had read about the forgeries, but I don't. That is the most critical part of this timeline, though missing, because it holds the press accountable for their lack of adequate reporting of a FACT that was already out there. This is one piece of the whole stinkin' affair that sickens me no end.
But, please read this timeline, though deficient in it's completeness as described above. It's very good.
Amendment XXII of the Constitution of the United States??
There appears to be a Constitutional Amendment proposal before the 109th Congress that, God help me - I hope I'm wrong, is calling for the repeal of Amendment XXII, the 22nd Amendment. That amendment reads:
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.""
What the fuck?" you ask. Well, I ask the same thing. I checked out
THOMAS (Library of Congress), and the page appears to be valid.
Well, I suppose, according to a strict read or interpretation of Amendment XXII, it says "elected". We all know that the dubya cockroach was not elected. In 2000, he stole the election in Florida with the help of his brother, Cockroach Jeb, and the Supreme Court. In 2004, the cockroaches stole the election away from Ohio, with the help of his cockroach buddy, Blackwell. Grrrr............. So, if they admit to the mistakes of saying, "
Well, we really didn't get 'elected', so we can go for a third term, and more..." Well, you get the drift.
But wait!! There's more...........
Click on the image above to bring it to it's full size, or just go to the
White Wash, I mean House website, and see for yourself, that the date under this glorious new bust of the dubya cockroach says "2000 - ", with no end date. We all know that according to Amendment XXII, it should read "2000 - 2009", without question, in that by this article, the cockroach would be forced out of office in January 2009. Period. End of discussion. But, they left it blank. Do they really think they can get away with this? Really? Are Americans that bloody stupid? I sure hope not.
Yet Another Conflict of Interest.
Our administration is so fraught with conflicts of interest that it's amazing that they get anything done. But hey, I guess that's the point. This is one little piece that caught my eye, given that it's the dems who are opposing the asbestos settlement, yet the repigs are pushing it through. Tables turned, you think? That's what I thought, which of course raised my suspicions.
Turns out, it's tantamount to a bail out for Cheney and his puppet. It has to do with this little company called Dresser Industries. Seems that when Halliburton bought out Dresser from the Bush family, he also bought the asbestos liability, which they, of course, do not want to pay. Gee wiz and no shit Sherlock. What a surprise. So, now the repig controlled house has taken on this dog of a piece of legislation that would basically remove most of the asbestos liabilities that industries are saddled with by making a trust fund (talk about an oxymoron). Turns out the trust fund will reduce settlement liabilities, render future lawsuits illegal, be totally underfunded, without even any specificity about how the fund will be managed. I heard this last part on the news last night. Are mainstream media finally, finally coming out of their neocon cocoons and oh miggodd, actually reporting dissention in the government ranks. I sure hope so, but I digress. View more at
Pulse of the Twin Cities.
My Response to Snake Oil of the Union Address
My response to that pandering lowlife cockroach in the White Wash, I mean House, and his State of the Union address, in which he stated, "
Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world." What a joke.
We may be addicted to oil, but thanks to you, you lowlife oilman cockroach, you've pushed oil onto the American people, and quelched any attempts and funding to provide alternative energy. Your miserable excuse for an energy bill, that you passed in .... er ..... was it '04?..... was huge on oil and drilling, but devoid of alternatives. Obviously, this will have to be raised into the American conciousness. Remember that garbage piece of legislation, for it is a deed more telling than the bullshit rhetoric spewing forth from your oilman cockroach maw.
I found this poem on a forum post at
Joeuser this morning. It's great. Says it all. I don't know if the poster is the author, but I'll find out and add a cite later. But, this was too good to wait.
all your lights are on, but you're not home
so's the tv, you let it drone
your heart sweats, your body shakes
more ac is what it takes
you can't sleep, you can't eat
if there's a chill, kick up the heat
your car is big and it hauls ass
it gets 8 miles per gallon of gas
whoa, you like to think you're above all the turmoil
if you really believe that, your hat must be tin foil
cuz like it or not, you're addicted to oil.
goddamn the pusher man
