Off For a Few Days

UPDATE: I wasn't rushed to the hospital, but apparently my Internet service was hammered by the bad weather we've been having. I'm in a cafe now, so I won't be posting the whole story until early next week, I'm sure. I'm waiting for results from my doctor, and then will probably take a long weekend off.


I'm going to be off-line for the most part for the next few days to take care of some health issues. Nothing serious.

I hope. I'll let you know, but I'll be at the doctor's for the rest of the day here. Ought to make for some fun blogtales later.

2006: Strange Bedfellows

Quinn to be first female, openly gay Council speaker

BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ and DAN JANISON
STAFF WRITERS

January 3, 2006

The city will have its first female and openly gay City Council speaker, with enough backers lining up behind Councilwoman Christine Quinn that she's expected to get the nod at Wednesday's official vote.

Quinn (D-Manhattan), edged out her closest rival, Councilman Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn), for the influential position. The balance swung in her favor when the powerful Queens delegation, with 13 Democrats, decided to back Quinn.

And this little item:

A play to preside over the powerful

BY MICHAEL ROTHFIELD
STAFF WRITER

January 3, 2006

In an unprecedented move fueled by money, power and ambition, two Democratic lawmakers in Nassau are expected to join with the Republican minority today to select the top leadership posts in the county legislature.

The political play by Legis. Roger Corbin (D-Westbury) and Legis. Lisanne Altmann (D-Great Neck) would oust current Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs (D-Woodbury), leader of the 10-9 Democratic majority, in defiance of their party leaders.

If successful, Corbin would obtain the powerful presiding officer post he has long coveted. Altmann, as his new deputy, would command a $23,000 raise and leverage in her bid to succeed Thomas Suozzi as Nassau County executive.

Republicans would get consideration of their legislation and a board member on the Nassau Off-Track Betting Corp. Corbin called it "good government," but other Democrats said the takeover was about greed.

"It's a naked political power move, and using good government as an excuse to increase their political power and their paychecks," said Legis. David Mejias (D-North Massapequa).

One progressive move, one regressive move.

While it's clear that a gay woman Council Speaker (think House Speaker, and you'll get an idea of how powerful this position is in the city, with caveats I'll cover in a bit) is a progressive political gain, the fact that the Long Island Democrats are fracturing at this critical juncture is something New Yorkers should be alarmed at. Eliot Spitzer, the gubenatorial candidate-apparent for the Democratic party, must maintain strong support in the suburbs of New York City (Long Island, as well as Westchester and Rockland counties) in order to offset the strong Republican persuasions of the hinterlands of the state.

Give the Long Island Republican chair, Joe Mondello, credit: He's heading out on a high note, of sorts

With a wink and a nod, Republican sources said, Mondello has helped to create dissension among the Democrats by urging Republican lawmakers to back Democrat Roger H. Corbin today in an effort to unseat incumbent Presiding Officer Judy G. Jacobs of Woodbury.

But last Nov. 8 was the clearest evidence yet that the GOP is stumbling, and even Mondello has discussed handing over the party leadership.

Not nearly as satisfying as beating back the Suozzi machine in November, but the GOP on Long Island is running a similar defense that Democrats are running at the Federal level. Take what victories you can, and try to refocus and rebuild.

The Council Speaker race was an intriguing bit of political theatre in the city, however. There were nine possible candidates bandied about, and Quinn is a bit of a dark horse, not least of which for gender and orientation. More to the point, tho, no one knew who the heck she was (unless you lived on the Upper West Side).

Term limits forced the former Council Speaker, Gifford Miller, to leave the post, which created perhaps the single most embarassing repudiation of a politician in New York. Miller didn't even place second in the citywide Democratic primary, despite having name recognition second only to Fernando Ferrer. Ferrer clobbered him. Anthony Wiener, a populist Brooklyn congressman, placed second in the race and positioned himself as the clear front runner for mayor in 2009, should he want it.

Term limits. What an idiotic concept.

tags technorati : Top 50

WalMart And Bush

Fascinating study conducted by a student at UHawaii, which serves to confirm a few anecdotal observations I've made about red states in the past: if you're fat, uneducated and lower-middle class, you vote for the uberwealthy white guys who make you slave at your job earning less than your worth.

Makes a lot of sense to me *rolling eyes*

(Hat tip to the link lady, Miss Cellania)

"I Only Put It In A Little Ways, Your Honor, So It's Not Rape!"

Bush defends eavesdropping amid calls for testimony

By Tabassum Zakaria Sun Jan 1, 6:25 PM ET
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - President George W. Bush defended domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency on Sunday after a newspaper report about a Justice Department official's resistance to the program prompted new calls for a Senate inquiry.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that James Comey, a deputy to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, was concerned about the legality of the NSA program and refused to extend it in 2004. White House aides then turned to Ashcroft while the attorney general was hospitalized for gallbladder surgery, the Times said.

"This is a limited program designed to prevent attacks on the United States of America," Bush said after visiting wounded troops at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

The NSA program "listens to a few numbers called from the outside of the United States and of known al Qaeda or affiliate people," he said.

"If somebody from al Qaeda is calling you, we'd like to know why," Bush said.

White House spokesman Trent Duffy later said that while the president focused on calls being made from abroad, the eavesdropping program was also conducted on communications originating from inside the United States.

"We're at war," Bush said. "I've got to use the resources at my disposal, within the law, to protect the American people. And that's what we're doing."

(emphasis added) You mean, despite the fact that the DoJ refused to sanction it, you STILL felt it was within the law???

The bullheadedness of this administration in defending their crimes is flabbergasting.

History will make a bigger deal over Bush's failures and frauds than our media ever will, with the possible exception of Blogtopia©.

There are days I wake up and wonder where my country went to: the nation that promised all of us freedom from tyranny and oppression. The nation that told me that I could do anything or be anybody I wanted to be.

Now, it's "all that, but be careful: we're watching, and if we so much as suspect you of having any evil intent, it's off to the hoosegow with you!"

A New Kind Of "Cold" War

This is pretty fasincating stuff: wait until the dead of the winter heating season in what's predicted to be the worst winter in Europe in a decade and then stop providing gas to an unruly child, with the collateral damage of hurting the organization that had such trouble with you all those years ago, the EU:

Europe suffers gas import cuts after Russia move

By Meg Clothier

MOSCOW (Reuters) - European countries were enduring reduced gas supplies at the height of winter on Monday after Russia halted its deliveries to Ukraine, stirring fears about the use of energy as a political weapon.

Russia, taking over the G8 chairmanship for the first time this month and aiming to promote itself as a reliable energy source, cut its neighbor's gas supplies on Sunday after Kiev refused Moscow's demand for a fourfold price rise.

Moscow said it had no choice but to act after Kiev refused to sign a new contract that would have ended the preferential price treatment of the Soviet era.

Washington stepped into the row, the State Department saying it regretted Russia's move.

"Such an abrupt step creates insecurity in the energy sector in the region and raises serious questions about the use of energy to exert political pressure," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

Ya mean like war for oil, Mr. McCormack?

But here's the interesting stuff in this story:

The Russian state monopoly, Gazprom, said enough gas was still being piped via Ukraine to meet its commitments to other countries, and if they were not getting all their gas, Ukraine must be diverting it.

The Austrian oil and gas group OMV said Russian gas supplies had dropped overnight and were now down by about one third, but that it could use reserves to cover the loss.

Hungary's gas wholesaler MOL said its Russian deliveries via Ukraine had fallen by more than 40 percent. It had already told big consumers to switch to oil where possible and said it would cut deliveries to Serbia and Bosnia by more than 40 percent. Poland said its supplies were down by 14 percent.

Germany's largest gas supplier, E.ON-Ruhrgas, warned there could be problems for big wholesale customers if the dispute dragged on.

[...]

Western-leaning Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is trying to take his state into the EU and NATO. This annoys Moscow, which does not like the idea that its influence over the former Soviet Union might be waning.

So what will the EU do? Will they fight for the Ukraine or abandon its bid for entry into both the EU and NATO?

What this story missed (I'm not speculating as to why) is the Ukraine counterclaim that Russia is stealing gas from Turkmenistan, which has about as much validity as the Russia claim about the Ukraine siphoning gas off the pipeline to Europe illegally.

The Ukraine's main energy source is natural gas (understandable, as it has nearby sources in former allies Russia and Turkmenistan, which has so far refused to make up the shortfall, probably as a nod to Russia).

Keep in mind that Russia only turned down the tap and hasn't turned it off. Russia holds about 25 percent of Europe's natural gas supplies. Should this situation worsen, watch out for YOUR energy bills here at home. As it is, you're likely to see prices jump a bit uncomfortably.

I always figured that drop is gas prices after the boost by Katrina, Rita and Wilma was a sop to the voters and shoppers. I think the bill may be coming due.

Donald Trump To Run For New York Governor?

Trump's Next Building: NYS Governor's Mansion?

Greg Levine, 12.30.05, 2:03 PM ET

NEW YORK - Trump Tower, Trump Taj Mahal... Trump Governor's mansion?

According to a report, the master deal maker may want to tack his name onto New York State's highest office: The New York Daily News said Friday that Donald Trump is eyeing a run for governor on the Republican ticket.

That would place the billionaire businessman square against that bête noire of big--and sometimes corrupt--business, Eliot Spitzer. The NYS attorney general will throw his leather-tough hat into the ring as a Democrat.

He could win governor of New York.

Social conservatives have very little influence with the electorate, altho they do seem to wield unusual power in the legislature.

With his money, excuse me, access to bank loans, I should say, he'd build a formidable campaign war chest.

He did make a half-hearted attempt to put together a presidential run, but that was shortly after his image revitalization attempt after his first bankruptcy. No one took him seriously.

He also made noise in 2001 about running for New York City mayor, but Bloomberg obviously twisted his arm (plus, after 9-11, I think he figured the job would be more work than it was worth)

Would he run for governor? Not likely, but he could and could seriously contend for the GOP nomination, as Joe Bruno is apparently behind this push.

Trump despises Eliot Spitzer, I should point out, which would bring another interesting dynamic to this race: Donald Trump AND Eliot Spitzer are both on good terms with Don Imus, the popular radio talk show host.

The last time Imus got involved in a statewide New York race, it was the Senate contest between Al D'Amato and Robert Abrams, when he hosted a debate and actually managed to get Abrams to call D'Amato a "fascist", which raised the spectre of D'Amato's ethnic heritage (nevermind that Abrams was correct, D'Amato played the "race card" as an Italian-American).

Now If He Was Only As Generous To The "Thugs"...

Bloomberg gives his campaign helpers lots of extra jingle

BY DAN JANISON
STAFF WRITER

December 31, 2005

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is spreading lots of holiday cheer among his inner circle this year, handing out bonuses of up to $400,000 from his personal funds to top campaign staff.

Kevin Sheekey got the largest holiday present - $400,000 for managing the effort, while Patricia Harris, Bloomberg's longtime deputy, got $350,000, according to Bloomberg sources. She joined the campaign later in the season.

Both, who have served stints on Bloomberg's public payroll, will hold the rank of deputy mayor in the new administration. As a current deputy mayor, Harris, who took leave to join the campaign in the summer, has been paid just over $180,000 annually by the city. Sheekey is expected to be paid that rate when he becomes the new deputy mayor for intergovernmental affairs next week.

A whopping $1.55 million in bonus checks was mailed out Friday, the sources said.

No knock on Bloomberg for this story, those folks created an enormous mandate in an election that could just as easily have seen unparalleled voter apathy.

Still, you wonder how this plays with the unions that Bloomberg has had to and will have to deal with over the next four years. For example, the firefighters union went three years without a contract, which they have just ratified, with ten months' left to go on it.

Think they're connecting the dots...Bloomberg hands out (admittedly his personal funds) millions for overachieving, but makes us snuffle for the scraps off the city's dining table...and then calls us "thuggish" to boot.

Is Putin Crazy?

Russia starts cutting off gas to Ukraine

By Christian Lowe 16 minutes ago

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia began cutting off gas to Ukraine in a dispute that could hit deliveries to a wintry Europe on the very day that Moscow began its first term as chairman of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.

The Russian state-owned supplier, Gazprom, said it had begun reducing pressure in the pipeline supplying Ukraine on Sunday after Kiev refused to pay the increased price Moscow was demanding.

"In this situation, which is the fault of the Ukrainian side, we have been forced to start reducing pressure in the pipeline to Ukraine," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told a news briefing.

Gazprom supplies 25 percent of western Europe's gas -- most via Ukraine. It insisted deliveries to western Europe would not be affected but Italy's gas importer said Gazprom had warned it that disruption was possible.

Though Russia says it is purely a business dispute, the gas cut-off has fed concern from Washington to Berlin that the Kremlin is prepared to use its control over its massive energy resources as a political weapon.

Ukraine's Western-leaning president, Viktor Yushchenko, has irked many in Moscow by trying to take his ex-Soviet state on Russia's western border into NATO and the European Union.

That, say Ukrainian officials, is why the Kremlin is punishing Ukraine with such a huge price increase while letting more Moscow-friendly ex-Soviet states such as Belarus go on paying far less for Russian gas.

Apparently, Putin has been taking notes on the Bush administration, punishing allies and even dependent countries to keep them in line with his policies. What's more, like Bush, Putin doesn't seem to mind that he will endanger (or at least inconvenience) other European allies, including G8 members.

Which ought to scare us all. Part of the dynamic behind the Cold War was the palpable hubris of the United States and Soviet Unions, a dynamic that included fear, statism, and a form of economic terrorism on both sides. As oil becomes more dear and supplies begin to dwindle, if the world has not been given an alternative energy source that can replace oil, Russia will gain enormous power in the world, far exceeding OPEC, as Russia has the military might to dictate terms. It would not surprise me to see Russia take a lead with OPEC in dictating terms of oil production and distribution, thus ultimately winning the Cold War.

Obligatory New Year's Post

My Resolutions For 2006

1) To be more resolute.

2) To resolve more crises.

3) To have a resolution passed by a Democratic Congress.

4) To pass light thru a prism (look it up).

5) To change my monitor settings, thus increasing my....(all together now) resolution.

6) To win a court decision.

7) To turn my dissonant chords into consonant chords (you listening, Katrina?)

8) To economize my quantitative verse.

9) To go back and finish that jigsaw puzzle. Again.

Yours?

Not For The Faint Of Heart

Yesterday, I posted snippets of an extensive campaign that was flying around blogtopia* regarding Uzbekistan's involvement with torturing enemies of the Coalition of the Bribed.

Normally, you know I'm unafraid to post controversial photos, but I'm linking to these, because they are very graphic, more graphic than the Abu Ghraib photos, so I think a disclaimer is in order: please make sure your stomach is settled and please keep your children away from the computer unless you believe they can handle this.

Uzbekis boiling for torture, and how Bush and Blair are involved


* (© Skippy The Bush Kangaroo)

If It Looks Like A Duck, Has Webbed Feet And Quacks...

...you can call it a chicken, but it's still a duck.

Looks like our old fiend, Tom DeLay is deeper in the glue than I think even he thought he would be...

Report: Group linked to DeLay funded by Abramoff clients

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An organization with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay was funded largely by corporations associated with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing tax records and quoting former associates of the group.

Tax records, other documents and interviews bring into question the purpose of the U.S. Family Network, which functioned mostly by collecting funds from domestic and foreign businesses whose interests coincided with DeLay's activities while he was serving as House majority whip from 1995 to 2002, and as majority leader from 2002 until the end of September, the paper wrote.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million, but kept its donor list secret, the paper reported. That list, obtained by the Washington Post, showed that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners did not identify the money's origins.

According to the paper, two former associates of Edwin Buckham, the Texas Republican Delay's former chief of staff and organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda.

Whoops!

A couple of observations about this story:

First, what is this whole Newspeak trope the Republicans get into? An act curtailing pollution controls is called the Clear Skies bill. Here we have the U.S. Family Network, which is being funded by Russian oil interests and Native American casinos. Not that Native Americans aren't US families but still...casinos are what one might call "family entertainment" the way one might call porn "family entertainment".

Second, when Newt Gingrich allowed lobbyists to write legislation directly on the floor of Congress, what was he thinking? Did he not ponder the probability (not possibility, probability) that this might, you know, lead to more corruption? Or did he think Republican shit don't stink? I also fear for when the Democrats take over again next year: will they dismantle this whole mechanism or decide that it's their turn on the gravy train and leave it in place?

Third, what possible Washington agenda could Russia oil interests have? Last I heard, we were paying lip service to the Russian oil fields, lending some advisors, and that's about it. Besides, there was this story today:

Gazprom tells Eni Ukraine dispute may hit supplies

MILAN (Reuters) - Gazprom has told Eni that gas supplies could be at risk because of its ongoing dispute with Ukraine over prices, a spokesman for the Italian oil and gas firm said on Saturday, confirming newspaper reports.

Il Sole 24 Ore and Corriere della Sera newspapers said in Saturday editions that Russian gas giant Gazprom had sent a letter to Eni warning of possible problems with supplies.

"I can confirm that Eni has received such a letter from the managing director of Gazprom," an Eni spokesman said.

Gazprom is in dispute with Ukraine over a surprise hike in prices and on Friday spurned a plea from the ex-Soviet state to freeze charges as a New Year deadline for a deal approaches.

Meaning that Russia's oil industry is a highly sensitive domestic matter and not likely one they'd want the Americans and their busybody noses poking around in, fomenting unrest in former Soviet states, and potentially crippling a major source of revenue for the Russian government.

So why was DeLay selling out his nation to Russians for?

kos himself posts quite a bit more on this, even tracing where the money went.

I'm A Mutant

And likely, so are you....

Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin

By Rick Weiss
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 16, 2005; A01

Scientists said yesterday that they have discovered a tiny genetic mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white skin in humans tens of thousands of years ago, a finding that helps solve one of biology's most enduring mysteries and illuminates one of humanity's greatest sources of strife.

The work suggests that the skin-whitening mutation occurred by chance in a single individual after the first human exodus from Africa, when all people were brown-skinned. That person's offspring apparently thrived as humans moved northward into what is now Europe, helping to give rise to the lightest of the world's races.

Leaders of the study, at Penn State University, warned against interpreting the finding as a discovery of "the race gene." Race is a vaguely defined biological, social and political concept, they noted, and skin color is only part of what race is -- and is not.

In fact, several scientists said, the new work shows just how small a biological difference is reflected by skin color. The newly found mutation involves a change of just one letter of DNA code out of the 3.1 billion letters in the human genome -- the complete instructions for making a human being.

Hat tip to RJ Eskow @ Skippy

Hat Tip To Mimus Pauly @ Skippy For Finding This Gem

Locus of Control Test Results

Internal Locus (56%) Individual believes that their life is defined more by their decisions and internal drive. External Locus (44%) Individual believes that their life is defined more by genetics, environment, fate, or other external factors.

My Newest Sponsor

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From Merd Labs.

The Fox Is Protecting The Hen House?

U.S. to Restrict Iraqi Police
Military oversight will be bolstered in response to reports of prisoner abuse, reasserting American authority over security forces.

By Louise Roug
Times Staff Writer

December 30, 2005


BAGHDAD — After a series of prison abuse scandals that have inflamed sectarian tensions, U.S. officials announced plans Thursday to rein in Iraqi special police forces, increasing the number of American troops assigned to work with them and requiring consultations before the Iraqis mount raids in Baghdad.

The decision to impose more day-to-day oversight suggests a recognition within the U.S. military that the heavy-handed tactics of some Iraqi units, which are to increasingly take on the role of fighting insurgents, have aggravated the sectarian strife that helps fuel the insurgency.

Abu Ghraib. Secret Prisons. Tossing Korans in the toilet. Gitmo. Secret Flights To Torture Chambers. Violations of the Geneva Convention. And then there's this little gem on Americablog:

Confidential British memos show how information procured by torture in Uzbekistan is being used by US and UK, in violation of international law by John in DC - 12/30/2005 12:26:00 AM
Markos has the story, and I'm repeating the gist of it here to help get it out there. Feel free to copy and past this entire post on your blog.Basically, the former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, is livid about the fact that the US and the British governments have been gladly accepting information from Uzbekistan procured by torture.

You may remember that Amb. Murray was none too pleased with the horrendous human rights situation in Uzbekistan - the country is one of the most repressive on the planet - and as a result the Tony Blair, most likely with some US nudging, had Amb. Murray removed from his job. (You can read a chilling speech by Ambassador Murray detailing the Soviet police state that we are supporting in Uzbekistan.)Well, today Ambassador Murray gets his revenge.

Amb. Murray has published a number of confidential British government documents proving that the US and the UK were conding torture in that abominable country. Tony Blair is now striking back, pulling down Amb. Murray's Web site. UK bloggers responded by doing a coordinated leak to get the documents out to the public. Markos has republished the docs to make sure they remain public, and I'm doing the same below.

Our government is sanctioning and benefiting from torture in one of the most repressive regimes in the world. A regime that we openly embraced after September 11. A regime that many of you will recall was torturing gay journalist and human rights advocate Ruslan Sharipov (the Uzbek government arrested Ruslan for being a human rights advocate, then, after beating him, threatened to rape him with a bottle and inject him with AIDS). These are the people that George Bush has buddied up to to fight this honorable war. The worst governments on the planet - people who make the Soviets look downright nice.

And who else do you think personally was sucking up to the Uzbek dictator just a couple of years ago? Donald Rumsfeld. The same man who sucked up to Saddam Hussein before we decided he was evil.

And WE'RE qualified to lecture the Iraqis on how NOT to torture?

Here's a thought: just show them pictures of what Saddam's police forces did, and tell them not to do that. Then show them videos and pictures of what we've done to their countrymen, and tell them to stop.

See, this was my fear all along about this particular form of nationbuilding: violence begets violence, and what we've guaranteed is, whether we are there in Iraq or not, a civil war. It has to stop, now, our degradation and occupation of a proud people who barely tolerate the minorities within its borders, nevermind the strangers in their midsts.

Word Spreads in Iraq of Refinery Shutdown
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN , 12.30.2005, 07:30 AM

Long lines formed at gas stations in Baghdad on Friday as word spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery had shut down, spreading fears of a gas shortage.

Iraq's largest oil refinery, in Beiji, was shut down on Dec. 18 because of the deteriorating security situation in the region, Minister of Oil Ibrahim Bahar el-Ulom told The Associated Press on Friday. A spokesman earlier had said the refinery had been shut down since Saturday.

Yes, the product that was supposed to PAY the US for this invasion is being shut down slowly by the insurgents. That's not going to help make us anymore friends over there.

Iraqi Shiite family slain in 'triangle of death'

Eleven members of a single Shiite family had their throats slit in an attack south of Baghdad that illustrates the size of the task awaiting political leaders trying to sketch out plans for a grand coalition government.

So we have people killing fellow Iraqis ruthlessly and violently, wholesale.

And you know it's only a matter of time before this violence is visited here at home.

Why Weld May Not Run For New York Governor

I've mentioned this before, but Newsday today has a stunningly in-depth study of Weld's ethical failure:

School’s scandal shadows Weld

Critics say alleged fraud at college during his tenure as its CEO could end his NY run to become governor

BY ERROL A. COCKFIELD JR
ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF; Albany researcher Melissa Mansfield contributed to this report.

December 27, 2005


ALBANY - Since he became engrossed in a scandal at the Kentucky trade school he ran for much of this year, William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor, has been crafting a defense that other chief executives have used before.

Weld, a Republican who is now running for governor in New York, said he did not know anything about what federal investigators believe was widespread student loan fraud at Louisville's Decker College.

"I'm not aware of any improper activity," Weld said in a recent interview. He denied any responsibility for the school's woes, and said, "There was nothing I would have done differently."

By the time Weld resigned as CEO in September, after eight months at the helm, Decker faced fraud investigations by the FBI, the U.S. Education Department and the Kentucky attorney general's office. A month later, it went bankrupt and left an estimated 3,700 students in limbo.

Pontius Pilate must have been a Republican, the way these guys find ways to wash their hands of any messes they leave behind.

A smarter maneuver probably would have been to say that, as CEO, he discovered this fraud upon his arrival and became frustrated at his inability to get to the root of the bureaucracy and left shortly after the criminal investigation began in order to clear his name of the whole mess.

That would have been less honest of course, rather than admitting that he had no oversight over such a crucial component of the campus he was in charge of, but it would have saved face for him.

Just About Sums It All Up

And it's from a Rupert Murdoch outlet...

Merry Fucking Christmas! Here's Your Pink Slip...

Jobless claims rose 3,000 last week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for U.S. jobless pay rose by 3,000 last week while a separate gauge of longer-term unemployment posted a third successive weekly increase, the Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose to 322,000 in the week ended December 24 from an upwardly revised 319,000 in the prior week. That was modestly higher than Wall Street economists' forecasts for 320,000 claims but the prior week's claims figure was revised up from an originally reported 318,000 so the rise in claims was not far from expectations.

The closely watched four-week moving average of new claims, designed to flatten the volatility in the weekly numbers to provide a clearer picture of the job market, edged up to 325,000 in the week ended December 24 from 324,750.

The number of continued claims - a measure of how many people remained on benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid -- rose for a third straight week. These claims were up 85,000 to 2.72 million in the week ended December 17, the latest week for which these figures are available.

Don't let the Republicans and their puppets fool you: this economy has only been good for business and will only get worse for consumers, who are officially between a rock and a hard place:

Minimum credit card payments going up

By MIMI JUNG / KING 5 News

SEATTLE – The holiday shopping spree is over. Now comes the tough part: paying for what you bought.

When credit card bills arrive in a few weeks, some consumer will be in for a surprise. Some minimum credit card payments are expected to double due to new government rules.

Fearing banks may go under for extending so much credit at very low payments, federal regulators ordered credit card companies to raise minimum payments by January.

Some banks waited until the last minute, which means your holiday shopping spree could end up taking a bigger-than-expected bite out of your January budget.

[...]

Consumer groups expect minimum payments may double, but in the long run, they say, that's good.

"By increasing minimum payments, people will pay off credit cards, won't pay so much in interest and will have money left over to buy things," said Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

But first, there's that bigger January payment.

What to do?

Credit counselors say you can quickly find extra cash by eliminating cable and cell phone services, and that costly cup of coffee every day.

"Add that $2 a day over 20 working days a month, that's $40 to $60 a month you can use to pay the credit card," said Sue Hunt, National Federation of Credit Counselors.

Or at least start chipping away at it.

Credit counselors say the worst thing you can do is not make the payment and not call the bank to work out a payment schedule.

Due to a new law that took effect in October, it's much harder for many people to declare bankruptcy and have those debts erased.

Welcome to Bush's "ower"ship society, folks, where you own nothing and owe everybody else, and forced to slave at a job you absolutely despise for wages that don't even keep up with inflation in order to make monthly payments for transient things that are shoved at you by marketers who want every last dollar they can squeeze out of you. Oh...and it's ALL your fault, nevermind the pusher in the hat and trenchcoat shuffling down the sidewalk away from the cops busting you...

I wonder how many of those folks who make only the minimum payment even have cable or cell phones?

And now, how many more people are going to only make the monthly payment, which will drastically increase their potential for falling behind in credit card payments, since they no longer have that cushion they had before of cutting back payments?

I can speak intelligently to these issues as I was out of work during the Bush 41 Depression for extended periods. You run up debts, because you presume there's another job around the corner, and figure you'll pay it all back quickly.

Not so. Not that I was ever in danger of filing bankruptcy, but let's face facts: I grew up believing that debt was something you tried to get rid of, like a case of gonorrhea, and the stress to my system was enormous. The sea change in that attitude regarding avoiding debt is breathtaking, in not just how I view myself, but in how society views indebtedness.

And the bills are coming due, folks. Make no mistake about it.

tags technorati : Top 50

The GOP Gives Up On Hillary's Seat

Novello for Senate?

Health commish is being courted to run against Hil

BY JOE MAHONEY
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU CHIEF

ALBANY - Republicans close to Gov. Pataki are trying to recruit state Health Commissioner Antonia Novello to run against Sen. Hillary Clinton, sources told the Daily News.
Novello, a high-profile Latina who was U.S. surgeon general during the first Bush administration, has a strong understanding of federal policies, particularly health care, and would be in good position to battle Clinton on those issues, the insiders said.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

The only claim to fame this numbnutz Latina has is her ex-husband (nasty divorce, that one) is brother to Father Guido Sarducci!

Antonia Novello has been an absolute shambles, someone who's been a figurehead in the truest sense of the word (the word "token" leaps to mind) as her entire administration has been run out of Governor George Pataki's office.

This is JUST too funny!

It's All Over But The Voting

TWU board OKs contract deal

BY DAN JANISON and HERBERT LOWE
STAFF WRITERS

December 27, 2005, 11:32 PM EST


The executive board of the transit system's main union Tuesday night overwhelmingly approved a contract deal that would raise workers' wages a combined 11 percent over three years, but included no pension concessions.

The agreement would end the worst labor crisis at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a quarter century -- one that led Transport Workers Union Local 100 to strike for three days last week.

[....]

However, city bus and subway employees will have to pay 1.5 percent of their pay in health benefits, through a first-ever premium.

According to state budget documents, the MTA in July set aside funds for a wage and fringe increase at the regional inflation rate. That was calculated at 2.9 percent per year.

This could come close to the final rate when the health insurance concession is taken into account. But sources close to both sides cautioned that the cost of fines for the strike and other factors such as work rules, deployment and other possible improvements for the workers had yet to be spelled out.

My good friends over at NYCEducator have a couple more interesting little tidbits, inside baseball stuff.

Looks like the union, in the end, won what they wanted, while the MTA is able to keep their budget in line.