Author: Trish

The attack poodles just lost their queen, according to Reuters:

New York Times reporter Judith Miller, a journalist at the center of the CIA leak controversy that led to the indictment of a White House aide, will leave the paper, the New York Times said on Wednesday.

Miller’s lawyers and the paper negotiated a severance package, the terms of which were not disclosed. As part of the agreement, the paper will publish a letter from Miller explaining her position, The Times said on its Web site.

That’s one article by Miller we’ll be looking forward to reading.

Ever worry that Big Brother is making a big file on you, like the one the teachers always threatened you with in school? Well, someone is: the Bush government. USA Today

It’s as easy as saying “national security letter.”

Using this little-noticed but potent tool, the FBI can demand, for example, that an Internet provider, bank or phone company turn over records of who you call and e-mail, which web sites you visit, how much you spend, where you work, fly and vacation, and much more. No judge has to approve the demand, a common check required on more typical subpoenas.

You’d never learn about the secret intrusion, either. It’s all classified.

The public got a rare and troubling glimpse behind this curtain when The Washington Post reported Sunday that the FBI now issues thousands of National Security Letters a year. Each can seek many records on many people.

According to The Post and government documents, the Bush administration has quietly rewritten Justice Department rules so it can keep records indefinitely, even when they prove irrelevant to an investigation. The government can also share the records broadly, enabling the FBI to build what amounts to electronic dossiers on untold numbers of Americans.

Some parts of the USAPatriot Act, which has allowed Bush to protect America by destroying it, will expire at the end of the year. He is asking that they not only be extended, but that they be made permanent, saving him (and any future President Bushes, say Jeb or George P.) the trouble of having to periodically make a case for keeping them. […]

The Sierra Club is appalled at the Pombo bill, which will allow oil drilling in both the Arctic and the Florida coast, and which will likely pass. The time is now to contact your representatives and sign the petition.

If the Republican leadership is so eager to please an oil industry that is squeezing Americans dry at the gas pump, we wondered what else we might find in the Budget Reconciliation Bill besides the keys to our most treasured natural areas. We wonder if any of these other favors for oil companies might be hidden in the bill:

1. Free massages and mud masks at the Congressional spa.
2. Golf trip to Scotland with Tom DeLay.
3. Year’s supply of caribou jerky.
4. Open contract with Haliburton for dry cleaning services.
5. Stock tips from Senator Bill Frist.
6. Whale watching junket with Richard Pombo.
7. Limited-edition red, white and blue Hummers.
8. Coupons for a free “5 Wing Flappertizer” at Hooters.
9. Friendship bracelets for oil and gas lobbyists, hand woven by Vice President Cheney.
10. Naming rights for future hurricanes.

In another wanton display of sibling rivalry, Jeb is out to show W that he’s got nothing on Jeb, unqualified-and-crony-hiring-wise. The Gainesville Sun is reporting that Florida’s new education chancellor was a two-for-one deal, with her husband thrown in for good measure.

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation hired Dennis Yecke last month. He is being paid $102,000 a year in his new position, about $5,000 more than the person who previously had the job. Yecke’s wife, Cheri Yecke, was named chancellor of the state’s K-12 schools in August and began her job last month. She is making $152,000 a year…

While she was education commissioner in Minnesota, her husband was appointed to an $84,000 position as a deputy commissioner with the state’s economic development agency. That appointment by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty came during a hiring freeze, leading Democrats to rip his appointment.

”It’s just old-fashioned nepotism,” said Minnesota state Rep. Loren Solberg in a 2003 news release.

Cheri, who was forced to resign as head of education in Minnesota after her inability to separate church and state got out of hand, was the best person Jeb could find in all the land to run education in Florida. With a new report out that Florida ranks last in graduation rates for the second year in a row, at 56.8% (the national average is 71.5%), it’s not a stretch to think this woman really does represent the best and brightest to Jeb.

But her husband? Even some Republicans are skeptical.

”I find it hard to believe in the whole state of Florida we didn’t have somebody” qualified for the job, [Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon] said. Requests to speak with Cheri Yecke were declined…Requests to speak with Dennis Yecke also were declined.

Why my sister and I were baptised in two different churches is a long story but she recently decided to return to her Catholic roots. She’s been going to whatever classes they make you take so she will be able to receive communion and confess her sins and all that other stuff Catholics do.

A main focus of every class is abortion. My sister said the instructors (nuns) get on it and stay on it, week in and week out. This bothers her because she is pro-choice, and as a hospice professional, also believes in a person’s right not to have to go through what Terri Schiavo did.

Catholics are one-trick ponies when it comes to abortion. I don’t mean to offend but there is simply no dissention in the church about this. There are no degrees or shades when looking at this issue.

Whatever else you can say about Alito, he will be Catholic No. 5 on the Supreme Court bench, along with Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, and Chief Justice Roberts. I don’t see how this can be a good thing for women.

Tom DeLay’s campaign to get off on charges of conspiracy and money laundering is moving into frontrunner status. Fundraising for DeLay’s endless legal fees is brisk, a sure sign of Our Guy’s popularity with his constituency. AP:

…this was the fund’s best quarter since it was started in June 2000.

Is it me, or does this slag really think he’s running for Innocent (R-Texas)? He’s already attempted to redistrict his trial and screen the judge for political affiliation. Hey Tom, this is a trial, not politics.

The fund spent $278,466 during the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, but most legal costs for the Texas case are yet to come as the former majority leader prepares for a possible trial…In prior years, the trust paid legal expenses for a now-closed civil racketeering lawsuit filed by Democrats and for several ethics investigations that led to criticism of DeLay by the House ethics committee.

The maximum annual donation under House rules is $5,000. Of the $318,000 raised, $141,000 came from corporations, political committees and one union – a $1,000 donation from the United Transportation Union PAC in Cleveland.

Buying a share in Tom Delay must still look like a good investment to these types. We’ll find out if they’re right when the campaign moves into the debates – whoops – trial.

Jeb has a message for PR Popular Editor Buck and others affected by Hurricane Wilma: “It’s not my fault. And you should have thought of that before you left home.” A.P.:

As people in south Florida endure long waits for relief supplies, there’s word that the number of people killed by Hurricane Wilma in Florida has doubled — from five to 10…

Jeb Bush said he takes responsibility for the delays. But he also said the people who are waiting in line for relief should have done more to prepare.

Meanwhile, authorities are calling on the survivors to have patience as they wait for food, water and other supplies.

The mayor of Miami-Dade County has complained that supplies given by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are running low — and have run out at at least one distribution center.

Now pay attention closely to this next part.

Gov. Jeb Bush said he takes responsibility for the delays. But he also said the people who are waiting in line for relief should have done more to prepare.

Did you get that? Unlike his brother who never accepts responsibility for anything that goes wrong (only the few things that go right, mostly leftover from days of Clinton), Jeb takes full responsibility. Except it’s really all your fault.

Officials had advised people as the storm approached that they should have 72 hours’ worth of supplies on hand.

“It isn’t that hard to get 72 hours’ worth of food and water,” Gov. Bush said Wednesday.

Let’s see…72 hours’ worth of Combos, cereral bars, Gatorade, Pop-Tarts, and peanut butter for a family of four. That ought to run you, say, $178. Anyone should be able to cough that up in cash on a moment’s notice.

And unless I’m doing the math wrong, we’re way beyond 72 hours from the time people in South Florida were ordered off the streets to await Hurricane Wilma. So where’s the stuff Jeb? It doesn’t seem like it’s that hard to provide enough Combos, cereral bars, Gatorade, Pop-Tarts, and peanut butter for everyone in South Florida. Unless you’re not properly prepared. Asswipe.