Might want to read this first. And, fasten your seatbelt really tight..
The air traffic controllers union says experienced controllers have been leaving and operational errors increasing at key traffic control centers since the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a new contract on Labor Day 2006. Airport towers handle landings and takeoffs; Terminal Radar Approach Control or TRACONs handle planes below 15,000 feet and within 40 miles of airports; en route centers control planes at [...]
Tags: Air Travel Safety, Air Traffic Controllers, TRACON
Categories: Uncategorized
There really should be a "Congressional Handbook" that advises against things like this. Except that you’d think it would be kinda obvious…
DailyKos: Colorado representative Doug Lamborn has just made the final doo-doo step it what will be the shortest and most lackluster career the House has ever seen. Doug Lamborn’s recorded threats to a pair of voters critical of his views has now reached the pages of both the Denver and Huffington Posts. Doug’s local [...]
Tags: Doug Lamborn, Threats
Categories: Uncategorized
This Craig saga isn’t over, my friends. He "intends" to resign. Unless…
As political scandals go, Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-Idaho) was incredibly efficient. The story broke late Monday; Craig resigned early Saturday. The start-to-finish timeline was almost impressive. That is, if it is finished. After his speech yesterday, a CNN correspondent asked Craig if he stood by his claim of innocence. “Absolutely,” he said, adding: “We’ll be fighting this [...]
Tags: Larry Craig
Categories: Uncategorized
The excuses are all there. Ready. Set. Go…
There will be many reasons advanced for justifying an attack on Iran by the Bush administration and its lapdogs in the media over the next few months. We already know many of them. We will be told, by "serious people" in grim tones the following: 1. Iran is developing the technology which could allow it to produce nuclear weapons that it may use against Israel and/or America. 2. Iran is already responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, because it supplies weapons, advisers and training to Shi’a militias [...]
Tags: Iran Attack, Iraq War
Categories: Uncategorized
Obviously, it really helps if you get reporters on your side…
Yesterday, Kevin Drum explained that independent of Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus has run a masterful, methodical p.r. campaign that effectively "outplayed" Democrats and other opponents of the president’s war policy. Atrios held lawmakers at least partially responsible, because they "have chosen to play along." But in order to really change the conventional wisdom, Petraeus needed a hand from a pliant press corps. Greg Sargent makes the case today that the media made [...]
Tags: Patraeus, Kevin Drum, Greg Sargent, Atrios
Categories: Uncategorized
Nice scene this morning on Meet The Press…
The strain of an imploding Republican Party is have an obvious effect. The quote below is what set her off, and whether you agree with Shrum 100% on it or not, he smacked her down and pushed her over the edge. "Matalin: "There’s only 25% of the Democrats think that we should [...]
Tags: Matlin, Meet The Press, Shrum
Categories: Uncategorized
Good work, Mr. Blitzer..
Appearing on CNN’s Late Edition this morning, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), who recently returned from Iraq, asserted “some major improvements” are being witnessed in Iraq. Echoing claims made by Gen. David Petraeus, Boustany said “sectarian deaths are down.” Host Wolf Blitzer corrected Boustany’s assertion, citing Iraqi health ministry statistics that report Iraqi civilian deaths have been [...]
Tags: Charles Boustany, Patraeus, Wolf Blitzer
Categories: Uncategorized
Wrestlin’?
In a pro-active move before the Congressional hearings kickoff because of the steroid related deaths in Pro-Wrestling, the WWE has fired and/or suspended over a dozen WWE performers who have been linked to steroids. If you follow the WWE, some of the names will be familiar from the list that has [...]
Tags: WWE, Steroids
Categories: Uncategorized
Might want to read this first. And, fasten your seatbelt really tight..
The air traffic controllers union says experienced controllers have been leaving and operational errors increasing at key traffic control centers since the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a new contract on Labor Day 2006. Airport towers handle landings and takeoffs; Terminal Radar Approach Control or TRACONs handle planes below 15,000 feet and within 40 miles of airports; en route centers control planes at [...]
Tags: Air Travel Safety, Air Traffic Controllers, TRACON
Categories: Uncategorized
There really should be a "Congressional Handbook" that advises against things like this. Except that you’d think it would be kinda obvious…
DailyKos: Colorado representative Doug Lamborn has just made the final doo-doo step it what will be the shortest and most lackluster career the House has ever seen. Doug Lamborn’s recorded threats to a pair of voters critical of his views has now reached the pages of both the Denver and Huffington Posts. Doug’s local [...]
Tags: Doug Lamborn, Threats
Categories: Uncategorized
This Craig saga isn’t over, my friends. He "intends" to resign. Unless…
As political scandals go, Sen. Larry Craig’s (R-Idaho) was incredibly efficient. The story broke late Monday; Craig resigned early Saturday. The start-to-finish timeline was almost impressive. That is, if it is finished. After his speech yesterday, a CNN correspondent asked Craig if he stood by his claim of innocence. “Absolutely,” he said, adding: “We’ll be fighting this [...]
Tags: Larry Craig
Categories: Uncategorized
The excuses are all there. Ready. Set. Go…
There will be many reasons advanced for justifying an attack on Iran by the Bush administration and its lapdogs in the media over the next few months. We already know many of them. We will be told, by "serious people" in grim tones the following: 1. Iran is developing the technology which could allow it to produce nuclear weapons that it may use against Israel and/or America. 2. Iran is already responsible for the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, because it supplies weapons, advisers and training to Shi’a militias [...]
Tags: Iran Attack, Iraq War
Categories: Uncategorized
Obviously, it really helps if you get reporters on your side…
Yesterday, Kevin Drum explained that independent of Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus has run a masterful, methodical p.r. campaign that effectively "outplayed" Democrats and other opponents of the president’s war policy. Atrios held lawmakers at least partially responsible, because they "have chosen to play along." But in order to really change the conventional wisdom, Petraeus needed a hand from a pliant press corps. Greg Sargent makes the case today that the media made [...]
Tags: Patraeus, Kevin Drum, Greg Sargent, Atrios
Categories: Uncategorized
Noted on one of the more conservative blogs this morning…a thorough chastising of the GOP..
It’s always interesting to watch a political entity crash and burn, and it is even more so when that entity goes down in flames due to its own folly. Through the magic of modern mass media we watched as Nixon humiliated this country in the eyes of the world as his shifty, crooked manipulations were uncovered one dirty little detail after another. Clinton did his part in making this country a laughing stock the world over by [...]
Speaking of smackdowns, that same blog delivers one to our own Mike Huckabee:
Tags: GOP, Republican Party, Vitter, Craig
Categories: Uncategorized
And they serve to reinforce what I’ve thought for a long time…the Iraq situation is like trying to fight a forest fire with a garden hose: you make a bit of progress where you focus your effort, but the fire rages on everywhere else…
BAGHDAD, Sept. 1 – Newly released statistics for Iraqi civilian deaths in August reflect the strikingly mixed security picture that has emerged from a gradual six-month increase [...]
Tags: Iraq War, Civilian Deaths
Categories: Uncategorized
Ever wonder what disgraced Administration officials are doing now? After being bounced from the jobs they once held..Here’s one for ya’ -
To mark the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, The Washington Post ran a “where-are-they-now” story about some of the major players. Featured prominently was Michael D. Brown, the notorious former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). If there were any justice in the world, Brown would have fled the United States [...]
Tags: Katrina, Michael Brown, FEMA
Categories: Uncategorized
Nice scene this morning on Meet The Press…
The strain of an imploding Republican Party is have an obvious effect. The quote below is what set her off, and whether you agree with Shrum 100% on it or not, he smacked her down and pushed her over the edge. "Matalin: "There’s only 25% of the Democrats think that we should [...]
Tags: Matlin, Meet The Press, Shrum
Categories: Uncategorized
"Brilliant at Breakfast" is pretty much focused on next week and Iran. That’s likely a smart thing to do..
I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz. (LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth. I asked her why she is telling me this. Her answer was really amazing. [...]
It’s another gorgeous morning here in New Jersey — bright, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, sixty-three degrees, the cicadas buzzing, utterly silent. Even the guy next door who has a canniption if there’s so much as one grass clipping on his lawn isn’t out with his leaf blower yet. It’s a perfect Labor Day weekend, but as I posted last night, the relative quiet of this weekend won’t last long, because the Administration is about to launch its "new product": "THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate [...]
UPDATE: Another blogger:
From The London Times (UK): Sarah Baxter, Washington THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert. Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners [...]
Tags: Iran Attack, Persian Gulf
Categories: Uncategorized
New book on the way, detailing the inner working of the President’s mind. Fascinating, if not a bit troubling.
People that know me know that I frequently joke about Bush’s prospects in retirement. Who is going to pay to hear him give a speech? George W. Bush is like Dan Quayle on steroids. He’s not just ridiculous, he’s actually responsible. He’s going to go down in history as a kind of hybrid of Nixon/McGovern/Carter. He’ll be part radical, part incompetent, part crooked, and totally responsible for ruining the short-term prospects for his party. No one is going to want to hear Bush speak. First of all, he can’t speak [....]
Oh, by the way, for the next couple of days, fresh posts will be on top since I’m not aggregating them in my editor and uploading them all at once, the way I usually do.
Tags: George W. Bush, Bush Legacy
Categories: Uncategorized
No big deal, apparently. By the way, welcome to Sunday! Did I mention that it’s great to see football season arrive? Especially when all of "my" teams win!
On Friday, President Bush unveiled his “plan to help homeowners,” who are facing foreclosures in the housing slump. But McClatchy reports that most of what Bush announced simply duplicates what Congress is already doing: The plan was announced days before Congress returns from its August recess with housing issues high on its agenda. The proposals, [...]
Tags: Foreclosure, McClatchy, Bush Administration
Categories: Uncategorized
