LONDON (AP) -- Russia's conflict with Georgia and recognition of its small breakaway territories as independent states may have broad repercussions for separatist movements in the former Soviet sphere and around the world.The crisis could give a jolt of energy to other breakaway regions, especially those with links to Russia, or embolden China to pursue a tougher line in Tibet and Taiwan in the absence of tough Western measures."Any country that has a potential separatist movement will view the events in Georgia through its own unique prism," Richard Holbrooke, the former U.S. envoy who mediated peace in Bosnia in the mid-1990s, told The Associated Press.
LONDON (AP) -- Russia's conflict with Georgia and recognition of its small breakaway territories as independent states may have broad repercussions for separatist movements in the former Soviet sphere and around the world.
The crisis could give a jolt of energy to other breakaway regions, especially those with links to Russia, or embolden China to pursue a tougher line in Tibet and Taiwan in the absence of tough Western measures.
"Any country that has a potential separatist movement will view the events in Georgia through its own unique prism," Richard Holbrooke, the former U.S. envoy who mediated peace in Bosnia in the mid-1990s, told The Associated Press.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cindy McCain said Sunday that Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin understands what's at stake in national security issues in part because she is governor of Alaska, located some 300 miles from Russia.The wife of soon-to-be GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain also said she's "offended" by Democrats calling her husband elitist because of the number of homes their family owns.Asked about Palin's credential, Cindy McCain told ABC-TV's "This Week:" "The experience that she comes from is with what she's done in the government. And also, remember: Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cindy McCain said Sunday that Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin understands what's at stake in national security issues in part because she is governor of Alaska, located some 300 miles from Russia.
The wife of soon-to-be GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain also said she's "offended" by Democrats calling her husband elitist because of the number of homes their family owns.
Asked about Palin's credential, Cindy McCain told ABC-TV's "This Week:" "The experience that she comes from is with what she's done in the government. And also, remember: Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia. So, it's not as if she doesn't understand what's at stake here."
Russia is our enemy keep to the Fen Causeway
And also, remember: Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia.
I suppose this answers my 'What does it take to be experienced?' question.
It's homoeopathic - close proximity to extremely diluted Russian-ness makes you a foreign policy guru.
And who could have predicted that?
Sarah Palin is not qualified to be mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. She was nearly recalled for firing the police chief on grounds that he didn't support her in the election. The woman believes we should outlaw birth control, and that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger.
She's a Creationist. She doesn't believe in climate change, and has sued the federal government to take polar bears off the endangered species list.
I'll bet you $50 she wouldn't allow her kids to read the Harry Potter books because of the witchcraft element. I'm dead serious. She's one of those nutcase soccer moms who need to be put in a straightjacket and shipped off to Bellevue.
This is the person John McCain has decided should be the next winner of America's Next Top Model Vice President of the United States.
The more I read about her, the more I'm convinced that Palin is completely fucking insane. Which is fine, if she's just some wacko Alaskan resident voting on the presidency, but not if she's an actual candidate for office. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
What about naming them 'Willow' and 'Piper' - both witches. Both into pre-marital sex, Willow tending towards women.
Sarah Palin is not qualified to be mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. She was nearly recalled for firing the police chief on grounds that he didn't support her in the election. The woman believes we should outlaw birth control, and that abortion should be illegal even in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is in danger. She's a Creationist. She doesn't believe in climate change, and has sued the federal government to take polar bears off the endangered species list. I'll bet you $50 she wouldn't allow her kids to read the Harry Potter books because of the witchcraft element. I'm dead serious. She's one of those nutcase soccer moms who need to be put in a straightjacket and shipped off to Bellevue.
"Mark, we're having trouble with phrasal verbs"
Me: "Well I'll prepare a lesson on that" (to myself: WTF are phrasal verbs!?). The extra brilliance was that they paid me about fifty percent more than the excellent Polish English teachers they had - presumably actual knowledge of the subject and who needs teaching skills if you've got the right accent.
In the end, it was goddog who ruled you out. When the tree came crashing down on your car as you were about to travel to the forbidden city of NOLA, we knew that you didn't have the support of the higher being.
Plus we didn't want anyone who could actually read polls. ;-)
Seriously, the joke nature of this campaign evinces the weakness of the amurkan body politic. That Palin could even be considered is a slap in the face of both intelligence and civilization. That on the left side, the blind fawning over Obama is just as blind (though not as dangerous.) It is embarrassing as hell.
Aside: i supported you. "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
I'm not even sure how many scientists live consistently in a scientific reality.
Nothing is going to get better until people figure out that making political decisions for mythical reasons is really, really stupid.
There are a lot of evangelicals and Catholics and conservatives and libertarians who were not voting for the elder of the two manchurian candidates. Not one of them now will stay away from this opportunity to elect 3 new Supreme Court Justices who will allow (or mandate) chastity belts for kids, prescriptions for condoms (in states where they are still allowed), and full rights to minorities...rights to be hunted, that is.
Just look at the numbers...well, I don't know the numbers. But before the convention it was a plus or minus the margin of error tie at 45% each. It does not take that many loonies to tip this over to the side the McWarCrimePartyTM. Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.
Frank Delaney ~ Ireland
According to reports in the newspaper De Telegraaf, the country's intelligence service, the AIVD, has stopped an espionage operation aimed at infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in Iran. "The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iraq," said the report."Targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action.""Well placed" sources told the paper that a top agent had been recalled recently "because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft". "Information from the AIVD operation has in recent years been shared with the American CIA secret service."
According to reports in the newspaper De Telegraaf, the country's intelligence service, the AIVD, has stopped an espionage operation aimed at infiltration and sabotage of the weapons industry in Iran.
"The operation, described as extremely successful, was halted recently in connection with plans for an impending US air attack on Iraq," said the report.
"Targets would also be bombed which were connected with the Dutch espionage action."
"Well placed" sources told the paper that a top agent had been recalled recently "because the US was thought to be making a decision within weeks to attack Iran with unmanned aircraft".
"Information from the AIVD operation has in recent years been shared with the American CIA secret service."
A Libyan "double agent" who was central to the CIA's investigation into the Lockerbie bombing exaggerated his importance in Tripoli's intelligence apparatus and gave little information of value, yet is still living at the US taxpayers' expense in a witness protection programme, according to previously unseen CIA cables. Five months before the destruction of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988, 27-year-old Majid Giaka turned up at the US embassy in Malta and "expressed a desire to relocate ... in return for sensitive information on Libya", in the words of a cable sent by a CIA case officer to his headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the same day. Mr Giaka claimed he was an agent of Libya's feared Jamahiriya security organisation, but it later turned out that he worked in the agency's garage.More than 60 cables, uncovered in a BBC investigation, detail the relations between the Americans and a man later described in court as a real-life Walter Mitty. Mr Giaka, who said that he worked for Libyan Arab Airlines at Malta's Luqa airport as a cover, told the CIA that he wanted to remain in Malta. He promised he would co-operate fully with the CIA - in return for money.
A Libyan "double agent" who was central to the CIA's investigation into the Lockerbie bombing exaggerated his importance in Tripoli's intelligence apparatus and gave little information of value, yet is still living at the US taxpayers' expense in a witness protection programme, according to previously unseen CIA cables.
Five months before the destruction of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988, 27-year-old Majid Giaka turned up at the US embassy in Malta and "expressed a desire to relocate ... in return for sensitive information on Libya", in the words of a cable sent by a CIA case officer to his headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the same day. Mr Giaka claimed he was an agent of Libya's feared Jamahiriya security organisation, but it later turned out that he worked in the agency's garage.
More than 60 cables, uncovered in a BBC investigation, detail the relations between the Americans and a man later described in court as a real-life Walter Mitty. Mr Giaka, who said that he worked for Libyan Arab Airlines at Malta's Luqa airport as a cover, told the CIA that he wanted to remain in Malta. He promised he would co-operate fully with the CIA - in return for money.
John McCain's chances, which are proving to be better than anyone imagined, will depend heavily on two things: continued progress of "the surge" in Iraq, and the state of the economy. Fortunately for him, there are signs -- signs that do not yet qualify even as green shoots, but signs nevertheless -- that the housing market is finding a bottom, as Wall Street types put it. The fall in prices is slowing, nine of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the much-watched S&P/Case-Shiller index posted price gains in June, new-home sales ticked up in July, and the inventory of unsold new homes, although still high, declined for the second consecutive month. Nigel Gault, an economist with the forecasting firm Global Insight, told The Wall Street Journal: "We are starting to see some hopeful signs in parts of the country." That might not be the beginning of the end of the housing crisis, or even the end of the beginning. After all, mortgage rates are creeping up; the banks face the enormous task of refunding almost $800 billion of their debt by the end of next year -- $95 billion next month; the list of troubled banks is growing; and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may face tougher terms from lenders and be forced to curtail their support for the mortgage market. But most Americans are comfortable with their own circumstances as they return to work on Tuesday -- and to the job of deciding which man they want to lead the country in the next four years.
John McCain's chances, which are proving to be better than anyone imagined, will depend heavily on two things: continued progress of "the surge" in Iraq, and the state of the economy. Fortunately for him, there are signs -- signs that do not yet qualify even as green shoots, but signs nevertheless -- that the housing market is finding a bottom, as Wall Street types put it. The fall in prices is slowing, nine of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the much-watched S&P/Case-Shiller index posted price gains in June, new-home sales ticked up in July, and the inventory of unsold new homes, although still high, declined for the second consecutive month. Nigel Gault, an economist with the forecasting firm Global Insight, told The Wall Street Journal: "We are starting to see some hopeful signs in parts of the country."
That might not be the beginning of the end of the housing crisis, or even the end of the beginning. After all, mortgage rates are creeping up; the banks face the enormous task of refunding almost $800 billion of their debt by the end of next year -- $95 billion next month; the list of troubled banks is growing; and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may face tougher terms from lenders and be forced to curtail their support for the mortgage market.
But most Americans are comfortable with their own circumstances as they return to work on Tuesday -- and to the job of deciding which man they want to lead the country in the next four years.
Hyper- [Murdoch Alert]
"Hooliganism" is the word used by one chareidi newspaper to describe the continued vandalism against the eruv in the Kiryat Yovel and Kiryat Menachem neighborhoods of the capital. This past Shabbos, the attack against the eruv was expanded to additional areas of the capital as well. There appears to be a growing momentum in the battle against chareidim moving into Kiryat Yovel. This past week, there was a protest outside Jerusalem City Hall during a council meeting, with secularists expressing their opposition to a chareidi school in Kiryat Yovel. Once again, the eruv was torn and poles damaged, and an inspection on motzei Shabbos revealed significant damage in the two neighborhoods as well as the mehadrin eruv in other areas including Armon HaNatziv, Givat Mordechai, Givat Shaul, and Bayit Vegan. Most of the neighborhoods still had the religious council eruv, although there were actually areas without any eruv according to reports. Rabbonim lamented the fact that the acts of vandalism led to chilul Shabbos by some in areas that were left without an eruv as a result of the actions of the secularists. Rabbonim will be convening in an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss the alarming trend and the lack of response from Israel Police.
There appears to be a growing momentum in the battle against chareidim moving into Kiryat Yovel. This past week, there was a protest outside Jerusalem City Hall during a council meeting, with secularists expressing their opposition to a chareidi school in Kiryat Yovel.
Once again, the eruv was torn and poles damaged, and an inspection on motzei Shabbos revealed significant damage in the two neighborhoods as well as the mehadrin eruv in other areas including Armon HaNatziv, Givat Mordechai, Givat Shaul, and Bayit Vegan. Most of the neighborhoods still had the religious council eruv, although there were actually areas without any eruv according to reports. Rabbonim lamented the fact that the acts of vandalism led to chilul Shabbos by some in areas that were left without an eruv as a result of the actions of the secularists.
Rabbonim will be convening in an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss the alarming trend and the lack of response from Israel Police.
The Cuban weather service said one of its stations measured a gust of 204 mph (340 kph), the highest ever recorded.
Note that we learn this via the UK, not a US based media. So what is wrong with this picture?
The government reported some minor injuries. But hurricane deaths are rare in Cuba, where evacuations are well-organized and begin early.
Ah! That goes some way to explaining it. "Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne
Dear God, The other night, James Dobson's organization asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be canceled. I see that You have answered Dr. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention. Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You. Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.
Dear God,
The other night, James Dobson's organization asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be canceled.
I see that You have answered Dr. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.
Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.
Some of us tried to help after Katrina hit, while Bush ate cake with McCain and twiddled his thumbs. I closed my office in New York and sent my entire staff down to New Orleans to help. I asked people on my website to contribute to the relief effort I organized -- and I ended up sending over two million dollars in donations, food, water, and supplies (collected from thousands of fans) to New Orleans while Bush's FEMA ice trucks were still driving around Maine three weeks later.
Half a million people in the Indian state of Bihar remain stranded in villages which have been devastated by massive flooding, officials say. A BBC correspondent reports chaotic scenes as soldiers try to reach those cut off and people attempt to scramble from rooftops into rescue boats. With 1.2 million people homeless, India is struggling to cope with the crisis. The flood waters are spreading to new areas, and conditions in relief camps are overcrowded and unsanitary. The floods are known to have killed at least 75 people in Bihar but the death toll could climb once the situation in remote areas emerges.
Half a million people in the Indian state of Bihar remain stranded in villages which have been devastated by massive flooding, officials say.
A BBC correspondent reports chaotic scenes as soldiers try to reach those cut off and people attempt to scramble from rooftops into rescue boats.
With 1.2 million people homeless, India is struggling to cope with the crisis.
The flood waters are spreading to new areas, and conditions in relief camps are overcrowded and unsanitary.
The floods are known to have killed at least 75 people in Bihar but the death toll could climb once the situation in remote areas emerges.
NEW DELHI: Millions of farmers and their families may be displaced for months after severe floods in northern India wiped out crops and homes, leaving hundreds of villages under several feet of water, officials said Friday. The Kosi River in Bihar, one of the poorest and most populous Indian states, overflowed its banks this past week after a dam burst in neighboring Nepal, causing the worst floods in the area in 50 years. More than 21 million people and over 102,000 hectares, or 394 square miles, have been affected by the flooding, the Bihar government said on Friday. About a quarter of a million people have been evacuated so far. These evacuees may not be able to return to their homes, assuming these homes still exist, until the autumn, state government officials said. "This water will remain for some time," said Devi Rajak, chief engineer for Bihar's water resource department. "It may start decreasing in September, depending upon upstream discharge."
NEW DELHI: Millions of farmers and their families may be displaced for months after severe floods in northern India wiped out crops and homes, leaving hundreds of villages under several feet of water, officials said Friday.
The Kosi River in Bihar, one of the poorest and most populous Indian states, overflowed its banks this past week after a dam burst in neighboring Nepal, causing the worst floods in the area in 50 years. More than 21 million people and over 102,000 hectares, or 394 square miles, have been affected by the flooding, the Bihar government said on Friday. About a quarter of a million people have been evacuated so far.
These evacuees may not be able to return to their homes, assuming these homes still exist, until the autumn, state government officials said.
"This water will remain for some time," said Devi Rajak, chief engineer for Bihar's water resource department. "It may start decreasing in September, depending upon upstream discharge."
Up to 2,000 people are feared dead after a river changed course, flooding hundreds of villages in the Indian state of Bihar. Stranded villagers were surviving on uncooked rice mixed with dirty water, as authorities struggled to deliver aid to the displaced millions after the worst floods to hit the eastern state in 50 years. Around 90 people have been confirmed dead by officials, but aid agencies believe the death toll is much higher. Unicef said more than 1,000 villages had been affected by surging waters, which submerged thousands of homes and damaged water and electricity supplies. An estimated 100,000 hectares of farmland is thought to have been ruined. Heavy rain and damaged roads continued to hamper aid efforts, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without food and clean water. Rapid changes in the river's course have forced many people to move shelter several times, and to sell precious livestock just to survive. One villager, Sabia Devi, said: "I sold my goat for just 50 rupees, which on any other day could have brought me 2,000 rupees."
Up to 2,000 people are feared dead after a river changed course, flooding hundreds of villages in the Indian state of Bihar. Stranded villagers were surviving on uncooked rice mixed with dirty water, as authorities struggled to deliver aid to the displaced millions after the worst floods to hit the eastern state in 50 years.
Around 90 people have been confirmed dead by officials, but aid agencies believe the death toll is much higher. Unicef said more than 1,000 villages had been affected by surging waters, which submerged thousands of homes and damaged water and electricity supplies. An estimated 100,000 hectares of farmland is thought to have been ruined.
Heavy rain and damaged roads continued to hamper aid efforts, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without food and clean water. Rapid changes in the river's course have forced many people to move shelter several times, and to sell precious livestock just to survive.
One villager, Sabia Devi, said: "I sold my goat for just 50 rupees, which on any other day could have brought me 2,000 rupees."
So much potential, but so little chance of realisation. The idea of India being an asian tiger would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that so many western commentators have been well-paid to promote the idea.
India is following china down the path of self-destruction through stupidity and will starve its population doing it. keep to the Fen Causeway
Bolivian President Evo Morales is to visit Iran, following a visit to Libya, where he met leader Muammar Gaddafi. Bolivia described the trip to Iran as the Andean country's attempt to reach out to other nations "rejected by the international community". For Bolivia's first indigenous president, his country and Iran are "two friendly and revolutionary countries" that are strengthening ties. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Mr Morales was a "dear friend".
Bolivian President Evo Morales is to visit Iran, following a visit to Libya, where he met leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Bolivia described the trip to Iran as the Andean country's attempt to reach out to other nations "rejected by the international community".
For Bolivia's first indigenous president, his country and Iran are "two friendly and revolutionary countries" that are strengthening ties.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Mr Morales was a "dear friend".
Russia's claim that the U.S. orchestrated the conflict in Georgia has sharpened the dispute between the two superpowers. But despite close links between the U.S. and Georgia, their relationship in recent years has been marked more by frustration than coordination. According to interviews with current and former U.S. officials, as well as with Georgian officials in Tbilisi, the U.S. for years has found the relationship with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili difficult to manage. From Mr. Saakashvili's ascent to power in the 2003 "rose revolution" to his assault this month on Tskhinvali, capital of separatist South Ossetia, his risky moves have often caught Washington unprepared and left it exposed diplomatically, U.S. officials say. American frustrations have been matched by those in Tbilisi. At a crucial moment earlier this year, a lame-duck administration in Washington was unable to deliver European support to kick-start Georgia's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Georgian president says he gave repeated warnings to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others that Russia would attack unless the West signaled strong support, including through NATO. These warnings, he says, went unheeded.
Russia's claim that the U.S. orchestrated the conflict in Georgia has sharpened the dispute between the two superpowers. But despite close links between the U.S. and Georgia, their relationship in recent years has been marked more by frustration than coordination.
According to interviews with current and former U.S. officials, as well as with Georgian officials in Tbilisi, the U.S. for years has found the relationship with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili difficult to manage.
From Mr. Saakashvili's ascent to power in the 2003 "rose revolution" to his assault this month on Tskhinvali, capital of separatist South Ossetia, his risky moves have often caught Washington unprepared and left it exposed diplomatically, U.S. officials say.
American frustrations have been matched by those in Tbilisi. At a crucial moment earlier this year, a lame-duck administration in Washington was unable to deliver European support to kick-start Georgia's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Georgian president says he gave repeated warnings to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others that Russia would attack unless the West signaled strong support, including through NATO. These warnings, he says, went unheeded.
Democratic Rep.: Palin pick is 'direct affront to all Jewish Americans | Ha'aretz | 31.8.08
Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida lashed out Saturday at John McCain's choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, accusing her of supporting "Nazi sympathizer" Pat Buchanan, and branding the move an "affront to all Jewish Americans." "John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans," said a statement by Wexler. "Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hitler for his 'great courage'". Wexler went on to accuse McCain of having "failed his first test of leadership."
"John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans," said a statement by Wexler.
"Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hitler for his 'great courage'". Wexler went on to accuse McCain of having "failed his first test of leadership."
FEMA's degradation, from one of the government's most admired agencies to a laughingstock, wasn't an isolated event; it was the result of the G.O.P.'s underlying philosophy. Simply put, when the government is run by a political party committed to the belief that government is always the problem, never the solution, that belief tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Key priorities are neglected; key functions are privatized; and key people, the competent public servants who make government work, either leave or are driven out.
Earlier this year Mr. McCain, as part of his strategy of distancing himself from the current administration, condemned Mr. Bush's response to Katrina. If he'd been president at the time, he says, "I would've landed my airplane at the nearest Air Force base and come over personally." Um, that completely misses the point. The problem with the Bush administration's response to Katrina wasn't the president's failure to show up promptly for his photo op. It was the failure of FEMA and other degraded agencies to show up promptly with food, water and first aid.
Um, that completely misses the point. The problem with the Bush administration's response to Katrina wasn't the president's failure to show up promptly for his photo op. It was the failure of FEMA and other degraded agencies to show up promptly with food, water and first aid.
To be fair, Republican plans to deal with Gustav by turning their convention into a "service event," perhaps a telethon to raise funds for victims, are a good idea. So is the Obama campaign's plan to mobilize its e-mail list to send aid and volunteers. But personal, voluntary aid is no substitute for an effective public response to disaster. What we really need is a government that works, because it's run by people who understand that sometimes government is the solution, after all. And that seems to be something undreamed of in either Mr. Bush's or Mr. McCain's philosophy.
What we really need is a government that works, because it's run by people who understand that sometimes government is the solution, after all. And that seems to be something undreamed of in either Mr. Bush's or Mr. McCain's philosophy.
key people, the competent public servants who make government work, either leave or are driven out
Equally they deliberately held back from publication the work of other journalists who wanted to expose the extent of the FISA violations, as such would be politically damaging for the bush administration, the one they pretend they criticise now. Indeed the story was ready before the 2004 election, when such a revelation might have brought Kerry to office who might not have had an arabian horse trader in change of FEMA when Katrina hit.
So the NYT is entirely incapable of lecturing the republicans for ideological idiocies when it was they themselves that enabled and cheerled them. Equally, the NYT doesn't have the credibility to inform the electorate about the iniquities of the republicans because half the time they would have to resort to the 5th amendment to avoid admitting their own collusion. keep to the Fen Causeway
This is a common practice in the UK where writers who have ideological differences with a newspaper at least acknowledge the fact that the difference exists. keep to the Fen Causeway
