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CORRUPTION UPDATES 58 Late May 2007: Draft Posting: Stay Tuned for More! The CORRUPTION UPDATES posts corruption news stories from California, the Nation and the World, and gives you the straight story. |
CORRUPTION UPDATES 58
Previous Corruption Updates: Page 57
Next Corruption Updates: Page 59
Contact Us: Committeefordemocracy.org
1) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE:
In the Democratic Congress, Pork Still Gets Served
'Phonemarking' Is Among Ways Around Appropriations Process
By John Solomon and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, May 24, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/23/AR2007052301782_pf.html
When the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives passed one of its first spending bills, funding the Energy Department for the rest of 2007, it proudly boasted that the legislation contained no money earmarked for lawmakers' pet projects and stressed that any prior congressional requests for such spending "shall have no legal effect."
Within days, however, lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) began directly contacting the Energy Department. They sought to secure money for their favorite causes outside of the congressional appropriations process -- a practice that lobbyists and appropriations insiders call "phonemarking."
The number of earmarks, in which lawmakers target funds to specific spending projects, exploded over the past decade from about 3,000 in 1996 to more than 13,000 in 2006, according to the Congressional Research Service. Most earmarks made it into appropriations bills or their accompanying conference reports without identifying their sponsors.
Upon taking control of Congress after November's midterm elections, Democrats vowed to try to halve the number of earmarks, and to require lawmakers to disclose their requests and to certify that the money they are requesting will not benefit them.
But the new majority is already skirting its own reforms.
Perhaps the biggest retreat from that pledge came this week, when House Appropriations Committee Chairman David R. Obey (D-Wis.) told fellow lawmakers that he intends to keep requests for earmarks out of pending spending bills, at least for now. Obey said the committee will deal with them at the end of the appropriations process in the closed-door meetings between House and Senate negotiators known as conference committees.
Democrats had complained bitterly in recent years that Republicans routinely slipped multimillion-dollar pet projects into spending bills at the end of the legislative process, preventing any chance for serious public scrutiny. Now Democrats are poised to do the same.
"I don't give a damn if people criticize me or not," Obey said.
Obey's spokeswoman, Kirstin Brost, said his intention is not to keep the projects secret. Rather, she said, so many requests for spending were made to the appropriations panel -- more than 30,000 this year -- that its staff has been unable to study them and decide their validity.
"I have to sign off on that stuff," Obey said.
Phonemarking is another way lawmakers are trying to secure money for projects outside of the new congressional appropriations process by going directly to federal agencies.
After the House finished with the Energy Department spending bill, Reid sent a letter to Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on Feb. 1, saying that there were no earmarks. Then came a "however."
Reid, as a senator from the electricity-needy West, noted that the legislation set aside $300 million in new money for research in energy efficiency and renewable energy and suggested that some money be used to reverse the administration's original plan to end its geothermal-energy research program.
Other lawmakers, from both parties, inundated the Energy Department with similar requests.
Democrats slammed such practices when Republicans ruled the House, but such calls and letters have not let up in the Democratic Congress, executive branch officials said.
Another key Democratic reform requires House members seeking earmarks to certify that neither they nor their spouses have any financial interest in the project.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) did just that when she requested $25 million for a project to improve the waterfront in her home district of San Francisco. Her request did not note that her family owns interests in four buildings near the proposed Pier 35 project.
House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) sent out a two-page tip sheet, along with several sample letters and forms. "Provide all necessary information on the attached form to ensure full consideration of the request," the guidelines urged. Skelton set a deadline of noon on March 15 for requests.
Democrats are not alone in seeking new money for pet projects. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) has made one of the biggest earmark requests in the new Congress, seeking $2.4 billion to build 10 more C-17 planes -- which the Pentagon has said it does not need.Veteran appropriations watchers say the new Congress has also been playing with wording to disguise some earmarks or to create the appearance that less special-interest spending is occurring.
"Absolutely nothing has changed," said the Center for Defense Information's Winslow T. Wheeler, a Senate appropriations and national security aide who worked for both Democrats and Republicans over three decades before stepping down in 2002. "The rhetoric has changed but not the behavior, and the behavior has gotten worse in the sense that while they are pretending to reform things, they are still groveling in the trough."
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Dem Pigs as Voracious with Earmarks as were Republicans,
Except they Pretend to be Honest
As the Above article well demonstrates, The Democrats are just as corrupt as the Republicans, except they are dedicated to presenting a false image of honesty.
It has come to the point where the people must impose honest democracy on our politicians and elections. These crooks can only be depended on to protect the system of bribery and corruption that sustains them and their parties in office.
Our Initiative will cut them off from their corporate-special interest feeding tube. Our voter-only campaign finance law will make politicians dependent on the funding of their local voters, rather than defense contractors and scumbags like Abramoff, to get elected.
This will go on until we stop the institutionalized corruption that has captured our politicians, their parties, and our government.
Unless we do this ourselves, our government will continue to be a tool for criminals, and our politicians will continue to lie to us about everything from the war, to eavesdropping,through earmarks.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 26, 1st article on page, 12-8-06, “LOBBYISTS SEE NO CHANGE UNDER DEMS CORRUPTION PRESENTED AS FORCE OF NATURE, DEM CORRUPTION NATURAL”
Corruption Updates 28, 1st article on page, 1-2-07: “LOBBYISTS HIRING-BRIBING DEMS SHIFTING FUNDS AND PERSONELL TO DEMS ASSURES NO REAL CHANGES"
Corruption Updates 30, 2nd article on page, “Democrats set back on earmarks” (REID TRIES TO KILL REAL EARMARK REFORMS)
Corruption Updates 33, 4th article on page, “Lobbyists find new Congress is open for business”
Search the Corruption Database under
Earmarks
Fake Reform
Big Money Politics
2) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Earmarks debate turned around on Democrats in Congress
Now that the party controls both houses, Republicans are crying pork, pointing fingers at Pennsylvania's Rep. Murtha.
By Richard Simon, Times Staff Writer
May 23, 2007
This debate played out this month in a vivid exchange between Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), a former FBI agent, and Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), an ex-Marine, after Rogers led a failed bid to scuttle $23 million for a project in Murtha's district. Rogers charged that Murtha confronted him on the House floor a week later and shouted something like: "I hope you don't have any earmarks in the defense appropriations bill, because they are gone and you will not get any earmarks now and forever."
"I replied to him that threatening retribution is not the way we do business in Congress," Rogers said in the Republican radio address last weekend. "To which he replied, 'That's the way I do it.' "
Murtha, a close ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), has not directly responded, though his office issued a statement that said: "The committee and staff give every Democrat and Republican the same consideration." Murtha sits on the appropriations committee's Subcommittee on Defense.
On Tuesday, Democrats thwarted an attempt by Rogers to get the House to reprimand Murtha. The resolution was tabled without debate on a nearly party-line vote of 219 to 189.
Citizens Against Government Waste, which monitors earmarks and pork-barrel spending, weighed in Tuesday, naming Murtha "porker of the month."
The $23-million project in Murtha's district, the National Drug Intelligence Center, has been criticized as costly and unnecessary.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
We Warned You About The Dems, and Especially Murtha,
The Earmark King
The Dems are as bad, if not worse than Repugs: worse, if you believe honesty and integrity are important. The Repugnants stole openly, barely covering their naked corruption. The Dems clothed themselves in virtue, talking up Reform, with absolutely no intention of stopping the flow of bribes, nor addressing the roots and branches of political bribery.
The Dems hypocrisy is bursting out of Congress and the Senate as they continue to feed at the trough of corruption while presenting themselves as "Reformers."
Those of you who believe the Democrats are better than the Republicans, or visa-versa, you are fooling yourselves: Despite their superficial differences, both parties are merely tools of the Corporate Special Interests. The parties and politicians are both agents of private corruption, neither are advocates of democracy.
One is center-left from the center of political corruption, while the other is center-Right from the center of corruption. Despite these differences, they are mirror images of each other. The heart of both parties are black, captured by greed, ambition, and dishonesty, wrapped in an American Flag.
Most importantly, each party is bribed by the same special interests that control the key polices of both parties. The rules are simple.
Bribe both parties, and you will not pay taxes, you will receive fat subsidies for worthless work, and your industry will be freed from health and safety regulations.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 3, “Media Reports: Both Parties Corrupt”
Corruption Updates 5, 1st article on page, Dems try to ignore corruption as election issue, see, “Corruption fails as Campaign issue...,”
Corruption Updates 14 , 10th article on page, "Murtha:Trading Votes for Pork Across the House Aisle"
Pelosi does earmarks well and often, LA Times, 11-13-06, “Speaker-to-be is no stranger to earmarking,” (abstract at LA Times archive, #52 under Richard Simon search)
Corruption Updates 19, 1st article on page, “Top Recipients of Lobbyists Bribes are Leadership of Both Parties”
Corruption Updates 19, 3rd article on page, “PARTIES AND THEIR BRIBERS WORK TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE CAMPAIGN FINANCE RESTRICTION”
Corruption Updates 20, 1st article on page, 10-25-06, “PELOSI FUNRAISING FRENZY ASSURES SPECIAL INTEREST DOMINATION OF GOVERNMENT INDEPENDENT OF WHICH SIDE WINS IN NOV”
Corruption Updates 20, 6th article on page, “DEMS RECEIVE SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBES ANTICIPATING VICTORY IN NOV,”
Corruption Updates 21, 8th article on page, “Dems Big Chance to Reap the Rewards of Corruption: Political Victory Opens Doors of Lobbying Firms to Demo Insiders,”
Corruption Updates 22, 6th article on page, “MONEY WINS IN ALMOST EVERY POLITICAL RACE”
Search the Corruption Database under
Earmarks
Fake Reform
Big Money Politics
3) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Cheney talks tough on Iran from U.S. carrier
David E. Sanger, New York Times
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/12/MNG5BPPPPT1.DTL
Vice President Dick Cheney used the deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier just
150 miles off Iran's coast as the backdrop Friday to warn that the United
States was prepared to use its naval power to keep Tehran from disrupting
oil routes or "gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region."
Senior officials said Cheney's speech was not circulated broadly in the
government before it was delivered. A senior U.S. diplomat added, "He
still kind of runs by his own rules."
The speech was reminiscent of Cheney's speeches about Iraq in August 2002,
which argued against sending weapons inspectors back into Iraq and laid
bare the split within the administration over how to deal with Saddam
Hussein. But the circumstances with Iran are quite different. U.S.
officials say that so many troops are tied up in Iraq, and Iran has so
much power to cause disruption there and in the oil markets, that an
attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would be an enormous risk.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Cheney Threatens Iran with American Military Incompetence
With the American army broken, and as the parts of the middle east not burning are slipping away from our control, Cheney is threatening to expand the war to Iran.
Iran must be thrilled. The last neo-con brilliant "Plan" has improved Iran's regional standing, and has provided them with Scores of Iraqi Shia allies. Iraq may soon become Iran's best friend in the middle east, due to Bush's last brilliant war "plan."
The last brilliant plan is still destroying our influence around the world, and in the middle east, is still draining our treasury, and is giving Bush the moxie to destroy what was left of our democracy.
The Iranians must be thrilled: Bush's last plan eliminated their enemy, Saddam, allowing the Iranians and Shia majority in Iraq to become fast friends.
Bush's next "plan" should unify the whole middle east, if not the whole world, against us.
The Iranians are hoping Bush acts, because each time Bush takes action, he shoots himself (and us) in the foot.
It is likely that this time Bush will shoot himself (us) in the foot with an even bigger gun than last time.
Bush's incompetence and whorishness demands we take action to end the political corruption that allowed this fool to rise to the presidency.
We must change how we finance the election of our leaders to prevent bribery and corruption from ever again allowing corporate bribery to lift incompetents to the highest office in the land.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 45, 3rd article on page, “Is a U.S.-Iran War Inevitable?"
Corruption Updates 51, 6th article on page, “U.S. Decides Against Freeing 5 Iranian Agents"
Corruption Updates 58, 4th article on page, “Cheney's choices: Egyptians See When Americans are Blind: American Bid for World Control in Chaos, and Desperate"
Search the Corruption Database under
Iran
International
Egypt
Pakistan
4) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Cheney's choices
Al Ahram, 17-23 May 2007, Issue No. 845:
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/print/2007/845/op2.htm
Ominously back in the region, the US vice-president, running out of time in Washington, may well roll the dice for another military misadventure, writes Hassan Nafaa*
Cheney is no ordinary vice-president. If he had been, few would attach great importance to the movements of the occupant of an office that is often referred to as the fifth wheel in the American administration.
Cheney's expertise in foreign affairs, however, combined with Bush's lack of such expertise (not to mention other qualities) and a range of other factors has elevated him to the Bush administration's chief foreign policy architect.
In all his previous tours of the Middle East, this dangerous man, who maintained a broad network of connections in the region since he served as Bush Senior's secretary of defense, was used to getting what he wanted. This time, however, it looks like he's in for disappointment.
Since coming to power in January 2001, the neo- conservatives, especially the ultra-neoconservatives championed by Cheney, were obsessed by a single goal: reordering the world in a way that would establish Washington's global hegemony for the 21st century and ensure that no other power, such as China, could contest America's perch at the pinnacle of the new order. The key to accomplishing this goal, they thought, lay in seizing control over the world's major oil reserves, and Iraq, which sits atop one of the largest oil reserves and which was crippled by a decade of sanctions, was the obvious place to start.
Despite severe setbacks to the neo- conservatives' enterprise to secure America's global hegemony, indeed signs that this enterprise is unachievable, the fanatical neo- conservatives led by Cheney, at least, have given no indication whatsoever that they have learned a single lesson or changed their views in any way. On the contrary, it appears as though they still believe that they can win in the end.
But because the options that are now open to them are so few as to be virtually non-existent, the chances are high that they will resort to extreme measures. Cautioning them that the military operations they are planning are guaranteed fiascos will do little good. The world has already had ample demonstration of their mindset: it is rash and fanatic and until now refuses to admit defeat and it is becoming more desperate.
The most likely purpose of Cheney's tour, therefore, is to lay the diplomatic groundwork and secure support for a military strike against Iran.
Cheney undoubtedly thinks that there is enough anti-Iranian paranoia in the region to facilitate his task. However, he also knows that the Arabs will also want to see some progress on the Arab-Israeli front, so he certain to perform the types of gestures that we have seen from the Americans before when they were gearing up for a war in this region.
Today, in order to show how serious he is about getting the negotiations ball rolling again, he will give some play to the Arab peace initiative. But play is about as far as it will go; firstly, because Cheney is mostly interested in playing for time and, secondly, because an acceptable settlement has never been more out of reach than it is at present.
So probably the most we will see will be some preliminary talks while preparations are put into place for a strike against Iran, which could take place much sooner than many imagine and probably no later than October or November.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Egyptians See When Americans are Blind: American Bid for World Control in Chaos, and Desperate
Also See:
Corruption Updates 18, 7th article on page, “FOR MODERATE DEMOCRACY EGYPTIANS BELIEVE DEMOCRACY IN EGYPT IS NOT A REAL CONCERN” (of the United States)
“Egypt Sends Sadat's Nephew to Prison for Defaming Military,” Corruption Update 21, 3rd article on page, states that:
“The United States had at one time talked about Egypt as leading the way toward democratic reform in the Middle East. But with the chaos in the region, and the political uncertainty in Egypt, officials in Egypt said the United States has dropped all pressure to make democratic reforms.” Now compare that with our latest rational for the Iraq war: “We Will Spread Democracy across the Middle East.”
For further developments on the toleration of the suppression of democracy by the American sponsored dictatorship in Egypt, see,
“Egypt Cracks Down on Brotherhood,” Corruption Update 27, 5th article down.
“2007, Redrawing the Map,” Corruption Update 27, 6th article on page.
This article describes Mubarak's suppression of democracy through Constitutional amendments.
Corruption Update 30, 7th article on page, “Egypt detains Brotherhood backers”
Corruption Updates 31, 10th article on page, “Pakistan US DICTATORSHIPS CONTINUES TO FUEL “TERRORISM”
Corruption Updates 32, 1st article on page, “RICE THANKS EGYPTIAN DICTATOR FOR REGIONAL SUPPORT”
Corruption Update 40, 6 th article on page, "Before the vote" (MUBARAK ABOUT TO IMPOSE BUSH RULES ON EGYPT The Constitutional changes Mubarak is about to impose on Egypt are the same powers Bush has claimed here)
Search the Corruption Database under
Iran
Egypt
5) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
3rd Iranian-American Detained by Tehran, Which Hints at a Treason Plot
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
May 24, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/world/asia/24iran.html?pagewanted=print
CAIRO, May 23 (AP) — Iran has detained an Iranian-American consultant working for the Open Society Institute, the latest detention of an American citizen there in recent months, the institute said Wednesday.
The consultant, Kian Tajbakhsh, 45, is an urban planning expert who has also worked for the World Bank and is a senior research fellow at the New School in New York.
He was detained about May 11, according to a statement from the Open Society Institute, a private foundation financed by George Soros and based in New York that encourages democracy-building around the world.
His detention came three weeks after Haleh Esfandiari, a director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, was arrested in Iran and charged with setting up a network to overthrow the government.
When the Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced the charges against her, it also accused the Open Society Institute of being involved in such a plot.
Ms. Esfandiari, a 67-year-old scholar with both American and Iranian citizenship, had been in Iran visiting her 93-year-old mother when she was prevented from leaving in December and her passport was taken, the Woodrow Wilson center said. She was interrogated repeatedly before her arrest on May 8.
Another Iranian-American, Parnaz Azima, a journalist who works for the United States-financed Radio Farda, has been prohibited from leaving Iran since her passport was seized in January. She has been interrogated several times, the media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday.
Reporters Without Borders also said a French-Iranian journalism student, Mehrnoushe Solouki, was arrested in February. She was released in March on bail, but her passport was taken away and she has been unable to leave Iran, the group said.THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Bush "Detention" of 5 Iranian Consular Officers in Gitmo Paying Off:
Just Wait Until Iran Reacts to American Sponsored Terror in N.Iran
Bush hamstrung himself. Bush is unable to appeal to rule of law, because he uses it to wipe his ass.
Bush has no recourse to Diplomacy, because he kidnapped it.
Bush cannot appeal to the higher ground of Morality, as he squandered it in secret torture chambers.
Bush's Actions Have Consequences, especially when the rest of the world adopts his practices, and starts acting by his reprehensible standards.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 34 , 4th article on the page, "BUSH KIDNAPPING ON TRIAL IN GERMANY"
Corruption Updates 25 , 4th article on the page, "ITALY CHIEF OF INTELLIGENCE, 25 CIA OPERATIVES INDICTED FOR KIDNAPPING"
Corruption Updates 45 , 3rd article on the page, "Is a U.S.-Iran War Inevitable?"
Corruption Updates 51 , 6th article on the page, "U.S. Decides Against Freeing 5 Iranian Agents"
Corruption Updates 62, 2nd article on the page, "Iran: Western Spy Networks Discovered: Iranians responding to Bush Kidnapping of Iranian Diplomats"
Search the Corruption Database under
Iran
6) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
War-torn Iraq 'facing collapse'
Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and fragmentation, UK foreign policy think tank Chatham House says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6663935.stm
Published: 2007/05/17 10:50:32 GMT
Its report says the Iraqi government is now largely powerless and irrelevant in many parts of the country.
It warns there is not one war but many local civil wars, and urges a major change in US and British strategy, such as consulting Iraq's neighbours more.
The report comes as Iran said Iranian and US diplomats would hold talks on 28 May on the security situation in Iraq.The Chatham House report, written by Gareth Stansfield, a Middle East expert, is unremittingly bleak, says BBC diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.
Mr Stansfield argues that the break-up of Iraq is becoming increasingly likely.
In large parts of the country, the Iraqi government is powerless, he says, as rival factions struggle for local supremacy.
The briefing paper, entitled Accepting Realities in Iraq, says: "There is not 'a' civil war in Iraq, but many civil wars and insurgencies involving a number of communities and organizations struggling for power."
Mr Stansfield says that although al-Qaeda is challenged in some areas by local leaders who do not welcome such intervention, there is a clear momentum behind its activity.
Iraq's neighbours also have a greater capacity to affect the situation on the ground than either the UK or the US, the report adds.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Do we admit we LOST THE WAR now, or later? Bush says later, after we finish destroying ourselves in IRAN
Working for Big Oil has been the hardest job Bush ever failed at.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 25, 4th article on the page, "ENGLISH LORD COMPARES HITLER'S INVASION OF POLAND WITH IRAQ WAR"
Corruption Updates 23, 9th article on page, NYTIMES, 12-3-06: “TIMES SOFTPEDALS PRESIDENTIAL WAR CRIMES AND DOMESTIC CRIMES. LEAVE IT TO THE TIMES TO PUT LIPSTICK ON PIGS”
Corruption Updates 25, 2nd article on page, December 8, 2006, “GOP senator says war may be 'criminal'”
Corruption Updates 36, 4th article on page, "Basra Raid Finds Dozens Detained by Iraq Spy Unit: IRAQI GOV FOLLOWS AMERICAN EXAMPLE: KIDNAPPING-TORTURE
Search the Corruption Database under
Iraq
7) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Agency expects extreme summer drought
The forecast by federal meteorologists is bad news for firefighters, who've had a busy winter and spring. No rain is likely until fall.
By Rong-Gong Lin II
Times Staff Writer
May 19, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-drought19may19,0,6467394.story?coll=la-home-center
From the Los Angeles Times
Federal meteorologists expect"extreme" drought conditions this summer in Southern California, offering more bad news for firefighters who are already dealing with record dry weather.
The forecast by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dashed the hopes of some officials that the region's bone-dry winter and spring would give way to a mild summer.
"We've gone from moderate to severe drought, and we've jumped to extreme," said Bill Patzert, climatologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
The evidence is clear: Both Lake Mead and Lake Powell on the Colorado River are at half capacity, Patzert said. Downtown L.A. has received less than 4 inches of rain this year and is set to claim a record for its driest season.
Drought conditions in Southern California have historically coincided with catastrophic wildfires, Patzert said.
Southern California has experienced numerous wildfires this winter and spring. Homes were destroyed in Malibu and Beverly Hills, while hundreds of acres were scorched in Orange County.
In just the last two weeks, firefighters had to deal with major blazes in Griffith Park and on Santa Catalina Island.
The effects of the dry conditions have been felt throughout the region. California's poppies and other wildflowers did not bloom this year, putting pressure on the state's beekeepers who rely on those flowers to make honey. Cattlemen are selling their cows early, their ranches too dry to grow natural grasses for cattle feed.
...officials offer a grim long-term assessment. Southern California gets much of its water from outside sources, including the Colorado River and Northern California. The mountain snowpack vital to water imports from Northern California is at the lowest level in nearly two decades.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Let's not Question our Massive Demographic Growth, nor the Growth in Consumption, Let's just Keep Growing.
Bush better take Iraq, if we are going to have the energy supplies to fuel our massive growth and development into the face of receding resources.
Also See:
Corruption Updates 47, 9th article on the page, "Earth Faces a Grim Future: UN Report" Climate Change has already happened:Glad the Scientists Took their Heads out of their Asses, opened the Window, and Looked outside
Corruption Updates 36, 6th article on the page, "China to pass U.S. as world's top generator of greenhouse gases"
Corruption Updates 47, 10th article on page, "Permanent drought predicted for Southwest"
Search the Corruption Database under
Environment
8) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Capistrano ex-schools chief indicted over use of school funds
By Seema Mehta, Times Staff Writer
11:15 AM PDT, May 24, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-ex-webcapo24may24,0,5095714.story?coll=la-home-local
The Capistrano Unified School District's former superintendent has been charged with three felony counts related to his creation of an enemies list during a failed attempt to recall the district's trustees, according to an Orange County Grand Jury indictment unsealed this morning.
James A. Fleming was charged with misappropriating public funds, using school funds to influence an election and conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public. If convicted, Fleming could face up to four years in prison. He is the highest-ranking school official to be prosecuted in county history, said Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas.
Fleming declined to comment. His attorney, Ronald G. Brower, noted that an independent school district investigation found that Fleming had not broken any laws.
A former assistant superintendent, Susan McGill, 64, was also charged with two felonies, conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public and perjury, relating to her testimony before the county grand jury. She could face nearly five years in prison.
Both are scheduled to be arraigned June 15.
Fleming announced his resignation from his post at one of the state's top-ranked districts in July amid a series of controversies that had roiled the 50,000-student district in south Orange County, including a grand jury probe and a raid of district headquarters by investigators from the district attorney's office.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
American Political Culture of Thieves and whores assures Malfeasance in every Elected Office
Also See:
Corruption Updates 57, 8th article on page, "Natomas land deal raises new questions"
Search the Corruption Database under
Schools
9) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Agency nominee withdraws
Democrats opposed a manufacturers' lobbyist as head of Consumer Product Safety.
From the Associated Press
May 24, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-baroody24may24,1,4077213.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
WASHINGTON — President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission withdrew his nomination Wednesday amid strong opposition from some Senate Democrats because of his career as a manufacturers' lobbyist.
The White House said it was reluctantly accepting the decision by Michael E. Baroody after "some members in the Senate rushed to judgment."
Baroody is a lobbyist for the National Assn. of Manufacturers. His critics on Capitol Hill said he would not provide the leadership the agency needed to protect consumers.
Democrats also had raised questions about a $150,000 payment that Baroody would have received from the manufacturers' lobbying group when he left to take the government post.
A hearing before a Senate panel on Baroody's nomination had been scheduled for today. Democratic Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida and Richard J. Durbin of Illinois wrote Bush last week saying the nomination should be withdrawn.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Lucky Lobbyist gets rejected: The Successful Appointees are Getting Indicted
Also See:
What lobbyists have done to our country:
Corruption Updates 10, 5th article on page, “DO BRIBED POLITICIANS PROVIDE SAFE REGULATION OF PIPELINES, OR ANYTHING ELSE?” AP IN BEE.
Corruption Updates 16, 4th article on the page, "EPA STANDARDS WILL KILL YOU: SPECIAL INTEREST BRIBERY BRINGS AMERICA DEATH"
Corruption Updates 21, 9th article on page, “White House under Investigation for Censoring Science”
Corruption Updates 24, 4th article on page, “ BIG OIL OWNS INTERIOR DEPARTMENT”
Corruption Updates 24, 5th article on page, NYTIMES, 12-3-06, “LOBBYING BY TRUCKING INDUSTRY BRINGS DEATH TO NATION'S HIGHWAYS INSURANCE AND SAFETY LOBBIES HAVE INSUFFICIENT BRIBE MONEY TO STOP TRUCKING LOBBY FROM GUTTING SAFETY RULES”
Corruption Updates 25, 5th article on page, AP, 12-6-06, “BATTERY LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH BUSH REPAYS BRIBES WITH OUR HEALTH AND WELFARE BY ATTEMPTING TO KILL LEAD STANDARDS”
Corruption Updates 25, 6th article, AP, 12-6-06, “FARM LOBBY BRIBES ENDANGER HEALTH GRASSLEY (R-IOWA) REPAYS BRIBES BY KILLING EPA REGULATION OF FARMS
Corruption Updates 32, 2nd article on the page, "BUSH TRIES TO KILL CHEMICAL RULES, SCIENCE, AND INTEGRITY IN ONE FELL SWOOP: INTEGERTY FALLS, RULES AND SCIENCE DAMAGED, BUT STILL STANDING
How lobbying buys lawmakers and law:
Corruption Updates 1, 2nd to last article on the page, “Big Oil Owns our Politicians”
Corruption Updates 2, 6th article down, “Contribute to Win, Big Contribs try to Trump State Safety Laws”
Corruption Updates 3, 2nd article on page, “Big Business Spends Lawmakers into Compliance”
Corruption Updates 4, 1st article on page, “Checks in, Laws Out, It's that Simple”
Read Articles describing how the Democrats represent Corporations
Read more about political Censorship of Science
Articles about how BIG MONEY RUNS POLITICS
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Lobbyists
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10) THE ABSTRACT PRINTED BELOW WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE :
Schools chief ripped at Natomas forum
He says district may have overpaid for land
By Terri Hardy - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDTThursday, May 24, 2007
http://www.sacbee.com/101/v-print/story/192088.html
About 40 people, many spitting mad, wanted answers from Natomas Unified Superintendent Steve Farrar about a controversial land deal at a community forum Wednesday night.
But Farrar couldn't answer many questions, at least not to the satisfaction of some. The question-and-answer session turned ugly, with audience members shouting that they had been ignored or betrayed by the district.
In December, the Natomas board approved purchasing the 41 acres, north of Del Paso Road abutting city boundaries.
The district paid a record price when land in the area typically goes for between $50,000 and $100,000 an acre, according to area brokers.
At the time of the purchase, district officials defended the price, given that the land borders the city, where property is far more expensive.
Appraisals commissioned by the district valued the land at $602,439 an acre, but Farrar and board members said they weren't told that figure was hypothetical, a top-dollar valuation based on the assumption that the property would be annexed within one or two years and zoned for single-family homes.
Farrar said the district would launch an investigation into the purchase to see whether officials were given appropriate direction and information.
When a reporter asked Farrar after the meeting who would be conducting that investigation, the superintendent refused to answer.
"I'm not telling you anything about anything," Farrar said.
THE COMMITTEE SAYS:
Natomas Schools Chief cannot hide His Political Corruption from Public View Forever
Also See:
Corruption Updates 57, 8th article on page, "Natomas land deal raises new questions"
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