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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Marty Carpenter
Published Letters: 41 Editor's Choice: 8
Darwin originally (long before he wrote about origins) planned to study for the ministry. Fortunately for us, he was distracted by science.
From your article: "In the meantime, what's the real national embarrassment? The fact that Pat Robertson has threatened the citizens of Dover with divine retribution, or that so-called limited government conservatives got into bed with the religious right in the first place?"
I have looked all over Salon's site for the cartoon that goes with this statement. Where is it? It should be pretty funny.
In a commentary on Public Radio's Marketplace on November 23, 2005, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (Clinton administration) pointed out that a recent GAO report says lagging recruitments and demands for higher pay and benefits for special forces combat troops are stretching the military budget so thin that we will soon be forced to cut our military presence in Iraq, even though the administration pretends that its critics are wrong. You can hear his comment here:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2005/11/23/AM200511231.html
I didn't look up the GAO report, but it is public information and shouldn't be difficult to find. Reich says we have suffered as much as a 40% decrease in enlistments in certain segments. That is huge. I hope Salon looks at that GAO report and makes use of the data. Looks like bad management will help this administration unravel, and bad management is something on which George W. Bush has become an expert. Heckuva job, W!
The GAO report on military personnel and recruiting goals that I referred to in my previous letter may be found in PDF form here:
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/app_processform.php
The report is about the sixth one down, on Military Personnel, GAO-06-134, November 17, 2005.
Thanks.
Thanks, Mr. Blumenthal. I recommended your article to dailykos readers, and many of them had favorable responses. The American public seems to be waking up to Cheney's M.O. I see that his approval ratings are down to around 19% lately. About time. No need to answer this letter, letter writers. I am gone.
In which religion did George W. Bush claim he was born again? I heard Condi Rice on the radio this morning, denying all charges of torture by the U.S. In the face of this kind of evidence, how can this administration keep speaking out of both sides of its mouth? It's beginning to look like the rest of the world will have to rise up against us to make their point. I'm afraid for all of us. The world may not want to wait another three years. Thanks, George, Dick, Condi, and all you good guys who are looking after our best interests. What will you say or do when the backlash reaches our shores? You can't even clean up after a couple of hurricanes. I am sick to my stomach.
Thanks for your great reporting, as usual, Mr. Grieve. We will know it's all over for democracy, when we see Bush in uniform, with a pistol strapped to his hip, speaking in front of a huge gathering of uniforms--worn by the Boy Scouts of America. It's getting closer, so please keep trying to find out what he is saying, even if it turns out to be the same old thing. I don't want any sudden surprises.
On a Washington Post chat line, Jim Vandehei says he meant to say Libby, not Hadley. Darn. A whole bunch of Plameologists just tanked. Can't we get *something* new on this story? We are all going nuts just spinning every little detail of the old news.
I am betting that Secretary Rumsfeld will finally resign when the bird flu reaches North America. Keep your eye on him. He stands to make megamillions on the U.S. and Canadian purchases of Tamiflu, a most important antiviral drug in demand to fight the flu. The company that owns the rights to Tamiflu (Gilead Sciences) leases the manufacture to the Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche. Rumsfeld was Gilead's chairman before taking his job with the Bush administration, and he has never divested himself of his shares worth millions (and still growing) in Gilead stock (see the CNN story, here: http://money.cnn.com/2005/10/31/news/newsmakers/fortune_rumsfeld/ ).
Others who stand to profit from bird flu coming to America are former Secretary of State George Shultz (Bechtel Corp.), who is on the Gilead board, and former governor of California, Pete Wilson, whose wife is on the board.
Since Rumsfeld was advised to hang onto his shares, the best thing he can do when the demand for Tamiflu goes through the roof, and when the U.S. government is spending millions of our taxpayer dollars to buy it, is to resign to avoid charges of conflict of interest and then laugh all the way to the bank. Questions might be asked, of course, but nothing would be done. Well, it's now perfectly legal for anyone to bet on when the flu will hit. So get those contracts lined up, folks, and when Rummy resigns to cash in, place your bets. It won't be long. I hope I haven't blown it for any insiders at Intrade.
is so damned sure that the president knows. He'd be amazed if the president didn't know. Isn't he cute, though? He makes it sound like the president is the source. Oh, my, wouldn't that be just too cute for words?
Mr. Novak is nearly as disgusting as Mr. Bush, who jokes around right after stating that his war has killed 30,000 civilians, but even knowing it was a mistake, he'd do it again. What does Bob Novak have to be cute about? Or George Bush?
"Lay asked former employees to come forward"
And did they come running to his rescue?
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
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