STOP, DROP AND ROLE PLAY

The White House scolded the Federal Emergency Management Agency yesterday for staging a phony news conference about assistance to victims of wildfire. The agency, much criticized for its response after Hurricane Katrina more than two years ago, arranged to have FEMA employees play the part of independent reporters Tuesday and ask questions of Vice Admiral Harvey E. Johnson, the agency's deputy director.

The questions were predictably soft and gratuitous.

"I'm very happy with FEMA's response," Johnson said in reply to one query from an agency employee. FEMA gave reporters only 15 minutes' notice about Tuesday's news conference. No reporter attended the news conference in person, agency spokesman Aaron Walker said. The agency made available an 800 number so reporters could call in and listen to the news conference, but not ask questions. With no reporters on hand and an agency video camera providing a feed carried live by some TV networks, FEMA employees posed questions for Johnson that included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"

GUILIANI'S VIEWS: A DAY TO DAY PROPOSITION

“I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights,” Giuliani said.

Q: Would the day that Roe v. Wade is repealed be a good day for America?

GIULIANI: It would be OK to repeal. It would be OK also if a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent and I think a judge has to make that decision.

"Abortion is a very, very difficult issue of conscience for many, many people. In my case, I hate abortion. I would encourage someone to not take that option."

Rudy Giuliani has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose. But records show that in the '90s he contributed money at least six times to Planned Parenthood, one of the country's leading abortion rights groups and its top provider of abortions. Federal tax returns show that he and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, made personal donations to national, state and city chapters of Planned Parenthood totaling $900 in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999.

Rudy Guiliani said that he is "seriously considering" a presidential run. Those who think that the 9/11 hero would be a formidable candidate are forgetting about the 9/10 Rudy. Meaning, this is a guy who is pro-choice on abortion, pro-gay rights and moved in with a gay couple after a messy breakup with his wife that came as he was dating another woman.
Source: 2008 Speculation by Howard Kurtz in Washington Post July 14, 2006

Q: Recently several talented linguists--Arabic speakers trained by the US government--were dismissed from the military because they announced they were gay. Is that appropriate?
A: This is not the time to deal with disruptive issues like this. Back in 1994 we went through this and it created a tremendous amount of disruption. In time of war, in a time where we're trying to deal with this transition to a new kind of warfare that we have to be fighting--and we haven't gotten all the way there yet, we need a hybrid army, we need to look at nation-building as part of what we have to teach our military--I don't think this would be the right time to raise these issues. And I think we should rely on the judgment of our commanders in a situation like this. They know what's disruptive and what's not. And at a time of war, you don't make fundamental changes like this.
Source: 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College June 3, 2007

FLIP FLOPPER

FIRING OFF SOME LOOSE THOUGHTS ABOUT OUR RECENT WILDFIRES

As a resident of Stevenson Ranch (maybe you saw my house on TV lately?), I have now survived our second disastrous wildfire in our adjacent hills in four years. Troubling how many fires broke out at the exact moment we get strong, strong Santa Ana winds over So Cal...I would really like to think these fires were not man-made.

Now that they are over (translation..burned in a direction away from us, here are my loose thoughts on the situations...

Hope you faired as well as myself, and my family.

FEMA so far seems to have learned its lesson, and improved since a change of leadership at the top....they will need to be in top form, as the Daily News is estimating over 650,000 residents have been forced out of their homes during the recent fires.

How can you possibly look at these incredible displays of fires going on, refuse to obey the voluntary evacuations, in order to "save" your house....with a frickin GARDEN HOSE ??

Wake up folks, it's just not that easy...

How to know things are bad...McDonald's closed 16 of their restaurants

How to know things are really bad...Starbucks closed 120 of their locations due to the fires...

I had the water dropping airplanes fly directly over my house for two days (the yellow ones, not the mammoth DC-10's), and no exaggeration..they flew no more than 300 yards above the roof of my home (I live very close to the fires). These pilots are phenomenal......true unsung heroes!

I am not sure how my family can say thank you to our local fire station (just blocks from my home), but we are going to get with the neighbors and figure something out.

We drop off food baskets on holidays, but they need something special this time...

I cannot imagine the helpless feeling San Diegan's are feeling today with their families, knowing they lost all of their worldly possessions.........We need a Clinton / Bush Internet donation program similar to the one they so successfully ran for the tsunami victims years ago...

Things to do......

Check (up my $ coverage) my insurance coverage

Donate $ or goods to San Diego relief funds

Say thank you to our local fire and police departments

Hug my child a little tighter from now on (blog less, love more)

Be thankful

HOLBERT FROM THE BOSTON HERALD: AS GOOD AS IT GETS

See more of his work, and read a damn good newpaper as well...

CLICK HERE

BONFIRES OF THE INSANITY

Let's see.......last weekend a gazillion 18 wheelers come together on the freeway truck lane tunnel just south of my house, causing massive traffic jams (2 hours to get 5 miles).

This weekend, 500 acres of wooded mountain ranges go up in flames (we get these every two years or so) just north of my house, not to mention 95 mile an hour wind gusts...
HOW'S YOUR MONTH BEEN GOIN?

VALUES VOTING POLL SUBSTANTIATES MY EARLIER PREDICTION

My modesty prevents me from taking all of the credit, but while everyone else was touting stuffed shirts like Thompson, Guiliani, Mc Cain, and Romney, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO KIMBA was predicting a surge from Mike Huckabee, who will be the Republican candidate for President.
The values voting poll conducted this weekend indicates my earlier prognostication to be coming to fruition.
While the others self-implode, Huckabee will surge to a win in Iowa, come in second in Nevada to Romney, and run the table the rest of the way....
His VP running mate? Tough call...Huckabee will not do well in New York, or California, which makes Romney and Guiliani the favorites, although a Huckabee / Brownback will pull all of the conservative / Evangelical votes from across the country.

Which of the following candidates for President would you most likely to vote for?
Mitt Romney 1595 27.62%
Mike Huckabee 1565 27.15%
Ron Paul 865 14.98%
Fred Thompson 564 9.77%
Undecided 329 5.70%
Sam Brownback 297 5.14%
Duncan Hunter 140 2.42%
Tom Tancredo 133 2.30%
Rudy Giuliani 107 1.85%
John McCain 81 1.40%
Not Voting 67 1.16%

On site Straw Poll Results
Mike Huckabee 488 51.26%
Mitt Romney 99 10.40%
Fred Thompson 77 8.09%
Tom Tancredo 65 6.83%%
Rudy Giuliani 60 6.30%
Duncan Hunter 54 5.67%
John McCain 30 3.15%
Sam Brownback 26 2.73%
Ron Paul 25 2.63%
Undecided 11 1.16%
Not Voting 7 0.74%

TURKEY JERKY

Today, President Bush urged the Democratic-controlled Congress not to worsen tensions with Turkey by approving a resolution labeling as genocide the World War I-era killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Turks during the final years of the crumbling Ottoman Empire (1915). Noting the number of domestic bills pending before Congress, he said, "One thing Congress should not be doing is sorting out the historical record of the Ottoman Empire."
Turkey, which argues the deaths came during civil unrest and not from a planned campaign to eradicate Armenians, is furious over the measure and has threatened repercussions if it is adopted. Turkey is a key route for moving supplies to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

COINCIDENCE?

Turkish Parliament today authorized the government to carry out a cross-border attack on Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, approving an offensive that would put Turkey at odds with the U.S. There was no sign of an imminent invasion.

JUST IN CASE YOU DON'T THINK WE HAVE COMPLETELY PISSED OFF ENOUGH COUNTRIES.....

President Bush and the leaders of Congress put aside their differences Wednesday to bestow the nation's highest civilian honor upon the Dalai Lama, calling the exiled Tibetan religious leader a "warrior for peace."Bush also said he had personally spoken with Chinese President Hu Jintao to say he would be attending the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for the Dalai Lama, and Bush said the Chinese would be better off having diplomatic relations with the Tibetan leader.
"I have consistently told the Chinese that religious freedom is in their nation's interest. I've also told them that I think it's in their interest to meet with the Dalai Lama and will say so at the ceremony today in Congress," Bush said.

China has issued strong words against the United States for giving the Tibetan Buddhist monk such a high honor. The Dalai Lama, exiled from China after his homeland was annexed by China, has fought for political and religious autonomy from the Chinese government.

CHINA AND TURKEY NOT ENOUGH? HOW ABOUT A RUSSIA / IRAN ALLIANCE?

The diplomatic fireworks were few. But the sheer presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iran Tuesday has hardened both Moscow's and Tehran's strategies of confronting the West, as he reinforced support for the Islamic Republic and its nuclear program (Putin reassured Iran that the Bushehr nuclear reactor, a $1 billion energy project being built by Russia and dogged by delays, would be completed). But he refused to say when Russia might supply the needed nuclear fuel. Mr. Putin told a summit of five Caspian Sea nations, "We should not even think of using force in this region" – a veiled warning to the US not to strike Iran.

OK, lets look on the bright side, we angered China today, we have already angered Russia and Iran, and Speaker Pelosi is now deciding if she has the votes to completely piss off Turkey.......BUT we picked up a strong ally in the Dalai Lama.

NOT A KNEE-JERK REACTION

IS THE PRESIDENCY THE REAL NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?

A FULL BIRD ON THE STAND IS BETTER THAN ANYONE NAMED BUSH

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "catastrophic failure" in the Bush administration's leadership of the Iraq war has mired the United States in a nightmarish conflict with no clear way out, the former top U.S. commander in Iraq said on Friday. The blistering assessment by retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez was one of the harshest yet by a top military leader involved in the war.
"There has been a glaring, unfortunate display of incompetent strategic leadership within our national leaders," Sanchez told a group of military reporters, according to a copy of his remarks. "America continues its desperate struggle in Iraq without any concerted effort to devise a strategy that will achieve 'victory' in that war-torn country or in the greater conflict against extremism," he said.
Without mentioning President George W. Bush by name, he called the president's troop-escalation "surge" strategy a "desperate attempt by an administration that has not accepted the political and economic realities of this war." "There is no question America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," he said.
Sanchez commanded the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq from June 2003 until July 2004 as the anti-U.S. insurgency took hold. He retired in 2006.

COULTER-GEIST

Jewish leaders condemned conservative commentator Ann Coulter on Friday for her comments this week that Jews need to be "perfected," denouncing her remarks as the rationale behind two millenniums of anti-Semitism.The assertion by the controversial pundit that Jews are inferior unless they convert to Christianity alarmed Jewish organizations and put the television networks that give Coulter a platform in an awkward position.
FULL STORY IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: CLICK HERE

Thus, Coulter's phenomenal success at marketing distasteful, mean-spirited books -- poorly written and spottily researched -- that otherwise would go all but unremarked upon by everyone except the rhetorical ghouls who haunt the political fringes. Now, no Coulter promotional campaign would be complete without a calculated outrage -- a call for the forcible conversion of all Muslims, for example, or a demand for revocation of women's suffrage, an insult hurled at gays or the grieving widows of Sept. 11 victims. As more than one political consultant has remarked, the American far right is a carnivorous constituency, and it needs to be regularly thrown red meat. Coulter's singular genius has been to ignite tightly focused and timely controversies, thereby getting her ideological opponents to toss the scraps to her fans.

Earlier this week, Coulter went on "The Big Idea," a talk show aired on CNBC, the cable channel devoted to business news. Its host, Donny Deutsch, is a preternaturally affable businessman who invites successful people on to talk about how they turn their ideas into money. Coulter was there to describe how she had -- in our vulgar commercial argot --"branded" herself. At one point, Deutsch asked her what an ideal country would be like, and she replied that it would be one in which everyone was "a Christian." Deutsch, who happens to be Jewish, protested that Coulter was advocating his people's elimination. She responded that she simply hoped to see Jews "perfected" through conversion to Christianity.

What can you say about this stupid, hate filled bigoted remark

from someone who represents the Republican party?

TYPICAL

Let's take a look at some of her other remarks...

"I would comment on John Edwards but it turns out you have to go to rehab

for saying the word faggot"

"If we took away the women's right to vote, we would never have to worry about another Democratic president...It underscores how stupidly women vote, at least single women"

"The perfect world would look like New York during the Republican National Convention....

as a matter of fact, I think that is what heaven will look like....."

ITS BEEN UPGRADED TO A "NOBEL" CAUSE

GORE WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Former Vice President Al Gore said Friday he was "deeply honored" to be named a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and hoped the award would help raise awareness of man-made climate change as a "planetary emergency."
Gore and the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the coveted prize on Friday for spreading awareness of climate change and for helping find ways to combat it.

Kimba: No editorial here. Can't do it. Can't do it to the right who are absolutely on the floor in pain over this. All I can say is it is nice to see Al's genius recognized, and his name now listed amongst his peers.

Menachem Begin

Dalai Lama

Albert Gore

Martin Luther King Jr.

Henry Kissinger

Nelson Mandela

George Marshall

Mother Teresa

Theodore Roosevelt

Albert Schweitzer

Desmond Tutu

Woodrow Wilson
Oh, and by the way, if you would like a glimpse into the conservatives response..click on a fellow blogger site right here.....

THEIR COMEBACK WILL BE THE COUNTRIES COMEBACK AS WELL

According to the latest edition of the Economist,

click here to see the full article....

The September 29th issue of the National Journal, an inside-the-Beltway magazine, contains a striking news item. Hillary Clinton has quietly signed a deal with the University of Illinois to house her presidential library. The university will put up $15m to help finance the construction and operation of the huge building on its Urbana-Champaign campus, close to where Hillary Rodham was born.

This was, of course, a joke—but it contains a serious point. The political establishment is betting heavily that Hillary Clinton will become America's next president. And it has reason. Mrs Clinton is way out in front of the Democratic field. The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll puts her 33 points ahead of Barack Obama and 40 points ahead of John Edwards. She raised $22m in the last quarter—more than Mr Obama at $19m and much more than Mr Edwards at $7m.

And this is odd, since she is one of the most hated figures in American politics. During the 1990s she embodied everything that conservatives hate about female professionals: a bossy harridan who disparaged stay-at-home mothers, tried to reorganise the health-care system that makes up one-seventh of the American economy, and stayed with her tom-catting husband to further her political ambitions.

And yet here she is, with her husband, looking likely to break all sorts of records. If she wins, Mrs Clinton will be the first female president of the United States—a banner headline in itself—and Mr Clinton will be the first male first spouse. She will be the first president married to a former president.

Mrs Clinton is clearly a formidable candidate for the presidency. She has the most powerful name in the business now that the Bush brand is tarnished. She has a smoothly working political machine. She has a wealth of experience in both the legislative and the executive branch. And she exudes competence. All told, she looks likely to translate this into both the Democratic nomination and a victory in November 2008.

IMPUNITY AND IMMUNITY

According to today's Los Angeles Times....

The State Department, which is facing growing criticism of its policy on private security contractors, overlooked repeated warnings from U.S. diplomats in the field that guards were endangering Iraqi civilians and undermining U.S. efforts to win support from the population, according to current and former U.S. officials.Ever since the contractors were granted immunity from Iraqi courts in June 2004 by the U.S.-led occupation authority, diplomats have cautioned that the decision to do so was "a bomb that could go off at any time," said one former U.S. official.

On Friday, in a tacit acknowledgment of the policy's shortcomings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ordered drastic increases in supervision of the security contractors. Meanwhile, the House, flatly rejecting the current approach, on Thursday approved in a 389-30 vote legislation that would subject contractors to U.S. criminal law.

Athough appreciative of the new Bush administration outlook in regards to private contractors in Iraq, Congressional views of Blackwater and other security contractors are at odds with the descriptions in recent weeks from Rice and other top State Department officials, who have praised the guards as providing effective service under dangerous conditions.

What a shock. The Bush administration trying to put lipstick on what they knew was a pig from the start. Praising Blackwater guards for their effective service when they knew full well of the following incident...... "A Blackwater USA employee under investigation in the killing last December of an Iraqi bodyguard in an off-duty confrontation was so drunk after fleeing the shooting that another group of guards took away the loaded pistol he was fumbling with, a report to a House committee said Monday.

WE REFUSE TO HAVE OUR KIDS "BUSH WACKED"

What do you do when you are being run out of town?

You get in the front and call it a parade.

President Bush, sensing an overwhelming veto override on the SCHIP bill, has now indicated his willingness to compromise in his weekly radio address. "If putting poor children first takes a little more than the 20% increase I have proposed in my budget for SCHIP, I am willing to work with leaders in Congress to find the additional money," he said. Bush has hinted he is open to a compromise but still has not made clear what he is willing to accept. He continued to describe the measure that he vetoed as "deeply flawed," contending that the congressional plan is "an incremental step toward their goal of government-run health care for every American," which he believes is "the wrong direction for our country."

Bush also said that six states project that they will spend more SCHIP money on adults than they do on children in this fiscal year. However, those states got federal permission, in many instances during the time Bush has been in office, to cover adults. The president urged both parties to come together to support a bill "that moves adults off this children's program."

The current law, which remains in effect while the debate about reauthorizing it continues, covers children in families earning up to $40,000 a year, about twice the federal poverty level. But some states received permission to extend eligibility to families with higher incomes, and the bill would authorize states to allow households with an income of about $60,000 a year to enroll their children in SCHIP.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN A DEMOCRAT GOES WRONG

THE U.N. HAS 5 SEATS TO FILL

The United Nations security is composed of 4 permanent members (China, France, Russia, and the U.K.-also known as the "nuclear club"), and 10 nations who are voted in for two year terms, and are not subject to immediate reelection. The Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, South Africa and the Panama will serve until December 31st, 2008, which leaves the UN with the ultimate question of who to replace outgoing countries Qatar, Slovakia, Peru, Ghana and the Congo. Moreover, the U.N. has also been pressured for years to adopt additional permanent members, two of which are India and Japan.

Who cares, you might ask. Remember (present current events aside), the U.N. Security Council is the only body which can grant permission to violate a country's sovereignty against the will of that country. If the council votes to allow an invasion of country X, for whatever reason, there is no recourse, no court of appeals. Country X can do nothing but complain and prepare for the military attack. The council can also authorize other violations of sovereignty short of invasion: sanctions, no-fly zones, inspections, etc. This is an enormous amount of power.

Also keep in mind that just because the council is the only group with the treaty authority to do these things, it doesn't mean individual countries and groups of countries won't also do things like invade or impose sanctions. The recent incursion of Ethiopian troops into Somalia was not authorized by the Security Council. Sanctions on Iraq, the no-fly zones, and the inspection of suspected weapons facilities in Iraq were all blessed by the world through the Security Council. The U.S. invasion of Iraq, however, was not.

The trouble comes when attempting to get the 15 members to agree on any given action is quite difficult. Especially since the five permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States) all have veto authority.

Any one of them can single-handily stop any given action.

And that is the power of being a permanent member.

So reform of the existing council is clearly seen as important to the world and to America. But plans for doing so have come and gone for years. The most realistic ones include expanding the number of total seats, creating some permanent seats without veto power, and imposing various limits on the existing veto. Critics argue that each continent should be represented. Among the countries vehemently campaigning for a spot on the security council are France, Japan, India, Mexico, among others. Next year the security council will include 4 from Europe alone, and Panama will stay another year as its sole Latin country.

Obviously Mexico is almost a shoo-in for a spot (and made a very strong case for election on Wednesday). But who to replace Qatar from the Middle East (Arab League)? Egypt, Brazil, Germany, Vietnam, and the Saudis are all candidates who would achieve a number of votes among the general assembly for admission.

Think the U.N. Security Council is a powerless body? Remember, they were making real progress with their inspections of Iraq (Blix) before we invaded. Hussein was finally cooperating, and the inspection report was no proof of weapons of mass destruction, a finding disputed by the Bush administration, although the test of time has proven Mr. Blix absolutely correct (for the most part). One has to wonder what the course of history would have been if the Bush administration had stayed the course and let the U.N. inspectors complete their assignment.

The results would be one less war, a continuation of our anti-terrorism work in Afghanistan (which was working), and around 4,000 soldiers who would be happily alive today.

ANOTHER SHANGHAI SURPRIZE

The latest piece of crap made in China designed to kill....Cub Scout badges. Somehow those crafty Chinese found a way to put lead based paint on damn near everything they export into our country. They are being recalled, along with toys, etc. that have been found to have lead based paint on them. The joke on them is that technology into paint systems have made water based materials cheaper to manufacture, easier to use, and much, much less toxic. They knew this. They are no fools. They just don't give a shit. Or they know we are fools. Fools willing to buy based on price alone, and are willing to sacrifice quality (and country) in doing so.

Don't be an idiot. Look to see where the products you are buying are made.

And whenever possible, buy American.

The life you save may be your childrens.

2 NON ISSUES FOR THE DAY

Senator Obama quits wearing an American flag lapel pin.

Senator Craig decides not to quit his job,

despite the judge refusing to discount his guilty plea.

BUSH LEAGUE

Today, the President in his typical stunningly ignorant fashion, used only his 3rd veto against a bill which would provide health insurance to 10 million children who could not otherwise afford it. The Bill, known as the SCHIP bill, is for families who make too much money to receive Medicaid, but still cannot afford health insurance. This program would mean a family of 4 earning less than $60,000.00 would qualify.

Despite overwhelming support of both sides of the congressional aisle, the March of Dimes, the American Cancer Society, the American Association of Pediatrics, and a majority of all state Governors, Democrats and Republicans, King George II somehow found his way to veto a very popular (and much needed) bill to help our children. Apparently, this is an extension of his "No Child Left behind" program, which has by the way.

Stating that the SCHIP bill was a first step towards socialized medicine, Bush actually misstates the very nature of the bill. Apparently, "the Decider" would do well to become "the Reader." Participants in the program would be able to pick from different competing private health insurance providers, certainly not anywhere near socialized medicine as being bandied about by the Democrats.

In the past two years alone, one million more children have joined the ranks of the uninsured, up to a present day total of nearly 9 million children, and that does not count the children trying to stay healthy under a dismal Medicaid system for the truly indigent families.

How much would this cost? Seven billion a year for the next 5 years. A pittance compared to the money he is squandering in Iraq. Hell, I bet they have lost that much in money Iraq through poor accounting and leadership, not to mention how much we have been over billed for in Iraq by his "no bid" buddies.

Veto one was for stem cell research (which promises to save lives through medical research), and veto two was against a timetable for withdrawal of troops in Iraq (which would save lives), and now veto three is against a children's health care insurance program, which (again) would potential save lives.

It seems our leader, our "decider" can't pony up any funds when it comes to saving lives....maybe we should have told him it was money allocated towards the elimination of children, something he could get up for.

Mr. President, on October 18th, you are going to be bitch slapped with a veto override from both sides of the aisle. You are about to find out that even the mindless sheep of the conservative party can't stomach this outrage. On October 18th, you are going to see just how many friends you have in Washington. You lost the American people along time ago. Now you are going to see how many members of your party you have lost.

If only we could pass a Hate Crimes Bill so we could charge you under it. You have obviously started waging a war against your own people, sir. You are waging a war against our countries children, an action all the spin doctors in the world cannot justify.

And that is the world...according to Kimba

Thanks for reading

THE DECIDER