February 24, 2006

Ms. Twinkle Toes 2006, Biscuit Bowsky Boosky, loves to climb into the covers while the Daddy's are out daddying.

February 23, 2006

The boys came over today and tore up the hardwood floor in the dining room. The finished product fixed some water damage and looks great. We've gotten back well over the $300 we spent on a home warranty. Vince and I were talking today about what a no-brainer renewing it next year will be.

February 23, 2006

What more can be expected from theocrats and religious fanatics that view democratic rule of law and balance of power as a threat to their spiritual supremacy?

In four separate areas around Baghdad, authorities found the bodies of 40 men shot dead, an interior ministry spokesman said Thursday.

In Baqubah, gunmen in several vehicles killed at least three dozen people in buses who were heading to a protest of the mosque bombing, said Gen. Amir Al-Jubouri, Diyala deputy police chief. The riders, Sunnis and Shiites, were stopped by the gunmen who set up their own checkpoint. Their bodies were found in a creek.

Also in Baqubah, a suicide bomber blew up himself amid a group of Iraqi army soldiers in a public market, killing 9 soldiers and two civilians and wounded 19 others, said Ali Al-Khayyam, a spokesmen for the JCC, the Joint Coordination Center.

In the same city, 20 miles north of Baghdad, a muezzin at a Sunni mosque was killed and two of his bodyguards were wounded Wednesday when four armed men attacked the mosque, eyewitnesses said. The four men, dressed in black and wearing masks, entered the mosque just when preachers were getting ready to hold the morning prayers, said Ali Kadhum, 32, who is one of the two bodyguards wounded in the attack. "When they first came in shooting, we hid in the preachers room," Kadhum said, "then they through hand grenades inside the room."

In Samarra, armed men kidnapped and killed a reporter of al-Arabiya, a Dubai-based news channel, along with two of her crew. Atwar Bahjat, 26, was shot dead in northern Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, the channel reported.

All told, Interior Ministry officials said more than 100 people were killed.

And all told, the Muslim Scholars Association in Iraq said 168 Sunni mosques were attacked in the last 24 hours.
[Sectarian Violence Surges After Shrine Bombing - Washington Post - 02-23-06]

More theocratic thuggery...

Christian youths burned the corpses of Muslims on Thursday on the streets of Onitsha in southeastern Nigeria, the city worst hit by religious riots that have killed at least 146 people across the country in five days.

Christian mobs, seeking revenge for the killings of Christians in the north, attacked Muslims with machetes, set fire to them, destroyed their houses and torched mosques in two days of violence in Onitsha, where 93 people died.

"We are very happy that this thing is happening so that the north will learn their lesson," said Anthony Umai, a motorcycle taxi rider, standing close to where Christian youths had piled up the corpses of 10 Muslims and were burning them.
[Bodies burned in open after Nigeria riots kill 146 - Reuters - 02-23-06]

February 23, 2006

President Bush had no idea his own White House leaked the identity of a CIA operative, vowing to fire anyone involved.

President Bush had no idea the Vice President was involved in a shooting.

President Bush had no idea his own Administration cut a secret deal with a country whose choice between being "with us or with the terrorists" required a $6.8 billion deal to control our nation's ports just to think about it.

Unaware President
President Bush was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports to a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates until the deal already had been approved by his administration, the White House said yesterday.

Defending the deal anew, the administration also said that it should have briefed Congress sooner about the transaction, which has triggered a major political backlash from both Republicans and Democrats.
[Bush unaware of port pact - Cape Cod Times - 02-23-06]

$6.8 Billion Insta-Ally
The Bush administration secretly required a company in the United Arab Emirates to cooperate with future U.S. investigations before approving its takeover of operations at six American ports, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. It chose not to impose other, routine restrictions.

As part of the $6.8 billion purchase, state-owned Dubai Ports World agreed to reveal records on demand about "foreign operational direction" of its business at U.S. ports, the documents said. Those records broadly include details about the design, maintenance or operation of ports and equipment.

The administration did not require Dubai Ports to keep copies of business records on U.S. soil, where they would be subject to court orders. It also did not require the company to designate an American citizen to accommodate U.S. government requests. Outside legal experts said such obligations are routinely attached to U.S. approvals of foreign sales in other industries.
[Arab Co., White House Had Secret Agreement - AP - 02-22-06]

Action speaks louder than rhetoric when it comes to national security.

America and the world will not be blackmailed. (Applause.)
[President George W. Bush - State of the Union - 01-28-03]

We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. (Applause.)
[President George W. Bush - Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People - 09-20-01]

February 21, 2006

Vince and Christian onstage at the historic Ryman Auditorium. February 2006

This is the only photo that survived a technical glitch in uploading some of the photos Cantor snapped as Vince and I put on guitars and pretended to play while on a tour of the historic Ryman Auditorium. The building was renovated in the 1990s and was known as the "Mother Church" of country music. It's an absolute treasure in downtown Nashville. If Cantor pops any pics up in his online gallery, I'll link them.

Before checking out the Ryman Auditorium, we were able to swing out to Nashville's replica of the Parthenon, erected to celebrate Tennessee's Centennial.

Here is a photo of Nike standing at an impressive 6 feet 4 inches in the outstretched hand of Athena, which is supposed to be the largest free-standing indoor statue in the Western world. That should give you a sense of how large the statue of Athena is.

On Sunday, we celebrated President's Day by visiting the home of the seventh President of the United States, Andrew Jackson. It was a nice surprise to have the Regent of the Hermitage Board of Directors, and wife of Tennessee Congressman Jim Cooper, Mrs. Martha Cooper, taking the tour along with us. Since there were only about 7 of us, Mrs. Cooper was able to add to what the tour guides shared.

February 15, 2006

While we're focused on how the Vice President operates within the White House, an interesting question arose in an interview between FOX News and the Vice President today. Did the Vice President exercise unilateral power to declassify national intelligence? The Vice President won't tell FOX News.

Question: Let me ask you another question. Is it your view that a vice president has the authority to declassify information?

Cheney: There is an executive order to that effect.

Question: There is.

Cheney: Yes.

Question: Have you done it?

Cheney: Well, I've certainly advocated declassification and participated in declassification decisions. The executive order --

Question: You ever done it unilaterally?

Cheney: I don't want to get into that. There is an executive order that specifies who has classification authority, and obviously focuses first and foremost on the president, but also includes the vice president.
[Cheney Interview with FOX News - 02-15-06]

A subject for the federal grand jury, no doubt. But if the Vice President unilaterally declassified national intelligence without telling the President of the United States and authorized Libby to leak the identity of a CIA operative, that might account for why President Bush so eagerly asserted he'd fire anyone who leaked the operative's name.

QUESTION: Given -- given recent developments in the CIA leak case, particularly Vice President Cheney's discussions with the investigators, do you still stand by what you said several months ago, a suggestion that it might be difficult to identify anybody who leaked the agent's name?

THE PRESIDENT: That's up to --

QUESTION: And, and, do you stand by your pledge to fire anyone found to have done so?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. And that's up to the U.S. Attorney to find the facts.
[President Bush Holds Press Conference Following the G8 Summit - White House - 06-10-04]

Ooops. Something happened in the White House between June 2004 and July 2005 that made the President revise his statement. No longer will he fire anyone who merely "leaked" the name. Now he will fire anyone who did it illegally.

"I think it's best if people wait until the investigation is complete before you jump to conclusions," Bush said at a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"I would like this to end as quickly as possible so we know the facts. And if someone committed a crime, they will no longer work in my administration," Bush said.
[President vows to fire anyone who committed a crime - CNN - 07-19-05]

Did the Vice President unilaterally declassify intelligence without telling the President of the United States until much later, engaging in a pattern of calling his own shots? Unilateral declassification by the Vice President might explain why the special prosecutor is not pursuing charges in the leaking of the identity of a CIA operative, but it doesn't explain why this administration has not been forth-coming with the American people on how they went about creating legal parameters for smearing people who challenged their misleading use of America's national intelligence to sell the case for war with Iraq.

February 15, 2006

While the White House blames the victim...

MR. McCLELLAN: I think if you've got specifics about that, probably direct them to the Vice President's Office. I don't know all the specifics about it, but I think Mrs. Armstrong spoke publicly about how this incident occurred. And if I recall, she pointed out that the protocol was not followed by Mr. Whittington, when it came to notifying the others that he was there. [WHPB - 02-13-06]

American hunters interviewed by the conservative Washington Times blame Cheney.

Every local hunter interviewed by The Washington Times yesterday said the vice president violated hunting's cardinal rule: Never pull the trigger unless you are 100 percent sure of your target. And, they said, he violated Rule No. 2, as well: Never swing on game outside the safe zone of fire.

"I just want the guy to say, 'Hey, I screwed up, I made a mistake,'?" said James Harris, 51, a hunter and taxidermist from Mechanicsville, Md., who said he fears that the accident will make people think hunting is unsafe.

"He apparently was overzealous or too excited about the shot, and he didn't practice safe measures to make sure he didn't shoot his friend. He should have, and he was wrong," Mr. Harris said.
[Experienced hunters put Cheney at fault in shooting - Washington Times - 02-15-06]

Isn't the Vice President's history with being "100 percent sure of your target" and "overzealous or too excited about the shot" enough for American hunters and responsible gun owners to realize an admission of a "screw up" won't happen anytime soon by this faultless and unaccountable Administration?

UPDATE 2:45p.m. - After wide bi-partisan pressure for the Vice President to publicly take responsibility for shooting an American citizen, Dick Cheney talks with FOX News.

"Ultimately I am the guy who pulled the trigger that fired the round that hit Harry. You can talk about all the other conditions that existed at the time, but that's the bottom line. It's not Harry's fault. You can't blame anybody else. I am the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend, and you can say that is a day I will never forget."

With regard to cowardly hiding behind a citizen's account of the shooting for days, allowing the White House Press Secretary to join in and blame the victim, and not informing the President or the American people directly, Dick Cheney still believes he did the right thing.

CHENEY: "I thought that made good sense because you can get as accurate a story as possible from somebody who knew and understood hunting, and then it would immediately go up to the wires and be posted on the web site, which is the way it went out, and I thought that was the right call."

QUESTION: What do you think now?

CHENEY: I still do.

The only part missing from the process Dick Cheney orchestrated was any direct acceptance of responsibility or personal apology. That had to come days after the American people demanded better, to the regret of many within his own party.

February 14, 2006

If you have been following this blog for the past 6 years, you might remember these posts:

2-14-00 - Happy Valentines Day. You could send Valentines day cards from Barbie.com. Oy vey! Vince and I ate on 18th and Florida. He bought a huge hand woven basket from Mali. I bought an African musical instrument you manipulate with your thumbs. Boxed xylophone sounds. Quite noises. I couldn't stop smiling.

2-18-00 - This morning: inch of snow and late utilities payments sitting on the counter. Last night: dinner with Vince and freinds at Capitol City Brewery in Virginia. Karioke: Vince and Noah did country. Maricio, the bartender, did the Pointer Sisters "I'm So Get Excited" and barely knew english but made up for it with some gay dance moves. Steve tipped him a dollar and he kept coming back for more, grimacing sweaty forhead, prissing his aproned stomach in our faces and mumbling words that didn't even go with the music. I was told he does an awesome "Fame."

2-20-00 - Sushi Taro with Vince. Sunday morning pancakes, bananas and Meet The Press with Vince. I'm in a pleasant tailspin. Altitude: check. Pitch: check. Cabin pressure: check. On-board manual...er hmmm, on-board manual??

Everyday is just like the first day we met, February 14, 2000. Happy Valentine's Day!

February 14, 2006

First, the White House claimed information on a shooting involving the Vice President was delayed because they were so focused on the victim getting medical attention.

QUESTION: Scott, do you think that the shooting accident involving the Vice President on Saturday should have been disclosed to the public on Saturday?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think that the first priority was making sure that Harry Whittington, Mr. Whittington was getting the medical care that he needed, and I think that's where everybody's attention should have been focused and was focused when the hunting accident took place.
[WHPB - 02-13-06]

And now that the victim has suffered a heart attack due to being shot by the Vice President, the White House wants America to stop caring so much and just "move on."

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm glad to answer your questions, but I think we went through it thoroughly yesterday. It is what it is, and I think it's time to move on for the American people. [WHPB - 02-14-06]

Mr. Whittington's check must have cleared the bank.

February 13, 2006

Required "upland game bird stamp?" Nah. Hunter Education Certified? Nah. Most hunters respect firearms, hunting laws and police efforts to investigate accidents. Gun rights advocates and gun enthusiasts pride themselves on following the law and argue for tougher enforcement of gun and hunting laws, instead of more laws, to protect the public against ignorant people.

Was Katherine Armstong telling the truth when she claimed to share this information with the public on her own? Scott McClellan only knows what Dick Cheney told him, and America trusts Dick.

QUESTION: Katherine Armstrong talked to CNN Sunday evening. She said that she thought this was going to become a story, so she was going to go to the local press. She also told CNN that she did not believe the Vice President's Office was aware that she was going to go to the local press. How do you square that with your account that they were coordinating their --

MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President spoke with her directly and they agreed that she would make it public.

QUESTION: So you're saying that she is lying, that her statement is not correct?

MR. McCLELLAN: No. You ought to check with her.

QUESTION: Well, we did check with her. So you're saying that's not correct?

MR. McCLELLAN: The Vice President spoke directly with Mrs. Armstrong and they agreed that she would make the information public.
[WHPB - 02-13-06]

February 10, 2006

Is this the face of a man who authorized criminal behavior in order to discredit detractors of his selective case for war in Iraq?