Bush Nominates Negroponte As Intel Chief

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday named John Negroponte, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and currently the administration's top representative in Iraq, to be America's first national intelligence director.

Announcing the move, Bush said that Negroponte understands global intelligence needs because he's had a long career in the foreign service. Bush said he wants Negroponte to be his clearinghouse for intelligence and make decisions on the intelligence budgets for 15 government agencies.

"John will make sure that those whose duty it is to defend America have the information we need to make the right decisions," the president said.

Bush said Negroponte's office will be outside of the West Wing because it's important that he be apart from the White House. "Nevertheless, he will have access on a daily basis in that he'll be my primary briefer," Bush said.

Negroponte said if confirmed he plans to "reform of the intelligence community in ways designed to best meet the intelligence needs of the 21st century."

He called the new job "the most challenging assignment I have undertaken in more than 40 years of government service." Said Bush: "He understands the power centers in Washington."

Bush named Lt. Gen. Mike Hayden, who has served as director of the National Security Agency since March 1999, as Negroponte's deputy. He is the longest serving director of the secretive codebreaking agency and has pushed for changes, such as asking longtime agency veterans to retire and increasing reliance on technology contractors.

"If we're going to stop the terrorists before they strike," Bush said, "we must ensure that our intelligence agencies work as a single, unified enterprise."

Discussing the authority that Negroponte will have, Bush said that "people who control the money, people who have access to the president generally have a lot of influence. And that's why John Negroponte is going to have a lot of influence. He will set the budgets."

The amount the United States spends on intelligence is classified, but is thought to total nearly $40 billion annually.

Bush said he had not received any preliminary findings from the commission that's investigating failures of prewar intelligence — headed by former Sen. Chuck Robb, R-Va., and Republican Laurence Silberman — which is expected to issue a final report next month.

Negroponte, 65, was at the United Nations when he was tapped to take on the delicate job of transforming the U.S. presence in Iraq from that of an occupier to that of an adviser. Bush chose him for the job last April and he went to Baghdad hours after the handover of sovereignty to Iraq's interim government.

Negroponte has also been ambassador to the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras.

According to one well-informed administration official, former CIA (news - web sites) director Robert Gates was Bush's first choice but Gates and some other candidates declined the post. They worried that the legislation establishing the intelligence job was too vague in outlining its authority, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

But White House Chief of Staff Andy Card denied reports that the White House had had a difficult time in finding someone to accept the new position. "I'm impressed with how much bad information people have — that people have been offered the job and turned it down," Card said. "It's just not true."

The Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington were the impetus for legislation passed by Congress and signed by Bush, creating the new position. The bill represented the most sweeping intelligence legislation in over 50 years.

The director of national intelligence will hold a pre-eminent role in U.S. national security affairs and coordinate the work of all 15 U.S. intelligence agencies.

In a statement, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Pat Roberts of Kansas, said he was pleased by the selection of Negroponte and Hayden.

"We will hold the ambassadors' confirmation hearing as soon as his duties in Iraq are completed," Roberts said.

Roberts spokeswoman Sarah Little said Negroponte told the senator he would need to return to Iraq to tie up issues there. Little said that Roberts believes the confirmation may be weeks away.

As ambassador to the United Nations, Negroponte helped win unanimous approval of a Security Council resolution that demanded Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) comply with U.N. mandates to disarm. Negroponte worked to expand the role for international security forces in Afghanistan after the overthrow of the Taliban government.

Negroponte's confirmation to the United Nations post was delayed a half-year mostly because of criticism of his record as the U.S. ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985. In Honduras, he played a prominent role in assisting the Contras in Nicaragua in their war with the left-wing Sandinista government.

Human rights groups alleged that Negroponte acquiesced in human rights abuses by Honduran death squads funded and partly trained by the CIA. Negroponte testified during the hearings for the U.N. post that he did not believe death squads were operating in Honduras.

In the past year, the intelligence community has been faced with a series of negative reports, including the work of the Sept. 11 commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee's inquiry on the flawed Iraq intelligence.

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USRSF - new fighting group

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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The Pentagon announced today the formation of an elite fighting group called the US REDNECK SPECIAL FORCES (USRSF)


The boys, Cooter, Bubba, Hoss, Dawg, Billy-Bob and Bo will be dropped behind enemy lines and given the following information
about the Iraqi insurgents :

1. The season opened last weekend.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music, or Jesus.
5. They are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

It's estimated that the War should be over in a week and peace established

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Chinese consumers "outstrip US", Thank about it.

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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A new survey says China has overtaken the US in the consumption of basic agricultural and industrial goods.

China is now the world's biggest consumer of grain, meat, coal and steel. Only in oil is the United States consuming more than China.

China is well ahead of the US in the consumption of goods such as television sets, refrigerators and mobile phones.

The Washington-based Earth Policy Institute says that China is now an emerging economic superpower.

The latest official figures for the Chinese economy, the sixth-largest in the world, show that it is growing even faster than expected.

It expanded by 9.5% in 2004, its highest rate for eight years, the figures show.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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Gore Claims Bush Has 'Crisis' Analysis All Wrong

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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Today the Kyoto Protocol enters into effect for the 141 nations that are signatories to the treaty. While most of the industrialized world has signed on to this global effort to combat climate change, the United States, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has been noticeably absent from the process since the Bush administration's withdrawal in 2001. Yesterday former Vice President Al Gore spoke out on the Kyoto Protocol, below are excerpts from his speech.

"Unfortunately we have also seen over the last few years a decision on the part of the Bush White House to withdraw from the global process by which this crisis is being confronted. President Bush has instead directed the nation’s attention and resources toward false crises while refusing to acknowledge a real crisis that is unfolding right before our eyes..."

"...Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and the alleged need for privatizing Social Security are examples of false crises. But here’s a real crisis staring him in the face that desperately needs leadership from the President of the United States and his financial supporters in the oil and coal industry don’t want him to acknowledge the reality of the crisis so he pretends that it doesn’t exist. And he relies on individuals who are pretty much - their relation - the people he relies on relate to the scientific community pretty much the way that phony reporter related to the White House Press Corp..."

"The Kyoto Treaty formally takes effect tomorrow and it marks the beginning of the world’s first legally binding effort to deal with the climate crisis. It is an historic event. It will be the first of many efforts that will follow Kyoto, all of which will build on Kyoto.

It is unfortunate that the United States has abdicated its responsibility to join in leading this effort and I hope that the Bush White House will rejoin the coalition of the willing and confront this issue.

During the seven years since Kyoto was first addressed, we have learned a great deal. First, we have learned that the scientific evidence for the climate crisis is even stronger than was known seven years ago. A recent paper in Science, for example, examined every single peer reviewed scientific journal article from 1993 to 2003 that contained the phrase "global climate change". Of the 928 articles that used that phrase, not a single one disagreed with the consensus view that current climate change is caused by human activity -- not a single one. There have been faux controversies created by other articles but not any peer reviewed scientific article..."

"During the last seven years we have also learned that the solutions to global warming will be cheaper and easier than was thought when Kyoto was first drafted. A lot of major companies including Intel, DuPont, BP, Alcoa, and others have reported cost savings totaling billions of dollars as a result of programs to reduce heat trapping gases. Technologies for improving the efficiency of coal combustion have taken big strides forward as have technologies for capturing and storing heat-trapping gases offering some new hope for using plentiful resources without worsening the climate crisis..."

"Because the US has abdicated national leadership California and states in the Northeast have filled the leadership vacuum and have taken steps on their own. It is vitally important that our federal system be allowed to operate in confronting this crisis.

It takes a moral courage to attack a real crisis and this current administration has failed to demonstrate moral courage and has failed to confront this real crisis. But the problem is so vast that there is a great need for leadership from other quarters such as from California and the Northeast compact states and I applaud them and applaud the selected companies that are providing leadership in confronting this crisis..."

"Now can the protocol be effective without US participation? Eventually the US must participate. All multi-national companies located - based inside the United States will have to comply with the Treaty that takes effect tomorrow with respect to their operations in 141 different countries and 34 industrialized countries. The United States and Australia are really the only industrialized countries in the entire world that are not a party to this treaty.

Companies based in the US already have to face tougher environmental restrictions in China than they do in the United States and this process is going to accelerate and so the dynamic created will eventually lead our country to join this process. It will start to be effective even without US participation but it will only become truly effective when the provisions are toughened and when the US does join the process..."

"There is with the Bush Administration an unreality bubble that will burst. The rest of the world is beginning as of tomorrow, for the first time in a legally binding way, beginning to confront the reality of the climate crisis. By choosing to stick his head in the sand the Bush Administration not only embarrasses the country when the world expects leadership from the US but it also puts our economy at risk by encouraging illusory decision making.

The rest of the world is going to begin to constrain carbon emissions and those businesses that are lulled into a false sense that there is no problem and they don’t have to take steps to solve the problem are going to find themselves facing much tougher competition in the global marketplace from competitors who adapt to the emerging new reality that the rest of the world begins to embrace tomorrow..."

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And this is another PBS TV program to watch; FRONTLINE

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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And just in case you miss last nights show, "Rumsfeld's War" you can see it online useing this link. Or you may find that that same show well show today if you can record it.
So, now you've got at lease two programs on PBS (Public[Public, that's you & me] Broadcasting Service), it belongs to you ya know. This is why they can tell this side of the story. The side you won't read from Bush, Chaney, Rumsfeld, etc. Shouldn't you hear BOTH sides and not just the one? You can find out when Frontline and NOW come on in your area by going to http://www.pbs.org.

You can see passed shows of Frontline online as well useing this LINK
And don't forget to watch NOW,on your same PBS channel as well.

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Hackers May Have Stolen Californians Data

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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By RACHEL KONRAD
AP Technology Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A company that collects consumer data warned thousands of Californians that hackers penetrated the company's computer network and may have stolen credit reports, Social Security numbers and other sensitive information.

ChoicePoint Inc., which sells such data to government agencies and a variety of companies, acknowledged Tuesday that several hackers broke into its computer database and purloined data from as many as 35,000 Californians.

Last fall, hackers apparently used stolen identities to create what appeared to be legitimate businesses seeking ChoicePoint accounts, said Chuck Jones, a spokesman for Alpharetta, Ga.-based company. They opened about 50 accounts.

The attack appears to have resulted in at least six cases of identity theft in Los Angeles County. It's unclear whether the data of people outside California was exposed. But law enforcement agents, who have arrested one person on six counts of theft, say hundreds of thousands of Americans elsewhere may be at risk.

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ChoicePoint has not notified consumers in other states, nor is it working with law enforcement agents elsewhere, Jones said.

"California is the focus of the investigation and we don't have any evidence to indicate at this point that the situation has spread beyond California," Jones said. "If at some point in time we get information that it's in other areas, we'll revisit the disclosure."

Security experts dismissed the notion that hackers would limit their attack geographically.

"I've never heard of a hacker doing something just to make a company comply with a state statute - that's ridiculous," said Nick Akerman, partner and co-chair of the computer fraud division of law firm Dorsey & Whitney. "It'd be like robbing a bank that wasn't FDIC insured so the robber wouldn't have to be prosecuted by the FBI."

When ChoicePoint discovered the crime in October, it closed the suspect accounts, restricted access, strengthened site verification, informed law enforcement agencies and cooperated in their investigation.

On Oct. 27, California sheriff deputies arrested Olatunji Oluwatosin, 41, when the Nigerian national went to his office to receive a fax ostensibly from ChoicePoint. Police were waiting for the North Hollywood resident at his office in Los Angeles. He's been in jail since then and is scheduled to appear in Los Angeles County Court on Thursday.

Robert Costa, the lieutenant in charge of Southern California's High Tech Task Force Identity Theft Detail, said agents believe several other people were involved.

"It definitely could not have been limited to Southern California," Costa said.

ChoicePoint sent e-mail notifications to Californians last week.

State residents were the only Americans notified because the state has a unique law requiring companies that do business with residents to warn them when they've had holes in corporate computer networks. Since the law went into effect in July 2003, organizations have alerted customers whenever "unencrypted personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, acquired by an unauthorized person."

The bill defines "personal information" as an individual's first name or initial and last name, with one of the following: Social Security number; driver's license number; state identification number; or credit or debit card account number and security code. Except when disclosure would impede a criminal investigation, companies must notify consumers "in the most expedient time possible."

The law doesn't impose specific fines but makes companies with questionable computer networks more vulnerable to lawsuits and public scorn. If a hacker gains access to data for 500,000 or more customers, the company must alert those people through e-mail, a "conspicuous" posting on a Web site and disclosure to a major media outlet.

Identity theft is the country's fastest-growing crime, and more than 9.9 million Americans were victims last year. The crimes cost a total of $5 billion, not including lost productivity, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

One of the biggest breaches happened in October, when a University of California network exposed personal data of 1.4 million Californians. The computer database in Berkeley contained names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and birthdays of everyone who participated in a state in-home care program since 2001.

The ChoicePoint attack could galvanize support for a federal law protecting consumers from corporate security breaches. New Hampshire, New York and Texas politicians are considering similar bills, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., reintroduced legislation last month for a national version of the California law.

"This is a nightmare scenario for the company and for consumers," said Matt Stevens, chief technology officer at Network Intelligence Inc., a database security company in Westwood, Mass. "More of these incidences and people will wake up. Right now you've got people in Massachusetts saying, `Hey, why am I less important than people in California?'"

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"Nuclear Option" Seen As Possible Way to Aid Anti-Environmental Judicial Nominee

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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Hearings are expected to start soon in the Senate Judiciary Committee over several of President Bush's nominees for the federal courts who were blocked by Democrats last year. And this time an extra dimension--beyond disagreements over a nominee's fitness for the bench--may be in the offing.

Because the Democrats last year employed the time-honored Senate tactic of filibustering 10 of the most controversial nominees in order to prevent a final vote on the floor (they also approved 204 nominees), Senate Majority Leader William Frist (R-TN), is considering what has become known as the "nuclear option."

Under this plan, Frist would call on the Senate's presiding officer, Vice President Cheney, to rule unconstitutional the requirement that 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster in the case of judicial nominees. This would mean Bush nominees could be approved with a simple majority of 51 votes, rather than 60.

If Frist proceeds with this tactic, Democrats have threatened to shut down the Senate. Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA) has said he will do all in his power to avert such a showdown. He hopes to do this by persuading a few Democrats to oppose the use of the filibuster.

The battle is expected to be most intense over nominees to the Circuit Courts of Appeals. Ironically, for all the Republicans' _expression of outrage over Democrats' opposition to a relative handful of Bush nominees, at least three-quarters of the appellate courts are already dominated by Republican appointees.

Moreover, as noted by Leesa Keppler of the American Constitution Society, President Bush had more of his nominees approved in his first four years than either Presidents Reagan, H.W. Bush, or Bill Clinton. Mr. Bush has successfully appointed 204 nominees to the federal bench's total of 877 seats.

This includes 32 Bush nominees now on the appeals courts benches, with the result that 10 of the 13 appellate circuits in the U.S. now have more Republican appointees than Democrats.

During Bill Clinton's presidency, Republicans blocked 60 of his nominees. Rather than doing so openly, via filibusters, they blocked most of them anonymously, usually by denying them a hearing or a vote.

Of special concern to environmentalists is the fact that Sen. Specter has said the first nominee he plans to bring up will be William Myers, formerly the top lawyer in the Bush Interior Department. Myers was the first judicial nominee ever opposed by the Native American community (23 tribal governments) and the first ever opposed by the National Wildlife Federation (BGW, Jul. 19, 2004).

The environmental community is girding for an all-out battle against Myers, described by Earthjustice attorney Glenn Sugameli as "the most anti-environmental judicial nominee we have ever seen." Judiciary Committee member Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has described Myers as "quite extreme" on environmental issues.

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Washington D. C is the only

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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whorehouse that looses money.

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A moral Dilemma

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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Here's a dilemma for you... what would you do?

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one. Please don't answer it without giving it some serious thought. By giving an honest answer you will discover where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation, in which you will have to make a decision. Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous. Thoughtfulness is important for this evaluation to be meaningful!


Ready? Begin!


You're in Florida... in Miami, to be exact... there is chaos around you, caused by a hurricane and severe floods. This is a flood of major proportions.

You are a photojournalist working for a major newspaper caught in the middle of this great disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless. You're trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water.

Nature is showing all its destructive fury. You see a man in the water! He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken away with the water and debris. You move closer. Somehow the man looks familiar. Suddenly, you know who it is... it's George Bush. Isn't life ironic?

At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take him under, forever. You have two options. You can save him or you can take the most dramatic photos of your life. You can save the life of President Bush, or you can shoot a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world's most powerful men.


Now, here's the question (please give an honest answer):


Would you select color film, or rather go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

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U.S. Loses Ruling on Gray Wolves

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"He who is willing to sacrifice freedom for safety deserves neither freedom nor safety." - Ben Franklin
"One useless man is called a disgrace; two useless men are called a law firm; and three or more useless men are a congress" - John Adams
Politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons.
"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."--Mark Twain

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This Bush doesn't talk about as you might not like know what he's doing while your watch everything on Iraq and now maybe some other countries over there. We pass these laws and then we have to go back and pass them again. And again.
Do a better job of voting will ya and guess who didn't put the judge in place. But he has put a ton of other judges in, so if in a couple of months I post another entery that speaks to this judge being overturned you'll understand what happpened, right? Like Mark Twain said, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."

By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press Writer

GRANTS PASS, Ore. - A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration violated the Endangered Species Act when it relaxed protections on many of the nation's gray wolves.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones in Portland rescinds a rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight if they were attacking livestock, said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group.

In April 2003, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service divided the wolves' range into three areas and reclassified the Eastern and Western populations as threatened instead of endangered. The Eastern segment covers the area from the Dakotas east to Maine, while the Western segment extends west from the Dakotas. The agency left wolves in the Southwest classified as endangered.

But the judge ruled that the government acted improperly by combining areas where wolves were doing well, such as Montana, with places where their numbers had not recovered.

"Interior Secretary Gale Norton tried to gerrymander the entire contiguous 48 states so that wolves in a few areas would make up for the absence of wolves in much larger regions," Robinson said. "Now, instead of drawing lines on the map based on political considerations, any future lines must be based on science."

The judge also found that Fish and Wildlife did not consider certain factors listed in the Endangered Species Act in evaluating the wolf's status, including threats from disease, predators or other natural or manmade dangers.

Fish and Wildlife expressed disappointment in the ruling.

"We believe our rule provided for biologically sound management of the core population of wolves in areas where we knew they could thrive as stable viable populations," the agency said in a statement. "We also believe the rule was correct as a matter of law under the Endangered Species Act."

Mike Senatore, vice president of Defenders of Wildlife, said the ruling would make it more difficult for the Bush administration to reduce or eliminate Endangered Species Act protection for other species.

Practically speaking, only wolves in northwestern Montana were affected by the rule change that allowed ranchers to shoot wolves on sight, said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service. The rule never extended to experimental populations in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Idaho and the rest of Montana, and no packs have been established in other states in the region, Bangs said.

"We haven't had a wolf killed by a private citizen defending private property since the new rule went into effect," Bangs said.

By the 1970s, wolves had been virtually wiped out in the Lower 48 states to protect livestock.

Gray wolves were reintroduced in and around Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996, and federal wildlife officials have declared their recovery a success. Officials estimate there are now more than 800 wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, including Yellowstone National Park.

In the Eastern sector, there are an estimated 3,200 wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

A small number of Mexican gray wolves were reintroduced in the Southwest in 1998.

(Substitutes 13th paragraph to correct that number included wolves in Yellowstone.)

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