Abramoff Probe Expanded

by- Suzie-Q @ 8:09 PM MST

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are expanding their investigation into ties between jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House and have contacted several Abramoff associates recently about testifying to Congress.

The contacts were disclosed Tuesday by a House Democratic aide and an attorney familiar with the matter who both spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is ongoing.

The aide declined to identify those the committee wants to talk to. Last month committee Chairman Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., indicated he intended to seek testimony from people who’d worked as lobbyists with Abramoff as well as from former and current White House and administration officials who might have knowledge of Abramoff’s connections with the White House.

A committee spokeswoman declined comment. A message for a White House spokesman wasn’t immediately returned.

The Government Reform Committee released a report last year saying that Abramoff and his associates had 485 lobbying contacts with White House officials between January 2001 and March 2004.

But Waxman, who became committee chairman in January after Democrats retook control of Congress, says important questions remain unanswered. These include whether White House officials paid for sports and concert tickets and meals they got from Abramoff and his associates, and whether they took official actions as a result, Waxman says.

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Globalist Evildoers(bilderbergs) to Meet in Turkey!

by GEF @ 8:10 pm EDT

THE NEW WORLD DISORDER

Secretive Bilderberg meeting set for Turkey
Kissinger, Rockefeller, media moguls among those scheduled to attend

Posted: May 30, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

The super-secret Bilderberg Group, an organization of powerful international elites, is set to meet this week somewhere in Turkey – but even the precise location is a mystery.

The meeting begins Thursday and continues through Sunday.

Those expected to attend include Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of the Washington Post, Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, John Vinocur, senior correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, Paul Gigot, editor of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Nicholas Beytout, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro, George David, chairman of Coca-Cola, Martin Feldstein, president and chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Timothy F. Geithner, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Vernon Jordan, senior managing director of Lazard Freres & Co., Anatole Kaletsky, editor at large of the Times of London and Gen. William Luti, special assistant to the president and senior director for defense policy and strategy for the National Security Council.

According to reports from Turkey, Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions and global energy issues will be on the agenda – but only invitees know for sure.

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A Bunch of Ebenezer Scrooges all in one Location and all repeating that we should die quickly and decrease the surface population by collectively planning our demise……Peachy!  I’m Glad I don’t drink Coke….Next thing you know National sales plummet! 😉

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Is Big Business Buying Out the Environmental Movement?

by- Suzie-Q @ 5:09 PM MST

With Big Business going green, is it a sign that environmental campaigns have prevailed and are setting the corporate agenda? Or have enviros been duped into endorsing what may be little more than a new wave of corporate greenwashing?

In the business world these days, it appears that just about everything is for sale. Multi-billion-dollar deals are commonplace, and even venerable institutions such as the Wall Street Journal find themselves put into play. Yet companies are not the only things being acquired. This may turn out to be the year that big business bought a substantial part of the environmental movement.

That’s one way of interpreting the remarkable level of cooperation that is emerging between some prominent environmental groups and some of the world’s largest corporations. What was once an arena of fierce antagonism has become a veritable love fest as companies profess to be going green and get lavishly honored for doing so. Earlier this year, for instance, the World Resources Institute gave one of its “Courage to Lead” awards to the chief executive of General Electric.

Every day seems to bring another announcement from a large corporation that it is taking steps to protect the planet. IBM, informally known as Big Blue, launched its Project Big Green to help customers slash their data center energy usage. Newmont Mining Co., the world’s largest gold digger, endorsed a shareholder resolution calling for a review of its environmental impact.

Home Depot introduced an Eco Options label for thousands of green products. General Motors and oil major ConocoPhillips joined the list of corporate giants that have come out in support of a mandatory ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions. Bank of America said it would invest $20 billion in sustainable projects over the next decade.

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That 70’s Show

by- Actor212 @ 4:32 PM EDT

In light of the current hoopla over US-Russian relations…obviously, Bush didn’t look deeply enough into Pootie’s eyes…comes this intriguing little sidebar:

BISHKEK (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday Washington’s agreement to use a military air base in Kyrgyzstan was necessary to support the war in Afghanistan.

Last month Kyrgyz lawmakers urged the government to evict U.S. troops from the base which is an important hard currency earner for the impoverished Central Asian state.

“I think what’s important for the people of Kyrgyzstan to understand is that our use of Manas (Air Force Base) is in support of a larger war on terrorism in which Kyrgyzstan is an ally of virtually every other nation on earth,” Gates said.

“We are all working to try and prevent a resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and our use of Manas is one way in which Kyrgyzstan can play a very important and constructive role in cooperation with many other nations, just not the United States,” he told reporters after meeting Kyrgyzstan’s minister of defense.

The United States has about 1,200 U.S. troops in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz officials have demanded Washington pay more for the use of the base.

Not much to this, is there, huh? Think again: Kyrgyzstan is one of the former Soviet states, and still has relations (however frosty) with Russia. By proxy, Putin is holding the war on terror as ransom in Kyr…Kryg…this place.

“Proxy” was how wars in Viet Nam, Korea, and Afghanistan were fought during the Cold War. “Prozy” is what the Cuban Missile Crisis was all about.

This particular Asian country is important to maintaining a presence in the region, since the Afghan campaign has hit a rocky patch, and as troops are pulled out of Iraq over American disgust with that invasion, troops may be pulled out of Afghanistan as the failure to really take down Al Qaeda and the Taliban becomes more apparent.

So we have Putin and Bush tossing verbal jabs at each other, a failing war in Afghanistan, a very unpopular and toxic occupation of Iraq, and Iran taking hostages again.

Sounds like the 1970s have returned in earnest…

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Afternoon Jukebox… I’ve Had The Time Of My Life

by- Suzie-Q @ 12:42 PM MST

Music Video for “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. The song is from the soundtrack for the 1987 movie “Dirty Dancing”. This song was a #1 song from 1987 and won a Grammy Award in 1988. It also won an Academy Award for Best Original Song making it one of the most successful songs of all time.

Bill Medley is also known for his work as part of the Righteous Brothers duo, managing to string together many hits in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes- I’ve Had the Time of My Life

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Libby Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison!

by- Suzie-Q @ 9:14 AM MST

WASHINGTON — Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, stood calmly before a packed courtroom as a federal judge said the evidence overwhelmingly proved his guilt.

“People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem,” U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said.

Libby was convicted in March of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.

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Chainie has deep concerns for Scooters sentencing

by Geezer Power …9:02 AM PDT

CIA leak case timeline

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“Scooter” Libby Awaits Prison Sentencing

by- Suzie-Q @ 8:24 AM MST

Federal Prosecutors Want Former White House Aide “Scooter” Libby To Receive 3 Years For Role In CIA Leak

(CBS/AP) Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s hopes of avoiding prison in the CIA leak case began to dim Tuesday as a federal judge ruled he could face a longer sentence because the investigation he obstructed was so serious.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is the highest-ranking official convicted of a crime since the Iran Contra affair.

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wants to put Libby in prison for up to three years because the investigation he was convicted of obstructing — the leak of a CIA operative’s identity — was so important. Libby’s attorneys are seeking no jail time and argue that it’s unfair to increase the sentence simply because the investigation was serious.

“No one was ever charged. Nobody ever pleaded guilty,” attorney William Jeffress said. “The government did not establish the existence of an offense.”

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton didn’t accept that. By that reasoning, Walton said, witnesses benefit if they aggressively obstruct investigations so prosecutors can’t make their case.

“I just can’t buy in on that being good social policy,” said Walton, who has a reputation as a tough sentencing judge. “It’s one thing if you obstruct a petty larceny. It’s another thing if you obstruct a murder investigation.”

Walton’s preliminary ruling doesn’t necessarily foretell Libby’s sentence. But it does make it harder for Libby’s attorneys to argue for no jail time because it raises the seriousness of his offense.

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Duhbya the diplomatic wows em in Czechoslovokia

by Geezer Power …8:08 AM PDT

Guardian UK

Bush: Russia Shouldn’t Fear U.S. Defense

Tuesday June 5, 2007 2:01 PM

By WILLIAM J. KOLE

Associated Press Writer

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) – Russia is not an enemy of the United States and shouldn’t fear a proposed missile defense system designed to thwart a possible nuclear attack from Iran, President Bush said Tuesday.

“Russia is not the enemy,” Bush said after meeting with Czech leaders in a visit en route to the G-8 summit in Germany. He said he would take a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “we can work together on common threats.”

The Kremlin is bitterly opposed to the missile shield, and Putin has warned that Russia could take “retaliatory steps” if Washington insists on building it.

Polls show more than 60 percent of Czechs are against plans to station a radar system southwest of Prague, and surveys in Poland – where 10 interceptor missiles would be based – show strong opposition there as well. Both countries are still negotiating with the U.S. over whether to host the shield.

Bush sought to play down Russia’s response, which has overshadowed his European trip.

“The Cold War is over. It ended,” Bush said at the medieval Prague Castle, where he met with Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

“:My message will be: ‘Vladimir – I call him Vladimir – you shouldn’t fear a missile defense system. As a matter of fact, why don’t you cooperate with us on a missile defense system?” Bush said.

“The people of the Czech Republic don’t have to choose between being a friend of Russia or a friend of the United States. You can be both,” he added.

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