CNN is covering all their bases tonight, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Scientology. Interesting.

One thing you'll never hear from CNN or any of Murdoch's rags is the askewed measure of unemployment in Democratic states under this administration.

The highest unemployment rate in the nation belongs to Michigan and before I posted these facts here, no one bothered to concern themselves about it:



Michigan Unemployment Rate Highest In Nation
January 4, 2007
LANSING, MI - State officials say unemployment rates in most of Michigan's labor markets rose in November.
The seasonally unadjusted jobless rates increased in 16 of Michigan's 17 labor market regions.
The only area with a lower rate was the Monroe region in the southeast corner of the state.
Jobs were lost in leisure and hospitality services, and in construction. But jobs were added in retail trade and in education.
Unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted to remove influences such as production cycles, holidays and climate conditions.
Michigan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in November was nearly 7%, the second highest in the nation.
http://www.wzzm13.com/news/local/grmetro_article.aspx?storyid=68008

http://www.jobbankusa.com/News/Unemployment/michigan_unemployment_highest.html


20 U.S. Cities With the Highest Unemployment Rates
Average: 9.7
20. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas: 7.8
20. Muskegon-Norton Shores, Mich.: 7.8
16. Battle Creek, Mich.: 7.9
16. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.: 7.9
16. Modesto, Calif.: 7.9
16. Niles-Benton Harbor, Mich.: 7.9
14. Jackson, Mich.: 8
14. Sumter, S.C.: 8
13. Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich.: 8.1
12. Yuba City, Calif.: 8.2
11. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.: 8.4
10. Monroe, Mich.: 8.5
9. Pine Bluff, Ark.: 8.6
8. Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich.: 8.7
7. Kokomo, Ind.: 8.9
6. Merced, Calif.: 9.2
5. Pascagoula, Miss.: 9.4
4. Flint, Mich.: 10
3. Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss.: 11.6
2. El Centro, Calif.: 17.3
1. Yuma, Ariz.:21.4

http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/us-cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest/20060918100709990001


Michigan just finished up a very rigorous struggle between a Republican Senate and Democratic House with a Democratic Governor to place a state budget that would revitalize the state's lagging economy. I don't know how this governor did it, but, she managed to continue to increase the quality of schools in Michigan with a shrunken job market and dwindling economy. That is genuine leadership.

They seem to like Podcasts in Michigan a lot. Here is the budget Podcast:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gov/Gov116_Full_213610_7.mp3


Michigan is the proud home of the Traverse City Cherry Festival and The Traverse City Film Festival. Michael Moore has been an enhancement to the Northern Michigan community and economy bring attention and tourists to a beauty Lake region.


Granholm, Cherry Endorse Clinton
Saying there is no state that needs a strong federal partner in the White House who can help rebuild the nation's economy more than Michigan, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Lt. Governor John D. Cherry, Jr. today endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. Michigan's top two Democrats pledged to work to secure Clinton's nomination and her ultimate election as president of the United States.
"Hillary Clinton's proposals and track record are evidence that she is clearly the candidate best prepared to lead the nation and be a champion for Michigan," Granholm and Cherry said. "From her commitment to ending the war in Iraq, to her positions on fair trade and worker training, health care for all, and alternative energy, Senator Clinton has made it clear she will be a champion for citizens and the middle class and that is why we will work to elect her president of the United States."

http://www.jennifergranholm.com/site/PageServer?pagename=jmg_home


Tough crowd in Michigan. I'll tell you something, in states where Republicans have deliberately shunned effective federal dollars to challenged economies, the voters will remember all too well come November of 2008.

The nation has had enough of the Republican Pork Barrel, corruption and cronyism.

enough

10:00 PM

CNN can't exploit the California wildfires for ratings anymore, so to avoid causing Andy any adverse comments they put Soledad's face on the screen and begin to defame Democrats rather than call Republicans responsible for deaths and damage.

Bogots.

It figures The Wall Street Journal would start to play the Murdock Neocon Game of defaming political rivals for the same reason.

How Lawmaker RebuiltHometown on Earmarks (click here)
Johnstown Gets Billions With Power Broker's Aid; FBI Questions a Contract
By JOHN R. WILKE October 30, 2007; Page A1
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- If John Murtha were a businessman, he'd be the biggest employer in this town.
The powerful U.S. congressman has used his clout on Capitol Hill to create thousands of jobs and steer billions of dollars in federal spending to help his hometown in western Pennsylvania recover from devastating floods and the flight of its steelmakers...

The Neocon Wall Street Journal will play tabloid press while "Six Flags Over Lincoln" is overlooked as exploitive and demeaning to the President that believed all men were truely created equal. Figures.

You know what kind of employment there is in Johnstown, Pennsylvania? It's 5.8 percent. Not as bad as Flint, Michigan of 8.3 percent. If Bush can't give people in Johnstown, Pennsylvania an economy then John Murtha can considering his district is among the highest to contribute to personnel in Bush's illegal war in Iraq !

Murdock, who needs him?

Maybe it's just too much for Murdoch to demand the expulsion of the Republicans that caused death to people in California !


If the wildfires occurred to me? I'd be on vacation, too. Who can cope? I mean really. Home one day with all the comforts a life's work can afford and homeless the next.

Back next week. I leave two wildfires questions behind. (click here)
1) If the state fire safety rules -- requiring that state-trained "spotters" be aboard -- that kept military helicopters from going up early last week were so crucial, then why did state officials later essentially agree to waive them? In a phone interview Friday, top state officials defended the decision-making seen last Monday with great passion. They can't reconcile that with the decision 36 hours or so later to back down. It was, is and will always be incredible that the question of "spotters" wasn't resolved before San Diego County's encore nightmare.2) The congressmen who are doing such a good job exposing the state's bureaucratic tomfoolery in its wildfire response have some explaining to do themselves. Couldn't they have spared an earmark to cover the cost of outfitting the California Air National Guard's C-130 with a fire-retardant tank, something that was promised to happen after the 2003 wildfires but never did?Instead, Duncan Hunter funneled $63 million ...

This is what CORRUPTION does. The misdirection of public monies for the favor of a crony provides REAL damage in the REAL world. The political world of the Republicans needs to be abandoned because it isn't NEED based, it's crony based. The country suffers at the hand of politics. The electorate has to focus on candidates the speak to the issues with real solutions, not theory, not beliefs, but, real solutions to real problems. GET RID OF THESE REPUBLICAN BOZOS. They don't know what reality is !

Heavily criticized plane is defunded (click here)
...Hunter has received $36,000 in campaign contributions from Anthony duPont, president of duPont Aerospace, the company developing the plane at a facility in El Cajon.The cutoff of funds might be the death knell for the project, duPont said.But Hunter remains optimistic.“Congressman Hunter continues to support the program, and DP-2 funding could very well be revisited in the next budget cycle,” said spokesman Joe Kasper.Hunter had sought $6 million for the project next year.
...into the DP-2 Vectored Thrust Aircraft boondoggle. And Dana Rohrabacher worried more about buying expensive planes the military didn't want than about helping California's wildfire-fighting capacity. This is from a May story in the Washington Post:
... Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) has made one of the biggest earmark requests in the new Congress, seeking $2.4 billion to build 10 more C-17 planes -- which the Pentagon has said it does not need.

Do know how much 'Alternative Energy' infrastructure $2.4 billion would buy? A lot. The new jobs it would create? Get rid of these people. I know a lot of people are selling it as hard as they can, but don't buy the narrative that last week saw a perfect synergy of local, state and federal officials and resources. It's not true, not by a long shot.Posted by Chris Reed at October 29, 2007 09:19 AM

Why doesn't Murdoch rebuild Southern California rather than exploiting 'gossip' to attempt to sway elections to Republicans that can't walk and chew gum at the same time.

CNN the station for NON-News !

enough

Planet in Peril - Part II

They shouldn't have bothered. They show all these pictures about biotically sensitive areas currently sustaining Climate Change due to Human Induced Global Warming while attempting to rekindle a settled debate. They are attempting to cause controversy where there is none. I heard China mentioned once by Gupta when he stated who he got to the island BUT I have yet to hear a word about accountability by the USA. Guaranteed it won't ever be presented or approached. It's all propaganda. Some of the verbiage by Cooper is completely hideous, "A warming Earth, melting ice and evaporating lakes, but, is this really Global Warming." It's all a lot of reply of facts dashed with a return to skepticism. Even the skepticism isn't valid anymore. They speak to people facing starvation, disease and death and then turn to a USA legislator stating it's all bunk. This is credible journalism? No. It's immoral ranting.

It's 10:31 PM and I haven't heard ONE WORD about the USA in the responsibility for this atrocity we are all now facing.

If one is simply going to state facts and exploit tragedy to try to turn the tables on the truth there simply is nothing more to consider.

They didn't even bother to get their facts straight. They blamed burning rainforest as contibuting to Human Induced Global Warming while stating the Amazon feeds the world with exports of beef and soybeans. It was the destruction of the Rainforest to convert to stockyards and soybean fields that caused the forests to be logged and harvested and burned in the first place. Where do they get this mess from?

So Texas is viewed as a toxic state causing leukemia in children. Since when is that a new fact. They are the WORST state in the nation for environmental safety. That has nothing to do with Human Induced Global Warming.

Anderson Cooper got permission to make a series that would 'identify' the issues and then set it up for debate. There is no more debate. The Bush administration set up the parameters for this TV series, either directly or by political influence.

This advertisers for this mess is Nextel, NorFolk Southern, Johnson and Johnson, CSX, Korean Air, Conco-Phillps and AT&T.

Boycott them ! Write their CEOs regarding their poor choice in programs to sponsor.

The USA is responsible for the tragedies globally and they are responsible for the tragedies happening on both their coasts currently.

I heard someone say today, it was Sierra Club responsible for the California Wildfires. That argument ended ten years ago.

Is there drought in California? Is there? Then there is no other reason for the fires, their winds and the rapid destruction of biota and housing in the wake of the fires. If there was no drought and there were tonnes and tonnes of fuel due to faulty conservation priorities, one would have room to state those that conserve in the wrong way are to blame, but, not with record setting drought with no end in sight.

enough.

"Planet in Peril"

The approach was probably effective. It was from the standpoint of addressing a 'whole world' system approach to species diversity. Said differently "Healthy Planet = Healthy Speices + Healthy People." That is a fairly accurate approach.

The program stayed away for the issues that relate to the USA's disregard for Human Induced Global Warming. It completely steers people's attention into believing others are responsible for what is the USA's responsiblity. The only segment regarding species introduction was the success with wolves of Yellowstone and that was praising the country for a successful program. I understand the intricacies in building a case for insuring biodiversity to the public and Mr. Corwin did it brilliantly with his camophlaged lizard and it's 'specialist' needs to insure survival. The point was well taken about the Lemurs and their need for a natural circumstance in order to reproduce and survive.

I think the approach to open the discussion regarding species depletion and the need for perserving the natural world and for humans to find a better way to avoid cancers and toxins was an excellant point. But, what hasn't been covered and perhaps will be tomorrow is the profound responsiblity of the USA as a hostile user of resources that increase CO2 and is definately responsible for a hot planet that leads to species demise. I hope the AC 360 team is not averting the responsibility of 'naming' the biggest CO2 contributor while ONLY seeking to praise a successful species reintroduction program in Yellowstone Park. I remind this same government wants to delist species for the sake of exploiting Old Growth Forest.

The Bush adminisration is famous for blaming China for CO2 emissions rather than taking responsiblity. In a way the program achieves that goal as well, look everywhere else for the problem but don't look to the USA.

The segment about China and how there are all sorts of 'ritual' species endangered is a valid point, but, that speaks to a culture that isn't taking care of it's people's health well enough. But, China has openly stated it will have national health care for all it's people within the next year or so. When that occurs a lot of these 'rituals' treatments will diminish in importance. People turn to lotions and potions when they don't have access to medicines that actually work. That is what I saw in the segments about China. Substituting 'social esteem' for eating ritualistic animal body parts for virility and status. Consuming plants and animals to extinction in hopes to cure cancers is a real life strategy by people unable to find treatment otherwise. So China is doing the best thing they can to remove those fears from their people by providing health care to them all so they will stop these 'ritual' treatments at the cost of species demise and biotic endangerment.

I am sure China reflects regularly on the reason "SARS" occurred in the first place and their health care goal is admirable to that end. Also, the Panda has been a 'good will' ambassador for China. How can China only provide wide based support of species endangerment for the Panda and nothing else? There are some problems within the social and cultural structure of China and the leadership is addressing it. It's a change in dynmics within the country and it is coming.

As far as the mine operation: I found the willingness of the mine operator to speak at all encouraging. He is probably correct in stating the issue is huge. Here again the Chinese government is trying to move toward solutions, but, with a billion people it isn't easy. I can't help but wonder how much interest outside investment exists with Chinese operations and how much of the profits there are realized by Wall Street. The USA has an influence in that country and after all Henry Paulson practically lives there in hopes of delivering big returns for Goldman, Sachs. Give me a break. When the mine operator spoke about 'smaller mines' and their contribution whom exactly is involved and why would they overshadow a better outcome to water quality?

China needs to do better. It knows that. Where is Paulson's influence there?

The third world animal reserves were impressive and their WILLINGNESS in using high tech cameras and GPS to facilitate species protection more than admirable. It's not unusual for these countries to take pride in such measures. Many African nations have always taken pride in their responsibility to nature, biodiversity while supporting species existance. It has paid off to some extent as Africa still has rainforest and jungles and significant water sheds for the people of those countries. Granted there are droughts, but, the best strategy for reversing Human Induced Global Warming is to support biota and carbon sinks.

All and all it was well done, but, it did serve to divert any assignment of the ultimate responsibility for Climate Change, the biggest offender of species that leads to their extinction, to the USA. The coal commercial was way out of line.

I guess tomorrow will tell the tale.

October 19, 2007
0230z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of the north and west hemisphere

I happen to think the weather scientists are doing a great job at protecting their public. I hope there are no casualities, so far none reported. Amazing work. I knew you all were upto it. Thank you.


October 17, 2007
1830z
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite of the north and west hemisphere

The tornadoes across the country began here, with a huge blast of heavy cold air from the Artic Circle when it was displaced down to lower latitudes by heat transfers from the equator. You know hot air rises, cold air sinks. The turbulence of the day is caused as the cold air met with hot air from the Gulf of Mexico. The satellite reflecting the difference between the earlier satellite and the current is noted above.

PNJ: Surprise Tornado Spins Through Pensacola (click here)
PENSACOLA -- This town is used to having a name to curse at.
You know -- Erin, Opal or that dreaded Ivan. Hurricanes, all.
But what do you call what happened Thursday?
You call it an EF-1 tornado. And you pray that we never meet the nameless nightmare again.
A tornado 150 yards wide and spinning mean winds around 100 mph stormed through the heart of Pensacola Thursday, ripping homes apart, shredding a church and its nearby daycare center, blowing windows out of vehicles and causing mayhem across a twisted path from Pensacola Naval Air Station to Cordova Mall.
No one was killed or seriously injured by the tornado, though one man broke three ribs when a home collapsed on him near downtown Pensacola and three other people suffered minor injuries.
Even those who suffered the most structural loss marveled that there was no lives lost or serious injuries.
"Everything damaged is replaceable,'' said the Rev. Lonnie Wesley III, pastor of Greater Little Rock Baptist Church on A Street, which was ripped and shredded by Thursday's twister. "We had employees in our Christian education building and children and our daycare. No one was hurt. God is good.''
Still, there was plenty of damage at the 10-year-old church structure. It's steeple was punched and missing pieces. A door leading to the main lobby was blown open, exposing the church to the rain and elements. The green metal roof was peeled away, with one large piece of roof wrapped around a telephone pole nearly a half-mile away. Insulation was torn and tattered and covered the church grounds and most of the surrounding neighborhood, making nearby streets look as if they were paved with yellow cotton candy.
In all, four homes were destroyed in Escambia County, while 24 houses received major damage and another 58 received minor damage.
Meteorologists with the National Weather Service in Mobile said the tornado was an EF-1 tornado, which produces wind speeds from 86 to 110 miles per hour. All tornadoes receive an EF rating - known as the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The lowest-rated tornado is a category EF-1 tornado, which has winds from 65 to 85 miles per hour. At the other end of the scale, an EF-5 tornado has winds over 200 miles per hour.
Meteorologist John Purdy said the tornado formed near Pensacola Naval Air Station around 10:10 a.m., moving through Warrington before hitting downtown Pensacola around 10:18. The tornado then moved north near Ninth Avenue, causing damage at Cordova Mall, before receding around 10:25 a.m. near the Pensacola Regional Airport.
Purdy said there was only one confirmed tornado, but speculated that a water spout in the Gulf of Mexico might have made a stab at pushing onshore just after 8 a.m. at Pensacola Beach, causing some structural damage there.
Many people who witnessed the tornado said it caught them by surprise.
Mary Ponds, 58, owner of Tas-T-O Donuts & Sandwich Shop on E Street said she saw the tornado hanging from a ominous black cloud and head straight for her shop.
"I was looking out the window and it was coming right at me,'' she said, clutching her hand over her heart. "I could see debris flying in the air. I've seen tornadoes on TV, but never for real before. I just crawled under the counter on my knees and prayed.''
Just north of her shop, the tornado gnarled homes near Magee Field, and even ripped down a giant oak tree, sending its branches across a football goalpost that was bending toward the ground.
LaTosha and Percy Blackmon live just across the street from Magee Field and feared for their lives.
"We were sacred,'' said Percy Blackmon, 31. "There was trash blowing around. I never seen anything like that in my life.''
Nearby, there were downed powerlines and even parts of a garage blown into a road, as well as a destroyed satellite dish that sat off a side road near Martin Luther King Drive.
But the damage was everywhere the tornado had raced through just minutes earlier. A roof was damaged at Hallmark Elementary School, though all the school's students were moved to an interior location inside and no one was injured. At Cordova Mall, skylights were damaged, and the mall wing containing Belk's was closed because of roof damage. Over 20 cars in the parking lot at the nearby Target were damaged, while boats at marinas in Warrington were also destroyed.
"It sounded just like you've always heard - like a freight train,'' said Mark Walton, 32, who lives just off A Street near Little Rock Baptist Church. "It was just loud and sounded like the whole sky was caving in.''
Walton said his front porch received minor damage, but that a neighbor who had to rebuild a roof after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 had two busted windows and lost some roof shingles.
"Some of these people here are just now getting back on their feet,'' he said. "Some ain't back at all yet. We didn't need this.''
It wasn't just wind from the tornadoes that caused havoc Thursday.
Heavy rains pelted the Pensacola Bay Area, beginning before sunrise and lasting well into Thursday evening.
Most areas in Pensacola received about 6 inches of rain, Purdy said, while areas in Gulf Breeze received 8 to 10 inches. The storms knocked down powerlines across Pensacola, and early Thursday evening, about 2,700 Gulf Power customers were still without electricity. Three main feeder lines were knocked out by the storm, according to Gulf Power officials.
One transformer at Magee Field was on fire around noon time, as firefighters battled the small blaze in heavy rain.
For hurricane-tested weather warriors, Thursday's weather nightmare was an eye-opener.
"We're not used to tornadoes here,'' said Sonya Daniel, Escambia County spokesperson. "We're more prepared to handle hurricanes. For hurricanes, we always have plenty of time to start preparations. This, well, we had very little advance warning. We're very luck there were only four minor injuries.''

There are some casualities in Missouri while in a trailer home. Those aren't safe:


2 dead in Missouri storm (click here)
Updated
(10/18/2007 12:25 PM)
11h 20m ago
From wire reports
PARIS, Mo. — Two residents of rural northeast Missouri were killed early Thursday when high winds — perhaps a tornado — struck their mobile home.
Kent Ensor, 44, and Kristy Secrease, 25, died when winds pummeled the home near Paris, Mo., a town of about 1,500 residents 55 miles northeast of Columbia. The Missouri State Highway Patrol said the bodies were found 400 feet from where the mobile home was sitting.
National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Truett said there have been reports that the winds were from a tornado, but the weather service has not yet confirmed that....


Twisters, high winds hit Texas, Fla., Mo. (click here)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The National Weather Service on Thursday was assessing damage from tornadoes in Texas, Florida and Missouri, where two people died in the storms.The Missouri Highway Patrol said a possible twister killed two people in a mobile home on a hog farm in Laclede County in rural south central Missouri and winds snapped tree limbs and downed utility lines.At least three homes were damaged by tornadoes near Verona, Chesapeake, Ash Grove, Willard and Morrisville west and east of Springfield, Mo., the Springfield News-Herald reported. Severe weather hammered the U.S. south from Texas to Florida, and a twister touched down in Pensacola, Fla., Thursday, triggering a statewide weather alert, Several tornadoes in Escambia County, Fla., downed trees causing roof damage, the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal said. Winds flipped over a dozen cars in a Target parking lot.A funnel cloud spotted on the ground near Buna in East Texas caused no damage, the Houston Chronicle said.In Tulsa, Okla., 21 people attending an Oktoberfest were injured Wednesday when high winds clocked at 85 mph blew down beer tents and damaged mobile homes.
© Copyright United Press International.

You know they just don't know when to stop. The Republicans are the most reprehensible deficit spenders in the world, and I do mean the world; but when a couple of Democrats want to build a museum to a generation that stopped an exploitive war it's considered Pork. Just because Hillary Clinton's name is on it. I would like Kyl to pay back personally into the USA Treasury the monies he voted for as Pork for the last seven years. He needs to consider that next time he grandstands the Senate floor and spending time playing Republican politics.

They never stop their power playing. Republicans are 'hooked' on Big Oil and their own hot air besides. They don't know how to stop, their addicts to power, NOT GOVERNANCE.

If I recall, "Six Flags Over Lincoln" was one of the most expensive and superfluous 'state of the art' Pork Barrell projects on record.


Lincoln Museum: All About Abe (click here)
By Gary LeeWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, July 3, 2005; Page P01
The new Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Ill., allows visitors a fleeting moment of frivolity. Just inside the marble lobby, families can pose with reenactors of Abe -- scruffy beard, black top hat and all -- and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, in long gown and bonnet. Then the Disney Moment is over.
What follows at the $90.1 million complex is an emotional total immersion, augmented by a mix of jolting images and high-tech presentations, into the world of one of the most complex figures in American history....

And Anderson, you should have researched within CNN archives the fact the 'spending bill' for the library had a completion price of ????...


Fitzgerald suggested Ryan wants to use the library project, which has a price tag of $120 million, to reward political allies with lucrative contracts.

...and the New York State museum to the generation that stopped the Vietnam War by nearly impeaching Nixon cost a meer $1 million? One million doesn't buy much museum space or caretaking either...Senator Kyl should be ashamed of himself realizing his past is tainted with votes that cost the USA Treasury more than any S-Chip could cause. They didn't pass that now did they, but, in the year 2005 they spent $120 million on "Six Flags Over Lincoln." Hm.


Senator filibusters spending bill over Lincoln library (click here)
October 4, 2000Web posted at: 9:29 PM EDT (0129 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Senate vote on an $18.8 billion spending bill was held up Wednesday by an Illinois Republican over a provision that sets aside $10 million for an Abraham Lincoln presidential library in Springfield, Illinois.
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald began a filibuster because the public lands bill does not require that construction contracts adhere to federal competitive bidding rules.
"There could be no worse or uglier irony than to have a monument to Honest Abe ... in which a bunch of political insiders wind up lining their pockets with taxpayer money," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald's stall tactics, which included reading newspaper articles on the Senate floor, threatened to delay a vote on the bill until next week.
The legislation has broad support, largely because it would set aside $1.6 billion this year and up to $12 billion over the next six years for buying federal, state and local park lands, maintaining existing parks, wildlife protection and other initiatives.
Fitzgerald is targeting only the money that would go for the Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library. He claims Illinois state law has loopholes giving state officials too much discretion in awarding contracts that could benefit political insiders.
The state, in letters to Illinois' congressional delegation, says only the low bidder can win project contracts.
In a floor speech, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said it is "clear to me that there is going to be open and competitive bidding on this project."
Fitzgerald has angered fellow Republicans with critical statements about GOP Illinois Gov. George Ryan and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Illinois.
Fitzgerald suggested Ryan wants to use the library project, which has a price tag of $120 million, to reward political allies with lucrative contracts.
Hastert put the library funds in the bill without Fitzgerald's competitive bidding language, a move Fitzgerald called "morally and ethically wrong."
Ryan said Fitzgerald's criticism was a "cheap shot," while Hastert accused Fitzgerald of "outrageous" political grandstanding.
About four hours into the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, moved to cut off debate. But under Senate rules, a vote to silence Fitzgerald cannot come until Friday morning at the earliest.
Fitzgerald spokesman's, Mike Cys, said the senator has not decided how long to continue, but concedes that opponents have the required 60 votes to end the filibuster.


Cooper will talk about and defame Presidential Hopeful Hillary Clinton, but, what DOESN'T he talk about:

This says it pretty nicely and illustrates the 'priorities' of the Republican Anti-Human Agenda:

Posted on Thu, Oct. 18, 2007
Pa. lawmakers on the failure to reverse child health veto (click here)
The Associated Press
Comments from Pennsylvania's congressional delegation Thursday on the House's failure to override President Bush's veto of a measure to expand a popular government health insurance program to cover 10 million children.
,,,
"I'm appalled that Republicans in Congress have no objection to spending $120 billion a year in Iraq but refuse to provide an additional $7 billion a year to provide the poorest children in our country with health care. It is both immoral and wrong for the richest country in the world to ignore the health care needs of 10 million of our children." ,U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa.
,,,
"The House rejected plan that would have opened SCHIP to illegal aliens, a move that would have cost taxpayers $6 billion dollars. It would have increased eligibility for families in some states whose incomes are substantially above the poverty level. And it would have set the stage for a massive tax increase to fill the funding gap for SCHIP that a hike in tobacco taxes could never fill alone." ,U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.
,,,

Ya see, voting against ILLEGAL aliens by denying them their health while in the USA and defaming a Presidential Democratic Hopeful is far more important than owing up to the fact Republicans rather kill in war, a war that should have never been fought, including children; then save the lives of children in the USA, including those born here illegally. The hideous statement above by Bill Shuster of the House makes it sound as though S-Chip would have cost $6 billion for the cost of illegal aliens. They are manipulative power hungry loud mouths that don't know how to place priorities to protect people, but, simply kill them to billions of military contract dollars to cronies.

Isn't that right, Anderson?

Here is a question for your "Planet in Peril" program; "How much carbon dioxide does the USA miltiary in Iraq emit daily while destroying all the biotic life in Iraq along with it's religion?' Just curious. What would your experts say to that?

She's back. That's all there is to say. If the Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto can lead with the fervor she did before, the country may very well find a more stabilizing foothold. I wish her the best, she survived the first day in Pakistan. That. Is a good thing.

Former premier Benazir Bhutto returns to Pakistan after eight-year exile (click here)

KARACHI, Pakistan - Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto returned Thursday to Pakistan, ending eight years of exile and launching what she hopes will be a stunning political comeback, as tens of thousands of supporters gathered to greet her amid massive security.
Bhutto was in tears as she descended the steps of a commercial flight that brought her from Dubai to Karachi, where tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters were waiting to give her a rousing welcome....

So, quite a lot of news, but, little on AC360. I hope the series regarding the planet lives upto THE TRUTH and the experts are correct. I guess we'll see. In the meantime, the NEOCON fluff and pandering continues while America's children are still waiting for health insurance their parents can afford or government provided when they can't afford it. I don't know about anyone else, but, it sounds like Republicans are playing God with the health of children for the sake of politics. What was it the member from the House said today? Oh, yeah, Speaker Pelosi should be playing footsie with the President...Oh, I mean...should be negotitating with the President to resolve the issue rather than taking this vote. Really? Sounds like the House Republicans didn't intend for the bill to succeed in the first place because an override would have indictaed they did !

enough

John King, I want to play you something that Senator Barack Obama said today in the hearings. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

OBAMA: I think that we should not have had this discussion on 9/11 or 9/10 or 9/12, because I think it perpetuates this notion that, somehow, the original decision to go into Iraq was directly related to the attacks on 9/11. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

COOPER: Who was responsible for -- for the timing of this, the fact there's testimony about Iraq on the anniversary of 9/11? 

KING: Well, Anderson, if Senator Obama is frustrated, he has only his own Democratic leadership to blame. The September 15th deadline for a report from the administration was actually recommended by a Republican, but that -- Senator John Warner -- but that was passed, of course, with the blessing of the Democrats. Now, September 15 is this coming weekend, so they wanted to have the testimony in advance of that deadline. But the latter half of this week is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and the House and the Senate will not be in session. So, they were left with September 10 and September 11 to have this testimony. So, it is the Democrats, by not paying close enough to the calendar a few months ago, who put themselves in this position. But Senator Obama, in that hearing, bringing back the constant criticism of this administration. There are many -- especially Democrats -- who believe the president has always tried to make this war about more than toppling Saddam Hussein and about more than those weapons of mass destruction, that, of course, were never found. 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 

KING (voice-over): After 9/11, the mood in the country was, simply put, payback. And, to this day, the president can make it all sound pretty straightforward. 

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The same folks that are bombing innocent people in Iraq were the ones who attacked us in America on September the 11th, and that's why what happens in Iraq matters to the security here at home. KING: But it's not that simple. The organization al Qaeda in Iraq did not exist on or before 9/11. And its main recruiting tool is fighting the U.S. invasion there. 

JON ALTERMAN, MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The Iraq war has helped terrorists network. So, on the one hand, after 9/11, we have made a lot of progress understanding al Qaeda 1.1. Al Qaeda 2.0 has been given birth on the ashes of our initial efforts in Iraq. KING: It's hardly the first time the administration has suggested a link between Iraq and the 9/11. More often than not, it's what you might call the guilt-by-association strategy. This was making the case for the Iraq war nearly five years ago. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, OCTOBER 7, 2002) 

BUSH: We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common enemy, the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

KING: And this was in the now infamous speech declaring major combat in Iraq over more than four years ago. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: We have removed an ally of al Qaeda and cut off -- cut off a source of terrorist funding. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

KING: The vice president has repeatedly suggested more direct links. Just three months after the 9/11 attacks, Mr. Cheney appeared on "Meet the Press" and suggested hijacker Mohamed Atta met with a top Saddam Hussein deputy. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS") 

RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been pretty well confirmed that he did go to Prague, and he did meet with a senior official of the Iraqi intelligence service in Czechoslovakia last April, several months before the attack. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

KING: But administration and other government sources say the intelligence was never conclusive and has since been discredited. 

ALTERMAN: Intelligence is never as good as you want it to be. And there are still a lot of people in the administration who said, well, I can't prove it, but I still know it's true. And there was a lot more of that right after 9/11. 

KING: Two years later, the vice president again stirred controversy by framing the stakes in Iraq this way. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MEET THE PRESS") 

CHENEY: Now, we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the -- the -- the base, if you will, the geographic base, of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

KING: Days later, the president bristled when asked about his critics. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, SEPTEMBER 17, 2003) 

KING: Your critics say that this is some effort, deliberate effort, to blur the line...

BUSH: Yes. 

KING: ... or to confuse people. How would you answer that? BUSH: No, we have had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the -- September the 11th. No, what the vice president said was, is that he has been involved with al Qaeda and Zarqawi, an al-Qaeda operative, in Baghdad. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

KING: In Iraq, yes. But, again, "Keeping Them Honest," the al Qaeda in the Iraq organization did not exist on 9/11, and U.S. intelligence officials concede, they have no evidence that Zarqawi received any support from the Saddam Hussein regime. 

(END VIDEOTAPE) 

KING: But, looking back, the administration continues to insist that Saddam Hussein did have firm links with al Qaeda.And, Anderson, they continue to insist now that Iraq is central to winning the global war on terrorism, including the battle against al Qaeda, an argument you will hear the president make later this week, when he also does embrace General Petraeus' plan to bring home most of the surge -- the troops involved in the surge by next summer -- Anderson. 

COOPER: All right, no surprise there. John King, thanks for the reporting. Though it had nothing to do with 9/11, al Qaeda in Iraq, the organization, is still a very real threat here. But they are suffering some sustained, serious defeats. Through one act of brutality after another, they have made enemies of Sunni sheiks who have now decided to work with the Americans against their former allies. We have been talking about this with Michael Ware just a few moments ago. As you know, it started in al Anbar Province. But, as I saw today, the so-called Sunni awakening is spreading. And, for American forces, it is more than welcome. 

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 

COLONEL MICHAEL KERSHAW, 2ND BRIGADE, 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION: Salaam alaikum. Good to see you.UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alaikum salaam.

COOPER (voice-over): What you're seeing is extraordinary.