Dick Cheney, are you listening?

Ex-Arms Hunter Kay Says No WMD Stockpiles in Iraq

Watergate II?

Infiltration of files seen as extensive: Senate panel's GOP staff pried on Democrats

If nothing else, the story proves that Robert Novak is a tool.

In case you think Bush's "private savings plan" is a good substitute for Social Security...

Retirement Funds Hit by FAC Debacle

An FBI raid of FAC's office on El Toro Road turned up assets worth a bit more than 1% of the $813.9 million that Lewis' clients supposedly had accumulated. Lewis, known to his family, friends and clients as an investment genius, was nowhere to be found. As of late Friday, he was being sought by the FBI.

Among the cruel twists of the FAC debacle is that so many investors, like O'Hara, were gambling with their retirement funds. Many lost virtually everything. According to SEC filings and attorneys involved in the case, the victims include Lewis' computer technician, who mortgaged his house to invest with FAC, and the mother of Lewis' live-in companion, who handed over her entire $250,000 in retirement savings.

FAC's books listed 1,340 IRAs and Keough retirement accounts, according to analysis by Robb Evans & Associates, the court-appointed receiver in the case. That indicates that as many as about 40% of the 3,290 active investors lost at least some of their retirement savings.

Nope, no conflict of interest here

Cheney, Scalia socialized while Supreme Court considered case

"Scalia and Cheney, longtime friends, had dinner at a restaurant on Maryland's Eastern Shore in November, two months after the Bush administration asked the justices to overrule a lower court's decision requiring White House to identify task force members."

And yes, folks, Scalia participated in the 2000 Busg vs. Gore election case.

Happy MLK day, from George W. Bush.

Bush appoints Pickering to U.S. appeals court

You can read about Pickering's civil rights record here.

like I said...

The President: Aides Say Bush Is Already Absorbed in 2004 Race: "Over all, the mood among the 160 staff members at Bush-Cheney headquarters is sunny, while the strategy is to cast the Democrats as angry and out of touch with what Mr. Bush calls the essential optimism of America."

But, hey, we don't have to pay that car tax anymore.

Budget Ax Would Fall Heavily on the Poor, Ill: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget promises higher costs and hurdles for thousands of Californians, from some children with cancer who would no longer get state help paying for chemotherapy to high school graduates who would be shunted to community colleges instead of universities."

This calls for more tax cuts -- and a trip to Mars!

The Unlocked Box - How Bush is plundering Social Security to close the deficit.

WMDs found -- in Texas!

Case Yields Chilling Signs of Domestic Terror Plot

Andrea's back

She made it safely home and after a 30-minute nap, went straight to work. Her mom seems to be doing fine after the operation, and further tests will determine the severity of follow-up treatment.

But so far, so good.

While we're ont he topic...

This Modern World: Dean Can't Win

The Dean Dilemma

Expect this to be a big theme of the campaign -- indeed, the Republicans are already starting to harp on it. Personally, I think his "anger" is a plus. Bush effectively neutered Gore in 2000 by forcing him to play on Bush's playing field -- remember that second debate? Super-nice, noncontroversial and completely lacking in any substance. The GOP is trying to force Dean to ignore his strengths -- his ability to get people riled up about what Dubya is doing to this country -- and play to his weaknesses. I like the angry Dean, and I think he should stay that way.

The other big theme, of course, will be Dean's supposed lefty tendancies, something being played up in his fight with the Clinton "New Democrat" wing of the party. But it's just not that simple. With the right VP candidate, Dean could beat Bush. And that, my friends, is why the GOP is bending over backwards to pretend it's delighted to see Dean as the nominee. (To their credit, another National Review columnist, and other conservative thinkers, aren't counting Dean out.) The Bushies are worried. And with a record like his, they should be.

Yahoo! News - Texas Rep. Ralph Hall Switches to GOP

Yahoo! News - Texas Rep. Ralph Hall Switches to GOP:

He told The Associated Press that he's always said that if being a Democrat hurt his district, he would switch or resign. He said GOP leaders had recently refused to place money for his district in a spending bill and 'the only reason I was given was I was a Democrat.'
(Emphasis mine)

He also said he did not agree with 'all these guys running against the president.'

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Democrats are 'reaping what they've sown.'

'Their leaders have lined up behind Howard Dean (news - web sites)'s brand of angry, intolerant politics. They've made their message clear: 'moderates need not apply' and that's a sad trend for a once-great party,' DeLay said.

Apparently, DeLay didn't know about the the facts outlined three paragraphs before his quote. Which party is the angry, intolerant party?

That Parent-Child Conversation Is Becoming Instant, and Online

And I thought my family was geeky.

Bush opposed mad-cow rules just a few weeks ago

New meat rules reverse industry efforts: "The Agriculture Department's announcement yesterday of a ban on the sale of meat from ailing 'downer' cattle marked a policy turnabout for the Bush administration, coming only a few weeks after the department and allies in the powerful meat lobby blocked an identical measure in Congress."

Why does Goerge Bush hate America?

CNN.com - Wary U.S. turns spotlight on international flights - Jan. 2, 2004

CNN.com - Wary U.S. turns spotlight on international flights - Jan. 2, 2004

British Airways canceled Flight 223 from London to Washington today, the third time in three days the flight was disrupted because of security concerns, the airline said. Today's cancellation came a week and a half after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security raised the terror alert to orange, its second-highest level.

I've got an idea: why don't they load the plane up as planned, only put guards on it, check every piece of luggage and instead of flying, get the plane away from the airport and round up the suspects? By cancelling the flights, it looks like they're just telling the terrorists to reschedule.

Hey, just like the Bush administration!

Thousands Rally in Hong Kong to Demand Free Elections: "Many business tycoons oppose further democracy, contending that the public does not understand the importance and complexity of creating an environment conducive to investment."

Yeah, murdering millions of innocent people / making foreign travelers get fingerprinted -- pretty much the same thing,

Brazil to fingerprint US citizens: "'I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis,' Federal Judge Julier Sebastiao da Silva said in the court order."

Another example of being a little too loose with the Holocaust comparison.

We Didn't Smacko Jacko, Say Calif. Cops

I must admit, Fox News wrote a great headline.

Cyber blackmail targets office workers

MSNBC - Cyber blackmail targets office workers

Something tells me this story is bogus. First, the primary source is an unnamed "British detective." Two, the story doesn't cite a single instance in which the ploy actually worked. No victims or perpetrators are quoted, and the only victim cited is an unnamed "Scandinavian university." And third, it just sounds farfetched. How are these perpetrators getting merchant credit card accounts, which would be necessary to accept the credit card ransom, as outlined in the story? Wouldn't nine out of 10 recipients report the e-mail to authorities, who'd then track the merchant accounts? Bogus.