“Now, the issue is who pays the price. Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price. My kids are too old and my grandchild is too young. You’re not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family. So who pays the price? The American military and their families. And I just want to bring us back to that fact.”
FEMA was unable to fully support the accuracy and completeness of certain unpaid obligations, and accounts payable, and the related effects on net position, if any, prior to the completion of DHS’s 2006 PAR. These unpaid obligations, as reported in the accompanying DHS balance sheet as of September 30, 2006, were $22.3 Billion or 46% of DHS consolidated unexpended appropriations at September 30, 2006. [emphasis mine]
To give some idea of proportionality, in fiscal year 2005 the entire Grants and Training (formerly know as State and Local Government Preparedness, a/k/a grants to get working radios for NYC firemen and protection for bridges, tunnels, chemical plants and nuclear facilities) was only $171 million.
So, follow me here, FEMA has lost and/or failed to account for a sum of money that is almost half of DHS’s entire budget and 130 times greater than the amount of money that the Department of Homeland Security is willing to spend to secure the homeland.
“I don’t really like having a pre-approved prayer because it doesn’t allow us the freedom of speech we deserve,” said Rep. Mike Ripley, a Republican from Monroe. “Some people believe to have your prayers answered you have to invoke Jesus Christ, and that can’t be done now.”
"Do you believe as Commander in Chief you have the authority to put the troops in there no matter what the Congress wants to do," 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley asks Bush in the short clip uploaded to the CBS News web site Friday night.
"I think I've got, in this situation, I do, yeah," Bush said.
"Now I fully understand they will," Bush continued, "they could try to stop me from doing it, but, uh, I've made my decision and we're going forward.
A woman who was admitted to hospital with a migraine had her stay extended when a TV fell on her head.
School Board members adopted a three-point policy that says teachers who want to show the movie must ensure that a "credible, legitimate opposing view will be presented," that they must get the OK of the principal and the superintendent, and that any teachers who have shown the film must now present an "opposing view."
'If this bill is presented to the president, he will veto it,' [White House mouthpiece Tony Snowjob] said Friday."The evil bill in question requires the government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare participants.
"I think one of the reasons you keep hearing about Iran is because we keep finding their stuff in Iraq," [Gen. Peter] Pace said.
CHICAGO—Scientists have long been labeled as overly serious, narrowly focused individuals who don't have time for fun. But two University of Chicago atomic physicists proved that even the most buttoned-down professionals are capable of enjoying a good laugh every now and then. Last week, Drs. Marcus Hurley and Thom Fredericks unveiled what they are calling their "most hilarious work to date": an oversize novelty atom that measures "a ridiculously huge" 8.2 x 10-10 meters in diameter.
Mr. Gates said he would “pass the message to the president,” but that Mr. Bush is confident that he has the authority to do what he said he would do. Besides, Mr. Gates said, Mr. Bush is willing to take unpopular actions “because he has a longer view.”
My fellow Americans, we live in an age of anarchy, both abroad and at home. We see mindless attacks on all the great institutions which have been created by free civilizations in the last 500 years. Even here in the United States, great universities are being systematically destroyed....
If, when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world.
Don't see much of that anymore.In Minnesota, the temperature dropped to 24 below zero around dawn Friday in Hallock, in the state's northwestern corner, the National Weather Service said. Winds up to 25 mph made it feel closer to 40 below zero in much of western Minnesota.
Between November 19 and November 22, there was a series of leaks by "senior officials" to the press - linking a possible "surge" to the concept of "short-term."
"Short-term surge," reported the New York Times and MSNBC. "Short period," reported the Washington Post. "Temporary surge," reported the Christian Science Monitor. ABC's Jonathan Karl even reported a "temporary surge of no more than 60 days."
On January 9, in a Sacramento Bee op-ed, McCain wrote: "The worst of all worlds would be a small, short surge of U.S. forces."
On January 10, hours before Bush's big speech, the New York Times reported, "Mr. Snow last night said that the president would not be using the word 'surge' in his speech, adding that it implied what he called a 'rush hour' approach to a serious policy."
Anyone who wants to talk knowledgably about our Iraq misadventure should pick up Rajiv Chandrasekaran's "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone." It’s like reading a horror novel. You just want to put your face down and moan: How could we have let this happen? How could we have been so stupid?
A man was caught after he tried to make his way through Hong Kong airport with a crocodile, six snakes, 11 flying squirrels and 46 turtles and tortoises in his case.
"We cannot afford to fail."
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces in Iraq raided Iran's consulate in the northern city of Arbil and detained five staff members, a state-run Iranian news service said.
In comments overheard on an open microphone between morning television interviews, including one with Fox, [Condi Rice] said: "My Fox guys, I love every single one of them."
The US air strike on Somalia failed to kill any of the three top al-Qaida members accused of terror attacks in east Africa.
A senior US official said today that Sunday night’s attack had killed between eight and 10 “al-Qaida affiliates” near the southern tip of Somalia.
Pressed on why he thought this strategy would succeed where previous efforts had failed, Mr. Bush shot back: “Because it has to.”
“I said to Maliki this has to work or you’re out,” the president told the Congressional leaders, according to two officials who were in the room.
"The gains we have made over the past few years are mostly gone," said a bearded Special Operations officer, fresh in from advising Afghan army units in battle with 600 to 700 well-equipped Taliban fighters.
NEW YORK, Jan 9 (Reuters Life!) - Home renovators looking to bring life to the smallest room in their home now have the chance -- with a toilet that doubles as an aquarium.I don't know. Somehow this puts me in mind of a conversation I had once with a stewardess, about a half century ago (that would be right after they invented the wing but before they discovered fire), who told me - the stew did - about an older woman on one of her flights one day who went into the aircraft's toilet then re-emerged to complain the window had no blind.
Al-Qaida chief in Somalia may be dead
White House press secretary Tony Snow said Monday that Bush "understands there is a lot of public anxiety" about the war. On the other hand, he said that Americans "don't want another Sept. 11" type of terrorist attack and that it is wiser to confront terrorists overseas in Iraq and other battlegrounds rather than in the United States.
"threats posed to America and the West from a growing array of anti-Western forces that are increasingly casting a shadow over our future and violating religious liberty around the world," according to a statement from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he will be a senior fellow.
“Airplane passengers must be assured that any cargo on a passenger jet will not pose a terrorist threat,” said Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, who now leads the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. “But we must achieve these goals in an efficient manner to allow for the free flow of commerce without placing undue economic burdens on importers or bringing air traffic to a standstill.”
"The last thing we need to do is to be raising taxes in this country, and 'pay-go' is the first step toward raising taxes," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
But the naked parties are now fixtures among liberal students being primed to become the nation's elite.
Advocates propose sex abuse reforms
(CBS 42) AUSTIN Austin police have shut down Congress Ave. from Cesar Chavez St. to 11th St. after finding between 40 and 60 dead birds around 3 a.m. along Congress Ave. between 6th and 8th Streets.
Pelosi will be considered "an equal leader in government," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters when asked how he views her.Even if she doesn't like frogs and worms.
"There are no questions of whether they sit and talk as equals," he added. "I think it's impressive that no one has any questions of whether they can work together regardless of gender."
US stun gun maker Taser is unveiling a sleeker version of its controversial weapon aimed at safety and fashion conscious members of the public.
Meeting American reporters over lunch at a villa in the grounds of one of Mr. Hussein’s former palaces, General Odierno was careful not to divulge details of Mr. Bush’s new war plan, which the president is expected to make public in coming days, perhaps on Wednesday.
Several other military plans since the fall of Baghdad in 2003 have faltered.
This time, the general said, American troops would remain in the cleared areas “24/7,” to stiffen Iraqi resolve and build confidence among residents that they would be treated evenhandedly.
This so-called surge would constitute an abrupt about-face in American strategy, which has aimed in the past two years for a drawdown of American troops as Iraqi forces take on greater responsibility for the war.
The new American operational commander in Iraq said Sunday that even with the additional American troops likely to be deployed in Baghdad under President Bush’s new war strategy it might take another “two or three years” for American and Iraqi forces to gain the upper hand in the war.
Modern Christmas has always been about consumerism. It is more consumerist today simply because we are richer. Is that a bad thing? Our Christmas is not shallow. It is a giant celebration of our success. So go on, don't let the Christians, environmentalists, and all the other miserabilists, make you feel guilty for spending time and money on your loved ones. Eat, drink and be merry. You've earned it. Merry Christmas.
Mississippi ACLU executive Director Nsombi Lambright said she has concerns over privacy issues with a large spying device hovering over the city, whether a government agency or a private company runs it.
“A defense attorney is likely to dispute anything..."
The vehicle, called Metro One, features an array of high technology and spying devices, such as a 360-degree 18x zoom color camera, video recording, a GPS inflight map, a 20-million candle searchlight and, most notably, an infrared camera that can pick up both biological and mechanical heat signals.
“We’re always talking about needing more judges, more prosecutors, more jail space, more this, more that. We don’t have the money for that, ladies and gentlemen. What we do have the money for is preventing crime. I think you’re going to be turning on the television and hearing about crimes that were about to happen being stopped,” announced SafeCity director Mark McCreery.
Too bad [Franks] comes from the party that hasn’t had any ideas for the past sixty years.
We had a situation in Scotland where staff were asked, "Is that banana on your desk active or inactive?"
Pat Robertson may be the founder of the once-powerful Christian Coalition. He may attract nearly a million viewers a day to his "700 Club" television show. But when he claims to make divine prophecies -- as he did, again, last week -- many evangelicals say he undermines the credibility of their beliefs.
What’s going on? Although scientists have yet to prove definitive causes, many suspect that hormone-mimicking chemicals, obesity and stress all contribute to precocious puberty. The chemicals, often called endocrine disruptors, are of particular concern because they’re everywhere -- in food, water, personal-care products, some plastics and many consumer goods.
