The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This category is a main category for post dealing with political issues and politicians at any level of government.
David Safavian, who until Friday headed the “obscure but extremely important” federal procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was arrested yesterday, accused by federal agents of “lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s dealings with the federal government.”
Read moreThe Iraq Defense Ministry is the victim of one of the largest thefts in history. One billion dollars meant to buy arms from Pakistan and Poland was siphoned off, resulting in overpayment for inferior equipment such as “armoured cars…so poorly made that even a bullet from an elderly AK-47 machine-gun could penetrate their armour.”
Read moreBill Maher’s closing bit the other night: “Mr. President, this job can’t be fun for you any more.
Read moreWell, I was prepared to give Roberts the benefit of the doubt, but his self-serving attitude about answering questions during his confirmation hearing make me issue a solid “thumbs down”.
Read moreI just couldn’t help myself. Freudian Slip…you decide.
Read moreIn what seems destined to become one of the most joked about photos of the month, a well-known Reuters photographer on Wednesday captured President George W. Bush scribbling a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a session at the United Nations. On the note is a message revolving around the need to take a “bathroom break.”
Read moreI thought I would make this post about Katrina, and try to move on to other things. It is a horrible disaster, and we all need to know what is going on, and understand how over government agencies are (or are not) responding to this disaster. That being said, I think there’s some fatigue to all the coverage.
Read moreTime finds what it really, really charitably calls ‘discrepancies’ in FEMA Chief Michael Brown’s resume. Like when he served as “assistant city manager with emergency services oversight” in Edmond, Okla.? Okay, he was an intern (title=administrative assistant) there while he was in college.
Read moreHouse Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) said yesterday that conservative leaders plan to use the post-Katrina gas price woes to push through “a sweeping new energy bill.” But yesterday, a watchdog group released internal oil company memos showing “how the industry intentionally reduced domestic refining capacity to drive up profits,” in spite of the fact that “the oil industry blames environmental regulation for limiting [the] number of U.S. refineries.”
Read moreIn light of all the attention being given to the Supreme Court lately, I thought I’d provide a little SCOUSA trivia. Here’s information on the first case ever handled by the Supreme Court.
Read moreA trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren’t receiving help from authorities.
Read more