To my loyal readers,
I know I haven't posted in almost a month. I haven't dropped dead or been kidnapped by the government, just been busy working for the man - more directly the woman - so I wanted to apologize. Hopefully this weekend I can update with alacrity.

- Miss Fung

The Count Down - 321

"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."
- George w. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003

The Count Down - 322

When the Bush administration wants to detain and interrogate foreign nationals, but doing so in the United States would violate rights they are guarenteed here, the administration transports these individuals to countries without such protections, such as Morocco, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, where they may be held without trial and tortured. This pratice is known as Extraordinary Rendition.

In the words of former CIA agent Robert Baer: "If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear-- never to see them again--you send them to Egypt."

The ACLU estimates that over 150 foreign nationals have been victims of Extraordinary Rendition since 9/11.

-From Article I of House Resolution 1106: Article of Impeachment against George Walker Bush, President of the United States, introduced by Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) on Dec. 8, 2006

The Count Down - 323

"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world."
- George W. Bush, mistakenly identifying Pakistan as an Arab country, Islamabad, Pakistan, March 3, 2006

The Count Down - 324

Although a great supporter of Bush's war in iraq, Tom DeLay was the recipient of several college deferments during the Vietnam war. He explained his lack of enthusiasm for that war when questions about Dan Quayle's military service came under scrutiny during the 1988 Republican Convention in New Orleans:

"He and Quayle, DeLay explained to the assembled media in New Orleans, were victims of an unusual phenomenon back in the days of the undeclared Southeast Asian war. So many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself."
- Tim Fleck, Houston Press, Jan. 7, 1999

DeLay was forced to step down as House majority leader when he was indicted for conspriacy to commit fraud and illegal campaign contribution.

The Count Down - 325

Congressional investigations in Hanuary 2007 oncovered a legal blunder allowing oil companies to avoid billions of dollars in payments for oil and gas pumped from publicly owned waters, Johnnie M. Burton, the Director of the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, told a congressional hearing that she first learned about the problem in January 2006.

Confronted by e-mail messages from subordinates sent in early 2004, Ms. Burton conceded that she probably had been told earlier, but "did not remember putting a great deal of though into the matter."

Investigators calculated that the government could have collected an additional $365 million between 2004 and 2007.