November 1, 2005
An attorney was sitting in his office late one night, when the Devil appeared before him. The Devil told the lawyer:
"I have a proposition for you. You can win every case you try, for the rest of your life. Your clients will adore you, your colleagues will stand in awe of you, and you will make embarrassing sums of money. All I want in exchange is your soul, your wife's soul, your children's souls, the souls of your parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law, and the souls of all of your friends and law partners."
The lawyer thought about this for a moment, then asked, "So, what's the catch?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And from Merrie Olde England, the country that bans piggy banks, and bans pig toys and pig photos in the work place, a lesson on tolerance… Perhaps Bonnie Prince Charlie would be better off visiting Islamic countries to learn how they treat other religions…
Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush
The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11.
The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.
...Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, was also at the meeting at St James's Palace. "His criticism of America was a general one of the Americans not having the appreciation we have for Islam and its culture," he said.
Mr Mahmood and other Muslims present stressed that Prince Charles did not go so far as to criticise the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. More recently, he has been careful not to express his views on Iraq.
...Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam. He said in 1994 that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith".
A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws. [while at the same time refraining from urging the Muslim world to reciprocate and overcome their “unthinkable prejudices” about Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and al the other little isms. Maybe he should just go back to his palace and talk to his plants]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/30/nchas30.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/30/ixportaltop.html
Consumer Spending Rebounds, Incomes Grow
Oct 31 Consumers got back into a buying groove and boosted their spending by a solid 0.5 percent in September. Incomes also grew briskly.
The latest figures, released Monday by the Commerce Department, suggested that the economy is holding up well to the double blows of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The 0.5 percent rise in consumer spending in September came after spending fell by that amount in August, reflecting the hit from Katrina.
Americans' incomes, meanwhile, increased by 1.7 percent in September, the largest gain since December 2004. That marked an improvement from the 0.9 percent plunge in incomes in August _ a decline that largely reflected fallout from Katrina.
...Spending growth for September matched economists' expectations. The increase in income was larger than forecast.
...Despite the sting of high energy bills, consumers spent briskly in the third quarter, helping the economy grow by an energetic 3.8 percent annual rate, the government reported last week.
...Analysts are predicting that any moderation in consumer spending, however, will be more than offset by stronger spending elsewhere, which should allow the economy to grow at a solid pace in the current October-to-December period.
...Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, struck in late August; Rita hit in late September. Both hurricanes destroyed businesses and homes and choked the flow of trade. They also hobbled oil and gas facilities, driving energy prices higher and fanning fears of inflation.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/31/D8DJ3J3O0.html
Gas Prices Continue to Drop
In September I saw gas at $3.30+. Yesterday I saw it for $2.33.
Patrick Fitzgerald Retreats From Plame 'Covert' Claim
National Security Not Violated in Libby Case
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005 Leakgate Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald dropped a mini-bombshell Friday afternoon while he was explaining his indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby to the press.
It turns out that the central premise of his investigation - that Valerie Plame Wilson enjoyed protected "covert" status at the CIA - may not be true.
"Let me say two things," Fitzgerald told reporters. "I am not speaking [in this indictment] to whether or not Valerie Wilson was covert . . . And we have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly or intentionally outed a covert agent."
Fitzgerald did insist that Mrs. Wilson's "association with the CIA was classified," which would make leaking her occupation a crime. But he declined to bring any charges to that effect, casting even more doubt on the claim that her CIA job was a closely guarded secret. http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/29/122517.shtml
In Libby Case, National Security Was Never Breached
Oct. 31, 2005 Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found no evidence that a federal law meant to protect covert operatives was ever broken by Scooter Libby or other administration officials, some would have you believe otherwise.
William Safire of the New York Times, appeared later on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert and hammered home the point: "[T]he most important single fact that emerged from the indictment [of Scooter Libby, the Vice-President's chief of staff – now resigned] is what was not in it.
"This whole thing started as an investigation of the violation of a law," Safire emphasized. "And the law that was violated was you must not deliberately out an agent who is undercover. And what the special counsel found is that law was not broken."
Indeed, at his October 28, 2005 press conference unveiling the five-count indictment against Libby, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald took special pains to note, "We have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly, intentionally, outed a covert agent."
Furthermore, there was no allegation of any conspiracy to violate the federal law to knowingly divulge the identity of anyone working undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency – the law that was at the heart of the more than two-year inquiry that began not long after July 14, 2003, when Bob Novak wrote a syndicated column saying that former ambassador Joe Wilson was married to Valerie Plame, who was a CIA official.
...Non-crime or no, Fitzgerald signaled at his press conference that he blamed Libby for stymieing the search for the truth by the grand jury...
...The varying recollections resulted in the indictment of Libby and prompted this first defensive salvo from his attorney Joseph Tate:
"We are quite distressed the Special Counsel has now sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others' and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements. As lawyers, we recognize that a person's recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred. This is especially true in the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government."
On Meet the Press, David Brooks of The New York Times summed up: "Well, let's get the right diagnosis of the disease. I agree with you about all of that. The diagnosis of -- the disease for the presidency is not scandal. Corruption is not the problem. It's not Watergate; it's not Iran Contra."
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/10/30/204722.shtml
"I have a proposition for you. You can win every case you try, for the rest of your life. Your clients will adore you, your colleagues will stand in awe of you, and you will make embarrassing sums of money. All I want in exchange is your soul, your wife's soul, your children's souls, the souls of your parents, grandparents, and parents-in-law, and the souls of all of your friends and law partners."
The lawyer thought about this for a moment, then asked, "So, what's the catch?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And from Merrie Olde England, the country that bans piggy banks, and bans pig toys and pig photos in the work place, a lesson on tolerance… Perhaps Bonnie Prince Charlie would be better off visiting Islamic countries to learn how they treat other religions…
Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush
The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11.
The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.
...Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Bar, was also at the meeting at St James's Palace. "His criticism of America was a general one of the Americans not having the appreciation we have for Islam and its culture," he said.
Mr Mahmood and other Muslims present stressed that Prince Charles did not go so far as to criticise the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. More recently, he has been careful not to express his views on Iraq.
...Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam. He said in 1994 that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith".
A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws. [while at the same time refraining from urging the Muslim world to reciprocate and overcome their “unthinkable prejudices” about Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and al the other little isms. Maybe he should just go back to his palace and talk to his plants]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/10/30/nchas30.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/10/30/ixportaltop.html
Consumer Spending Rebounds, Incomes Grow
Oct 31 Consumers got back into a buying groove and boosted their spending by a solid 0.5 percent in September. Incomes also grew briskly.
The latest figures, released Monday by the Commerce Department, suggested that the economy is holding up well to the double blows of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
The 0.5 percent rise in consumer spending in September came after spending fell by that amount in August, reflecting the hit from Katrina.
Americans' incomes, meanwhile, increased by 1.7 percent in September, the largest gain since December 2004. That marked an improvement from the 0.9 percent plunge in incomes in August _ a decline that largely reflected fallout from Katrina.
...Spending growth for September matched economists' expectations. The increase in income was larger than forecast.
...Despite the sting of high energy bills, consumers spent briskly in the third quarter, helping the economy grow by an energetic 3.8 percent annual rate, the government reported last week.
...Analysts are predicting that any moderation in consumer spending, however, will be more than offset by stronger spending elsewhere, which should allow the economy to grow at a solid pace in the current October-to-December period.
...Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history, struck in late August; Rita hit in late September. Both hurricanes destroyed businesses and homes and choked the flow of trade. They also hobbled oil and gas facilities, driving energy prices higher and fanning fears of inflation.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/10/31/D8DJ3J3O0.html
Gas Prices Continue to Drop
In September I saw gas at $3.30+. Yesterday I saw it for $2.33.
Patrick Fitzgerald Retreats From Plame 'Covert' Claim
National Security Not Violated in Libby Case
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005 Leakgate Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald dropped a mini-bombshell Friday afternoon while he was explaining his indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby to the press.
It turns out that the central premise of his investigation - that Valerie Plame Wilson enjoyed protected "covert" status at the CIA - may not be true.
"Let me say two things," Fitzgerald told reporters. "I am not speaking [in this indictment] to whether or not Valerie Wilson was covert . . . And we have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly or intentionally outed a covert agent."
Fitzgerald did insist that Mrs. Wilson's "association with the CIA was classified," which would make leaking her occupation a crime. But he declined to bring any charges to that effect, casting even more doubt on the claim that her CIA job was a closely guarded secret. http://newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/29/122517.shtml
In Libby Case, National Security Was Never Breached
Oct. 31, 2005 Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald found no evidence that a federal law meant to protect covert operatives was ever broken by Scooter Libby or other administration officials, some would have you believe otherwise.
William Safire of the New York Times, appeared later on "Meet the Press" with Tim Russert and hammered home the point: "[T]he most important single fact that emerged from the indictment [of Scooter Libby, the Vice-President's chief of staff – now resigned] is what was not in it.
"This whole thing started as an investigation of the violation of a law," Safire emphasized. "And the law that was violated was you must not deliberately out an agent who is undercover. And what the special counsel found is that law was not broken."
Indeed, at his October 28, 2005 press conference unveiling the five-count indictment against Libby, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald took special pains to note, "We have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly, intentionally, outed a covert agent."
Furthermore, there was no allegation of any conspiracy to violate the federal law to knowingly divulge the identity of anyone working undercover for the Central Intelligence Agency – the law that was at the heart of the more than two-year inquiry that began not long after July 14, 2003, when Bob Novak wrote a syndicated column saying that former ambassador Joe Wilson was married to Valerie Plame, who was a CIA official.
...Non-crime or no, Fitzgerald signaled at his press conference that he blamed Libby for stymieing the search for the truth by the grand jury...
...The varying recollections resulted in the indictment of Libby and prompted this first defensive salvo from his attorney Joseph Tate:
"We are quite distressed the Special Counsel has now sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others' and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements. As lawyers, we recognize that a person's recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred. This is especially true in the hectic rush of issues and events at a busy time for our government."
On Meet the Press, David Brooks of The New York Times summed up: "Well, let's get the right diagnosis of the disease. I agree with you about all of that. The diagnosis of -- the disease for the presidency is not scandal. Corruption is not the problem. It's not Watergate; it's not Iran Contra."
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/10/30/204722.shtml
posted by David Bennett | 5:00 AM
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