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Committees in both the House and Senate seem ready to subpoena the District U. S. Attorneys recently removed by the Bush Administration. Doesn't look like Bogden's on the list though, drat.
And click on that screen shot of TPMmuckraker to see who's a hot topic! And, what's the name of that Nevada U.S. Attorney, again?
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons returns home from the Gubefest in D.C. dragging his baggage behind him like Marley's ghost
Rather than listen to the consensus opinion of the scientific community, Superscientist Jim Gibbons will appoint a task force to determine if global warming will affect the state. I just hope they get their report in before the Colorado River dries up to a trickle. Let's see, it's a global problem right? So, if economies outside of the state are devastated and your major industry is tourism, do you need a panel of eggheads to tell you what's going to happen? And who's going to pay for this task force, anyway?
And what about Nevada's participation in the new coalition of Western states created to battle global warming?
Gibbons' office said he was surprised by the Western governors' bold plan, unveiled at the national governors conference in Washington he has been attending. (Sun)
Well, when you're too busy groping waitresses, slapping together hinkey deals under the cover of the "black budget" with you buds, and coercing the D.A. and the F.B.I. to break into citizen's homes at the behest of those same buds, I guess a little thing like learning what other governors are doing to solve real problems might escape ya.
To make things worse, Gibbons hooked up with coal-producing states because he really, really wants to send money out of Nevada to them to pursue his nutty coal-to-liquid scheme.
As the Western governors unveiled their plan, Gibbons joined coal-state governors to announce the formation of the NextGen Energy Council, a new organization made up of intermountain West and Southern states, plus the coal industry.
So, what do you think a task force on global warming put together by a Governor who's hell bent on burning Wyoming coal is going to conclude? Probably that liquefied coal will be a tasty drink which should be served for lunch in area schools.
And lookee, Jim Sims, the "driving force behind the creation of the NextGen Energy Council," is also up to his armpits in Partnership for the West Coalition which, according to SourceWatch is a Colorado-based coalition of mining, logging, ranching and recreational groups created to promote 'multiple-use' polices, that is, to allow mining and logging in federally protected land.
Ya gotta wonder if Gecol, who used to be a scientist, is having second thoughts about working for the Gube.
Gibbons also wimped out and didn't make that trip to the F.B.I. office investigating him while in D.C. Instead he's lawyering up. (RJ) No doubt he's hoping he can undermine the national F.B.I. office the same way he undermined Metro and the D.A. in Clark County, as well as Bogden and district courts.
The Gube is also still looking for those magic beans which will help him build roads without actually paying for them. And you know what? It was those pesky bureaucrats who ruined the Real ID bill, not the legislators too busy making secret deals for the buddies to actually read the thing.
And while Gibbons dithers and fantasizes, Buckley runs rings around him on education, first. (RJ)
Oh. U. S. District Attorney Bogden was fired for doing his job competently, the RJ learns.
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons sent out yet another press release today gabbering excitedly that Nevada is number 3 in the nation for electronic prescribing. Gibbons got a little award from drug stores and pharmacists for his accomplishment.
Er, wait. his accomplishment? We're only three months into the Gibbons' Regime though it seems more like three decades. The move to electronic prescriptions began under Kenny Guinn, who received the same award in 2006, when Nevada was ranked 2nd.
Granted it's really a silly award, but why is Gibbons so thrilled that the state is back-sliding?
By the way, you're welcome to look at the release over at the Gibbons' Gube site, but be warned: somebody loaded up an MSWord file where you'd expect a link to an html doc. Guess the staff is just trying to keep us on our toes.
And it was a busy day over in Nor'Town where we learn City Council candidate Jo Cato is in the middle of a Luv triangle and that Smutmongering won't be a growth industry in Nor'Town anytime soon.
For the first time ever, I'm on the Unions' e-mailing list, and lookee what they sent me!
Nevada Labor Leaders Speak Out on Fox Debate:
Labor Leaders Support Reaching Out to Nevada’s Diverse VotersLas Vegas, Nevada (February 26, 2007) - Today, Nevada labor leaders called on local and national organizations that have been critical of the August Democratic Presidential candidate debate to be aired on Fox News. The labor leaders pointed out that Nevada was awarded an early caucus because of its diverse population and that reaching out to this population will require a wide range of voices and messages.
Danny Thompson, leader of the Nevada State AFL-CIO, noted, “When the DNC approved Nevada’s new position, we were chosen because we would be a state that would highlight populations and issues not given fair representation in the previous nominating calendar. We are excited that issues Nevada and the West face will be highlighted and want as broad an audience as possible to receive this message. We think it will be refreshing to have FOX News have to broadcast a discussion of the characteristics that distinguish Nevada, including a growing labor movement.”
D. Taylor, Secretary–Treasurer of the 60,000-member Culinary Union called on those who have focused on Fox to look at the larger political picture. “Nevada was chosen as an early caucus state because of its diversity. Our members are diverse, the State’s voters are diverse. There is no purity in newscasts. We can all find flaws with each channel. What we know is that FOX is the most-watched newscast and that it will be a positive thing for the people who watch FOX’s newscast to have exposure to the issues and voices that will be participating in the Nevada presidential caucus. When we limit ourselves to only those that we agree with, everybody loses.”
Rusty McAllister, president of the Professional Firefighters of Nevada, noted that, “Many of us who will be participating in the presidential caucus process represent constituencies with a wide range of beliefs. We want all of our members to receive information about the candidates and their platforms. It is a step forward for Nevada if we have all networks, including FOX, addressing the issues that make our State unique.”
Woah. When Harry calls out the big guns, he really calls them out. And they read the talking points pretty good, don't they? Same ones I've been reading over and over the last few days. Except for this one: No channels are pure. Sure, but some are really much more impure when it comes to bashing progressives and unions. Guys, you better hope that the deal Collins presumably worked out with Fox doesn't turn into a Bash the Democrats muckfest. Otherwise, we'll know who to blame if the Democrats lose another presidential run.
If NVToday's run down of Trepp-gate made you feel all scummy and needing a shower and doubting the soundness of your Republican principles, Bob Shemligian (say that three times fast), gives the bidnessmen and women of Las Vegas an update on the Treppathon from the Incline Village-Crystal Bay point of few. Ah Incline Village, where the median house value is over $500,000.
And you know what? Why saintly old Trepp was just doin' bidnessman-like bidness stuff when he sold an inferior product to the United States Special Operations Command with a little help from his good buddy Jim:
"Warren is one of the best family men I've ever known," said neighbor Sam Folio, content provider for MusicGiants, a music-download service. "He's a devout Catholic and a very religious man. I've never seen anyone who's more philanthropic and able to engage others in philanthropy."
Sniff! A philanthropist and patron of the arts! So what if he had to (allegedly) bribe a Congressman, do an end run around an Inspector General and (allegedly) steal code from an employee to get all that money to do all those wonderful things. You see, the first rule of fight club Crystal City is that you never ask where the rich folk up there got all that money needed to live up there in the first place. And, Pilgrim, you really don't want to know.
Yup, I saw the new Gube announcement about the sex offender thing from the (alleged) Nevada Sex Offender in Chief (NSOC). Ever desperate for a distraction from his floundering Gubeship, the Governor may be using all that fuss over in Nor'Town about the sex offenders next door, to pretend he can do something to solve the problem. Funny thing 'tho, his GPS tracker won't do anything to remove sex-offenders from North Las Vegas or other Nevada neighborhoods--setting aside the troubling question of whether one could or should deny those who have served their time a place to live. So, if he's pandering to the folk in North Las Vegas, then that's all it is, pandering.
And, well, if he's acting from a guilty conscience, then his bud Trepp the devout Catholic can hook him up with one of them priests to absolve him of all that goo on his soul. Just hope the good Father isn't one of them that will be required to wear the Gube's GPS thing.
Ooo. They've heard about eTreppid down in the Tampa Tribune:
In Tampa, eTreppid's name first surfaced in an Oct. 19, 2005, anonymous letter, the contents of which were reported by this newspaper and others.
One of the letter's claims was that Army Gen. Bryan Brown, Socom's top officer, directed that a no-bid, top-secret contract be awarded to eTreppid, and by doing so, violated federal acquisition rules.
The decision, according to the letter, followed a briefing the general received in the fall of 2003 from eTreppid. Brown "ordered a contract to be put in place immediately," the letter stated.
"This was totally out of line on how business is conducted at USSOCOM," according to the letter, which added there were other companies with products more capable then eTreppid's.
On Feb. 13, 2004, the Pentagon announced Socom had awarded eTreppid a sole-source contract worth as much as $30 million for compression and automatic target recognition software.
Don't stop yet!
Socom rejected the eTreppid allegation, as well as others in the letter, calling them groundless. Nonetheless, the command asked the inspector general to investigate.
The inquiry was completed in August. The results were never released publicly, but The Tampa Tribune reviewed a copy of the report's 21-page executive summary.
"We concluded Gen. Brown did not improperly use his position for the private gain of personal acquaintances by directing a sole-source contract be awarded to eTreppid," the summary stated.
The deal with eTreppid began as a full and open competition, according to the summary.
However, it evolved into a no-bid arrangement based on a rule that allows competition to be suspended if advertising an agency's need would compromise national security, the summary stated.
And the last line:
Socom spokesman Ken McGraw said Friday the command no longer has any contracts with eTreppid.
Warren shoulda offered them a cruise.
The Las Vegas Sun quotes one of my favorite bloggers, Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News, today in a recap of Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons' diddling with the classified budget to fund projects for his bud Warren Trepp:
"Its pretty basic stuff: Secrecy invites corruption," said Steven Aftergood, a veteran black budget expert who directs the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. His 1997 Freedom of Information Act lawsuit led the CIA to disclose secret spending for the first time in 50 years.
"What Congressman Cunningham did should not have been possible. He was able to push through what amounted to personal favors in the national intelligence budget. And whoever was supposed to supervise the process failed completely.
"How many red flags do we need to understand the current system is broken?" Aftergood said.
At least one more, courtesy of Gube Jim Gibbons.
Coolican from Carson informs us that, Chuck Muth is a-feared for his party, and that Gibbons continues his new career of careening through his Gubeship like he's still drinking at McCormick and Schmick's. Among the weekly "missteps," the misspelling of the celebrant at a Black History Month shindig, and the Governor introduces a bill requesting a raise for...himself. You can have a gander at S-1240 by clicking on the pic, above.
The RJ wonders today that the Nevada Supreme court is not in the mood to support the indiscriminate sealing of court records. Gee, maybe they should send that suit from the Democrats over the sealed documents in the Trepp case to 'em.
And check out the pic of Gibbons over at the Gubathon. He's given up wearing a tie for the black shirt under the sport coat look. Wonder if it helps him get chicks?
Gibbons is also being accused by hospitals and nursing homes for violating his pledge not to raise taxes or fees by, well, raising inspection fees for hospitals and nursing homes. Gibbons, ever ready to pass the buck for his inattention to his own budget planning, blamed the increase on Kenny Guinn. (Sun)
Hey Kids! Jon Ralston rants like...a blogger on a caffeine high. MyDD responds. Why did they eveb bother answering the Flushman? Dunno. And don't miss the comments over at MyDD. What exactly is an asshat, anyway?
In Nor'Town, the Fertittas take the town.
Why, you ask? Because the Governors over at the Gubathon have selected Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons "co-lead Governor" for Homeland Security with Ruth Anne Minner of Delaware. Not only that, but they put him on the Public Safety Task Force.
Time to move into the bomb shelter and hug your butt good-bye.
Jack Mormon Jim replaces real Mormon Mitt Romney as Insecurity Gube.
Gibbons was one of the original drafters of the bill that created the Bureaucratic Ministry of Homeland Security that's been doing a heckuvajob in places like New Orleans and keeping us safe from terrorist toiletries on airplanes.
Do you think the Gubes have missed the irony of putting the only Governor currently under investigation by the FBI in charge of homeland security?
And I hope Gibbons' fellow Governors don't expect him to take much of a part in their discussion about early childhood education given that he and the State Repugs have decided to be agin it.
And you can see tons of video from the conference over here, like one with Jim Roberts, Vice Chair of the National Mining Association, or NAMBLA, trying to sell the Gubes on coal liquefaction (video). You'll love the scare tactics. He notes that the Chinese are investing in coal-to-liquid big time and by golly, you can't allow commies to poison their air first get to the Moon first!! Naturally he calls it an "ultra clean fuel." Why, it just makes you want to bathe in it and pour it on your kid's breakfast cereal!
And commentators texex and What!? have been looking into the folks behind the Western Majority Project.
The RGJ and AP report on how Jerritt Canyon Gold Mine is spewing mercury like a Governor hurling after drinking too much with his campaign manager and groping a cocktail waitress. Apparently mercury dust is leaking from the ore-drying system before it gets to filters designed to catch the stuff.
The Nevada Division of Environment Protection ordered the plant to come up with a plan to fix the problem or face heavy fines. Hmm. Raise your hand if you think the mine will ever have to pay a cent in a state run by one of the foremost mercury-emissions deniers. Now, it's chump-change to Siggy, but the Queenstake Employees PAC dropped at least $1,500 on the Governor in his recent election, too. (p. 18 of CC&E #3) And, hey, Mr. Secretary of State Ross Miller, they don't seem to have complete financials online yet for that PAC.
Also, Gibbons continues his purge of Guinnites from the State government. Nevada Agricultural Director Don Henderson had his last day today. (AP)
to Leslie Nielsen for the part of Jim Gibbons in that Halle Berry movie about Tierney Cahill according to the unofficial 'Monger poll. I wonder who's repping the ex-Gube? Probably not Siggy? You can still vote over there in the right-hand corner...
Ooo. Berry breaks the race barrier by playing a white woman!
Double Ooo. Tom Collins made Jesus' General!
