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FYI, Halliburton and KBR are headquartered in Houston Texas

Posted By: AND on 2008-12-24
In Reply to: You're right. I forgot. (sm) - Marmann

the "ties" between the Bush Family and Halliburton and KBR are legendary down in the Lone Star and go back generations. W's Uncle Prescott was director at Dresser Industries, which is now part of Halliburton. HW Bush worked there as well 1948-1951. KBR was embroiled in the W administration controversy surrounding the cimcumvention of normal contractor hiring protocol for Iraq. You must have a really short attention span.


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Houston

Oh, yeah, my kids have told me about Sugarland and Ft. Bend County as well as the entire Houston metroplex.  I lived and my kids grew up in the I-40, Barker-Cypress area.  They say now that that area is pretty much a slum.  My daughter lives in Tomball and my son in Magnolia.  The poster who posted about Houston must have been speaking of Houston, Missouri or something, certainly not Houston, Texas, that my kids tell me about or that I see when I visit.  My son is a plumbing superintendent.  As such he is all over Houston and the surrounding areas and he says there is not one area of Houston where he would raise his family unless he could afford River Oaks, which I don't believe a plumber's salary would allow.  LOL


 I now live in Cane Hill, Arkansas, population maybe 70.  LOL  Even in this small farming community we've had 2 murders in the past year, both committed by illegals.  Not to even mention what goes on in the surrounding area.  Right now there is a trial going on in Washington County (our area).  Three illegals shot and killed a man and his son while they were driving down the highway for no reason other than one of them dared the shooter to do it.  You're 100% correct.  Immigration isn't the problem, invasion is. 


Where do you live?  Email me if you want.  I also have a website if you want to check it out:  http://www.ozarkmountainmemories.com


 


The last time I looked he was in Houston at...
the emergency management center. When did he go to New Orleans? Not being smart, hadn't heard that.

He said that is why he did not go last time...exactly what you just said. And now he goes, ...and you criticize him.

Serious question...why is that? Don't want to fight, just want to know.
No emergency to manage in Houston.
nm
Ike turns aim on Galveston-Houston Metroplex with 5 million on
Is there something wrong with this picture, or is it just me?  BTW, I live in the bullseye. 
Halliburton had 8 years of

free reign with taxpayer money and you are focused on a celebration of a historic event? Priorities people.


 


Just wait till Halliburton gets the

Dubai Ports contract that they now say they are going to hire Americans to run.


Talk about thumbing his nose to America!


Halliburton will build new prison on Guantanamo
Halliburton subsidiary gets $30 million to build new Guantanamo prison

ASSOCIATED PRESS

11:28 a.m. June 17, 2005

WASHINGTON – A subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton has been awarded a $30 million contract to build an improved 220-bed prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Pentagon announced.

Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc. of Arlington, Va., is to build a two-story prison that includes day rooms, exercise areas, medical bays, air conditioning and a security control room, according to the Pentagon. It is to be completed by July 2006.

Congress previously approved the funding for the construction job. Some members, along with human rights groups, are now calling for Guantanamo to close because of reports of prisoner abuses there and because the foreign detainees are being held indefinitely with no charges filed.

KBR beat out two other bids for the job, the Pentagon said.

"The future detention facility will be based on prison models in the U.S. and is designed to be safer for the long-term detention of detainees and the guards," according to a statement provided by a Pentagon spokesman. "It is also expected to require less manpower to operate."

The new prison building, called Detention Camp {PI:EF}6, will replace some of the older facilities at the Navy base, which officials say are not adequate for holding prisoners for the long term.

The total contract could be worth up to $500 million through 2010, the Pentagon said. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Va., is the contracting agency.

About 520 prisoners from the Bush administration's war on terrorism are held at Guantanamo. Already, $110 million has been spent on construction there, and the prison costs about $95 million a year to operate.

White House officials have said there are no plans to close the facility because the detainees being held there are too dangerous to release while the war on terror continues.
Halliburton=Cheney=benefiting from war/terrorism
Check it out, lots and lots and lots written about it.  Draw your own conclusions. 
Dyncorp & Halliburton Sex Slave Scandal

Dyncorp and Halliburton Sex Slave Scandal Won't Go Away
Halliburton, Dyncorp lobbyists stall law banning human trafficking and sex slavery


Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones | January 1 2006


Almost a year after Representative Cynthia McKinney was told by Donald Rumsfeld that it was not the policy of the Bush administration to reward companies that engage in human trafficking with government contracts, the scandal continues to sweep up innocent children who are sold into a life of slavery at the behest of Halliburton subsidiaries , Dyncorp and other transnational corporations with close ties to the establishment elite.


On March 11th 2005, McKinney grilled Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers on the Dyncorp scandal.


Mr. Secretary, I watched President Bush deliver a moving speech at the United Nations in September 2003, in which he mentioned the crisis of the sex trade. The President called for the punishment of those involved in this horrible business. But at the very moment of that speech, DynCorp was exposed for having been involved in the buying and selling of young women and children. While all of this was going on, DynCorp kept the Pentagon contract to administer the smallpox and anthrax vaccines, and is now working on a plague vaccine through the Joint Vaccine Acquisition Program. Mr. Secretary, is it [the] policy of the U.S. Government to reward companies that traffic in women and little girls?


The response and McKinney's comeback was as follows.


Rumsfeld: Thank you, Representative. First, the answer to your first question is, is, no, absolutely not, the policy of the United States Government is clear, unambiguous, and opposed to the activities that you described. The second question.



McKinney: Well how do you explain the fact that DynCorp and its successor companies have received and continue to receive government contracts?


Rumsfeld: I would have to go and find the facts, but there are laws and rules and regulations with respect to government contracts, and there are times that corporations do things they should not do, in which case they tend to be suspended for some period; there are times then that the - under the laws and the rules and regulations for the - passed by the Congress and implemented by the Executive branch - that corporations can get off of - out of the penalty box if you will, and be permitted to engage in contracts with the government. They're generally not barred in perpetuity.


McKinney: This contract - this company - was never in the penalty box.


Rumsfeld: I'm advised by DR. Chu that it was not the corporation that was engaged in the activities you characterized but I'm told it was an employee of the corporation, and it was some years ago in the Balkans that that took place.


Watch the video here.


Rumsfeld's effort to shift the blame away from the hierarchy at Dyncorp and onto the Dyncorp employees was a blatant attempt to hide the fact that human trafficking and sex slavery is a practice condoned by companies like Dyncorp and Halliburton subsidiaries like KBR.


What else are we to assume in light of recent revelations cited in the Chicago Tribune that Halliburton subsidiary KBR and Dyncorp lobbyists are working in tandem with the Pentagon to stall legislation that would specifically ban trafficking in humans for forced labor and prostitution by U.S. contractors?



Three years has now elapsed since President Bush's promise to bring an end to this disgrace and the Pentagon is still yet to actually bar the practice.


And the employees themselves that are burned for blowing the whistle, like Kathryn Bolkovac who was sacked for reporting on Dyncorp officials who were involved in the Bosnian sex trade.


Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is one of very few representatives in high office aside from Cynthia McKinney to demand answers on this issue.



We applaud Blagojevich's eforts. The iron curtain of official denial and soft-peddling is falling down.


What has happened to the children who were sold into slavery and forced to satisfy the demands of sick pedophiles working on behalf of the US government?


Where were the investigations and convictions in other cases of establishment orchestrated child slavery and prostitution? Like the NATO officials responsible for the mushrooming of child prostitution in Kosovo?


What happened to UN officials identified as using a ship charted for 'peacekeepers' to bring young girls from Thailand to East Timor as prostitutes?


In addition, we received an E mail from a person claiming to be a Dyncorp employee stating that a high level Dyncorp official is breaking the law by accepting payment from the US government and in turn the American taxpayer by falsifying timesheets and claiming pay for hours not worked.


The contact states that this was repeatedly brought to the attention of DynCorp program managers by Dyncorp employees but they were told it was none of their business.


It is important to stress that at the moment these are allegations and we have no proof of this other than the validity of the e mail.


The e mail is a reminder that we should always consider the fact that the vast majority of Dyncorp employees are just doing their jobs and have nothing to do with this scandal. It is a small faction at the head of the hydra that have authorized and engaged in these horrors.



We have a government that says it doesn't advocate torture and yet tries to block a law that would end torture. We have a government that repeatedly burns lower level minions to wash its hands of every major scandal that encompasses policies directly administered by the government itself, as in the case of Abu Ghraib and the Dyncorp sex scandal.


A government that covers-up for those who force children into prostitution and slavery is a clear danger to our very way of life.


We must demand answers and finally put an end to a process that exploits and wreaks terror on the lives of the most innocent and vulnerable members of society, whether they be in the Balkans, East Timor or here at home.


Our own children.


Gee, maybe we can recoup it from Halliburton and the irresponsible money sm
flushed down the toilet in the so-called War on Terror. I know - how about we get it from Exxon and the corporate crooks who've had years of screwing the American public under the aegis of the Republican party?
Halliburton Didn't Protect Soldiers' Water
(I wonder what else they won't protect if/when they're put in charge after the Dubai deal goes through.  And I believe Bush will find a way to push it through right under Americans' noses, since I believe his loyalty lies clearly with rich Arabs and not with the safety of Americans.)

 

Updated:2006-03-16 07:52:03

 

Halliburton Didn't Protect Soldiers' Water

 

Internal Memo Warns of 'Mass Sickness or Death'

ap


WASHINGTON (March 16) - Halliburton Co. failed to protect the water supply it is paid to purify for U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq, in one instance missing contamination that could have caused mass sickness or death, an internal company report concluded.


The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the company failed to assemble and use its own water purification equipment, allowing contaminated water directly from the Euphrates River to be used for washing and laundry at Camp Ar Ramadi in Ramadi, Iraq.


The problems discovered last year at that site - poor training, miscommunication and lax record keeping - occurred at Halliburton's other operations throughout Iraq, the report said.


Countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted, Wil Granger, Theatre Water Quality Manager in the war zone for Halliburton's KBR subsidiary, wrote in his May 2005 report.


AP reported earlier this year allegations from whistleblowers about the Camp Ar Ramadi incident, but Halliburton never made public Granger's internal report alleging wider problems.


The water quality expert warned Halliburton the problems will have to be dealt with at a very elevated level of management to protect health and safety of U.S. personnel.


Halliburton said Wednesday it conducted a second review last year that found no evidence of any illnesses in Iraq from water and it believes some of its earlier conclusions were incomplete and inaccurate. The company declined to release the second report.


The company said it has worked closely with the Army to develop standards and take action to ensure that the water provided in Iraq is safe and of the highest quality possible.


Halliburton was headed by Vice President Dick Cheney for several years before he ran for vice president. Its KBR subsidiary, also known as Kellogg Brown & Root, works under contract to provide a number of services to the U.S. military in Iraq, including providing water and purifying it.


The contaminated, non-chlorinated water at Ar Ramadi was discovered in March 2005 in a commode by Ben Carter, a KBR water expert at the base. In an interview, Carter said he resigned after KBR barred him from notifying the military and senior company officials about the untreated water.


A supervisor at Ar Ramadi told me to stop e-mailing company officials outside the base and warned that informing the military was none of my concern, Carter said. He said he threatened to sue if company officials didn't let him be examined to determine whether he suffered medical problems from exposure to the contaminated water.


Granger's report cited several countrywide problems:


A lack of training for key personnel. Theatre wide there is no formalized training for anyone at any level in concerns to water operations.


Confusion between KBR and military officials over their respective roles. For instance, each assumed the other would chlorinate the water at Ar Ramadi for any uses that would require the treatment.


Inadequate or nonexistent records that could have caught problems in advance. Little or no documentation was kept on water inventories, safety stand-downs, audits of water quality, deliveries, inspections and logs showing alterations or modifications to water systems.


Relying on employees the company identified as semiskilled labor, and paid as unskilled workers in the pay structure.


The report said the event at Ar Ramadi could have been prevented if KBR's Reverse Osmosis Units on the site had been assembled, instead of relying on the military's water production facilities.


This event should be considered a 'near miss' as the consequences of these actions could have been very severe resulting in mass sickness or death, Granger wrote.


The report said that KBR officials at Ar Ramadi tried to keep the contamination from senior company officials.


The event that was submitted in a report to local camp management should have been classified as a recordable occurrence and communicated to senior management in a timely manner, Granger wrote. The primary awareness to this event came through threat of domestic litigation.


Beginning last May, Halliburton said it began using its equipment to remove contaminants, bacteria, and viruses in Ar Ramadi, and disinfect the water with chlorine. The company said KBR has worked closely with the Army to develop safe water standards.


It said its subsequent review in August-September 2005 found nonpotable water used for washing was effectively filtered to remove at least 99 percent of the parasite giardia and 90 percent of viruses. The Ar Ramadi water also tested negative for bacteria, Halliburton added.

Halliburton to wounded employee: You'll get a medal - if you don't sue.
Halliburton to Wounded Employee: You'll Get a Medal -- If You Don't Sue

Halliburton will help its combat-zone employees get the honors and recognition they deserve -- if they promise not to sue the company. That's according to new documents released today by Senate Democrats.


Ray Stannard was a truck driver in Iraq for Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root. In 2003, he was part of a fuel convoy that was ambushed by insurgents. Seven Americans died in the attack and 26 were injured, including Stanner. He is suing the company.


His company knew the convoy's route was dangerous and unprotected, he says, but sent the convoy through anyway. What they did was murder, Stannard told CBS News recently. And I stick by that.


The circumstances of his injuries qualified Stanner for the U.S. Defense of Freedom medal, the civilian equivalent to a soldier's Purple Heart. In offering to forward Stanner's medical records to the Department of Defense so they could confirm and appove his award, KBR required him to sign a release form. (You can see the document here.)


The document, sent to Stannard in November 2004, appears to be boilerplate -- but for one curious paragraph that appears to indemnify KBR from any wrongdoing that may have led to Stanner's injuries:


. . . I agree that in consideration for the application for a Defense of Freedom Medal on my behalf that. . . I hereby release, aquit and discharge KBR, all KBR employees, the military, and any of their representatives. . . with respect to and from any and all claims and any and all causes of action, of any kind or character, whether now known or unknown, I may have against any of them which exist as of the date of this authorization. . . . This release also applies to any claims brought by any person or agency or class action under which I may have a right or benefit.

Stannard didn't sign the form. He received the medal. And he filed suit against the company the following May.


They came to Texas, too. SM
My Vietnam veteran brothers and I and a bunch of the rest of us were there to meet and greet them.  Needless to say, they didn't get anywhere near the funeral procession. 
Only in Texas :)........ sm

Hunting blind - only in Texas

Fort Worth Star Telegram - Dec 12, 2006

House Bill 308 would allow Texans who are blind to go hunting. With guns. With real bullets... 
Perhaps Dick Cheney's hunting performance inspired the bill. Cheney is apparently blind and he is permitted to hunt birds in Texas.


 


80R1572 SGA-F


 


By:  Kuempel                                      H.B. No. 308


 


 


 


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED


AN ACT


relating to the use of laser sighting devices by hunters who are legally blind.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:


SECTION 1.  Section 62.005, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended to read as follows:


Sec. 62.005.  HUNTING WITH LIGHT.  Except as provided by Section 62.0055, no [No] person may hunt a game animal or bird protected by this code with the aid of an artificial light that casts or reflects a beam of light onto or otherwise illuminates the game animal or bird, including the headlights of a motor vehicle.


SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 62, Parks and Wildlife Code, is amended by adding Section 62.0055 to read as follows:


Sec. 62.0055.  HUNTING WITH LASER SIGHTING DEVICE BY LEGALLY BLIND HUNTER.  (a)  In this section, legally blind has the meaning assigned by Section 62.104, Government Code.


(b)  A legally blind hunter may use a laser sighting device during regular hunting hours when assisted by a person who is not legally blind.


(c)  The legally blind hunter must carry proof of being legally blind.


SECTION 3.  (a)  Not later than January 1, 2008, the Parks and Wildlife Commission shall adopt rules that prescribe what is acceptable as proof of being legally blind under Section 62.0055, Parks and Wildlife Code, as added by this Act.


(b)  The Parks and Wildlife Department may not enforce Section 62.0055(c), Parks and Wildlife Code, as added by this Act, until the rules adopted under Subsection (a) of this section take effect.


SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2007.


Texas, etc

I think it is like the old saying; you can take the person out of Texas but you can't take Texas out of the person.  LOL  I miss the BBQ most I think.


We must be in the same age group, 'm.........arg.........65.  Unfortunately I didn't know a lot about my family, didn't get interested in genealogy until most of the older members of my family had passed, small family to begin with.  I only remember bits and pieces of stories they told.  I found it interesting that my G-G-grandfather freed his slaves before the War, yet my G-grandfather fought and died to preserve the rights of slave owners.  One can find out some interesting things.  I go back to one G-G-grandfather who was born in VA and then moved to TN before moving to AR in 1830.  Everyone searching that family branch comes to a dead end with him.  It is said that there was some kind of family scandal about the time of his birth but either no one knows or they aren't sharing what the scandal was.  He doesn't match DNA with any of the other branches of the family.  Strange indeed.


Maybe we should continue this discussion in email?  I've taken us way off topic haven't I?


Of course they were. Being from Texas, I can
tell you Dubya is not a Texan/cowboy/regular guy. He's a rich spoiled yuppie from Connecticut who easily fooled those who are easily fooled. And it would be wonderful if that's the worst thing he's done in the last 8 years. They just announced on the news we have the highest unemployment rate SINCE 1974. Thanks W...
and they can HAVE Texas!

Texas. Probably Obama most
prevalent. Can't help but think what 150 mil could do just in Galveston and Port Bolivar right now after Ike. These people are not getting all the fine help others have gotten, probably those in Iowa understand completely what I am saying. Voted yesterday by the way. Certify I am living, breathing, just voted one time and in only one voting place!
4 bucks? We pay 6 in Texas.
x
texas seceding

I hope Texas does secede -- I'd leave this sinking ship in a heartbeat, right ahead of the rats.


I heard they moved to Texas already. nm
dopeypeople
Uhh...no...Bush would still be in Crawford Texas
We would still have weeks, if not months, of hillbilly wrangling before we tried to "talk" the pirates out of releasing the captain.

It just sucks that you people have to admit that Obama did a good job. It really sucks eating crow.
Right on Texas - you rock! I want to move there
Now I understand the true meaning of "Don't Mess with Texas"

http://blogs.chron.com/texaspolitics/archives/2009/04/perry_says_texa.html


I'm pretty concerned about the Texas crooks s/m
You know everything is bigger and better in Texas.  Bush/Cheney have pretty much proved to my satisfaction that crooks even grow bigger in Texas.  Chicago crooks will have to get up pretty early to beat 'em.
Being from Texas, I've had an extra 5 years
Don't believe in all that phoney outrage. I've done my time and prefer to call a spade a spade.
Oh yeah, Texas is the right place for the likes of him sm
Family oriented? He produced 2 drunken daughters. His wife is nice but the rest of them are pathetic entitled spoiled rotten human beings.

Oh yeah, Texas is the right place for the likes of him sm
Family oriented? He produced 2 drunken daughters. His wife is nice but the rest of them are pathetic entitled spoiled rotten human beings.

What land in Texas is even worth 'grabbing'?
nm
Secret Service Shows Up At Texas Mom's Door...














Quote:
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.








Quote:
Last week, here in America, they came for Jessica Hughes, and I will not be silent. I will not turn away, hoping, in the end, they will not come for me.

Jessica Hughes of Lufkin, Texas, former Marine, mother of three, answered her cell phone in the car, coming home from the emergency room. Her 9-year-old had suffered a mild concussion, but was OK.

The caller was a female Obama volunteer who asked if Jessica would support Obama for president.

Jessica replied, "No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time." Then Jessica hung up.

The next day, a man and a woman in suits showed up at the door of her home, identifying themselves as members of the Secret Service.

The Secret Service agents stated that the Obama campaign had complained of a death threat. They had quoted Jessica as saying, "I will never support Obama, and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."

Jessica's husband had heard Jessica's side of the original phone call and verified the actual quote. To which the female agent replied, "Oh? Well why would she (the Obama volunteer) make that up?"

Jessica replied that the Obama volunteer was probably unhappy about what Jessica had said about her candidate. The female agent then said "That's right, you were rude!"

The male agent then displayed a file with Jessica's full name prominently printed on it and asked her how she felt about Obama. At this point, the former Marine told the agent "in no uncertain terms" (as she later recounted) that this was America and that the last time she checked, she was allowed to think whatever she wanted without being questioned by the Secret Service. And was being "rude" a federal crime now too?

The agents then admitted they had no tape of the conversation, just the quote from the Obama campaign.

Responding to Jessica's questions, the agents would not identify themselves by name, nor reveal the name of the Obama volunteer who had made the complaint. The agents did indicate that Jessica was not in a court of law yet, and that they were trying to not embarrass her "by going to all her family and neighbors."

To these implied threats, Jessica invited the agents to speak to whomever they wanted, and stated she would happily go to court since she had done nothing wrong.

Jessica asked the agents, "Look, someone calls me unsolicited on my cell phone to ask me to support their candidate, and I can't tell them why I don't?"

The Secret Service left Jessica that day, but she could not get the "visit" out of her mind.


Source:http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77825

Good Ole Texas lets you buy candy and soda
with food stamps.

As republican a state as you can get. So who are the moochers again?
Pretty weak - Johnson was a product of Texas politics,
....just like Bush, Rove, Delay, and a slew of other Suite F-8 Texans now strangling our democracy. Kennedy didn't like him, and Johnson went into fits of rage over his brother, Robert Kennedy, who he never referred to as anything but that son of a b****. Johnson was financed throughout his unstoppable career by Brown & Root (today KBR, a subsidiary of Halliburton). Politically he was a far closer match to the current Republicans both in ideology and political technique (woo them with money, destroy them if they won't cooperate with the agenda, and remember to feed that war machine at every opportunity).

Johnson was a Democrat because 60 years ago that was the Texan standard. But, he paved the way for the current breed of southern Republicans to take control. It's no surprise that Johnson leapt right into Viet Nam or collaborated with people who wished to deceive and manipulate the American people - that is what these people do. Kennedy was the true Democrat - but that just wouldn't do for either Johnson or the rest of his political soulmates who are, of course, Republicans.
Truth is, Bush's Texas tort reform is hurting everyone.
Except, of course, his rich friends. That's so much better, isn't it, than laws which address the issues directly and favor the greatest number of citizens?

Texan tort reform that was W's payback to the wealthy who put him in office in Texas has been a disastrous model, giving doctors less incentive than ever to perform skillfully and leaving thousands of people with no recourse when they are medically victimized because they can't afford any longer to bring a justified lawsuit or can't prove the doctor intended to cause harm (a ridiculous qualifier). Insurance rates have gone UP instead of down for everyone despite the fact that tort reform was sold on the platform of cutting rates due to fewer insurance payouts. And, those who can manage to get a case into court no longer have the right to have a jury hear their case. Activist pro-Republican pro-big-business judges are all they've got in some cases, which means they haven't a fair chance at a favorable outcome.

That's life in crony capital USA!

But oooh, let's pretend it really *is* medical lawsuits that are the villains, and let's boo and hiss at the lawyers who make sloppy doctors and sellers of defective merchandise fear being held accountable for their actions. Isn't that what life in Bushworld is all about? - relieving the very best among us from any civic and legal responsibility for the destruction and death they cause? Let's all cheer for that! Go on sm, cheer some more for losing your right to sue a drunk doctor who kills your child! Cheer for your higher insurance rates! Cheer for your free market enterprise unfettered with quality laws, because you know they're going to be more concerned about the safety of those products they sell you than they are about making more money! Heck yeah, why shouldn't we all love that? We're all morons, we love it when they stick it to us! We can't get enough of that, nosiree!
Mandatory evac all along Texas coast. I'm hearing lots.
I live in the path of Ike.  Mandatory evac supposedly is starting around 10 a.m.  I am trying to figure out whether I am staying home or hitting road.  Whenever they come up for breath in the middle of lipstick on pigs and McCains preverted add long enough to actually name the mandatory evacation towns/cities, I'd appreciate a heads up.   
Texas supreme court affirms special rights for religion

The Texas state supreme court ruled unanimously on Friday that a town which had altered its zoning to ban two church-sponsored halfway houses in a residential neighborhood was in violation of the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.


That act, which was passed in 1999 and endorsed by then-Governor George W. Bush, affords greater legal protection to religious operations than to equivalent secular operations.


Under its provisions, cities have to prove that zoning regulations — like the one passed by the town of Sinton to ban jails and rehabs within 1000 feet of a home, school, or church — further a “compelling” interest, such as protecting public safety, and do not place a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion.


Town officials asserted that the zoning regulations placed no restrictions on worship or the practice of religion and were merely intended to protect the safety of residents. This position was upheld at the local and appeals court levels.


However, the all-Republican and generally conservative state supreme court agreed with Pastor Richard Barr’s claim that because the town of Sinton is so small, the regulation had the effect of excluding him from operating his “ministry” for parolees anywhere.


Barr’s case was argued by the conservative Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) and was also supported by the American Center for Law and Justice — founded by Pat Robertson — and by the ACLU.


LLI was involved several years ago in a widely-noted case against a Texas school district which its litigation director, Hiram Sasser, claimed had demonstrated “pervasive religious hostility” by banning the distribution at Christmas time of candy canes with a religious message.


According to Sasser, today’s decision “means that in zoning cases you have to give churches special treatment. … You have to have very special reasons for telling a church you can’t locate here and locate there. That’s going to be a touch burden for cities.”


“This is a home run,” Sasser proclaimed. ‘I think it will be a model for other states.”


Halliburton and troops: Dirty water, dirty tricks













  MSNBC.com

Report: Untreated water at U.S. base in Iraq
Halliburton denies contamination of supply to American soliders, civilians


The Associated Press

Updated: 5:42 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2006



WASHINGTON - Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn’t get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.


Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails.


“We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated,” said a July 15, 2005, memo written by William Granger, the official for Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary who was in charge of water quality in Iraq and Kuwait.


“The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River,” Granger wrote in one of several documents. The Associated Press obtained the documents from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations Monday.


Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who will chair the session, held a number of similar inquiries last year on contracting abuses in Iraq. He said Democrats were acting on their own because they had not been able to persuade Republican committee chairmen to investigate.


The company’s former water treatment expert at Camp Junction City said that he discovered the problem last March, a statement confirmed by his e-mail the day after he tested the water.


Bottled water used only for drinking
While bottled water was available for drinking, the contaminated water was used for virtually everything else, including handwashing, laundry, bathing and making coffee, said water expert Ben Carter of Cedar City, Utah.


Another former Halliburton employee who worked at the base, Ken May of Louisville, said there were numerous instances of diarrhea and stomach cramps — problems he also suffered.


A spokeswoman for Halliburton said its own inspection found neither contaminated water nor medical evidence to substantiate reports of illnesses at the base. The company now operates its own water treatment plant there, spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said.


A military medical unit that visited Camp Ramadi in mid-April found nothing out of the ordinary in terms of water quality, said Marine Corps Maj. Tim Keefe, a military spokesman. Water-quality testing records from May 23 show the water within normal parameters, he said.


“The allegations appear not to have merit,” Keefe said.


Halliburton has contracts to provide a number of services to U.S. forces in Iraq and was responsible for the water quality at the base in Ramadi.


Year-long exposure?
Granger’s July 15 memo said the exposure had gone on for “possibly a year” and added, “I am not sure if any attempt to notify the exposed population was ever made.”


The first memo on the problem — written by Carter to Halliburton officials on March 24, 2005 — was an “incident report” from tests Carter performed the previous day.


“It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria,” Carter wrote. “There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance.


“Therefore, it is my conclusion that chlorination of our water tanks while certainly beneficial is not sufficient protection from parasitic exposure.”


Carter said he resigned in early April after Halliburton officials did not take any action to inform the camp population.


The water expert said he told company officials at the base that they would have to notify the military. “They told me it was none of my concern and to keep my mouth shut,” he said.


‘They brushed it under the carpet’
On at least one occasion, Carter said, he spoke to the chief military surgeon at the base, asking him whether he was aware of stomach problems afflicting people. He said the surgeon told him he would look into it.


“They brushed it under the carpet,” Carter said. “I told everyone, ‘Don’t take showers, use bottled water.”


A July 14, 2005, memo showed that Halliburton’s public relations department knew of the problem.


“I don’t want to turn it into a big issue right now,” staff member Jennifer Dellinger wrote in the memo, “but if we end up getting some media calls I want to make sure we have all the facts so we are ready to respond.”


Halliburton’s performance in Iraq has been criticized in a number of military audits, and congressional Democrats have contended that the Bush administration has favored the company with noncompetitive contracts.


© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.




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The beef is the same beef that many people have with Halliburton receiving

all the OTHER contracts it received.


Somehow, their receiving this particular contract seems more heinous than all the other ones that they received, given the current controversy surrounding it.


Don't mess with Texas...blah, blah, blah....
I think you are not aware that nobody gives a s _ _ _ about Texas! The only persons I had a high esteem for and were from Texas was Ann Richards and Lyndon B. Johnson. Texas, according to Texans, has always been bigger and better than any other state. I lived in Austin for one year. The first greeting I saw upon entering Texas was on a billboard. It said: Welcome to Texas, Now go home! I think you're a bunch of big mouths and boasters, and I was glad to leave. Why don't you just vote for McCain and spare us your moaning and groaning...the rest of the United States probably wish you had lost at the Alamo!