pinions of buddy don: whars yer story?

ye mite could thank yer story fer the day wood be how them cunservative publicans have dun been growin the fedrul gummint at a record rate. even the washington post has noticed, witch they writ a editoryall this mornin on the topick name of Big-Government Conservatives:

The nation is at war. It faces large expenses for homeland security. It is about to go through a demographic transition that will strain important entitlement programs. How can this president -- an allegedly conservative president -- believe that the federal government should spend money on the Red River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Louisiana? Or on the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan? The bill Mr. Bush has signed devotes more than $24 billion to such earmarked projects, continuing a trend in which the use of earmarks has spread steadily each year. Remember, Republicans control the Senate and the House as well as the White House. So somebody remind us: Which is the party of big government?

but that aint quite yer story.

mayhap tiz how them unions won a lil victry, tho i wood bet tiz only temporairy till them publicans figger a way to git around it. but so far, them unions has won, as ye kin read in a story frum the washington post name of New Homeland Security Work Rules Blocked; Employee, Union Rights Not Protected, Judge Says. now the furst thang that mite coulda been yer story is how this judge Rosemary M. Collyer wuz appointed in 2003 by george w bush, but even tho that is purty innerestin, taint yer story. heres a lil bit of whut judge collyer found rong with the new bush administrayshun rules

:"The regulations fail in their obligation to ensure collective bargaining rights to DHS employees," the judge said.

She said federal unions would be bargaining "on quicksand, as the department would retain the right to change the underlying bases for the bargaining relationship and absolve itself of contract obligations while the unions would be bound."

[...]

Collyer said a system that allows "the unilateral repudiation of agreements by one party" is not collective bargaining. "A contract that is not mutually binding is not a contract," she wrote.

In most federal agencies, including Homeland Security, current law prohibits unions from bargaining over pay and work stoppages. The law permits agencies to ignore contract obligations during emergencies.

The judge also faulted the department for seeking to diminish rights by federal employees to appeal firings and demotions to an independent agency, the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The department, Collyer said, has sought to "effectively insulate" itself from MSPB's review of adverse personnel actions. "Rather than afford a right of appeal that is impartial or disinterested, the regulations put the thumbs of the agencies down hard on the scales of justice in their favor," she wrote.

but that aint yer story, so mayhap ye thank tiz how lives is bein ruint over thar in iraq, witch bob herbert writ bout that this mornin in a articull name of Lives Blown Apart:

Ms. Olson, during an interview in Washington, D.C., where Corporal Rosendahl is being treated at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, quietly cataloged her son's wounds:

"Both of his heels and ankles were crushed. He had a compound fracture of his femur in two places. Three-quarters of his kneecap was missing. His thigh was blown away. He had many, many open wounds, which all have closed except four right now."

She paused, sighed, then went on: "His left leg was amputated three weeks after he arrived here. He's not willing to give up his right leg. He's hoping to save it. All he wants to do is golf again. But we don't know. He's had 36 surgeries so far."

When you talk to close relatives of men and women who have been wounded in the war, it's impossible not to notice the strain that is always evident in their faces. Their immediate concern is with the wounded soldier or marine. But just behind that immediate concern, in most cases, is the frightening awareness that they have to try and rebuild a way of life that was also blown apart when their loved one was wounded.

Ms. Olson, who is 45 and divorced, gave up everything - her work, her rented townhouse, her car - and moved from Tacoma to a hotel on the grounds of Walter Reed to be with her son and assist in his recovery.

tiz innerestin to read such stuff since ye mosly dont find it nowhar, but still, that aint yer story.

whut about how the rite wing echo chamber has dun been slimin that cindy sheehan woman, startin with drudge slicin n dicin a articull frum the vacaville reporter to make it seem lack she had changed her pinion (witch, aint yer citizins allowed to change thar minds? whut duz it mean ifn they duz?). but ifn ye still read yer sorces, then ye go back to that same noosepaper n read thar editoryall (sined by the editor) name of Anti-war position not new By Diane Barney n ye see twuz jes a nuther case of swift boatin sumbidy the rite dont lack:

Reporter readers have followed the evolution this past year of Vacaville resident Cindy Sheehan from grieving mother to outspoken anti-war protester who today is camped out near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, demanding his resignation.

It is not the same Sheehan family we met in April, still stunned after learning that 24-year-old Army Spc. Casey Sheehan had died in an ambush.

The Sheehans - with 16 other families - met President Bush at Fort Lewis, Wash., where he extended condolences and appreciation for their sacrifice.

At the time, the Sheehans debated whether to be brutally honest with the president. They had serious concerns about the war. But in the end, they told our reporter, they decided to be respectful. President Bush even kissed Cindy Sheehan on the cheek.

[...]

"We had decided not to criticize the president then because during that meeting he assured us 'this is not political.' And I believed him," Sheehan wrote. "Then, during the Republican National Convention, he exploited those meetings to justify what he was doing."

In ensuing months, she has grown more focused, more determined, more aggressive. She co-founded Gold Star Families For Peace in December 2004, a group which has written numerous letters, articles and posted online reports. She has participated in protests around the country. She and her daughter, Carly, have appeared in anti-war TV messages. And now she's camping out near the president's ranch.

We invite readers to revisit the story - in context - on our Web site and decide for themselves. Stay tuned as it continues to evolve.

but that still aint it. catchin wingnuts in lies aint no big trick.

so could it be how they finely found a chemicull plant in iraq a'makin weppons that could cawz mass deestruckshun? woodnt that be yer big story? ye kin read bout it in a articull name of Iraqi Chemical Stash Uncovered;Post-Invasion Cache Could Have Been For Use in Weapons. only problem with that lil story is how twuznt built till we had dun invaded:

Boylan said the suspected lab was new, dating from some time after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Bush administration cited evidence that Saddam Hussein's government was manufacturing weapons of mass destruction as the main justification for the invasion. No such weapons or factories were found.

well, if that aint it, how bout this articull in the washington post frum sundy name of U.S. Lowers Sights On What Can Be Achieved in Iraq; Administration Is Shedding 'Unreality' That Dominated Invasion, Official Says. that miss leadin hedline mite make ye thank sumbidy in the addministrayshun had dun add mitted makin a miss take, but that aint it:

The Bush administration is significantly lowering expectations of what can be achieved in Iraq, recognizing that the United States will have to settle for far less progress than originally envisioned during the transition due to end in four months, according to U.S. officials in Washington and Baghdad.

The United States no longer expects to see a model new democracy, a self-supporting oil industry or a society in which the majority of people are free from serious security or economic challenges, U.S. officials say.

"What we expected to achieve was never realistic given the timetable or what unfolded on the ground," said a senior official involved in policy since the 2003 invasion. "We are in a process of absorbing the factors of the situation we're in and shedding the unreality that dominated at the beginning."

Administration officials still emphasize how much they have achieved despite the chaos that followed the invasion and the escalating insurgency. "Iraqis are taking control of their country, building a free nation that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself. And we're helping Iraqis succeed," President Bush said yesterday in his radio address.

Iraqi officials yesterday struggled to agree on a draft constitution by a deadline of tomorrow so the document can be submitted to a vote in October. The political transition would be completed in December by elections for a permanent government.

But the realities of daily life are a constant reminder of how the initial U.S. ambitions have not been fulfilled in ways that Americans and Iraqis once anticipated. Many of Baghdad's 6 million people go without electricity for days in 120-degree heat. Parents fearful of kidnapping are keeping children indoors.

Barbers post signs saying they do not shave men, after months of barbers being killed by religious extremists. Ethnic or religious-based militias police the northern and southern portions of Iraq. Analysts estimate that in the whole of Iraq, unemployment is 50 percent to 65 percent.

U.S. officials say no turning point forced a reassessment. "It happened rather gradually," said the senior official, triggered by everything from the insurgency to shifting budgets to U.S. personnel changes in Baghdad.

as ye jes red, mr bush kindly eggsplained how thangs is still on track.

so whut kin yer story be? i bleeve tiz how the bush add ministrasyshun has dun disprooved the laws of supply n deemand. nobidy doubts that more folks than ever is a'usin our nashnull parks, so that means deemand is up. everbidy that uses one gits sumthin out of it, mayhap a bit of peace or quite or fun or enjoyment of beeyootifull sites or sumthin. ye gut more folks enjoyin them parks, witch that means the value of them parks fer enjoyment is under increased deemand. as ye know frum that thar war on sum drugs, tiz deemand that makes prices rise.

but not in them nashnull parks. mayhap ye missed it, but them bush folks has dun figgerd how even with more folks a'usin em, the recreayshunull benefit of folks enjoymint of them nashnull parks has plummeted! ye kin read all bout it in a articull name of Forests' Recreational Value Is Scaled Back; U.S. Lowers Estimate of GDP Contribution:

Forest Service officials have scaled back their assessment of how much recreation on national forest land contributes to the American economy, concluding that these activities generate just a tenth of what the Clinton administration estimated.

Under President Clinton, the Forest Service projected that by 2000, recreation in U.S. forests would contribute nearly $111 billion to the nation's annual gross domestic product, or GDP. Bush administration officials, by contrast, have determined that in 2002 these activities generated about $11 billion.

Joel Holtrop, deputy chief of the National Forest System, said the revised numbers may spur the administration to shift some of its recreation dollars within the system but will not prompt it to downgrade activities such as hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching.
"It's just as valuable to us today as it was 10 years ago; we just have a better way of calculating it," Holtrop said in an interview. "We recognize recreation activity is an important program to the American people."

But critics of the administration said they fear that the new numbers, which were obtained from the nonprofit Natural Resources News Service, will be used to justify more logging and mining on national forests. Under the old estimates, recreation accounted for 85 percent of the system's contribution to the GDP, compared with extraction's 11 percent; under the new formula, recreation represents 59 percent.

deemand goes up, supply goes down, valu drops by 90%: thars yer story, josephine!