LinkBlog Latest items

NYT Op Ed -- Mikhail Gorbachev: Russia Never Wanted a War

08-20-08

Yes, he wrote one for the Post a week ago, but things have changed and he has more to talk about this time anyway. I recommend that we hear him out.

Mo Dowd: Two Against the One

08-20-08

Well, you have to wonder.

Thomas Friedman: What Did We Expect?

08-20-08

The experts of the Clinton and Bush administrations got the whole Post Soviet period wrong by trying to cram NATO down the throat of Russia, and thinking we would never actually have to risk anything by actually having to protect our new allies. Plus Friedman has advice for US and Russia leaders going forward.

Allegations: Florida Republican Representative Forced Employees to Contribute to His Campaign

08-19-08

My Thoughts: The sad part is, apparently the man had money given to the workers so that they could contribute, apparently from his car dealership, ie from himself. If he had given his campaign the money himself, I believe it would have been as legal as Diet Soda, but from what I learned reading about the Romney campaign, it donating to your own campaign makes a good news story about how you can't attract outside money. (Except in CA where you can loan your gubenatorial campaign millions and take money after you're elected from the Indian and prison guard unions you promised not to take money from before you were elected and the great mainstream press never says a word -- if you're a Republican prince of Hollywood.)

Luckovich: John McCain channels Reagan in Bush's Office

08-19-08

Frank Rich: The Candidate We Still Don’t Know

08-19-08

Excerpt: Most Americans still don’t know, as Marshall writes, that on the campaign trail “McCain frequently forgets key elements of policies, gets countries’ names wrong, forgets things he’s said only hours or days before and is frequently just confused.” Most Americans still don’t know it is precisely for this reason that the McCain campaign has now shut down the press’s previously unfettered access to the candidate on the Straight Talk Express.

McCain is Completely Nuts! He Wanted to Invade 4 Nations For 911!

08-17-08

The man is a lunatic warhead. Obviously, he wouldn't have used overwhelming force in Iraq because he would be going into Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran all at the same time, once he got his dander up. There will be crises in every administration. Apparently the solution to crises according to John McCain is to go out and kill thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, and destroy nations. Aren't we already carrying enough burden from the glory hungry president (and his puppet) that we have now? Article also shows that McCain actually decided on his current path of hyper international antagonism when he and advisers were planning his presidential run in 2000 and wanted to appeal more to conservatives.

NY Times: Russians Melded Old-School Blitz With Modern Military Tactics

08-17-08

Those evil Russians had plans and conducted military exercises they might need if the people of Ossetia were attacked by Georgia. This article screams outrage as it presents the Bush administration talking points on the Russia Georgia war.

Bill Boyarsky-- Truth Dig: McCain Is More Dangerous Than Bush

08-17-08

Excerpt: Forget the moderate image, promoted by an admiring media. Forget the so-called straight talk and independence. With the Russian-Georgian war winding down, McCain has firmly established himself as an old-fashioned Cold Warrior and a supporter of the huge oil companies that have a big stake in Georgia and the rest of the Caucasus.

Barry Obama's Family Vacation

08-17-08

Photos

Inventory of Conflict and Environment: Maps, History, Ethnic, and Environmental Details on Georgia-South Ossetian Problem

08-16-08

Are the Ossetians immigrants to the area or the real natives as they claim? This site predates the current flare up and seems to have a balanced report on the history of South Ossetia and it's relations with Georgia. The Ossetians mostly share the same religion with Georgians, but are of darker, Persian stock.

Bus Lifted by New Yorkers. Baby Saved

08-16-08

The report says that 30 men lifted a bus off an off duty traffic cop who had been hit and was under a city bus. The men were able to lift the vehicle enough to pull the woman, who was 6 months pregnant, out. She was rushed to the hospital where the baby was born by caesarian section before the mortally injured woman died. Okay, You guys are tough. We get it. Too bad about the woman though.

Rosa Brooks: Who got Georgia into this?

08-14-08

We've heard a lot of this, but Brooks put it together the best I've ever heard.

Council on Foreign Relations: Wilted Rose (Revolution)

08-14-08

As early as January 2006 CFR reported: The bloom is off the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili’s accomplishments have been undercut by the excessive concentration of power in his own hands—what the intelligentsia calls the “Putinization” of Georgia. Saakashvili combines his lust for power with a blustery patriotism, a particularly troubling mix. He vows to restore Georgia’s territorial unity by defeating separatist movements in South Ossetia as well as Abkhazia, and he has backed up the confrontational rhetoric with a major increase in military spending. And concluded: As in other countries in the midst of political transition—such as Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt—the Bush administration’s freedom march has focused too much on democratic elections and not enough on what comes next. Much more at the link.

Cindy McCain Miss Buffalo Chip? John suggests Cindy join a Biker Beauty Pageant

08-13-08

Blogger Anti-McCain has a video of last years pageant. Warning Parts of pageant get pretty offensive. John's anti-women campaign continues.

Bob Herbert: An Empty Promise

08-13-08

Excerpt: Public officials should be disabusing the electorate of its delusions, not encouraging them. The widespread mistaken notions about the potential impact of offshore drilling on gasoline prices reminds me of the large percentages of Americans who were encouraged to believe, and did believe — erroneously — that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had something to do with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Barack Obama's VP Choice Could Be Text Messaged to You

08-12-08

New York Daily News article tells you how to sign up. Ignore the cheesy Valley Girl rap about it.

Study: You Can Be Fit and Fat at the Same Time

08-12-08

Looking at heart health studies researcher are seeing indications that more "heavy" people are healthy that they had assumed, and some normal weight people have heart problems. This is not a shocker to those of us whose active life style means we have extra muscle while the BMI (body mass index) tends to make us seem to be health risks. It's nice to know that we have some science now backing us up.

Another Ivins Colleague Has Doubts -- Gerry Andrews: Open Questions on a Closed Case

08-10-08

I think Mr. Andrews makes a strong case against Ivins' guilt.

Charles M. Blow: Racism and the Race

08-10-08

Obama: star of his own movie

08-09-08

What he said

Paul Krugman: Know Nothing Politics

08-08-08

What I mean...is that know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant-gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: “Real men don’t think things through.”

Glenn Greenwald: Aug 5th update (last before the 'revealed evidence')

08-06-08

These are analyses of the case as revealed at the time of writing, and of the treatment of the leaked 'facts' as handled by mainstream news. I highly recommend this.

Glenn Greenwald: Aug 4th Update on the Anthrax Case

08-06-08

The Next Cheney: McCain's Seven Dwarves Hoping To Become Vice President

08-06-08

Glenn Greenwald: Who fed false news to ABC about Bentonite in the anthrax?

08-04-08

The false news of Bentonite in the anthrax made it appear that Iraq was responsible for the anthrax attacks. Greenwald says ABC identified their sources as 4 distinct people within Ft Detrick.

Paul Krugman: Can This Planet Be Saved?

08-02-08

Environmental matters expose John McCain's crass hypocrisy: "he was against offshore drilling before he was for it" says Mr. K. It all seems to depend on what role the Senator wants to play at the time.

Bob Herbert: Running While Black

08-02-08

I agree with Mr. Herbert. The conjunction of the McCain ad showing Britney, Paris, and Senator Obama with the ad against Harold Ford earlier makes it clearer that the ad was playing the race card.

Where Was Senator McCain When Veterans and Wounded Troops Needed Him Most?

07-31-08

He had the position and power to bring the problems to the light of day so they could be fixed. Why didn't he?

Play Station 2 Promotes New Blood Diamond Problem

07-31-08

And it's not just Play Station 2, but it's the console that needs the product the most. I only mention this to help keep us aware of how our gadgets affect the world. And also to remind us if our leaders insist on expending our military's strength on grabbing more oil, that there are problems in this world as heavy or more so than a posturing Iranian president.

McCain Camp is Lying About the "Obama" Electricity Tax.

07-31-08

Both candidates would raise the cost of fossil fuel derived energy

FactCheck.Org: McCain ad says Obama's the guy to thank for emptying our wallets at the filling station. We say that's ridiculous.

07-29-08

"Big Dig" Engineering Company Given Contract to "Review Minnesota Bridge Inspection Protocols"

« H E » Nation :: State Issues :: email

posted 08-06-07

Yes, one of the three engineering firms from Boston's Big Dig project will be in charge of keeping Minnesotans safe. Now don't you guys and gals feel safer?

Parsons Brinckerhoff along with Bechtel and a third engineering company oversaw the building and subsequent repairs surrounding another tragedy, one that many think could have been avoided by the engineering company and it's partners.

P/B et al have been cited by reports in the press for talking designers of the Big Dig Tunnel into okaying the use of half the original number of bolts in the project , and for ignoring problems with the bolts that were installed , as well as glue that didn't hold and allegations by the state of Massachusetts that the engineering companies involved owe Massachusetts millions on the cost of fixing the tunnel they built .

But one thing that Parsons Brinckerhoff is really good at is campaign donation. At Open Secrets we find $100,800 going to Republicans and $7,500 going to Democrats. That's right, over 90% to Republicans.

So whaditellya about contracts for big campaign contributors?

Since 2003 corporate donations were banned for federal elections, and even within states the donations went underground as shown by my own California governor's help from non-profits that finance his lavish traveling habits. Corporations can still make a show of giving by bundling donations of employees, in which the name of the bundler doesn't have to be recorded though, of course, the parties and candidates are informed who their (sugar) "daddy" is, I'm sure.

And then there are donations to other groups that just so happen to be pushing for a particular outcome as shown by linked article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

And all those donations don't even cover "grassroots" organizations that may be using the Internet to conduct unacknowledged campaigns who were protected from disclosure by Republicans in Congress a few months ago.

tags: bridge collapse minnesota big dig projecti i35 bridge collapse

links: digg this del.icio.us technorati reddit

Comments (5)

1. awakening left...

08-06-07 2:30 am

A HUGE Thank you! I took the name of the firm and began digging. Came up with articles and news video. Of course I wasn't as surprised as I would've been maybe a year ago. None the less, this company is not a good choice. You were the key to getting peoples attention. And I have enough info to send to my state legislature and mayors of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Have a very nice day. a

2. Structural Engineer left...

08-23-07 8:26 am

I'd suggest that you read the NTSB report on the Boston accident before you cast unwarranted dispersions toward PB. They are a world class firm that takes on jobs that smaller firms only dream of. Boston is a nasty political cesspool, its a wonder anything can be accomplished in that city never mind successfully completing a mega project like the big dig. If you want facts read the engineering journals, look at the documnetaries, but stay away from the yellow journalism of the mass media and be wary of angry incessant bloggers. Think for yourself don't be swayed by headlines and sensationalism. In Boston, they're convinced that Bechtel/Parsons was reponsible for the sinking of the USS Maine in Cuba.

3. Bill Lenner left...

08-24-07 6:15 pm :: http://dotcommonsense.blog-city.com/

I'm looking at the list and I'm checking it twice.

Yep, Networlk Solutions says the IP number associated with the reply telling the first commenter above to stay away from "yellow journalism of the mass media" and "angry incessant bloggers" is registered to Parsons Binckerhoff.

After reading the obviously nasty right wing crap, I knew it was some kind of paid Internet troll though.

Normally I do not Whois commenters' IP numbers, but this was just too obviously likely to be very interesting.

IP number of commenter: 65.118.130.130

Network Solutions Whois search: Parsons Brinckerhoff Q&D Q1217-65-118-130-128 (NET-65-118-130-128-1)

65.118.130.128 - 65.118.130.159

4. Bill Lenner left...

08-24-07 7:10 pm :: http://dotcommonsense.blog-city.com/

BTW, interested parties replying to blog posts are no big thing, but usually they have the decency to correctly identify themselves.

Then again, reading the Parsons/Binckerhoff troll's comment, I see why they wouldn't want to identify with that.

It's like they called up someone's brother in law that listens to Rush Limbaugh brought him back to the office and told him to go at it.

The result is pretty normal right wing Internet troll dropping.

And it smells to high heaven too. Who's going to pick that up? Huh P/B?

I don't see you coming around with a mop and bucket.

5. awakening left...

08-24-07 11:01 pm :: http://nolostfamilycustoms.blogspot.com

Hey Bill, Too interesting! The tone of Structural Engineer feels a little threatening, as well as filled with a lot of arrogance. What a big bully!

I didn't get any comments directly, but I sure did get tons of pb visits. I saved most of them, so I'll have to cross check the ISP's with mine...just to see if that person dropped by.

I read quite a few articles from many, many sources, over a period of many years, about more than just Bostons Big Dig fiasco. They couldn't all be wrong, could they? I think not.

Which again solidifies why I wouldn't want them in my town, nor anyone else's.

Not as long as they operate the way 'Structural Engineer' writes. Fascinating study on 'too big' business.

Thanks again Bill, for your expert sleuthing and your always truthful reporting. And Thank you for the comment on the Unknown Candidates graphic.

Have a pleasant peaceful weekend. awakening. ps...I'll let you know if ISP's match up and I'll have do some kind of post on this afterward, if you are O.K w/ me using this in the post. I would understand if it is not, I'll check back first.

Notice: All links below go off site, to other Blog-City denizens of my neighborhood. Selection is based by Blog-City widget on tags matching those selected for post above.

Minnesota Democrat, Senate Finance Chair, MAX BAUCUS, Takes Lobbying $$$ To Block House-Passed Bill To Close Corporate Tax Loopholes: WHY LOBBYING MUST GO! - RI10

08-07-07

GOP CLOSET - Senator Craig Of Idaho: No More, Please! Not Another Hypocritical Gay Conservative Republican, Who Opposes Gay Marriage From Red State! Enough Is Enough! - RI8

08-29-07

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