We talk so much about Bush III that we've perhaps paid too little attention to George III.

Shambling, fitful, and proudly belligerent, George III is the archetypal clueless monarch, always and stubbornly out of touch with reality. On July 4, 1776, he famously wrote in his diary:

Nothing important happened today.

That's brought to mind for me almost every time John McCain speaks about Iraq. It's as if to McCain the actual conditions in Iraq were as obscure and unknowable as the progress of an insurrection in the colonies had been to the Court of St. James during the eighteenth century - when news actually took weeks to cross the Atlantic. The disconnect is stunning.

Cross-posted with permission from the Disaster Accountability Project (author: Claire Trimble)

The Government Accountability Office recently conducted an audit of the implementation of improved evacuation procedures for special needs populations by the DHS and DOT and found that four of the six major points had NOT been "substantially implemented" as of this spring. The audit found that the FEMA's role was not sufficiently clarified in the National Response Framework, that evacuation exercises were still not conditions of grant monies, that there had not been sufficient technical assistance for sharing information on assisting special needs populations, and that there was not clarification of how to assist nursing home patients.

Later this month James Cuno, Director and President of the Art Institute of Chicago will publish "Who Owns Antiquity? Museums and the Battle Over Our Ancient Heritage".

In it, he proposes are return to "partage". Partage is the idea that most archaeological resources excavated in Third World countries should end up in the land of the "experts". That would be Europe or America.

Second in a series of reports exploring the ramifications of a controversial state ballot measure. Crossposted from The Colorado Independent.

The question of when life begins is an incredibly complex one with enormous legal and ethical ramifications for contraception, abortion, in vitro fertilization, embryonic stem cell research and the very definition of our humanity.

Colorado voters will decide this thorny question in November.

With hurricane season beginning on June 1, the Disaster Accountability Project will be reporting this week and next on inadequacies in government preparedness. This is the first report of the series, published on the DAP Blog, cross-posted here with permission of DAP (author: Claire Trimble).

The Sierra Club recently tested five "Katrina cottages" being used in Mississippi and found all to contain higher levels of formaldehyde than is recommended for long-term exposure by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Normal levels of indoor formaldehyde run between 10-20 parts per billion but three of the five cottages contained over 100 parts per billion. This level is even higher than the 77 parts per billion average tested in the 516 trailers this year by the CDC.

While the larger floorplan and windows should help dissipate the gas, a Mississippi news station found faulty ventilation designs in some cottages.

I meant to post this a few weeks ago.

Oil Companies Settle MTBE Pollution Suit May 7, 2008

A dozen oil companies agreed to pay $423 million in cash plus clean-up costs to settle litigation over groundwater contamination from the gasoline additive, MTBE, lawyers representing public water utilities and public agencies in 17 states, said Wednesday.

I hope this is the future of fracking fluids.

Arizona Senator and presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain has been dubbed McSame, McShame, and McNasty.

How about McUlysses?

Which matters more? Providing health care to all children, or protecting insurance companies, even if it means poor children have no health care coverage?

Who says that Republicans are not environmentally aware and overall friendly people? Take the Family-Friendly Workplace Act (H.R. 6025), introduced by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R, WA-5] and endorsed by 11 of her best friends in the House. After all, what could be more friendly than being friendly to families. And, best of all, this piece of legislation gets recycled every couple years or so. Though it's been longer than two years since the most recent stab at getting this pick the workers'pockets amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act passed.

This is cute.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has its own take on Indiana Jones and it's worth a look

I think the fourth installment in the Indiana Jones film saga opened yesterday. I, for one, can't wait to see it. To coincide with the release, the NSF has launched a special site dedicated to differentiating between the real world of archaeology and the movie (reel) world of archaeology.

I'll get into this in more detail later but....

If Congress were to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, crude oil prices would probably drop by an average of only 75 cents a barrel, according to Department of Energy projections issued Thursday.

And none of that oil would hit the markets for at least ten years....and most of it would be shipped to Asia...and it would lower gas prices by maybe 1-2 cents/gallon.

Add 75 cents to the list of reasons not to drill the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Suppose there was a virulent disease that recently had swept through another country's livestock, forcing it to kill and burn them in the tens of thousands. And suppose that this disease was so contagious that German officials confiscated uneaten food from passengers who arrived on flights from this country, along with any items made from parts of the animals. And suppose just this past year there was another outbreak in that country, with more embargoes and slaughtered livestock. And suppose that this is "the most highly infectious animal disease that is known. Nearly 100 percent of exposed animals become infected." And now suppose that you were a government agency in the US that was doing live virus research on this virulent and dreaded disease and you were making a decision about where to place the laboratory. Would you choose to site it on the mainland US?

And, one more piece of information. Assume that you are the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The head of Utah-based EnergySolutions ripped open a tiny salt packet and poured it into a 2-foot-tall vase half filled with red sand.
The salt, CEO Steve Creamer said, symbolizes the amount of Italian radioactive waste the company wants to store in Utah, and the leftover foot of space represents the amount of storage space remaining.
"Just a pinch," Creamer said Tuesday of the salt.

Our friends at the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) are urging Coloradoans to push for tough new rules on oil and gas drilling in the Rocky Mountain State.

Colorado is in the midst of an onslaught by the oil and gas industry. Drill rigs, pipelines, tanks and pits dot more and more of my birth state's landscape from Fort Collins to Durango and Trinidad to Craig. Its all over the place and its causing a hell of alot of problems.

This summer the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) will update the state rules protecting public health, landowners, and the environment against irresponsible oil & gas drillers. A draft rule is now out for public comment.

The new rule is a step in the right direction but it is lacking in many areas.

This week PA Gov. Rendell announced the winner of the "I Rule the PA Turnpike" Contest. And the winner, with an offer of "$12.8 billion" is "a team led by Citi Infrastructure Investors and Abertis Infraestructuras with Criteria CaixaCorp investing alongside this team as a major shareholder of Abertis." Rendell may have a winner, but the people of Pennsylvania may find they have a real loser. How can $12.8 billion in found money be a loss?

Well you might ask.

Thursday, May 15, the House Armed Services Committee approved a FY2009 authorization bill (H.R. 5658) that would reign in problems with the use of military contractors and other serious abuses. Among them is violation of the prohibition of contracting out inherently governmental functions, an issue I wrote about last week to explain the concept, but in a slightly different context. link

Here are what I regard as the key points in the report, as they relate to privatization.

Understanding Government, a 501(c)(3) organization, is offering a prize of $50,000 for the best print news story in the period July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 that "investigates significant problems before they become crises, analyzes why these problems have emerged, and discussed solutions that can mitigate or eliminate them." No bloggers need apply, but, putting that aside, is there a news story you would nominate? Details below.

It was just about three years ago, that unbossed revealed the wonders of the Bush Administration's initiatives under the No Federal Agency Left Behind Act. And now for an update.

Of course, in this 2 page report, we never get beyond the puffing and the sunny claims that all is well in privatization-ville. But the NTEU has OMB's number.

To follow up on the prior post on national security and the use of contractors, you should be aware of recent events involving the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and DHS.

On April 30, Bush received a plan for developing a modern system for security clearances, Joint Security and Suitability Reform Team, Security and Suitability Process Reform Initial Report. Before you click on it, this is a short report short of real solutions, that somehow creates a pdf file that is huge and bloated. I regard that as a metaphor for the substance of the report itself.

Yesterday President Bush used a speech to a foreign audience, the Israeli Knesset, to paint Democrats as soft on international terrorism by likening them to those who appeased Nazis in the 1930s.

Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is – the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

The implication of "some" was clear - Bush was caricaturing Barack Obama's position that the US needs to seek diplomatic solutions to differences with Iran.

This is the third in a series on the usurpation of power that has taken place in the federal administration agencies. They are taking away the right to sue pharmaceutical companies for serious injuries caused by dangerous drugs, among other things. The first part described the basic problem.

To remind readers: This is huge

This is an action on the level of Congress' outlawing all state laws on this issue, something that I doubt they would do. This is why this court interpretation of the FDA's action here would seem to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

The first in a series of reports exploring the ramifications of this controversial state ballot measure.

Hard-line, socially conservative activists are gearing up to enact state laws to restrict abortion since President Bush and Congress have all but abandoned the federal cause. To that end, Colorado is once again serving as a political incubator in yet another attempt to chip away at Roe v. Wade.

But for all the hue and cry, do efforts at the state level have a chance of success and what cost do they exact from the larger conservative movement in a watershed election year?

On Daily Kos, I was asked to define torts. That turned into two long comments, which I think might be helpful here. I discuss what is a tort and what are tort damages.

Today the GAO issued a report on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), the darling of the private is always better crowd. And an issue that Jacob Hacker takes issue with - strongly takes issue with - in The Great Risk Shift.

This is part two of a discussion of a disturbing trend by the Bush Administration. They are using obscure parts of federal agency regulations to destroy the right to sue manufacturers who have caused serious injuries. Part one described the revelation made by reporter Pete Yost in his Washington Post story - Bush administration rules limit lawsuits on May 13, 2008.

This is huge

This is an action on the level of Congress' outlawing all state laws on this issue, something that I doubt they would do. This is why this court interpretation of the FDA's action here would seem to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power.

You may have seen the article by Pete Yost, Bush administration rules limit lawsuits. The gist of the article is that the Bush Administration refused to be stymied by Congress' refusal to protect companies that hurt, kill, or otherwise people from tort suits. As in so many other cases, the Administration turned to federal agencies and administrative processes to do in the dark what it could not do in public.

You may have read it and tut-tutted, but not me. OK, I did tut-tut, but I also compiled a mental list of questions which I plan to share with you.

Pentagon documents released by the Defense Department and posted at its website show that White House officials, including Karl Rove, were aware of the domestic propaganda program under which the DoD coached retired military "analysts" to parrot administration views in television and radio appearances on all the major networks. The Smith-Mundt Act prohibits the federal government from appropriating funds to influence public opinion in the United States. On April 30th George Bush's spokeswoman Dana Perino falsely stated that the WH was unaware of the propaganda program.

Were my wife running for public office, you can be sure I'd make a donation to her campaign - if only to show my support and encouragement. It's the natural thing to do, I think most people would agree.

What about the presidential candidates' spouses?

unbossed has had many reports on the August 6, 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. The latest news is Rep. George Miller's call for indictments.

"I've been actually able to see my mom and tell her how much I love her and how much I miss her."

Jada Pointer's tummy ache was cured with a smile.

It was the perfect smile: her mom's. The 9-year-old from Perris hadn't seen that comforting smile in more than a year.

Nine-year-old Albert Gonzalez held onto his mother's long hair like it was his lifeline. The boy from San Bernardino twisted it, tasted it, tangled it through his fingers and plucked a strand or two to save for later.

"I need it, Mommy," he said, gripping a strand in his hand. "I need it to take home."

These are the stories of the kids who take the annual Mother's Day bus ride to visit their moms in California's prisons.

On Friday afternoon, with George Bush in Texas for his daughter's wedding, the White House finally released its new Executive Branch rules for designating and disseminating what used to be known as "sensitive" information.

By Deep Harm - Cross-posted from Daily Kos

If you live in the Washington, D.C., area, you won't find a more interesting free event than the International Assembly of Whistleblowers, May 12-16. I will be attending because I will be a speaker on a domestic surveillance panel, along with Eric Lichtblau, Jesselyn Radack, Babak Pasdar and Michelle Richardson.

If you're worried about your safety when you fly these days, consider how dangerous it is to work for an airline bent on cutting corners just so it can stay afloat in the shark-infested waters of airline deregulation.

The EEOC has announced a major settlement of a race discrimination case with a major Pennsylvania building contractor and its subcontractors. This case included racist graffiti, nooses hung around the place . . . The price of allowing this to happen is $1,650,000.

Wouldn't it be nice for a change to read a GAO report on how the Bush administration is using contractors that found reasonable performance standards were set, that there was good oversight, that contractors performed as required, and that if they didn't they were given the boot?

Well, you'll have to keep holding your breath when it comes to the State Department . . . whose Secretary would be . . . .?

I'll keep this short. Real short.

I know that there are alot of people visiting this site. Alot. And in fact, looking over some of the Unbossed member names I recognize many really intelligent people that I've interacted with on other sites.

But we get few comments here at Unbossed and that is a shame.

One of the reasons I like to write is to begin discussion. To learn from other people.

So, my request is simple. If you have something to say, say it. Say it loud. Comment on our posts and engage us in discussion. Engage each other. I constantly check back at my posts to see of someone commented.

I learn from other people. Help educate me.

Thank you.

This is interesting:

You are invited to submit writing to a new anthology

We've all heard the scientific facts and predictions about global climate change. But when you hear the experts talking, how do you feel? Are you stunned, frightened, angry, concerned? Do you think about the places you love, and how they may be changed in the future? Have you already observed changes in the world around you? Has global warming affected your hopes and dreams for the future, your beliefs about humanity or the natural world, your faith in progress or in God? To what people, places, and symbols do you turn for strength, hope, and sustenance?

For seven years, I worked as a contract archaeologist for the oil and gas industry in the Southwest. Essentially, my job was to go out and find archaeological resources on public lands that were threatened with oil and gas development. We recorded the archaeological sites, marked them both on maps and in the field for the industry folks to avoid and, in some cases, excavated them prior to development.

That's why I found this interesting:

The Bureau of Land Management announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation that will give oil and gas developers an option of funding excavation work and other studies rather than paying for archaeological surveys when they propose new development.

A leaked Office of Special Counsel memo describes an investigation into the federal prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman [and 10 other high-profile cases, involving U.S. Attorneys and White House officials]. The Siegelman investigation, conducted by an OSC task force, was shut down on orders from OSC head, Scott Bloch, whose office and home were raided Tuesday by the FBI.

While you're crying at the pump, here's a little entertainment -- at the expense of House Republicans -- for your viewing pleasure.

A new Congressional Research Service report - Tibet: Problems, Prospects, and U.S. Policy - RL34445 April 10, 2008 - is now available at OpenCRS.

By Deep Harm [cross-posted on Daily Kos]

Those who depend on legacy news media for information are not likely to know that the White House yesterday risked derailing international efforts to provide help to the people of Myanmar. After a cyclone struck the southeast Asian nation on Saturday, tens of thousands are reported dead or missing, and many thousands more are without food, water, shelter and medical care.

Last week, a hearing was held on the condition of health care for federal employees and their dependents. This is a brief post with information on that hearing and links to the testimony.

Billie Holiday had it right. Them thats got shall get/ Them thats not shall lose . . .

That's the gist of two new reports by the Commonwealth Fund on health care in the US.

A new study by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and CareerBuilder.com provides new data on motives for sending US jobs abroad (and abroad can mean Canada) as well as which jobs are a likely target.

A breaking news story by Erin Rosa at Colorado Confidential:

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado announced the filing of a lawsuit against the City of Denver and the U.S. Secret Service today in an effort to force them to disclose plans for an anticipated demonstration zone during the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August and to obtain more information about parade routes and permits during the event.

According to the group Health Care Without Harm:

Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), also known as recombinant Bovine Somatotropin, (rBST) is used in 10 – 15% of US dairy cows to increase milk production. Use of rBGH creates the potential for human and ecological health risks.

Nurses have an opportunity to help eliminate this practice by encouraging their institutions (hospitals, nursing homes, schools) to purchase dairy products from companies that do not use rBGH.

Yes, that would be win win win from the Administration's point of view. The only thing that would make their joy complete would be to start a war . . . but wait, I think they've done that too! We have a trifecta!

More than 100 scholars, artists and writers have signed a letter sent to Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president Andy Stern today cautioning him against placing the union's third largest local under "trusteeship."