Month: May 2005

That’s gonna leave a mark.

If for some reason you haven’t yet been outraged by anything today, look no further than this site.

Who wouldn’t love to jet to London, stay in a fancy suite, and watch the Wimbledon finals — all for free? That’s the kind of perk enjoyed by many members of the U.S. Congress. Sure, laws prohibit them from accepting gifts worth more than $50. But somehow expensive travel and entertainment aren’t considered “gifts,” so the tobacco and drug industries, trade groups, and everyone else who wants special favors ply Congress with free trips. A public broadcasting team, along with journalism graduate students, researched all the privately sponsored trips taken by members of the House and Senate since 2000. They discovered that lobbyists and other private groups spent over $14 million to fly our congresspersons around the world. Look up your own reps to see who’s paying their airfare. Check out the bipartisan list of top travelers. Don’t you wish your job got you golf trips and spa treatments?

Power Trips, a website by Steve Henn was put up in September 2004. The data is interesting.

I immediately looked up the members of Congress from my state, Washington. My eyes were quickly drawn to Democrat Representative Jim McDermott, or ‘Baghdad Jim’ as we like to call him. Jim has taken 36 trips over the years as a member of Congress, costing $128,726. Average cost per trip? $3,576.

Who’s the ‘King of Travel’? Democratic Sen. John Breaux from Louisiana. The total cost of trips he’s taken is $158,312, averaging $2,683 per trip.

By the way – Republicans are just as guilty.

On Thursday, July 6, 2000, Tom Bliley, a Republican Congressman from Richmond, Virginia, boarded the Concorde with his wife. The supersonic jet touched down in London less than four hours later. The Blileys’ tickets cost nearly $24,000.

The couple spent four nights at the Savoy, a legendary 19th century luxury hotel with breathtaking views of the River Thames.

The Blileys’ suite cost more than $1,000 a night.

That weekend, they attended the Wimbledon finals. Their tickets cost nearly $3,000.

The total bill for Bliley’s four-day trip to England: over $31,000. But Congressman Bliley didn’t pay a dime.

Brown and Williamson Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strikes, picked up the whole tab.

According to Marketplace, American RadioWorks, It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Under rules enacted in 1995, members of Congress are banned from accepting any gift worth more than $50. But lawmakers can accept gifts of travel worth tens of thousands of dollars. And when congresspeople hit the road, many ethics restrictions don’t apply.

House and Senate rules allow members to accept work-related travel from private companies, universities and other outside groups as long as legislators limit what they take to what the rules call “reasonable and necessary expenses.”

Entertainment falls outside that line.

These are not games from the industry standpoint. This is very serious business. They only do it because they think they are going to get a payback for it.

Do a quick check of the Top 100 Trip Takers. The list is staggering.

When will activity like this end? Will it ever end? Is this just ‘politics as usual’ or can reform take place?

Unfortunately, I already know the answer to these questions.

Most people are used to seeing ‘before and after’ photos highlighting dramatic weight loss, a style make over or major plastic surgery. Contrasting photos can also show the effects of a personal lifestyle choice. I’m reminded of a special report put out by the Oregonian newspaper recently which showed the damage brought on by habitual methamphetamine use. The images are powerful.

Today, I came across similar ‘before and after’ photos courtesy of Arthur Chrenkoff. Arthur uses images to show the physical changes that come from being involved in terrorist regimes.

 

…and made Angelina Jolie Secretary of State?

My bet is the Prime Minister of Pakistan just wanted to have lunch with an American babe.

Of stupidity, that is. She ought to be given a Special Olympics medal for leaving this phone message…

“Hi, it’s Paula, call me back,” the message begins. “If the press is trying to talk to you, you say absolutely nothing. That’s all you do. These people are crazy. I don’t know what it’s regarding, but something’s going on. Okay? I hope you’re doing well.”

More tonight on ABC’s Primetime Live. She’s always come across to me as a dimly lit bulb, and this story (even if partly true) confirms it.

Rudely mouthing off during a speech by Ann Coulter can put you in the pokey (via Drudge).

Arrest made at Coulter speech; Student arrested, charged with disorderly conduct after offensive question

Incessant heckling and shouting culminated in an arrest Tuesday night during a speech by controversialist Ann Coulter at the University of Texas at Austin.

THE TEXAN reports: Shouts became so pervasive during the question-and-answer session that Coulter informed the organizers she would no longer take questions if the hecklers were not silenced. For a time, the shouts were considerably lessened, until the issue of gay marriage was broached.

Coulter said she supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman on the basis that a good woman civilizes and inspires a man to strive for something better, leading to a question that was met with a stunned silence.

“You say that you believe in the sanctity of marriage,” said Ajai Raj, an English sophomore. “How do you feel about marriages where the man does nothing but…” (It’s unnecessary for me to reprint the actual vile comment – you can go to the Drudge Report to read it if you must – ed.)

UT Police officers approached Raj to arrest him, resulting in a mass exodus of protesters chanting, “Let him go.”

“The person had been disruptive the entire event,” said Matt Hardigree, former Student Events Center president. “He took the opportunity to say something lewd and offensive and then made masturbatory gestures as he exited.”

Hardigree said that Cheryl Wood from the Office of the Dean of Students spoke with some of the protestors before the event, and assorted members of the Distinguished Speakers Committee asked them to sit in the back if they had signs and to leave quietly if they wanted to leave.

According to Jeffrey Stockerwell, a friend of Raj, officers violently seized Raj and illegally searched him after his question.

Police have charged Raj with disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor.

Representatives of the Austin People’s Legal Collective were taking statements from everyone at the scene, in case it should be taken to court.

The booing began early into Coulter’s speech, when she issued a joke to pro-choice advocates.

“I wonder why those ‘I Heart Partial-Birth Abortion’ T-shirts aren’t selling better,” she said, followed by a combination of cheers and jeers.

One student asked Coulter why universities and institutions place microphones in front of Coulter when she advocates terrorism against liberals, prompting Coulter to mention the strength of her book sales. Coulter has had four New York Times best sellers.

The $30,000 event was co-sponsored by the Texas Union Student Events Center and Student Endowed Centennial Lectureship Committee.

The Smoking Gun has the police report.

Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

Arthur Finkelstein is doing his best to rescue America, before it’s too late.

Finding mummies in 2005. Long live Indiana Jones…

Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, checks a brilliantly colored mummy dating back more than 2,300 years Tuesday May 3, 2005, at Egypt’s Saqqara Pyramids complex south of Cairo. The unidentified mummy, from the 30th pharaonic dynasty, had been buried by sand in a 6 meter (20 feet) shaft. Hawass, said the mummy will undergo CT scanning before being put on display at a Saqqara museum. (Full Story)