boiled meat

On Monday, the Family Steering Committee issued a statement saying, "This administration has not fully cooperated with the 9/11 commission. ... President Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 commission and his administration has set up roadblocks that have inhibited the commission's progress.''

(snip)

When Republicans chose to hold their presidential nominating convention in New York City this summer, the idea of Ground Zero as a backdrop could not have been far from their minds.

Now they have to worry about protests from the victims' families.

"President Bush promised in a speech he gave in 2002 that he would not use the site for political reasons," said Lasar. "We believed him. We trusted him. He has broken his promise to us. To say that we're outraged is the truth."

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, has recommended to State Department officials that the $3.34 billion be reallocated from water, sewage and electricity projects. If security is improved, oil production could be increased, eventually making more money available for reconstruction, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A militant Iraqi group said it had killed 12 Nepali hostages and showed pictures of one being beheaded and others being gunned down in the worst violence against captives since a wave of kidnappings erupted in April.

In a smaller protest, police used clubs briefly to disperse a handful of demonstrators holding a “kiss-in” not far from Times Square. There were no immediate details about injuries or arrests.

Edwards labored for 15 years on behalf of clients who had been injured by corporate or medical malfeasance.

You may have heard about one of those cases, derided by some TV pundits as Edwards' "Jacuzzi case."

Actually, it involved 5-year-old Valerie Lakey, who in 1993 was sucked into a wading pool drain when the cover came loose.

By the time her parents and friends were able to pry her loose, the drain had sucked out 80 percent of her small intestine and 50 percent of her large intestine.

Her life would never be the same.

During a trial against the drain manufacturer, Edwards brought out that two screws would have kept the drain cover intact.

He also revealed that the manufacturer, a Wisconsin company, knew of 13 other incidents since 1987 in which children had been seriously hurt - and yet it refused to alter the design of the cover, recall the product or issue warnings.

Ultimately, the jury awarded the child $25 million. It remains the largest personal injury award in North Carolina.

Detractors note that Edwards probably received one-third of the settlement and that if he really cared for Valerie he would have taken less.

I asked a friend, Myrtle Beach lawyer George Cox, about that. He noted that juries often factor the lawyer's fee into the total award.

He added that since such cases are usually done on a contingency basis, the lawyer takes nothing if he loses. "One-third of nothing is nothing," he said.

"They have obviously decided that some people will believe anything, no matter how fictional or how far-fetched, if they just repeat it often enough," Kerry said with a smile in response to the applause of his accusations. "That's how they have run their administration; that's how they're running their campaign and that's how they're going to run their convention. I believe that the American people are smarter than that. You can't cover up reality with a few empty slogans. You can't lead America by misleading the American people."

Several Vietnam veterans are calling for an assistant district attorney to resign after questions were raised about his statement in a recent ad criticizing Democrat John Kerry's military service.

Alfred French of the Clackamas County district attorney's office appears in the ad sponsored by the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. In the spot, French says: "I served with John Kerry. ... He is lying about his record."

(snip)

Before recording the ad, French signed an affidavit that said: "I am able to swear, as I do hereby swear, that all facts and statements contained in this affidavit are true and correct and within my personal knowledge and belief."

It goes on to say that "Kerry has wildly exaggerated and lied about his record in Vietnam" and that he received his Purple Heart medals "in the absence of hostile fire."

(snip)

District Attorney John Foote released a statement Monday chiding French for bringing unwanted publicity to the suburban county's office, but stood by his employee.

"I do not personally share the opinions expressed by our prosecutor," Foote wrote. "However, all of our employees have the right to their own opinions on these subjects and to express their opinions on their own time."

MR. McCLELLAN: The President has condemned -- well, first of all, the President has called on Senator Kerry to join him in calling for all of these ads and activity by these shadowy groups to stop, and he renewed that call today. The President has condemned all of these ads. And when he says he condemns them all, he means it. He wants Senator Kerry to join him in calling for a stop to all of these ads and activity.
Q But does he condemn the actual charge within the ad?
MR. McCLELLAN: That's why I said --
Q Can I assume that, then?
MR. McCLELLAN: He condemns all of these ads --
Q So I can assume he condemns the content.
MR. McCLELLAN: Deb, he condemns all of these ads --
Q -- and the content?
MR. McCLELLAN: Let me answer your question. The President condemns all of these ads. And he's been very clear in that. When he says he condemns all of the ads, he means all of the ads. And Senator Kerry should join us --
Q He's condemning the content of the ad, as well?
MR. McCLELLAN: He's calling for a stop to all of these ads. That's what he's -- he's renewed his call today to Senator Kerry: Join us in calling for a stop to all of these ads.
Q So let me just ask you --
MR. McCLELLAN: And activity by these unregulated soft-money groups.
Q You're not making a difference -- you're not distinguishing between the fact that they are 527s --
MR. McCLELLAN: I mean -- go ahead.
Q You're not separating, then, the fact that these are 527s getting unregulated money and the actual content of the ad, that Kerry might have fraudulently obtained his medals, he might have falsified records? You're lumping that all in. When he says he condemns them, he condemns everything.
MR. McCLELLAN: Senator Kerry wants to have it both ways. Let's call for an end to all of these ads by these shadowy groups that receive unregulated soft money. That's what the President has previously called on Senator Kerry to join us in doing, and we renew that call today. He should call for a stop to all of these ads. We thought we got rid of this when we signed -- when the President signed the campaign finance reforms into law.

(uh, no he didn't. As Atrios notes, he was worried the bill was too stringent.)

The President has been on the receiving end of more than $63 million in negative attacks from these shadowy groups, these 527s that exist. And that's why he believes that we should stop all of this activity that is going on by these unregulated -- soft money activity. And so I -- let's go and look at all that has happened over the last year, and all the negative attacks that have been aimed at the President, and all the false attacks that have been aired against the President out there.
Q So the content of all of them, he condemns that as well?
Q So can we assume that he's also denouncing the content of the ads?
MR. McCLELLAN: You've heard what he said -- he condemns all of the ads, Deb. He could not be more clear in saying that -- and when he says something, he means it. Senator Kerry can put an end to all of this by -- help put an end to all of this by oining us in calling for a stop to all of these ads. That's what he ought to do.
Q -- charge in the ad.
MR. McCLELLAN: That's what he ought to do. Why has the Kerry campaign been silent for more than a year, and then actually been fueling some of these very false
and negative attacks that have been airing against the President of the United
States for the last year?
Q But this one was against them.
MR. McCLELLAN: Right, they want to have it both ways. The President has been
consistent from the very beginning. When he signed the campaign finance reforms
into law, he thought he got rid of all of this activity and these ads. And he believes --
Q So you're condemning these ads, but not --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, he believes we should get rid of all of this activity and ads by these shadowy groups.
Q But he's not denouncing the specific charge within the ds?
MR. McCLELLAN: How many times are you going to ask the same question, Deb?
Q You didn't answer.

(Classic -- what a convaluted script he must read from -- uh, shadowy, groups, shadow, dark, the horror, the horror -- shadowy figures in the shadows -- all ninjas must be banned from financing political ads -- tarantino too -- he shady -- not slim shady, just shady, like shadowy, and shadowy is bad. -- Again, check out Atrios.)

MR. McCLELLAN: That is the answer: Senator Kerry should join us in calling for an end to all of this unregulated soft-money activity by these shadowy groups. And we call on Senator Kerry again today to join us in calling for a stop to all of these activities. The President condemns all of the ads. That's what he said, just again a minute ago, and that's what he has said previously.
Q Okay, so he would -- in terms of the question that I asked, he would discourage Republicans from supporting --
MR. McCLELLAN: -- we've never questioned Senator Kerry's service, and we won't. This race should be about the future. This race should be about how -- who is in the best position to lead the country, going forward, for the next four years. The
President has a proven record of results, and he's laying out an agenda that
builds upon that record of results. And we should be talking about how we lead
and win the war on terrorism. We should be talking about how we -- the best way
to create jobs and keep our economy moving forward. We should be talking about
ways to reduce rising health care costs and make health care more affordable and
accessible. That's what this election should be about, and instead you have
Senator Kerry continuing to engage in false and negative attacks against the
President of the United States.
Q Can I ask you a sort of unrelated question, which Dick wanted me to ask for another story?
MR. McCLELLAN: And I would remind you also, Deb, that the false and negative attacks being launched by the Kerry campaign have no basis in fact. They have presented no evidence. But there has been a revolving door between these Democratic front groups and the campaign strategist and the personnel and the strategies.

Q Okay, so you say these have no --
MR. McCLELLAN: That's why we need to --
Q -- they're false and baseless, but are the Swift Boat ads false and baseless as
well?
MR. McCLELLAN: Deb, this goes to your whole question. These ads are another example of the problem with these shadowy groups, and that receive unregulated soft money activity. And so the President condemns all of these ads. The President, as you heard him say again today, has called Senator Kerry's service "noble."
Q So Republican or Democrat, they're all false and baseless.
MR. McCLELLAN: We should condemn all of these ads, and put a stop to all these ads.
Q (Inaudible.)
MR. McCLELLAN: No, what I was talking about was the claim that the Kerry campaign has now made, which is, all of a sudden -- I think his campaign, the other day, said that Senator Kerry had reached the boiling point. Well, reaching the boiling point shouldn't be excuse to launch into false and baseless attacks against the President. Yet they continue to do so.
Q Can I ask you a separate question about something else? Basically -- I don't know if you saw the University of Maryland poll that shows one in seven people think we went to war under false pretenses. That poll and others --
MR. McCLELLAN: Haven't seen the poll.
Q Ask the campaign.
(Laughter.)

(What's so disturbing about this is that the press poodles know they have to get spun from the spinmeisters and they laugh about it -- sad)

Another official said the report found there were two kinds of abuse: violent or
sexual abuse that was intentional and abuse that was a result of
misinterpretation of changing procedures.

Q Scott, was Secretary Rumsfeld speaking for the administration when he
said that it should be a go slow approach to the 9/11 recommendations?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you've heard the President's and Secretary Rumsfeld -- that's not all he said. He talked -- he put it in the context of the current situation. We are a nation at war, and we have to -- we have to move forward recognizing that we are -- we are continuing to fight and win the war on terrorism.

Chavez, who is seen as a hero by Venezuela's majority poor but as authoritarian
by his critics, particularly among the wealthy, vowed to continue his
"revolution for the poor."

If his victory is confirmed, it will be the eighth time Mr Chavez has won public
approval of his rule and his policies, after two presidential elections and six
referendums. Observers say this referendum is unlikely to put an end to
the conflict. They warn that in fevered Venezuela violence is never far away.

To date, more than 4,300 private security officers have been put to work at 50
Army installations in the United States, according to Army documents obtained by
The Times

"Some of these installations house chemical weapons and intelligence materials
and should not be compromised with questionable contracting processes and
poor security."

Q Are you satisfied with Senator Kerry's explanation that he would have voted
for the war?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll tell you, I think it is an intriguing
new nuance. First, the Senator voted for the war in Iraq. Then during the
Democratic primary, he switches positions and declares he is the anti-war
candidate. Then, just yesterday, with less than 90 days to go before the
election, the Senator now says -- or now agrees it was the right decision to go
into Iraq.

So, you know, I think we appreciate him finally clearing
things up with less than 90 days before the election to go. This is after all
this time, and after months of questioning the President's motives, the Senator
now agrees with the President that knowing what we know now, it was right to go
into Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein's regime from power -- even though we
haven't found the stockpiles of weapons that we all believed were there.

Q That's not what he said. He said he would have voted to give the
President the authority.

MR. McCLELLAN: He said, I'll answer the
President's question directly: yes. And so now he has finally come up and
cleared things up with a new nuance, with less than 90 days to go before the
election and he now agrees that it was the right decision to go into Iraq.

Q That's not what he said, though.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, knowing
what we know now, that it was the right decision to go into Iraq.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, make hay in what sense? I think Chairman Goss is someone
who enjoys broad bipartisan respect. He is someone who enjoys respect on both
sides of the aisle, and I think that his nomination will be warmly received by
bipartisan leaders in Congress.

Q Well, the 9/11 report, though, said
that congressional oversight was dysfunctional. He's been responsible for
congressional oversight for a considerable period of time. I mean, won't that be
a problem for him?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, he is someone -- like I said --
like the President said, he is someone that is a reformer and someone who has
been dedicated to positive change within the intelligence community. He's
someone who is committed to expanding our human intelligence capacity. He's
someone committed to investing in the kinds of technologies we need to stay
ahead of the terrorists and continue to -- so we can continue to defeat them and
disrupt their plans.

So I think he is someone that has the kind of
experience and expertise needed to do an outstanding job in this position, and
so does the President.

Q Jay Rockefeller had already raised some
questions about him earlier, before this happened. Do you think that's going to
be a problem?

MR. McCLELLAN: I think, as I said, he's someone who has
broad bipartisan respect and is someone who brings unique and broad experience
to the position. And so we expect he will be well-received within Congress.

Britain aside, the response in Europe to the latest announcement of terror threats in the United States has ranged from official calm to unofficial cynicism.

In a measure of how little the latest alerts raised concern in Europe, the
European Union's counterterrorism director, Gijs de Vries, remained on vacation.

Q Scott, going back to Kerry at the Unity Convention. Evidently, it seems to be
the first time that he's actually criticized the President's handling on the
morning of 9/11, when he was at that school in Florida and took those five to
seven minutes to finish his reading to those children there. Kerry said how he
would have handled it would have been to excuse himself, and said, I have
matters to attend to. Is that a fair criticism of the President by Senator
Kerry?

MR. McCLELLAN: Like I said, I haven't seen this conference. I would
want to take a look at what he said, but it sounds just more like -- it sounds
like more of the same kind of political attacks he's been engaging in, rather
than trying to defend his record and discuss the issues, and the differences on
those issues.

President Bush told a roomful of top Pentagon brass on Thursday that his
administration would never stop looking for ways to harm the United States.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never
stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do
we," Bush said.

Dear Tim,

I wanted to let you know that I received your box on Thursday of last
weekand was able to deliver it to the Chapel staff Friday morning. They werevery
appreciative of the thoughtfulness and generosity of your family, aswas I. The
items you have donated will be well received and I do not expectthat there will
be anything left of the items you sent when I go back thisWed night. There are not as many people or organizations supporting ourtroops as there were this time last year, but the need still remains just asmuch so if not more.

I was told that the cigars would probably not be set out for people to justtake to ensure that one person does not take them all. I think they will behanded out, but was unsure as the person that handles all donations toJack's Place was not in when I
delivered the package. I do not know if youwant to send more or not, but if so I
would suggest sending suggestions asto whom you would like the cigars to go to.
I cannot begin to thank you enough for your support and patriotism. Supportfrom
families like yours reminds us how lucky we are to be living in anddefending our
great country.

Please accept my sincerest gratitude andrespect for your unselfish donation of support to the people stationed hereat Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. I hope that the chaplain's office takes amoment to send you a letter of appreciation for your support.Thank you again.

Respectfully,Mike

P.S. If you would like to continue sending the boxes through me that isfine, however if you would like to send them directly to the chapel place anote inside like the one in your last package and mail to the address as follows:

Jack's PlaceATTN: Al Udeid
Chapel379 AEW/HCAPO, AE 09309MICHAEL J. KROHNE, TSgt, USAFACCC Senior Enterprise ControllerDSN: 318-436-4224