• Click here to view an example!
• Click here to build your own commerical! Make sure to click "Enter Contest" to build your own. When you're done, click "Send to a friend" and send it to yourself. They'll e-mail you with a link that you can post here for others to see!

UPDATE:

Here my new one: http://www.chevyapprentice.com/view.php?country=us&uniqueid=ab233dc0-1167-1029-98eb-0013724ff5a7

The administration contends the president has inherent war powers under the Constitution to order eavesdropping without warrants.

"I am very wary of inherent authority" claimed by presidents, testified U.S. Magistrate Judge Allan Kornblum. "It sounds very much like King George."

• The Falafel King has a new war: St. Paul City Office Boots Easter Bunny

Now this:

• Marshmallow Peeps stand in protest of Easter Bunny's eviction

O'Reilly must be sh*tting himself.

Mich. Gov. Signs Minimum Wage Increase

LANSING, Mich. -- Workers earning the minimum wage in Michigan will get a raise in October under legislation signed Tuesday by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

The minimum rate will climb from $5.15 an hour to $6.95 an hour, then to $7.15 an hour in July 2007 and to $7.40 an hour in July 2008.

Michigan's current hourly minimum rate matches the federal minimum wage. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia set minimum wages higher than the federal minimum, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Michigan's Republican-dominated Legislature passed the minimum wage increase this month after it became evident that a petition drive to put the issue before voters in November was likely to succeed.

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• 24 More Iraqis Kidnapped From Businesses The good news: At least the gunmen will treat the hostages better than we treat Gitmo detainees.
• Schools, Kids Becoming Targets in Iraq The good news: Out of the kindness of their heart, the bomber(s) waited until after the morning spelling bee to blow sh*t up.
• Bomb Explodes Outside Iraqi Police Station The good news: Iraqi police were on the scene in less than 5 minutes.
• Shiites suspend talks with U.S. The good news: Nothing bad can be said out of anger.

In 90 minutes Monday at a Country Club Plaza-area home, she took in at least $40,000 for her Senate re-election campaign.

Clinton did not announce the fundraising event in advance, and on Tuesday, politicians in both parties called that unusual.

Republicans say she tried to hide her visit because she's too liberal for Missouri.

"It makes perfect sense," said GOP spokesman Paul Sloca. "The Democrats know and Hillary Clinton knows that she does not represent Missouri values in any way, shape or form. It makes sense for her to sneak in and then zip right out."

Is that why Missouri went to Clinton twice in the 90's Mr Sloca? Dumbazz. Here's why your party is hypocritical:

Cheney at Fund-Raiser, but Not With the Candidate

In the biggest campaign fund-raiser yet on behalf of State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to New Jersey on Monday and praised Mr. Kean as someone with "the experience, the values and the vision to be a superb United States senator."

But there was one problem: Mr. Kean was a no-show.

Actually, Mr. Kean did show up at the event, which was held at the offices of the IDT Corporation in downtown Newark. But he did not make it until 6:15, roughly 15 minutes after Mr. Cheney's motorcade had left.

So what should have been a routine political story about a successful fund-raiser, netting close to $400,000, became one in which Mr. Kean was asked repeatedly whether he had deliberately avoided being photographed with the vice president, who is deeply unpopular in New Jersey.

Bar Sweep Sparks Controversy

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sent a message to bar patrons last week.

TABC agents and Irving police swept through 36 Irving bars and arrested about 30 people on charges of public intoxication. Agency representatives say the move came as a proactive measure to curtail drunken driving.

{snip}

At one location, for example, agents and police arrested patrons of a hotel bar. Some of the suspects said they were registered at the hotel and had no intention of driving. Arresting authorities said the patrons were a danger to themselves and others.

"Going to a bar is not an opportunity to go get drunk," TABC Capt. David Alexander said. "It's to have a good time but not to get drunk."

Iraqi diplomat gave U.S. prewar WMD details
Saddam's foreign minister told CIA the truth, so why didn't agency listen?

In the period before the Iraq war, the CIA and the Bush administration erroneously believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding major programs for weapons of mass destruction. Now NBC News has learned that for a short time the CIA had contact with a secret source at the highest levels within Saddam Hussein's government, who gave them information far more accurate than what they believed. It is a spy story that has never been told before, and raises new questions about prewar intelligence.

What makes the story significant is the high rank of the source. His name, officials tell NBC News, was Naji Sabri, Iraq's foreign minister under Saddam. Although Sabri was in Saddam's inner circle, his cosmopolitan ways also helped him fit into diplomatic circles.

In September 2002, at a meeting of the U.N.'s General Assembly, Sabri came to New York to represent Saddam. In front of the assembled diplomats, he read a letter from the Iraqi leader. "The United States administration is acting on behalf of Zionism," he said. He announced that there were no weapons of mass destruction and that the U.S. planned war in Iraq because it wanted the country's oil.

{snip}

For example, consider biological weapons, a key concern before the war. The CIA said Saddam had an "active" program for "R&D, production and weaponization" for biological agents such as anthrax. Intelligence sources say Sabri indicated Saddam had no significant, active biological weapons program. Sabri was right. After the war, it became clear that there was no program.

Bush signs debt limit increase to $8.965 trillion

CLEVELAND, March 20 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Monday signed into law a $781 billion increase in U.S. borrowing authority, making the Treasury Department's new debt limit $8.965 trillion, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

Last week, the Senate approved the increase in borrowing authority requested by the Treasury Department to avoid a government default. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the legislation nearly a year ago.

Link

...someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the President replied : "I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff."

The delay is "in order to allow Mr. Abramoff's cooperation to continue
uninterrupted," according to a joint motion for a new status conference filed
late Thursday.
(snip)
The length of Abramoff's sentences in both cases will depend on the level
of help he provides to investigators as they continue their probe of corruption
among public officials.

The shortcomings were little surprise but are nonetheless "appalling," said Gene Spafford, a Purdue University computer science professor who has long been urging greater cybersecurity research and more development dollars.

The Department of Homeland Security has proven itself a particular magnet for criticism and had been chided for its failure to develop a cyber crisis contingency plan, prompting experts to question its ability to handle a massive attack.

- $300 million to enable U.S. customs agents to inspect high-risk
containers at all 140 overseas ports that ship directly to the United States.
Current funding only allows U.S. customs agents to operate at 43 of these
ports.

- $400 million to place radiation monitors at all U.S. ports of
entry. Currently, less than half of U.S. ports have radiation
monitors.

- $300 million to provide backup emergency communications
equipment for the Gulf Coast.

McQuillan walked into a bar and ordered martini after martini, each time removing the olives and placing them in a jar.

When the jar was filled with olives and all the drinks consumed, theIrishman started to leave.

"S'cuse me", said a customer, who was puzzled over what McQuillan had done, "what was that all about?"

"Nothin', said the Irishman, "my wife just sent me out for a jar of olives!"

***************************************

• Republicans are happier than Democrats.
• People who worship frequently are happier than those who don't.
• The rich are happier than the poor.
• Whites and Hispanics are happier than blacks.
• Married people are happier than the unmarried.
• Dog owners and cat owners rate the same.
• Sunbelt residents are happier than everyone else.
  
  
  
  

• Bush Sees Iran As Possibly Greatest Threat
  "President Bush said Thursday Iran may pose the greatest challenge to the United States and diplomacy to thwart the Islamic nation's nuclear program must prevail to avoid confrontation. "
  
• Bolton compares Iran threat to Sept 11 attacks
  "The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, on Wednesday compared the threat from Iran's nuclear programs to the September 11 terror attacks on the United States."
  
  "Just like September 11, only with nuclear weapons this time, that's the threat. I think that is the threat," Bolton told ABC News' Nightline program.
  
• Bush restates pre-emptive doctrine
  "Undaunted by the difficult war in Iraq, President George W. Bush reaffirmed his strike-first policy against terrorists and enemy nations on Thursday and said Iran may pose the biggest challenge for America.
  
  The latest report makes it clear Bush hasn't changed his mind, even though no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.
  
  The report had harsh words for Iran. It accused the regime of supporting terrorists, threatening Israel and disrupting democratic reform in Iraq. Bush said diplomacy to halt Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons work must prevail to avert a conflict."
  

Senator Russ Feingold is an embarrassment to the US Senate, which makes him an authentic hero of the Republic. The Wisconsin senator gets up and says out loud what half of the country is thinking and talks about every day....
(snip)
...Democrats scurried away like scared rats. And Republicans chortled at the thought.
(snip)
(Feingold is) a naif who voted against the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. On principle! How naive is that? He talks like he might run for President, yet he seems tone-deaf to the artful resonances of power politics--the cutesy games insiders play and the press cherishes. Hey, what is this Constitution thing anyway?

Feingold Draws Little Support for Censure
By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said Tuesday that Feingold's censure effort was "born out of intense frustration" with the administration's lack of candor on the eavesdropping program - and not out of any effort to further his 2008 presidential ambitions.

"We have no idea what this program is," said Biden, himself a potential 2008 presidential contender, on NBC's "Today" show. He said Feingold was expressing his "absolute frustration with the failure of this administration and this Congress to insist it come forward and tell us what it's doing."

Asked at a news conference whether he would vote for the censure resolution, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., declined Monday to endorse it and said he hadn't read it.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., said he had not read it either and wasn't inclined simply to scold the president.

"I'd prefer to see us solve the problem," Lieberman told reporters.

March 12, 2006 - In an exclusive interview on "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold called on the Senate to publicly admonish President Bush for approving domestic wiretaps on American citizens without first seeking a legally required court order.

"This conduct is right in the strike zone of the concept of high crimes and misdemeanors," said Feingold, D-Wis., a three-term senator and potential presidential contender.

Touring New Orleans last week, Bush met a man who had survived for days on canned goods before being evacuated to Utah. "Were you the only black man in Salt Lake City?" he asked.

(LINK)

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday that new sectarian strife had created a "period of tension" in Iraq, as his aides unveiled plans for a series of presidential speeches on what was going right - and, to a degree, what had gone wrong - in the conflict.

(snip)

The campaign comes as violence in Iraq has endangered hopes for a U.S. troop reduction this year and as Bush tries to recover from the U.S. ports controversy in which he suffered a rare political defeat on his signature issue of national security.

(snip)

"No question there was violence and killing," Bush said. But, referring to the quiet that followed the imposition of daytime curfews, he added: "The society took a step back from the abyss. And people took a sober reflection about what a civil war would mean."

Critics, however, have said that the show of force only drove the violence underground, prompting an increase in kidnappings and murders.

(Full Story Here)

If he keeps spinning like that, he's going to make himself sick. Like he's been doing to the rest of us for 5 years.

Bush: Dubai ports storm hurts war on terror
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Friday he was troubled by the political storm that forced the reversal of a deal allowing a company in the United Arab Emirates to take over take over operations of six American ports, saying it sent a bad message to U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Bush said the United States needs moderate allies in the Arab world, like the United Arab Emirates, to win the global war on terrorism.


White House Asked Dubai Ports to Pull Out
ABC News

March 10, 2006 - The White House asked Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, to give up its management stake in U.S. ports, to save President Bush from the politically difficult position of vetoing a key piece of legislation to protect America's ports, ABC News has learned.

Article II, Section 4, states: "The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers of the United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

(snip)

And that is exactly what George W. Bush has been committing: He's been subverting our Constitution, and he has repeatedly violated his oath of office to "faithfully execute" his duties and to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

He has done so in four key areas: in the Iraq War, in detentions here at home and abroad, in the torture scandal, and in the NSA warrantless spying program.

(snip)

But this isn't about partisanship. It's about whether we respect the Constitution or not. It's about what kind of system of government we're going to have. If we let Bush get away unimpeached for all the offenses he has committed, then we send the signal that what he has done is OK.

• When Ken Lay got in trouble, Bush said he didn't know the guy. Despite being buddies in Texas and using Kenny-boy's private jet in the Presidential campaign.
• After the media found out Ahmed Chalabi was really a bad guy, Bush said he didn't know him. Hmmm.....wasn't that Chalabi sitting next to Laura during the SOTU a few years ago?
• And finally, when Abramoff got busted, Bush said he didn't know the guy. We can't wait to see all the pictures.

"I had my picture taken with him, evidently," Bush said of Abramoff on Jan. 26. "I've had my picture taken with a lot of people."

"I frankly don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy," Bush added. "I don't know him."

Vanity Fair: Bush Had Ties to Abramoff

NEWFANE, Vt., March 7 - In five Vermont communities, a centuries-old tradition of residents gathering in town halls to conduct local business became a vehicle to send a message to Washington: Impeach the president.

An impeachment article, approved by a paper ballot 121-29 in Newfane Tuesday, calls on Vermont's lone member of the U.S. House, independent Rep. Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against President Bush, alleging he misled the nation into the Iraq war and engaged in illegal domestic spying.

{snip}

Sanders issued a statement after the Newfane vote saying that although the Bush administration ''has been a disaster for our country, and a number of actions that he has taken may very well not have been legal,'' given the reality that the Republicans control the House and the Senate, ''it would be impractical to talk about impeachment.''

Jim Barnett, chairman of the Vermont Republican Party, said Sanders should reject the resolution: ''We should not be impeaching presidents just because we disagree with them.''

Link

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm
By BOB KERR
The Providence Journal
28-FEB-06

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

(snip)

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

(snip)

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

PIERRE, S.D. - Gov. Mike Rounds on Monday signed legislation banning almost all abortions in South Dakota.

The Legislature passed the ban late last month, focusing nationwide interest on the state as the governor decided what to do about the measure.

South Dakota Planned Parenthood said it planned a quick court challenge.

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