Good Morning All!

I am LOVING the weather of late....spring has finally BLOOMED here, and will go out later on and get some DAFFIE pics to share with everyone.  Pina is up to her elbows in work, and I am frustrated at not being able to do some SERIOUS gardening right now, but the weather does beighten the spirits. I still have THAT FLIPPING ITCH....any one got a weed whacker I can stick in there?

So, Morning NEWS!

Here is a LAUGH for you!  Dumsfield talking about dishonesty!  That man has got to be a bigger SNAKE IN THE GRASS than both Bush and Cheny put together, and that is saying something.  His nickname should be Troop Killer.

Rumsfeld, in Talks in Iraq, Warns About Corruption

By THOM SHANKER
and CHRISTINE HAUSER

Published: April 12, 2005

http://www.times.com/2005/04/12/international/middleeast/12cnd-rumsfeld.html?hp&ex=1113364800&en=d5b0a724d3f6b12c&ei=5094&partner=homepage

AGHDAD April 12 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld held talks with the new leaders of Iraq here today, bearing warnings of government corruption and civil turbulence that could delay a constitution and national elections.

Mr. Rumsfeld's surprise visit, which was not announced in advance because of security concerns, included meetings with Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish militia leader who is the new president, and with Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the leader of a Shiite religious party who has been nominated to be prime minister.

The daylong trip to Iraq allowed Mr. Rumsfeld to conduct the first face-to-face meetings by an American cabinet secretary with the new leaders since they took their oath of office. "Anything that would delay that or disrupt that as a result of turbulence or incompetence or corruption in government would be unfortunate," Mr. Rumsfeld said before he began a round of talks with Iraqi leaders, according to The Associated Press.The new prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, told reporters after meeting Mr. Rumsfeld at his official residence that he realized the risk of setbacks in the political process.

"I don't deny there are challenges, but I am sure we are going to form very good ministries," he said, according to The A.P. He predicted that the government bureaucracy would be staffed by "good technocrats" from a variety of backgrounds.

I find this next article VERY DISTURBING on several fronts.  First, very concerned that police officers are FABRICATING lies on a witness stand in and attempt to get a conviction.  More importantly, just what steps were authorized by the Republican Party, Mr. Bush, and the mayor of New York to mislead the public during last years convention here in New York, THAT WE DID NOT WANT.  Lastly, what is happening to our civil liberties, and is it a good ting that Bush totally controls who can appear at events supposedly open to the public?

Videos Challenge Accounts of Convention Unrest

By JIM DWYER

Published: April 12, 2005

http://www.times.com/2005/04/12/nyregion/12video.html?hp&ex=1113364800&en=034b59d6aece5085&ei=5094&partner=homepage

ennis Kyne put up such a fight at a political protest last summer, the arresting officer recalled, it took four police officers to haul him down the steps of the New York Public Library and across Fifth Avenue.

"We picked him up and we carried him while he squirmed and screamed," the officer, Matthew Wohl, testified in December. "I had one of his legs because he was kicking and refusing to walk on his own."

Accused of inciting a riot and resisting arrest, Mr. Kyne was the first of the 1,806 people arrested in New York last summer during the Republican National Convention to take his case to a jury. But one day after Officer Wohl testified, and before the defense called a single witness, the prosecutor abruptly dropped all charges.

During a recess, the defense had brought new information to the prosecutor. A videotape shot by a documentary filmmaker showed Mr. Kyne agitated but plainly walking under his own power down the library steps, contradicting the vivid account of Officer Wohl, who was nowhere to be seen in the pictures. Nor was the officer seen taking part in the arrests of four other people at the library against whom he signed complaints.

Thank you Mr Bush!  Not you low life scum.  To all of you Red State people that have done this to our once fine nation, I hope you wake up to REALITY and vote to protect your way of life in 2006!  Bush and the Reupukes ARE NOT FOR FAMILY VALUES, and ARE NOT FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS.  Is this the woeld you want for your children, where they cannot make a decent living, let alone own a home?

Falling Fortunes of Wage Earners

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published: April 12, 2005

eginning in the mid-1990's, pay increases for most workers slowly but steadily outpaced the rate of inflation, improving the living standards for nearly all Americans. But an unexpected reversal last year in those gains has set off a vigorous debate among economists over whether the decline is just a temporary dip or portends a deeper shift that may cause the pay of average Americans to lag for years to come.

Even though the economy added 2.2 million jobs in 2004 and produced strong growth in corporate profits, wages for the average worker fell for the year, after adjusting for inflation - the first such drop in nearly a decade.

"Pay increases are not rebounding, even though the factors normally associated with higher pay have rebounded," said Peter LeBlanc of Sibson Consulting, a division of Segal, a human resources consulting firm.

The problem is not with the jobs themselves. Most economists dismiss as overblown the widespread fear that the number of jobs will shrink in the United States because of foreign competition from China, India and other developing nations. But at the same time many of these economists argue that the increasing exposure of the American economy to globalization, along with other forces - including soaring health insurance costs that leave less money for raises - is putting pressure on wages that could leave millions of workers worse off.

OK, time for a bit more coffee, then outside to enjoy some of this WONDEFUL sunny day after I shower.  Everyone have a FABULOUS day.

Dream Dragon