Colonel Thomas Pappas continues in command of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade - according to today’s Baltimore Sun. He is the bastard who has the most to answer for in this whole abuse mess. A
Colonel Thomas Pappas. Why have the news media not told you about this guy? They have told us a lot about General Janis Karpinski, the commander of the military police who operated the Abu Ghraib pris
is a sad development for our country. I don’t want to pile on and kick our military as we need a strong armed services to survive in this world. We can only hope that full investigations are carried o
C-130 gunships are massacring innocent people in Fallujah and Najaf. No question - we Americans have constructed horrible killing machines. The military likes to say they save “friendly” personnel. We
They wanted to help defend democracy and our country. Instead they were used as cannon fodder in a foreign war of conquest - ordered by men who avoided their own military service when they were youngs
They have chosen to stop being dupes of the US. The Spanish people overwhelmingly told their government to stop the invasion and occupation of a country that was no threat to any other country - and c
The following is from an email I received from Takhoman, the Internet news in Tacoma who first broke the story of their police chief Brame when the regular media would not touch it. Takhoman is reliab
If you want to know what is happening in Iraq then you have to read the foreign press and independent websites. The major American news media are not present where the action is and are simply sanitiz
You will not learn the full truth about this week in Iraq for many years - if the US military has its way. Our troops are causing unspeakable horrors to the Iraqi people. You must read the foreign pre
To watch CNN today is to ask “what mass killing of Iraqis in a mosque”. Same on FoxNews. Not mentioned directly and you have to look elsewhere for details. Much talk about ‘test of wills’ and US milit
When some of the 24 US soldiers wounded in Iraq over the weekend die from their wounds - they will not be counted as deaths in Iraq. Only those who actually die on the battlefield are counted.<
Initiative 872 will allow us citizens to vote to have a ‘Top 2’ primary election process. The ‘Peoples Choice’ initiative is now launched by the Washington State Grange. You can order petitions at the
10:30 am As scripted, a partial veto. Gov. Locke vetoed the ‘Top 2’ section of the primary election bill, SB6453. This gets the Republican and Democrat party bosses off the hook - a huge favor to t
Gov. Locke is not scheduled to act on the primary election bill today. This the 20th day since the legislature adjourned and supposedly the last day he can act on a bill. SB6453 is missing from his fu
For your morning entertainment. And for those who are in awe of the ‘experts’ in Olympia. Gov Locke vetoes three sections of a bill meant to streamline our bankruptcy laws. To wit:
Before Wednesday, Gov. Locke will act on SB6453, the primary election bill. There has been no news on his deliberations these past two weeks. All legislators are very quiet. No press releases by the p
Gov. Locke has not acted on the primary election bill. No doubt he is wondering how his reputation will be hurt if he vetoes the ‘Top 2’ process. He will be known in the future as the guy who tried to
Today’s Bham Herald editorial is well meaning but hopelessly ignorant of the process in Olympia. Naive may be a better word to describe their editorial board. Gee, goes the editorial - the legislature
Will Gov Locke veto the ‘Top 2’ primary process and allow the Montana process to become law? Probably, but not necessarily. He may sign the entire bill - getting himself off the hook with voters - and
Writer's notes: The candidates for State Representative in the 40th District Position 1 are: Dusty Gulleson (prefers Republican Party,) Chuck Carrell (prefers Republican Party,) Doug Revelle (prefers Happiness Party,) Mike Newman (prefers Republican Party,) Kristine Lytton (prefers Democratic Party,) Tom Pasma (prefers Democratic Party,) Thomas Boucher (prefers Democratic Party,) Justin Van Dyk (prefers Democratic Party,) and Donna R. Miller (prefers Republican Party.)
What follows are the two responses to questions I submitted to Chuck last Mon, Aug 2.
Why should I vote for you?
"I’m running this year because the Legislature and Governor continued their out of control spending habits despite our troubled economy, and we need to stop it.
The only way it will stop is to start electing strong leadership to the Legislature that can make the hard choices that will be needed.
I will not support any new taxes unless they will completely eliminate an existing tax and make the amount less overall to the people they affect.
I think people are taxed to their limit right now and the real long term solution is to have the state and local governments cut their spending and get back to the essential functions of what state government is supposed to do.
I will not accept money from, or be a representative for, any PAC or special interest group. That’s important when figuring out where to trim at least $3 billion dollars from our state’s budget next session.
When making cuts, these candidates will feel obligated to keep unnecessary programs due to the financial aid they received during their campaigns. The problem was highlighted this year, and electing those types of candidates will only bring the same issue to the next Legislative session."
What is important to you?
"The most important thing to me this next Legislative session is getting our fiscal house in order.
We need to simplify the tax structure and then get an accurate assessment of what the state budget will be.
Then we need to REALISTICALLY balance the budget. This means that we fund our most important things such as education and public safety first and then continue down until everything is funded or there is no more state money left.
When the state budget is down to zero then we stop funding programs. No matter how badly we want to fund a program, if the state budget is spent then they will have to get their funding someplace else besides state government.
Even within our top priorities we need to look at how to consolidate these agencies and programs to make them more efficient. We also need to look at reducing the middle management in these agencies and what I term “inner bureaucracies.”
Years of these types of hiring practices by state and local government has created an enormous drain on our resources and is not sustainable. Nor can we rely on Federal grants like we did this year to balance the budget."
