Christmas NUKE NEWS....ENTERGY's INDIAN POINT Under The Microscope?

Dust off the DANCING SHOES as the fight is on as a one time legend rejoins the fight as against failing Nuclear Reactors such as those located at Entergy's Indian Point. Ring the sirens...you know, the ones Indian Point has that do not work half the time, as the grassroots is about to mobilize in a massive effort to shut down this failing facility. This in from NUMEROUS BLOGS, and about to go Global, as in Global Nuclear Fuel who just had a major accident COVERED UP under a conveniently created Exclusionary Zone...they are important in all this, as it just so happens that ENTERGY recently signed a HUGE DEAL with these folks! Stay tuned folks, fasten the seat belts as this roller coaster ride is about to get FUN.

Monday, December 25, 2006
Entergy Watch Calls on John Hall, Maurice Hinchey To Hold Citizen Hearings On Entergy's Indian Point

Nothing like getting the word out and ready for consumption on Christmas...with Entergy trying to wrongly RELICENSE the decripidly antequated and failing Nuclear Reactors on their Indian Point site, Entergy Watch has officially challenged these two Congressman to hold CITIZEN HEARINGS on Indian Point...time for John Hall to start bringing his campaign promises home.


Monday, December 25, 2006
WOW....Christmas Day Video SLAMS Indian Point Relicensing

Just in from Washington Scandal, a new hard hitting video on the deploring and decaying Indian Point Reactors, and the Entergy wrong sighted plan to have the NRC relicense these nuclear accident time bombs. The time has come for concerned citizens, as well as all ANTI NUKE groups to unite under the common cause of SHUTTING DOWN INDIAN POINT...to that end, Entergy Watch invites ALL groups opposing Indian Point that would like a link on this site to email said link to roycepenstinger@aol.com so that we can get you listed on our side bar. Further, we call on John Hall, Maurice Hinchey and any other Congressman members with a heart, and with concern for human health and the environment to hold IMMEDIATE CITIZEN HEARINGS in the affected CIRCLE OF DEATH, or as it has now been dubbed, the Triangle of Death (representing the three reactors).


Monday, December 25, 2006 Entergy's Indian Point-A Christmas Day Video Present...SHUT THEM DOWN

With the recent accident involving a truck load of Fuel Grade Enriched Uranium Oxide from Kurihama Japan this past week, the time has come for America to wake up to the REALITY that we are one accident away from our own Nuclear Holocaust, a nuclear death zone of biblical proportions, far worse than Chernobyl or even Hiroshima. Indian Point's spent nuclear fuel rod storage facilities ARE LEAKING, and NRC records and Entergy's own documents admit to cracks in the reactor domes...yet, they want to relicense them. The time has come to just say no.

Minimum Wage Hike NOT ENOUGH-We Need 12-20 Million ILLEGAL WORKERS Deported

Wetback Nation?

Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are making a lot of hay out of a $2.00 per hour raise in the minimum wage rate...this is NOT ENOUGH. First, $7.25 per hour after taxes leaves millions of Americans lanquishing in POVERTY. Further, unless this raise in the minimum wage is coupled with a GET TOUGH POLICY on illegal aliens, and the companies who hire them, it is an very empty gesture. Cheap WAGES will remain a reality until we CULL THE HERD of those here illegally.

Wages and benefits raise and fall based on the simple law of supply and demand, and BIG BUSINESS and the National Chamber of Commerce know this...it is why they oppose a wage hike, and support Amnesty for illegals, and a liberal Guest Worker Program. The time has come for Americans to COME FIRST, time for us to TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN, and this means deporting those who illegally and wrongfully steal our jobs, and depress our wages. The battle cry of the business community is let the market drive wages...that would be fine if we DEPORTED 12-20 million illegal workers who are depressing our wage base by over $200 Billion a year. Congress and Pelosi need to make raising of the minimum wage worthwhile, by combining it with enforcement only comprehensive immigration reform that hands down harsh penalities for any one who hires illegals (eliminate the word knowingly), and eliminates access to all social services for illegals and their children including prenatal care, and education.

Dems eyeing $2 raise for minimum earners
POSTED: 6:09 p.m. EST, December 22, 2006
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/12/22/minimum.wage.ap/index.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Imagine what it would be like to work without a pay raise for nearly 10 years.

That's been the plight of some workers who for almost the past decade have been earning the federal minimum wage. Their last pay increase -- to $5.15 an hour -- came in 1997.

There could be some relief in sight.

When the Democrat-controlled 110th Congress convenes in early January, a top priority is boosting the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The increase is likely to be phased in, perhaps over 26 months. (Watch why some say a minimum wage hike is long overdue )

Alice Laguerre is among the millions of workers now earning less than $7.25 an hour.

She makes $6.55 an hour driving cars headed for the auction blocks in Orlando, Florida, and says a boost in the federal minimum wage would help her build a nest egg for emergencies.

"I would be able to save more," says Laguerre, a part-time worker. "I've always been thrifty with money. When I was young, I'd take a nickel and stretch it five ways."

That can be tough these days, acknowledges Laguerre, 53, after paying the monthly rent and utilities on her two-bedroom apartment and after recently buying a car -- a blue 1994 Buick Century.

Employers could feel squeeze
On the other side of the minimum wage debate is employer Wayne Reaves, president of Manna Enterprises Inc., in Anniston, Alabama, who says he may boost menu prices and cut workers' hours at his fast-food restaurants, which serve up hamburgers, fried chicken, gravy and biscuits and other fare, if the federal wage is lifted.

The average hourly rate for his workers is around $6.39. All of his workers are paid above the current $5.15 minimum, he says. The lowest hourly rate is around $5.50, while a recently hired biscuit maker fetched $8 an hour.

Global (GE) Nuclear Fuel...Almost a Disaster

Update from Washington Scandal on last nights horrid situation in North Carolina when a truck hauling reactor grade nuclear fuel powder tipped over. Government's EXCLUSION ZONE kept a lid on the news and video getting out. Which explains why we never saw and update from Anderson Cooper.

Friday, December 22, 2006
Reactor Grade Uranium Fuel Accident...MORE BREAKING NEWS.
First, before I break what I have uncovered so far, find it interesting that the Pro-Nuke People RACED to this blog to put up a PROPAGANDA PIECE. Now, let's share what I have found out so far.

Did We Just Dodge A Nuclear BULLET?

What's wrong with the story that there is no story in the National News when a flat bed truck carrying a container of Fuel Grade Uranium Dioxide tips over coming down the exit ramp at the intersection of I-95 and I-40 in Johnson County, North Carolina? The story briefly broke on Anderson Cooper's 360 last night with a singular photo of the truck laying over on it's side, and Anderson Cooper telling us that a truck hauling uranium fuel had tipped over, more details to follow. Problem is, those details never came forward, the story is almost NON-Existent in the news loops. Speaking with an unidentified staffer in Congressman Hinchey's office, they said they could find nothing on the accident, and only had what I had sent them.

As a grassroots person opposed to the re licensing of Entergy's failing nuclear reactors at Indian Point here in New York, the story instantly caught my attention, and when no additional reporting was forthcoming, I started to tract the story down myself...what is being found out is very disturbing, and raises serious concerns about both the NRC, and our National Security Response in the case of a NUCLEAR INCIDENT. They (NRC) seem to have dropped the ball in their own response to the accident (there was NONE) and the people at Homeland Security apparently took DRASTIC STEPS to kill the story, keep it out of the news cycle.

Lee Cox with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Health provided much of the base details of the incident and it's aftermath to me over the phone today. According to Mr. Cox, the driver of the truck (Ken Brotsche who is 63) stated in his statement on the accident, that as he began coming down the ramp the brakes went out, and when he tried to shift gears to correct the problem he over compensated and the truck went over. In speaking with David Bennett and Donny Lester of Tri-State Border Transport (They said this was the first accident of its type in the 55 years they have been hauling radioactive materials for the nuclear industry and DOE) said this was the first they had heard of the drivers comments, and suggested that there was a terminology mix up in how the driver described things. Their contention is that the driver went to apply the Jake Brake while the driver was in neutral, and that a Jake Brake will not work if the truck is in neutral. They went on further to state their oldest trucks are 2003 Peterbilt's, and that Ken Brotsche was driving a 2004 Peterbilt at the time of the incident. The driver went on to say that his wife Nancy had been sleeping in the back bunk, and though removed to a local hospital she had only received minor injuries. So, did the brakes go out suggesting inadequate maintenance, or was this driver error...where is the truck, and who is examining it?

Lee Cox went on further to state, that the materials on said truck were high level powdered uranium and not within the jurisdictional control of North Carolina as an Agreement State with the NRC, but within the control of the NRC. However because the NRC had not dispatched any one to the scene, the North Carolina Environmental Health people had acted as lead agency for the safety of their citizens and the environment of North Carolina. In short, they COVERED NRC's ASS. This was/is interesting, as when NRC's emergency response people were contacted last night around 10:30, they, when pressed, admitted that the accident had indeed occurred, but that they were not investigating it as it was the responsibility of the state of North Carolina as a Agreement State to act as lead agency. Simply put, WRONG. Once uranium becomes ENRICHED, it is the NRC's duty and responsibility...which is why the NRC in a phone conversation with Lee Cox this morning said they would be taking over as the lead agency. What is disconcerting in this, is that the NRC had a MAJOR INCIDENT going on with one of their licensee's, and never put one boot on the ground in North Carolina. What is more alarming, is this was not just ANY Nuclear Fuel, but spent fuel from a Japanese reactor...more on that later.

Digging further, it was learned that the licensee charged with the safety for these materials was Global Nuclear Fuel (GE) out of Wilmington, North Carolina. The person handling DAMAGE CONTROL is one Alan Mabbry and I believe Tom Rumsy, who admitted the truck was carrying Reactor Grade Uranium Fuel in powdered form, but that the container was not breached. Or was it? Donnie Lester from the trucking company admitted this set of facts to be the case, stating that the container had been locked down onto the flat bed trailer, and though tipped over on it's side, it had never broke lose from the lock down mechanism...the trailer was hoisted right side up by not one, but two cranes, and eventually the container of high level fuel was placed onto another flatbed. Alan Bennett said that East Bound I-40 had been shut down for safety reasons, and that the response team for this incident involved several hundred emergency responders...any one at this point wondering where video at eleven is, or something in the way of video first thing this morning? This should be FRONT PAGE NEWS across the entire United States, so who is sitting on this story? More on this later in the article, as it would take all day for that answer to emerge.

Bennett was not overly forth coming with information, and suggested I contact the trucking company...they were very frank and honest, and as I spoke with them, more details came out about the incident, and the materials in question. The materials had been picked up in Portsmouth, Virginia, and we are talking some seriously LETHAL STUFF HERE. You see, what this truck was hauling, was SPENT FUEL being sent back to Global Nuclear Fuel for REPROCESSING...but wait a minute, we do not reprocess our fuel here in the United States...Donnie Lester explained that one for me...the spent fuel was from OVER SEAS, had been shipped into America on a cargo vessel for reprocessing from some foreign country. They would not, or could not identify the country of origin for these materials, so I called back Lee Cox who verified that the material was from a reactor in Kurihama, Japan...now, explain this one to me....Lee was adamant that it was not spent uranium from the reactor, yet agreed it was here for reprocessing. Seems you cannot have your cake and eat it too. Maybe someone from the NRC who so far has had no comment, though I left my number with three people could clarify this for us?

I was still confused (as I stated earlier) though on how such an accident could occur, that CNN could briefly break it, then have the whole thing POOF up into thin air...enter Homeland Security, one incident Commander, and Lt. E Mark Dalton of the North Carolina Highway State Patrol, first on the scene. This axis of security is a perfect example of the Bush Administration's desire to keep us in the general public STUPID. These three in some combination as yet unknown, though Lee said Lt. Dalton made the call, decided to throw up and implement and EXCLUSION ZONE...now, this is a scary thing in a free society...you see, the press was CUT OFF, denied access to the scene.

Lt. Dalton so far has refused to comment, refused to let me know if this Exclusion zone included aerial access to the area, though looking at the size of the on the ground force involved in the cover up (I mean clean up), one has to assume it included keeping aerial equipment away from the scene...otherwise, how does one explain no follow up on CNN? A spokesperson for the North Carolina Highway State Patrol verified that numerous members of the press were denied access to the area, were not allowed to get even close to it. Which is odd, since Lt. Dalton had also made the decision that there had been NO BREACH of the CONTAINER, decided there was no need to evacuate any one in the general area...if it was so SAFE, why was the press kept away, other than someone(s) trying to cover up the whole event, keep it from becoming MAJOR NEWS. Was this the ACCIDENT that the Nuclear Industry and NRC have tried to convince us for years could never happen...did we just miss a disaster of biblical proportions?

There is a SKUNK in the wood pile here, and this blogger does not have the tools or manpower to get to all of it, though have uncovered what I can. To that end, I am listing here all the contacts I have so far been able to dig up, in the hopes that someone out there can get this story the coverage it deserves.

Lt. E. M. Dalton 1 (800) 412-9532 I tried this number, but it is a limited area access number than cannot be reached from my area. (fax# 919 737 9528)

Alan Maybry (With Global Nuclear) 910 675-5601

Donnie Lester and David Bennett Tri-State Motor Transport Company (417) 621-2658

Lee Cox and Beverly Hall (North Carolina Division of Environmental Health 919 571-4141

North Carolina Emergency Response Hot Line (Verified the accident) 800 858 0368

Tom Rumsy 910 646-6004

Number to access North Carolina Public Relations Department 919 733 5027

UPDATE on Uranium ACCIDENT! NRC Trying To HIDE IT.

WE ARE TALKING YELLOW CAKE/Uranium Powder here folks...in from Washington Scandal, it appears that the truck has CRASHED on the off ramp of I-95 and I-40 in Johnson County, North Carolina...the driver apparently made IMMEDIATE CONTACT with the Portsmouth Ohio Gaseous Diffusion Plant, owned by USEC after President Bush Senior privatized the former DOD/DOE site in the 1992 Energy Policy Act. The NRC is NOT GIVING OUT ANY INFO, refused to identify the location of the accident...this information came from Division of Environmental Health in North Carolina.

Friday, December 22, 2006
UPDATE ON Uranium ACCIDENT


BREAKING NEWS.....the truck that CRASHED in North Carolina was carrying uranium powder, which leads one to believe it was YELLOW CAKE, and on it's was to the Gaseous Diffusion Plant in either Portsmouth, Ohio or Paducah, Ohio. This is speculation, but Portsmouth was almost IMMEDIATELY contacted by the driver of the truck according to and unidentified phone operator at North Carolina's Division of Environmental Health.

The accident occurred at the off ramp of 1-95 and I 40. The truck is currently laying on it's side awaiting a tow truck...the NRC is trying to keep this quiet, and refused to give this blogger any useful information on the incident.

For reporters needing more information, you can call Beverly Hall at (919) 571-4141, though no one is there right now. You can call the Emergency Response people for the Division of Environmental Health in North Carolina at (800) 858-0368. My advice...if you want more on this story, you are going to have to put a reporter on the scene at I-95 and I-40 or you are NOT going to get the story, or the truth in this.

HOLY CHIT...Truck Hauling Uranium Tipped Over on ! 95!

Safe NUCLEAR ENERGY....a truck hauling Uranium has TIPPED OVER ON I-95...was it heading to an ENTERGY PLANT? Have we just averted what could have been the BIG ONE we all have feared? DETAILS AS THEY DEVELOP! Indian Point Must be closed.

Civil Union is NOT Marriage...Grant Gays Equal Rights

This just in from the Washington Scandal Blog...seems that Drew McKissicksee's gays wanting to be MARRIED, as in lawful marriage amounts to SUPER RIGHTS. In short, he thinks gays should still ride in the back of the bus, or preferably on a different bus than the one he is riding in. If Dick Cheney had balls, he'd step forward and tell Bush and the Republicans they are right...his daughter being a perfect example of a LOVING GAY COUPLE, and soon to be family.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Blogging Bigots...Civil Unions, Separate But Equal is NOT EQUAL

I was going to let the news on Civil Unions being signed into law in New Jersey today go until I read an article on Drew McKissick's blog on Gays wanting more than civil unions, and it is no accident this neanderthal has the work SICK found in his name. Seems he has his testosterone stained panties all in a knot about Gays wanting the right to Marriage, not just civil unions. By this intellectual lightweight' thinking, Gays wanting the title and right of Marriage is NOT EQUAL rights, but super rights. Give us a break there Mr. John Birch Antioch Baptist Church, Radical Right Christian.

Civil Unions in lieu of marriage are an insult to gays, it amounts to that proverbial separate but equal that was once reserved for blacks in our society. I applaud today's decision, but understand the gay community's angst...it's a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. The military's don't ask, don't tell policy is just as egregious as saying that civil unions are on par with Marriage...marriage is a CIVIL UNION, it is signified and has LEGAL STANDING because of the LICENSE issued by a governmental body. Now, if some bigoted half baked radical right wing church (Catholic) does not want to bless said marriage, that is FINE, but gays should be allowed to marry, and serve in the military without having to be closeted.

Ruben Navarrette Jr. Needs A Clue On Illegal Immigration

Ruben Navarrette is spewing forth his basically pro-illegal alien rants again, this time as a guest writer on the CNN website. Seems he has his panties in a knot over the Swift Raids...on one hand, he says if an illegal gets caught, they have no gripe, they took the chance...I can agree with that. However, with Navarrette, you always have to watch for the DAGGERS in the back as he stabs you in a close up embrace. He loves trying to paint those of us in favor of deporting illegals as RACIST, loves saying our fears are driven by xenophobia, and the unpinning of this article is no different.

You see, he wants us to see illegals using a BOGUS Social Security Card as just and immigration violation, something deserving of nothing more than a SLAP ON THE WRIST...curious their Ruben, if it is a felony fora LEGAL CITIZEN to go out and buy a forged ID, and use it, then why should it be a lessor offense for someone who is ALREADY A CRIMINAL in being in America as and illegal alien? Yes, I said criminal...every illegal working in America is guilty of no less than FOUR CRIMES, and securing a fake ID and using it is a VERY SERIOUS OFFENSE, not some new xenophobic enhanced charge to stir some falsely envisioned RACE HATRED among certain elements of American Society.

Curious here Rubin...are you familiar with the woman who had her ID (Social Security Number) stolen, and being used by over 200 illegals? Are you aware of how much that use of her number RUINED HER LIFE, made it impossible for her to get a job as her Social Security number when checked had felony charges attached to it? Based on that reality, could you explain to this writer why you see using someone else's Social Security number as such a trivial event? If someone with a STOLEN ID has a job that otherwise would have been filled by an American, how do you justify that?

On your saying it sounds so SINISTER...it is! If someone is using someone else's Social Security number to get a credit card, then ends up creating BAD CREDIT, guess who it is that has their credit rating RUINED? Not the slime sucking, vile, fetid illegal alien criminal. I'll give you credit for saying illegals should take the consequences when they are caught, however I disagree with your contention that the real criminals are the companies that hire illegals...they are both EQUALLY CULPABLE, BOTH AS CRIMINAL AS THE OTHER. I'd love to see the loophole you mention closed, but think you show your true ILLEGAL ALIEN friendly colors with the tenor of your article....we need our fence, we need 50,000 armed military soldiers on our southern border with Mexico, and we need both illegals and the employers who hire them imprisoned and then deported. As for Americans being serious about cracking down on ILLEGALS...we are very serious about it....problem is, the government is more interested in appeasing BIG BUSINESS than listening to us the people.

Commentary: Putting a sinister spin on immigration crackdown
POSTED: 1:55 p.m. EST, December 18, 2006

By Ruben Navarrette Jr.
Special to CNN

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- The worry used to be that illegal immigrants were stealing welfare. Then it was jobs. Now, we're told, they're stealing people's identities.
For as long as anyone can remember, illegal immigrants have been working with the aid of bogus Social Security numbers. And this was seen for what it was -- a violation of U.S. immigration law.

But last week, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement rounded up 1,282 illegal immigrants by raiding meat processing plants in six states -- Colorado, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and Utah -- the operation was marketed as a crackdown on identity theft.

ICE chief Julie L. Myers told reporters that agents uncovered a scheme in which illegal immigrants and others had stolen or bought the Social Security numbers of U.S. citizens and lawful residents for the purpose of getting jobs with Colorado-based meat processor Swift & Co.

No! And ICE agents just figured this out? Dick Tracy, they're not.

Why spin this as a crackdown on identity theft? That has a sinister ring to it, as if illegal immigrants were using stolen credit cards and withdrawing money from ATMs. More than likely, the extent of it was that people were using Social Security numbers that didn't belong to them so they could work at dirty jobs that Americans wouldn't do -- just as they have for generations, before the phrase "identity theft" entered the national lexicon.

ICE shouldn't have to go to the trouble of bending the truth. If these workers were here illegally, and they got caught, then they should be deported. Period. The government has every right to do so, and those activists and union leaders who are complaining about families being separated and portraying ICE as the Grinch who stole Christmas don't have a leg to stand on.

People need to take responsibility for their actions, and that includes illegal immigrants. If they enter the country illegally, and secure employment illegally, they're taking their chances. If, one day, their luck runs out, and their children wind up stranded because mommy or daddy got nabbed in an immigration raid, the blame lies with mommy or daddy.

Of course, if this were presented as an immigration crackdown, people might ask: Why were no charges filed against the employer -- Swift & Co? The world's second-largest meat processing company has "never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor ... knowingly hired such individuals," Swift & Co. President and CEO Sam Rovit said in a statement.

Note the word: knowingly. Rovit didn't just fall off the meat wagon. He's read the statute. The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act made it a crime to "knowingly" hire illegal immigrants.

That's a monster loophole. Suddenly, whenever there is a raid, no one knows anything. Illegal workers? Who? What? Where?

It's cynical, and it's the sort of thing that makes it hard to believe that Americans are serious about combating illegal immigration. How can we be if we don't address the problem at its source?

Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a member of the editorial board of the San Diego Union-Tribune and a nationally syndicated columnist. Click here to read his column.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Stop Terrorist, Legalize Pot In America

This in from Almost The News...has the time come to LEGALIZE pot? Some good arguments are made for just that decision, and I'll add another to the list. Taxes...if we are talking a KNOWN crop of over 13 Billion, you can bet it is even larger...at say 20 percent taxation rate, that is additional federal revenue of over $3.3 BILLION DOLLARS...we could pay for a border fence with Mexico in three years, compliments of pot taxes. Further, if we were growing our own, we would see a HUGE decline in the drugs illegally coming in from Mexico. (Drugs into America from Mexico makes the top four list of contributors to the Mexican economy.)

Monday, December 18, 2006
Time To Legalize Pot? It's America's Number One Crop!

Unlike Bill Clinton, this blogger did inhale, and has for years believed that pot should be legalized for personal use, with it's sale and distribution controlled by the government, much in the same fashion as alcohol is, though minus all the sin taxes associated with it. Perhaps the time has come for the government to realize their JUST SAY NO war on drugs is never going to work, just as Prohibition did not work so many decades ago. Despite the attempts to eradicate it's usage, Pot has become America's number one crop, beating out such favorites as Corn, Soy Beans and wheat, with estimated sales TOPPING $13.8 Billion.

Now, before a lot of you go jumping all over me for suggesting we LEGALIZE pot, and perhaps other drugs, consider this...the LARGEST CASH COW FOR TERRORISTS is the movement and sale of ILLEGAL DRUGS. You are not going to stop them from growing, harvesting and selling these illegal drugs, but if our drugs were HOME GROWN, we could CUT THEM OUT OF THE MARKET, wipe out their major source of funds...a few hundred serious fields of poppies and herb plants, and the Taliban is in deep shit as their sources for cash go dry. You cannot deny this reality, as it has been discussed on the news, commercials have been made suggesting we are supporting terrorists when we get high...well, people are going to get high even if the moral majority hates that reality. However, given a choice, they'd buy their bud locally.

Cash value of pot crops is highlighted in report
By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
6:21 PM PST, December 17, 2006



SACRAMENTO -- For years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it.

A report to be released Monday by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the United States exceeds $35 billion -- far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay.

California is responsible for more than one-third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined -- and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states.

CNN and FOX...GET A CLUE, Enough on The Mountain Climbers

Enough On Mt Hood Rescue!

No disrespect to the families of those three men lost on the mountain, but the News Media, such as CNN and FOX, seriously need a clue. Yes, the search and rescue mission and finding one of the three climbers is sad, even tragic for the families involved. However, let us put it in some perspective.

Almost NONSTOP both CNN and FOX have covered NOTHING BUT THE RESCUE MISSION for the entire day today. FULL COVERAGE, endless drivel, the reporters hanging on each and every word, and when there were not any, replaying the few they had. Meanwhile, we lost THREE more troops in Iraq yesterday...where is the news coverage for them, for their families? We have an insane president getting ready to commit another 20-50,000 troops to the Bush Folly, yet all we get all afternoon and evening is a sad tale of WOE about three Mountain Climbers that should not have been out there in the first place.

When you put the story of the mountain climbers in perspective, it does NOT deserve the coverage it is getting. Our troops DESERVE THAT COVERAGE, the three soldiers in died in a war yesterday deserve that coverage, their families deserve that coverage, not three mountain climbers. We deserve some serious reporting on the decision the president is about to make, we deserve some coverage of the tens of thousands dying in Africa from AIDS...what we do not deserve, is NON STOP 24/7 coverage of three men who risked death because they did not have enough sense to stay in out of the cold.

Obama About To Slide Out of Favor? Shady Land Deal EMERGES

MY GAWD, what's next? Does Barack Obama have illegal aliens cutting his grass? Illegal Nanny? Illegal maid?

Well, well, well....seems that Barack Obama may not be the HONEST Golden Boy we all thought that he was...seems he is now caught up in a very COZY HOME/LAND deal with an indicted criminal in Chicago that has a history of ADOPTING politicians that can serve his needs. Is the Golden Boy really a BOUGHT MAN? Stay Tuned folks, think next week could get really interesting.

Sunday, December 17, 2006
Golden Boy Barack Obama Really Pig Iron?

Gee, turns out that Barack Obama is A) not exactly the common man, and B) is perhaps a bit on the dishonest side. For starters, how in touch with the common man and woman can someone be when they go out and purchase a $1.65 MILLION dollar home? That is some very SERIOUS chump change, and so out of balance with the public persona he has tried to craft for himself...he is one of the rich and elite, one could even say someone spoiled and pampered. Top that off with his Harvard education, and Barack has NOTHING IN COMMON with 95 percent of America.

Setting that aside though, seems there has been a serious CHINK put in his armor when we look at that VERY PRICEY HOUSE he purchased right next door to a very sleazy and questionable Antoin "Tony" Rezko, Chicago deal maker, and SIGNIFICANT financial contributor (directly and indirectly) of Obama meteoric rise to political stardom...seems that Rezko has a habit of adopting politicians, and that makes Rezko and Obama's purchase of adjoining houses very suspicious...they CLOSED ON THE SAME DAY. Then, in an even cozier arrangement, when Barack wanted a BIGGER YARD, his overly cooperative neighbors sold him just what he desired for a small fee of $104,500. Hmmm...how COZY.

Do we have here a bought and paid for potential Presidential Candidate? In reality, is Obama nothing more than a shooting star who is about to fast plummet back to earth? Come on Barack, we WANT THE REAL DIRT, not a "GOLLY GEE WHIZ, IT WAS A BONE HEAD MISTAKE, SHUCKS DARN" excuses...we are NOT STUPID, and having attended Harvard, neither are you. In short, you do not make STUPID BONE HEAD MISTAKES, but instead are a very careful and shrude person and politician....so, fess up with the truth.


Obama Says He Regrets Land Deal With Fundraiser



Senator Bought a Parcel From His Neighbor, a Now-Indicted Political Operative

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 17, 2006; Page A06

CHICAGO. Dec. 16 -- Antoin "Tony" Rezko is a political insider, an energetic Chicago deal maker and campaign fundraiser often in the headlines for being on the wrong side of good government. Indicted in October on influence-peddling charges, he also has a habit of befriending prospective political stars.

One of them was Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was offered a job by Rezko in the early 1990s while a top student at Harvard Law School. Obama did not take it, but over the years, the two men stayed in touch, and Rezko backed Obama's successful 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, raising money and contributing his own.

In June 2005, in what Obama now describes as a "boneheaded" mistake, Obama and Rezko's wife bought adjacent properties on Chicago's South Side, closing the deals on the same day. Seven months later, wanting a bigger yard for his $1.65 million house, Obama bought a slice of the Rezko property for $104,500.

After news of the deal broke last month in the Chicago Tribune, Obama said he had erred by creating the appearance that Rezko had done him a favor by selling him a portion of the lot. For the first time since he entered the national spotlight, the 45-year-old freshman senator found himself on the defensive, discussing a personal decision he had come to regret.

Tired of Government Secrets and Lies? New Whistleblower Site Gets It Into Public Domain FAST

We know how it works...unidentified sources, someone unknown leaked the document to the New York Times or the Washington Post. However, what about the documents we NEVER SEE, the stories we never know...if it were not for the efforts of a blogger, we never would have known about the Foley Situation, he would still be in Congress. A new site (blog) aims to end that problem.

Thursday, December 14, 2006
World Hot Docs-Stop The Secrecy Launched



Back in my days as an environmentalist in Ohio who dealt with NUKE ISSUES, we knew that hot docs had to be quickly and widely distributed before government or the NUKE Industry (Think Entergy) tried to silence us. We would quickly make copies and mail them on so that it was impossible to stop us from making the documents publicly known...the Midwest Compact was brought down as a result of just such efforts when we found a smoking document they did not want us to have...WHOOPS. Reading an article last night on the ACLU, and the Federal Governments attempts to silence/remove a document they have in their possession, the idea of a World Hot Docs Blog was born. Washington Scandal is pleased to announced that this site has been officially launched and you can link to it here.




The goal is simple...WE WILL PUBLISH ALL SECRETS, from illicit affairs, to illicit and/or treasonous acts, and deploy them fast, in some cases on up to 11 blogs in hours.

Thursday, December 14, 2006
World Hot Docs...Rapid Publication Network

Seems that Bush, and our government are taking secrecy to ever greater extremes, as are the corporations...perfect case in point, the Nuclear Industry (think Entergy), or any company hiring illegal aliens while swearing THEY HAD NO IDEA what they were doing. The time has come for a RAPID DEPLOYMENT Hot Doc Blog. The premise is simple...have a document you want out in the public domain? Email it to roycepenstinger@aol.com and they will be put out on this blog within six hours of their receipt. Corporate scandal, government coverup, political corruption, environmental disaster, or even tawdry photographs...does not matter, we'll put it out to the world wide web here at World Hot Docs-End The Secrecy. Think of this site as the counter punch to Bush's unlawful NSA spying on American Citizens...in this case, it is a blog dedicated to keeping government and big business honest.

IMPEACH BUSH NOW, UNFUND THE WAR

The Time has come to UNFUND THE WAR, and push for Impeachment of President George Bush, Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Condi Rice. This in from Washington Scandal Blog.

Bush Destroying American Military, DRAFT ON WAY

Wednesday, December 13, 2006





For starters, all the signs are there...the DRAFT is on it's way back in. As it is, the military, even with its blood bonus money, and increasing the age limit of recruits cannot meet it's quota, and on top of that, both the Army and Marines are going to be asking incoming Secretary of Defense Gates for more TROOPS, wanting to push the total ready force to 512,000, which is up almost 30,000. Furthermore, our troop number are in danger of collapsing...otherwise, why would top GENERALS be prepared to ask Secretary Gates and Bush to wave the frequency and duration limits for both National and Army Guard units? The numbers are not working, Bush has managed to all but KILL our military ground forces readiness capabilities, and if parents have a lick of sense, they are encouraging their children NOT TO ENLIST in this man's Army in the current political situation...let Bush send his two cunt bitch daughters off to die, instead of banging cheap second class low life's down in Argentina....OH GEE GEORGE, did I offend you? Are you going to put the NSA on me now...would not surprise me, you have NO RESPECT for the rule of law, NOR OUR CIVIL RIGHTS HERE IN AMERICA...God forbid my blog might be disrespectful of you MR WAR PRESIDENT.

Want further proof the president is KILLING OUR MILITARY, and saddling our grand children with untold debt and misery...over 60 percent of our military units are NOT READY to go into war...not enough training, not enough equipment...in fact, it has gotten so bad, new troops still here in America do not have equipment to train with, let alone to take into battle. It is estimated that REBUILDING costs once the Bush Folly in Iraq is over will exceed TWO TRILLION DOLLARS. Saudi Arabia wants to back the Sunni...fine, let them. If these idiot Muslims want to run around car bombing and killing each other in the name of revenge, LET THEM...that's right Mr. Bush, FUCK THEM, let them DIE. Maybe after awhile they will get tired of it, and do something towards that reconciliation you keep shoving down our throats. We do not care about your DEMOCRACY BUILDING, nor your inane babble about spreading freedom. We want our troops home.

To the Congress...Bush wants $100 Billion more in emergency spending, and wants hundreds of billions more to rebuild Iran....JUST SAY NO...the time has come to UNFUND THIS GOD FORSAKEN MISTAKE, and impeach this asshole in the White House. If you needed any more reason or proof that he is a dictator in all but NAME, his absolute refusal to consider the ISG Report is all you should need. Impeach the bastard, and sentence him to death for treason to America.

Wheel's Falling Off Iraq Study Group Report

My initial reading of the Iraq Study Group Report left a bad taste in my mouth as it was nothing more than "Stay The Course on Steroids" a means by which to give George Bush one last bite at the apple as he tries to shore up his position in the history books. As the week has unraveled, so too has the support for the report as one wheel after another falls off, and Baker's minions find themselves incapable of gaining forward momentum for their recommendations...in short, it seems the ISG Report is nothing more than a lot of wasted effort and trees.

The White House has already rejected much of the report, claiming it's to cumbersome and unworkable, even though said report embraces Bush's basic flawed tenants for fighting the war. Though the Democrats were quick to use the report as PROOF POSITIVE that Bush's policies were/are failing, they have not embrace the course called for in the report. McCain did not like the report from the start, his own time as a prisoner of war clouding his vision as he calls for more not fewer troops.

Though copies of the report have been selling like hot cakes (even though you can get it for free on the web), the ink was barely dry before Israel voiced its own disdain...in short, they made it abundantly clear that the Israel/Palestinian situation had absolutely nothing to do with the problems in Iraq. Further, they had no intentions of letting Washington, or any one else force them into giving up the Golan Heights in efforts for a forced peace.

Going into the weekend, Iran spoke out stating they had NO INTEREST whatsoever in meeting with America until and if they announced their intentions to pull all troops out of Iraq. Seems they are only willing to work with America in the task of expediting the removal of our troops from Iraq, and out of the Middle East. Obviously, if Iran has no intentions of speaking with America, or cooperating with us where Iraq is concerned, we can assume also that Syria as well has not intentions of working with us, as that would require their distancing themselves from Iraq.

Now today, we have the President of Iraq Jalal Talabani rejecting the Baker Report as it is commonly known. Do the math, and it is obvious the report has already gone far beyond three strikes, and is all but DEAD ON ARRIVAL. Should be interesting waiting on the President's pre-Christmas speech on the plan forward for Iraq. Even more so if the death toll for American troops hits 3,000 before he comes before the American people...as they say, the natives are growing restless.


Iraq president rejects Baker-Hamilton report
POSTED: 10:25 a.m. EST, December 10, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani rejected the Iraq Study Group's report Sunday, calling it "very dangerous" to Iraq's sovereignty and constitution.

"We can smell in it the attitude of James Baker," Talabani said, referring to the report's co-chair who served as secretary of state under President George H. W. Bush during the 1991 Iraq war.

Talabani blamed Baker for leaving then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in power after that conflict, which ousted Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

He also criticized the report for recommending a law that would allow thousands of former officials from Hussein's ousted Baath party to serve in Iraqi government posts.

The report, released Wednesday, makes 79 recommendations. Among them: Most U.S. combat troops should be withdrawn by early 2008, Iraq's vast oil wealth should be more centralized and the U.S. should launch a diplomatic offensive that would include seeking help from Iran and Syria.

"As a whole, I reject this report," Talabani said.

"I think that Baker-Hamilton is not fair, is not just, and it contains some very dangerous articles which undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and the constitution," Talabani said.

Lee Hamilton, the report's other co-chair, also served as vice chairman of the 911 Commission, which concluded that the U.S. remains ill-prepared for another terrorist attack.

Saluting a Real American

Some acts of kindness are worthy of special notice...I offer you up this photograph with the article below, and suggest Morrill Worcester his gift of Christmas wreaths are one such act that deserves special notice, and our thanks as a nation.

Made-in-Maine wreaths headed to Arlington for holidays

Honors Veterans


By CLARKE CANFIELD, The Associated Press
Dec 7, 2006 9:23 AM (17 hrs ago)

HARRINGTON, Maine - Money virtually grows on trees in eastern Maine, where balsam fir branches are transformed into hundreds of thousands of Christmas wreaths worth millions of dollars each holiday season.


For Morrill Worcester, owner of the state's largest wreath company, the season is more about heart than money. This month, for the 15th year, he'll send a truckload of 5,000 wreaths to be placed on gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery.

Worcester, 56, never served in the military. But he feels the need to show his appreciation to the nation's veterans.

Every day, people contact him to give thanks. Some call him a "great American."

"I'm not a great American. I'm a grateful American," Worcester said.

This year, Worcester is extending his gratitude nationwide. Besides sending wreaths to Arlington, he is spearheading wreath-laying ceremonies at nearly 230 veterans cemeteries and monuments in every state and Puerto Rico. He's donating about 8,000 wreaths.

The ceremonies are to be held simultaneously at noon EST on Dec. 14.

Australia Tips Bush's Hand...No TROOP WITHDRAW FROM IRAQ

Want to know what Bush is planning in Iraq...look to our allies, or what is left of them in Iraq. We will not be seeing our troops brought home, Bush is planning to either ignore the Baker Recommendations, or to Cherry Pick from them. For proof, see Prime Minister Howard's words in the Australian Press.

Howard confident US not planning Iraq quick exit
http://www.abc.net.au/news/

Prime Minister John Howard says he expects the United States to change its tactics in Iraq, but insists that does not mean its planning a quick exit.

The Federal Opposition has seized on the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) report released overnight in America.

The Federal Opposition has seized on the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) report released overnight in America.

It was produced by a bipartisan panel, led by the Republican former secretary of state James Baker, which said the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating and a new approach is needed.

Opposition defence spokesman Robert McClelland agrees.

"It is quite clear from the report that Australia is the only country not developing a strategy to remove their troops from Iraq," he said.

Mr Howard disputes that.

"I'm quite certain the Americans are going to reorganise their approach in different ways in Iraq but I'm quite certain the bottom line will still be they're not going to precipitately withdraw," he said.

Personal note-The Baker Recommendations are "Stay The Course on Steroids" and is a propaganda piece who's primary purpose is to fool America into giving Bush MORE TIME.

Deport The BItch....State Senator's Wife Set Free

CAN WE SAY ILLEGAL BITCH?

That's right, deport the BITCH...further, get rid of Senator Curt Thompson....here is an elected official who has been ignoring the will of the people, openly lobbying for ILLEGAL ALIENS in Georgia, and it turns out he's MARRIED TO ONE who should be deported. Sadly, in a perfect example of its not what you know, but who you know, strings are being PULLED to let him keep his ILLEGAL HONEY POT. Let's be honest here...if this tart were not married to a MAJOR politician, if a deal were not made in the Judges chambers, Sascha Herrera would NOT BE HAVING HER CASE REOPENED, would not be given a FREE PASS to citizenship. The bitch needs to be deported, just like the woman hiding out in Chicago in a church...illegal is illegal, and I don't care if the woman had 20 kids. She can take her son with her back to Mexico, END OF STORY, and the Senator in this story can resign and take his illegal bridge back to whatever damn Latin country she is from, as we do not need nor want her hear. WAKE UP POLITICIANS, WE DO NOT WANT ILLEGALS IN AMERICA, WE DO NOT WANT AMNESTY FOR THESE CRIMINALS.
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/lawmakers-wife-gets-deportation/20061205081709990011?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Lawmaker's Wife Gets Deportation Reprieve
By DANIEL YEE, AP
ATLANTA (Dec. 5) - The Colombia-born wife of a Georgia state senator emerged from hiding and turned herself in Tuesday to face a deportation order, but an immigration judge lifted the order and she was expected to be freed.

Sascha Herrera, 28, who had gone into hiding after the order was issued, arrived at the Martin Luther King Federal Building shortly before 8 a.m. and met with the judge and attorneys for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office.

Government lawyer Terry Bird said the judge lifted the order and agreed to reopen her case. He said she would likely be freed Tuesday pending a hearing on a petition filed by Herrera's husband, state Sen. Curt Thompson, to establish permanent residency for her. The hearing has yet to be scheduled.

Walmart Workers Need To Stage Nation Wide Christmas Eve WALK OUT

Walmart, coming under close scrutiny, and trying to POLISH its image went public with a plan to SAY THANKS to their employees...it is obvious in reading the article on their plan to say thanks that they HAVE NO CLUE, nor any respect for their work force. As a show of respect for their work force, they are giving them each a coupon for TEN PERCENT OFF ONE ITEM that is purchased AT WALMART...OH BOY! None of the wage issues were addressed, no real discussion about their unfair practices of keeping almost all employees at a part time level.

I do not work at Walmart, have narrowed down to almost NEVER my time spent shopping there because of their ABUSE OF EMPLOYEES. I would suggest here, that the time has come for a MAJOR WILD CAT STRIKE at every single Walmart Store in America on Christmas Eve. To effect change, you have to hit a company where it will hurt, and having every store in America without staff on Christmas Eve would TEACH THEM A LESSON THEY WILL NOT SOON FORGET. Grow a backbone WORKERS, show Walmart their days of abusing you are over with, and will not be tolerated...give them a set of demands, and if they refuse to accept them, stay away from work the day after Christmas as well. A few employees in a few scattered stores will get you nothing, but a Nationwide WILD CAT STRIKE will hit them so hard they will need years to recover, and will have been put on notice that the employees if needs can put them out of business by simply refusing to work.


Wal-Mart Says Thank You to Workers
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/business/04walmart.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Wal-Mart has answered worker protests with an appreciation program.

By MICHAEL BARBARO and STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: December 4, 2006

Faced with public demonstrations of discontent by its employees, Wal-Mart Stores has developed a wide-ranging new program intended to show that it appreciates its 1.3 million workers in the United States and to encourage them to air their grievances.

As part of the effort, Wal-Mart managers at 4,000 stores will meet with 10 rank-and-file workers every week and extend an additional 10 percent discount on a single item during the holidays to all its employees, beyond the normal 10 percent employee discount.

The program, described in an internal company document, was created during a volatile six months period, starting when the company instituted a set of sweeping changes in how it managed its workers.

Over that time, Wal-Mart has sought to create a cheaper, more flexible labor force by capping wages, using more part-time employees, scheduling more workers at nights and weekends, and cracking down on unexcused days off.

The policies angered many long-time employees, who complained that the changes would reduce their pay and disrupt their families’ lives. Workers even staged small rallies in Nitro, W. Va., and Hialeah Gardens, Fla., the only such protests in recent memory.

Romey HIRES Illegals...Don't Even Think Of Running For President FOOL

So, Mitt Romney has HIGH HOPES of running for President in 2008...FORGET IT YOU ILLEGAL ALIEN SCAB LABOR HIRING FORK TURD, we do NOT WANT YOU...what is it that you politicians do not get. We want these sleezy assed, crime breaking illegal bastards and bitches shipped back to Mexico or whatever other country they came from. We do not want them cutting your grass, do not want them working IN OUR JOBS. The fact that we now know you HIRED ILLEGALS makes you unworthy of ANYTHING BUT RESIGNATION. You even try to run for President, and we will BLOG YOU RIGHT OUT OF THE CAMPAIGN...any one who supports Amnesty, earned citizenship, or has HIRED AN ILLEGAL is officially a TARGET of our WRAITH.

Workers a thorny issue for Romney

RESIGN You Illegal Hiring ASS MUNCH
The Massachusetts governor's lawn crew included illegal immigrants, a newspaper reports.
By Elizabeth Mehren
Los Angeles Times, December 2, 2006
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-romney2dec02,1,378413.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
Boston -- Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a 2008 GOP presidential aspirant and an outspoken critic of illegal immigration, apparently employed undocumented landscape workers at his home near Boston.

Responding to a report in Friday's Boston Globe, the governor's communications director said Friday that Romney was unaware that several of the landscapers who kept up his suburban Belmont property were in this country illegally.

'Gov. Romney has no information or knowledge to corroborate the Globe's allegations,' Eric Fehrnstrom said Friday. 'He hired a legitimate lawn service company and he knows the owner as a decent, hardworking person who is a legal resident.'

As he explores a run for the presidency in 2008, Romney has made illegal immigration a priority issue, urging stiff penalties for employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.

Just In on MSNBC....Six More American Troops Dead

Just in from Iraq...another six American Troops were killed this weekend. Six on Saturday and another three on Sunday...at what cost do we continue Bush's Folly?

Are Bloggers Giving Away The Cow?

Even a cursory glance at Christmas Sale reports show us that more and more people are using the Internet, letting their fingers to the shopping as sites are visited, credit cards are used, and consumers sit back to have a sip of wine before hunting for another site on which to spend their hard earned cash. There are companies who now make billions of dollars in revenues running ads for this new group of online customers, the biggest perhaps Google with it's adsense program where companies can get their products listed on our blogs. Ever hopeful, we sign up for these programs hoping to see enough funds rolling in for perhaps a bottle of wine, or perhaps a weekend away in some secluded bed and breakfast, but that dream for most never quite comes true. Yet look at GOOGLE...it's stock is now selling at the $500 a share mark, and a small handful of people have become BILLIONAIRES thanks to you and me.

How many of us have written flowing articles about this or that product, or a car that has captured our attention? A picture here, a link there, then a glowing report about the latest must have toy, a free advertisement that our own loyal readership consumes with glee, leaving us a comment or if there is a ranking system perhaps a TEN for a job well done. A few of us get lucky on occasion, companies tossing us a bone, perhaps free samples of their products in the hopes such will generate an article that will make its rounds. Some (very few) have scored a laptop, or perhaps a free mobile home...cheap compensation for advertising moving from home to home. If you write a product review that is read and passed around 500 times, what should it's value be, how much should you be paid? If some advertising firm is offering you $4 dollars to write an article recommending a particular item up for sale, posting on your blog a part of the deal, how much are they making, how much are they being paid?

I'm no different in my blogs, the various programs for clickers sitting in my side bar, myself watching statistics, hoping for a click...it's a ruse, something to keep us all distracted from the REAL VALUE of our blogs...it's not the side bars that the companies want, it's the blogs themselves that count. The real value added is those articles we do write, and all of them we post are put up absolutely FREE at least 90 percent of the time. Perhaps it is time that all of us take down posts and blogs that provide a service to companies that they are not having to spend a dime for...perhaps it is time that some of us group together, and offer up our services, but demanding payment for services rendered in writing up a glowing article about their products which they want to sell to you and me.

On one of my blogs, I've put up three glowing articles for products up for sale in the past week alone. I know from my statistics that the companies featured saw and read the piece, their foot prints found in the statistics that I compile...do you think any of them bothered to leave a comment offering up a thanks? Was there an email offering me up at least a coupon by which I could save ten cents the next time I went out to shop...of course not. Trust me bloggers, we are the grease between the cogs, the conduit that makes the Internet a viable place on which to shop...it is time that we figure out a way that we all share in the the revenue pie that is being shared.

On Advertising: Advertisers creating online buzz, blog to blog

By Doreen Carvajal / International Herald TribunePublished: December 3, 2006

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/01/business/ad04.php

PARIS: When the maker of Canderel, an artificial sweetener, cast about for strategies to reach a young, trendy female market, it relied on the breezy counsel of the Buzz Angels, bloggers variously known as Eklektic, Velvetine 2 and Miss Blablabla.

This digital match between fashion-conscious French bloggers and Merisant, the sweetener company based in Chicago, was forged by Buzz Paradise, a year-old advertising agency based in Luxembourg that specializes in word-of-mouth marketing campaigns painstakingly waged blog to blog.

Since Buzz, an arm of Vanksen Group, was started last year, executives have shepherded brands from Candarel to Nokia telephones through this loud and raucous universe in search of publicity and credibility. With a growing registration list of 5,000 bloggers in about 10 countries, it essentially enlists participants to sample products in the fervent hope that ultimately they will be inspired to write about it. No pressure though.

"Our role is very clear with brands," said Emmanuel Vivier, the managing director of Vanksen. "We give products, but we are not going to expect something always positive at the end."

The evolving corporate focus on "blog placement" is part of an intensifying trend, with elite bloggers receiving gifts like show tickets and bottles of Champagne.

Intel, the chip maker, doled out free laptops to six well-known bloggers who were invited to muse about blogging over a six-week period.

There is a video circulating online that pictures four German bloggers careening around a racetrack in a shiny red Opel Astra. All of them received free use of the Astra cars for four weeks plus allowances as part of blogging project for Opel.

In recent months, the gifts and invitations have multiplied, according to an Italian blogger, Luca Conti, who lists himself as a "conversational media consultant."

The Only News I have Heart To Report Today

Dinero Boo...Boo to all who loved him crossed over the Rainbow Bridge today. He leaves behind seven feline brothers and sisters, a grieving human Mother and Father. He was a cats Cat, and will be so deeply missed.

Dinero Boo October 11th, 1995-December 2nd, 2006 We love you old man!