I fully agree with those of New Yorkers

The money went to Dubai. You gotta laugh, The great Iraqi war swindle; the greatest con of all time. The American tax payer is the perfect victim.


Halliburton bails out of Iraq, KBR and now America

You mean this Dubai? Keep filling us those gas tanks, suckers, and don't forget to pay your federal taxes. It's the cheapest thing you can buy on Earth.



Industry experts cautiously estimate that 15 to 25 per cent of the world's cranes are in Dubai. After Shanghai (current population: 15 million), Dubai (current population: 1.5 million) is the world's biggest building site. Adam Nicolson reports for the UK Guardian on the breathtaking scale:

I'll bet the lights stay on in Dubai:

CLAIM

"We'll have time to look at it and determine whether or not our grid needs to be modernized. I happen to think it does, and have said so all along."
- George Bush, 8/14/03

SAN DIEGO - President Bush said he will order a review of why so many states were hit by a massive power blackout Thursday and said he suspects the nation's electrical grid will have to be modernized.

FACT

In June of 2001, Bush opposed and the congressional GOP voted down legislation to provide $350 million worth of loans to modernize the nation's power grid because of known weaknesses in reliability and capacity. Supporters of the amendment pointed to studies by the Energy Department showing that the grid was in desperate need of upgrades as proof that their legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) should pass.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration lobbied against it and the Republicans voted it down three separate times: First, on a straight party line in the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, then on a straight party line the U.S. House Rules Committee, and finally on a party line on the floor of the full House [Roll Call Vote #169, 6/20/01].

As AP reported at the time, the amendment would have amendments that would have doubled the bill's money for energy assistance for the poor to $600 "provided $350 million to support loans to improve the capacity of transmission grids. 'It's pure demagoguery,' House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said in a brief interview regarding the Democratic amendments. 'If Democrats had an energy policy, they'd have had one in the last eight years. They have no credibility on this issue whatsoever. They are responsible for the energy crunch more than anybody I know.' Spotlighting the high political stakes, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., took the unusual step of issuing a written statement about the committee's energy votes. He said President Bush and Republicans are 'committed to helping the Big Energy special interests' and accused them of obstruction." [AP, 6/14/01].

Taxation without representation?

I find it highly interesting that so many "transmission" companies were founded just a year or less before the 2003 blackout...

I thought stoking up a fight is one thing Setanta does do... unfailingly, eagerly and talentedly...

This one must have been a fire that died out after it was stoked.

In a carefully worded statement, President Bush reiterated the words of mayor Bloomberg, stating that cold rainwater likely mixed with steam caused the explosion.

Perhaps, but the steam and rainwater were in the same pipe, (which had likely been opened for repair) and the explosion was the result of a pipe failure caused by water hammer during restart as described earlier.

It's one of my A2K things about reading between the lines and using wiggle words - I made it easy for you - just read the bold.