Scoop’s Views

Never let what may be the great day in the lift of Geronimo, the late Apache chief. That day – September 4 – is today.

It was on that day when Captain Henry Lawton, who had command of B Troop, 4th Cavalry, which was based out of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. It was Lawson who had been tapped by General Nelson Miles to lead an expedition to capture, in typical cowboy fashion – dead or alive – the Apache chief the U.S. government considered a renegade: Geronimo.

Tags: 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, 1904 World's Fair, 1905 inaugural parade, 500 Nations, after-action report, Alabama, Apache nation, Apache Prisoner of War cemetary, Apache warriors, Apaches, Arizona, B Toop 4th Cavalry, border fence, Captain Henry Lawton, celebrity, dead or alive, expedition, fairs, Florida, Fort Huachuca, Fort Marion, Fort Pickens, Fort Sill, General Nelson Miles, genocide, Geronimo, Geronimo surrendered, Indigenous Nations, Mexico, Mount Vernon Barracks, Oklahoma, pneumonia, President Theodore Roosevelt, prisoners, September 4 1886, sideshow, Skeleton Canyon, souvenirs, St. Louis, Teddy Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, U.S.-Mexico border, White Man, World's Fair

Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mishandled classified information dealing with the National Security Agency’s terrorist surveillance program and the terrorist detainee interrogation program that is so sensitive it was never to leave the confines of the U.S. Justice Department’s Command Center, according to a 29-page report into his actions.

It seems Gonzales took information home, as well as kept it in places with no security, as well as in his office where several people not authorized to see the material came into contact with it, and perhaps did more with the information. Unfortunately, investigators couldn’t determine what those non-authorized persons did with the information, as it is so sensitive, the investigators could not question the people about the documents.

Tags: above the law, Alberto Gonzales, Command Center, conscious consideration, eyes-only, FOIA request, George W. Bush, illegal, illegal actions, Legal, National Security Agency, non-secure, NSA, NSA surveillance program, OAG, Office of the Attorney General, restrictive language. safeguarding classified materials, safe, simple-minded thinking, terrorist detainee interrogation program, terrorist surveillance program, top law enforcement official, top secret documents, U.S. Government, vault

With all the local, state, and federal resources – money and manpower – that were poured into Louisiana, especially New Orleans, it’s hard to think that anything more than prayer saved the city from being ravaged at least as bad, if not worse, than it was a short three years ago.

Despite all the money pumped into coordinating services and evacuations, an estimated 10,000 residents of New Orleans stayed in town despite the mandatory evacuation orders. It’s hard to imagine these people would test their luck and stay.

Tags: best interests, burglaries, contractors, coordinated plans, coordinating services, devastated, evacuations, Federal Emergency Management Agency, federal government, federal resources, FEMA, heartfelt thanks, holidays, Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Katrina, hurricanes, looting, Louisiana, luck, maintaining law and order, mandatory evacuation orders, manpower, mayhem, money, New Orleans, prayers, storms, theft, total costs, wasteful spending

Congress has approved a $300 billion funding measure to help people who are at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure, and now, it seems, almost every media outlet in the country is busy touting the ways to stake claim to your chunk of change from that bailout.

To be in foreclosure means you haven’t paid your mortgage. Wow! What a concept. Most of the people in the current mortgage crisis are people who managed to get mortgages from lenders who offered sub-prime loans. The loans were given to people with a variety of options, but many people who never would have managed to get a mortgage from traditional lenders managed to buy a home. Great. Until the taxpayer-funded bailout.

Tags: afford, approved, bills, Congress, crisis, dream homes, emergency bailout, financial woes, fiscally-responsible, foreclosure rates, foreclosure risk, foreclosures, home affordability, homeowners, in foreclosure, lenders, lending institutions, loans, mortgage bailout, mortgage crisis, mortgage lenders, political correctness, politically correct, politicians, sub-prime, sub-prime mortgages, subprime, subprime mortgages, taxpayer bailout, taxpayer money, taxpayers, traditional mortgages

Senate is rewarding telecommunications providers for breaking the law
York Times is reporting that the United States Senate, by a vote of 69-28, approved a bill overhauling the rules covering secret government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telecommunications companies that aided in the wiretapping of Americans without warrants. Doing Chicago-style two-stepping, Barack Obama, who originally spoke harsh words against the illegal wiretaps, voted today in favor of granting immunity to the telecommunications companies. His former presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, stayed true to her original position and voted against the immunity.

Tags: Barack Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, David Stout, domestic spying, due process rights, eavesdropping, Eric Lichtblau, FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigations, federal courts, FISA, foreign, Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security, illegal wiretapping, immunity, intrusions, mismanagement, National Security Agency, No Such Agency, NSA, phone subscibers, re-election, Senate, senators, telecommunications companies, telecoms, terrorist attacks, terrorists

It seems that Aaron Ferguson, who served as an accountant for the Rachael Ray TV show, says in his filing in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court, that he’s suffered with anorexia for about six years. In the filing, Ferguson says he was fired for complaining about comments made by a supervisor, and because he was fired, as well as the harassment, he’s suing for a cool $1 million.

Ferguson says his supervisor repeatedly exhibited “hostile behavior” and made “vile,” discriminatory, and hurtful comments regarding his anorexia, including saying things such as, “Anorexics are sick in the head,” and, “Anorexics should not be able to work,” according to his filing.

Tags: Aaron Ferguson, alluring women, anorexia, CBS, childhood, complaining, discriminatory language, fat, Health, health issues, insults, models, New York Supreme Court, obese, obesity, overweight, Rachael Ray Show, sandbox, sex objects, sexy, sexy models, skinny models, supervisors, whining, William H. Kaiser, workplace

Health insurers have been rating physicians and physician practices over the years. In some of those ratings, you find some really bland things, as well as some scores that always incite heated and passionate reaction.

It took physicians — through the American Medical Association (AMA) — quite a few years to get hip to the idea of rating the insurance industry, but the tables have now been turned. The outcome: the expected over-inflated image of health insurers saying the ratings aren’t fair, as well as brutal honesty, it seems, about the timeliness of payments made by the health insurers.

Tags: AMA, American Medical Association, claims, denials, health insurance, insurers, not medically necessary, ratings, Reviews, U&C, usual and customary

It seems that every few months, another multi-term politician is apologizing and stepping down from office, or, in the case of a Congressman who sought homosexual encounters in airport men’s rooms, promising to step down, but lying about that, as well.

The latest politician caught in the adulterous web is the six-term Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY), who was nabbed by police in Alexandria, Virginia, just after midnight on May 1.

Tags: adultery, airport, Alexandria Virginia, Alexandria Virginia police, apologizing, apology, BAC, blood alcohol test, Congress, congressman, driving while intoxicated, DWI, Elections, extra-marital affair, homosexual encounters, Laura Fay, men's room, New York, New York Giants, police, Republicans, sick children, sick daughter, Super Bowl champions, Vito Fossella, White House

Eric DeShawn Floyd, the last of three suspects believed to have killed Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, has been captured, then handcuffed with the handcuffs formerly belonging to Sgt. Liczbinski. Floyd is now resting, most hopefully, uncomfortably in a cell here in Philadelphia.

Tags: AK-47, AK-74, cop killers, dilapidated house, Eric DeShawn Floyd, Eric Floyd, Germantown Masjid, girlfriend, Howard Cain, Levon Warner, Mayor, Michael Nutter, Muslim garb, Muslims, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Police, Philadelphia Police Department, police, robbery, Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski, Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, SKS, Stephen Liczbinski, Tariq El Shabazz, vacant house

Sky News television is reporting that British model Naomi Campbell has been arrested aboard a British Airways plane sitting at the gate at Heathrow Airport. The British model was led from the plane by police, then into the terminal, in handcuffs.

Tags: assault with a mobile phone, assaulting a police officer, catwalks, cell phone, community service, law enforcement, lingerie, maids, mobile phone assault, model, mop floors, Naomi Campbell, New York, runways, sanitation department, supermodel

Despite already being rewarded for bad behavior and bad business practices by means of a bailout by the Federal Reserve, Bear Stearns’ stockholders are getting rewarded this time by its buddy, the Federal Reserve, as well as the U.S. Treasury Department.

Tags: bailout, Bear Stearns, Federal Reserve, financial crisis, financing crisis, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, irresponsible actions, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Chase, lending crisis, lending markets, mortgage crisis, New York Times, No new taxes, rewarding bad behavior, sub-prime mortgages, subprime, U.S. Treasury Dept.

Big mouth Ruben Navarrette, Jr., is once again in full-swing with his anti-American banter, this time by saying, (Americans are) so reluctant to accept any responsibility for illegal immigration — a self-inflicted wound that they bring upon themselves by aggressively hiring illegal immigrants — they can’t wait to pin the blame on Mexico and its leaders.

Tags: America, Americans, anti-alien, anti-American, anti-immigrant, anti-immigration, border fence, border patrol, border patrol agents, burglars, Calderón, columnist, crimes, driver's licenses, drug dealers, drugs, farm workers, Felipe Calderón, forged documents, golden faucet, human rights, human traffickers, illegal acts, illegal alien workers, illegal aliens, illegal immigrants, illegal Mexican immigrants, Immigration, lawful citizens, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, Mexicans, Mexico, migrant workers, prostitution, reporters, Ruben Navarrette Jr., Social Security cards, Social Security numbers, talk show hosts, terrorists, U.S. border, U.S. immigration policy, U.S. Mexico border, U.S.-Mexican border, United States immigration policy