Arkansas Blog

"I want to wrap this up. It's been 15 years. I'm ready to get it over with one way or the other," Burnett told a packed courtroom. "I don't care what the outcome is. I just want the attorneys to do their business so I can do mine."

I don't know a thing about Judge Burnett, but it sure sounds like these proceedings are a real bother to him.

I bet they've been a real bother to the WM3, too.

It's a reminder that prosecuting attorneys aren't as interested in guilt or innocence as much as convictions and getting elected.

Any prosecuting attorney, jury member or judge who participates in sending an innocent person to jail or death is guilty of a serious crime.

In this case, if the WM3 are exonerated, justice would demand that those who convicted them go on trial for attempted capital murder.

If we sent a few prosecuting attorneys to the death chamber, I think they'd worry a lot more about if the accused is really guilty or not.

That's funny....September is when General BeTrayus is going to take another look at the War for Oil in Iraq. Is there a connection to the WM3? One of the problems with humans is that a job becomes just a job after a while. Prosecuting attorneys, like BeTrayus are just doing their job. It's not about right or wrong or justice, it's about clearing a job off their books so they can keep getting a paycheck. It becomes not much more than a math problem to be solved.

Wait till September....sure, who cares that 3 guys have to sit and rot till then? Who cares if a couple hundred more American troops die for a lie between now and then. It's just a job, it's nothing personal, it's just a job.

DeathbyInches,

It's pathetic that you go after a General Petraeus with your insults. General Petraeus is a war hero and someone who's superior strategies has yielded positive results in Iraq. It's not the General's job to agree or not agree whether to go to war. It is his job to lead the troops and to develop effective strategies to best fight the war. While you have every right to whine about the politicians who sent the troops to war, it is pathetic and unpatriotic to criticize the military men and women who are fighting for their country.

If it were a war for oil, where is our oil? All of the Iraqi oil is going to the Chinese. Oil prices are up and will continue to go up due to increased demand for oil and natural resources by the Chinese and Indians. It has very little to do with this war. As long as liberals oppose the drilling of oil and building of new refineries in the US, we will continue to be held hostage by middle eastern countries.

Severus: Please, please, sever US from inane and borderline insane commentary like that crap you just posted. It is still too far and snaky, the road out of this mess, to be putting stones in the pathway like that "pathetic and unpatriotic" bullshit. I know damn well DBI can take care of himself; it just gets my goat when some blowhard, flag waving, peckerwood pontificates, using the same tired, meaningless arguments weve heard for too long. How dare you, or anyone, call someone unpatriotic for acting like they live in a democracy. What is the SECOND refuge of a scoundrel? You paint, sir or madam, with a broad brush--open you eyes. I do not "oppose the drilling of oil and building of new refineries". I do most assuredly oppose being held hostage by a group of radicals who will stop at nothing to make sure that this country NEVER gets out of the quagmire their stupidity and greed have led us into.

Calling Gen. Petreas "Gen. BeTrayus" is politically idiotic.
Whether you agree with the sentiment expressed or not, you should remember the backlash that advertisement caused. In my view, that ad did the opposite of its intention. Petreas was facing hard questions, and that ad simply rallied the staunch war supporters to his side while giving them the moral high ground to respond to ANY legitimate attack with a reference to what they saw as blatant unpatriotic behavior.

Honestly, keep the radical sentiments to yourself, they only galvanize the opposition to real reform. Real reform happens either systematically from within, or violently from without.
Radicals do NOT get anything done, they merely solidify a reactionary conservative base which will oppose even minor reforms that would be possible or likely otherwise.

And on the topic at hand, at least we'll have resolution on this case. I know people will keep bringing opinions in...but after this hearing the court will have heard every argument for and against the evidence at hand, or lack thereof.

West Memphis is not only Arkansas community making news today!

Oh Noes! Beware Of Teh Gays! They?re Turning Eureka Springs, AR into San
Francisco
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/14/oh-noes-beware-of-teh-gays-theyre-turning-eureka-springs-ar-into-san-francisco/

Eureka Springs Deemed The San Francisco Of the Ozarks

Thirty-nine years ago, give or take a few months, I thought it an expression of my patriotism to protest an illegal war by wearing a black armband to a local city council meeting. I still feel it is an expression of my patriotism, MY DUTY as a citizen, to protest the current war for profit into which we are now imbroiled.
How dare you, Severus, accuse anyone of unpatriotic behavior by exercising their civic duty to protest wrongness in government. We'd still be British citizens if our forebears hadn't stood up and protested and fought against the wrongness in the British government towards American colonists.
Geez Louise, I still cannot believe that some people just don't get it. This country was formed out of a protest movement...its our best and most shining accomplishment!

I don't really understand the prohibition on criticizing the troops. They volunteered to do it, and they're getting paid to do it. If they were forcibly pressed into service, that would be a different thing, but they are making a voluntary choice to be there.

Arkhobbit,

I have no problem with criticism of politicians. You can criticize President Bush whom is known as "monkey boy" and other insulting names on this blog. You can criticize all of the Democrats and Republicans in congress who voted for the war and have continued to vote for its funding.
However, it is a different story when you criticize the military men and women who are serving their country. When you criticize the men and women of our great military, you are unpatriotic scum.

As usual, Severus is in disagreement with the facts regarding oil refineries. Here is the situation:

Myths and Facts about Oil Refineries in the United States

The Bush administration and some members of Congress blame environmental rules for causing strains on refining capacity, prompting shortages and driving up prices. But in reality, it is uncompetitive actions by a handful of companies with large control over our nation's gas markets that is directly causing these high prices.

Myth 1: Oil refineries are not being built in the U.S. because environmental regulations, particularly the Clean Air Act, are so bureaucratic and burdensome that refiners cannot get permits.

Fact: Environmental regulations are not preventing new refineries from being built in the U.S. From 1975 to 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received only one permit request for a new refinery. And in March, EPA approved Arizona Clean Fuels' application for an air permit for a proposed refinery in Arizona. In addition, oil companies are regularly applying for - and receiving - permits to modify and expand their existing refineries.

Myth 2: The U.S. oil refinery market is competitive.

Fact: Actually, industry consolidation is limiting competition in oil refining sector. The largest five oil refiners in the United States (ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, BP, Valero and Royal Dutch Shell) now control over half (56.3%) of domestic oil refinery capacity; the top ten refiners control 83%. Only ten years ago, these top five oil companies only controlled about one-third (34.5%) of domestic refinery capacity; the top ten controlled 55.6%. This dramatic increase in the control of just the top five companies makes it easier for oil companies to manipulate gasoline supplies by intentionally withholding supplies in order to drive up prices. Indeed, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded in March 2001 that oil companies had intentionally withheld supplies of gasoline from the market as a tactic to drive up prices-all as a "profit-maximizing strategy." A May 2004 U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) report also found that mergers in the oil industry directly led to higher prices-and this report did not even include the large mergers after the year 2000, such as ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips. Yet, just one week after Hurricane Katrina, the FTC approved yet another merger of refinery giants-Valero Energy and Premcor-giving Valero 13% of the national market share. These actions, while costing consumers billions of dollars in overcharges, have not been challenged by the U.S. government.

Myth 3: The United States has maxed out its oil refining capability.

Fact: Oil companies have exploited their strong market position to intentionally restrict refining capacity by driving smaller, independent refiners out of business. A congressional investigation uncovered internal memos written by the major oil companies operating in the U.S. discussing their successful strategies to maximize profits by forcing independent refineries out of business, resulting in tighter refinery capacity. From 1995-2002, 97% of the more than 920,000 barrels of oil per day of capacity that have been shut down were owned and operated by smaller, independent refiners. Were this capacity to be in operation today, refiners could use it to better meet today's reformulated gasoline blend needs.

Profit margins for oil refiners have been at record highs. In 1999, for every gallon of gasoline refined from crude oil, U.S. oil refiners made a profit of 22.8 cents. By 2004, the profits jumped 80% to 40.8 cents per gallon of gasoline refined. Between 2001 and mid-2005, the combined profits for the biggest five refiners was $228 billion.

Recommendations to solve this problem:

So what should be done?

Improve regulations over the over-concentrated oil industry:
The most effective way to protect consumers is to restore competitive markets. Congress should limit the financial incentives oil companies have to keep gasoline supplies artificially tight by mandating minimum storage of gasoline, reevaluating recent mergers, investigating anticompetitive practices, and re-regulating oil trading.

Adopt tougher fuel economy standards:
In 2004, the EPA found that the average fuel economy of 2004 vehicles is 20.8 miles per gallon (mpg), compared to 22.1 mpg in 1987-a six percent decline. This decline is attributable to the fact that fuel economy standards have not been meaningfully increased since the 1980s, while sales of fuel inefficient SUVs and pickups have exploded: in 1987, 28% of new vehicles sold were light trucks, compared to 48% in 2004. Billions of gallons of oil could be saved if significant fuel economy increases were mandated. Improving fuel economy standards for passenger vehicles from 27.5 to 40 mpg, and for light trucks (including SUVs and vans) from 20.7 to 27.5 mpg by 2015 would reduce our gasoline consumption by one-third. Dramatic reductions in consumption will not only reduce strain on America's refinery output, but also on Americans' pocketbooks.

Or you can stick to the fiction of blaming Liberals.

Severus,
May I remind you that German soldiers who bllindly followed orders during WWII were hung at Nuremberg. My father was a career military man, and I spent a large part of my childhood living on Strategic Air Command bases -- I greatly respect our country's soldiers, but I have never expected them to blindly follow a directive or order if what they are asked to do is immoral or illegal. This war we are imbroiled in is based on lies, and its motive is theft. It is our duty as citizens to put an end to it.

I'm sorry to join the stampede away from the root topic of the WM3, but the severus offshoot about Iraq is too much to ignore. I don't think it would be wise to tell the people laying in gurneys - American and Iraqi - that everything is peachy-keen in Iraq. Nor those in Afghanistan and other areas of the world from where military personnel are being diverted to fuel this surge.

Places where American personnel could have been doing some actual good (Darfur, Congo, drought relief, flood relief (here?)) are getting worse because of the drain of this ridiculous tantrum by the spoiled child-in-chief. He and his incompetent administration and his money-sucking backers have been holding the American people hostage, bleeding us dry. You can almost hear someone in the Oval Office chortling "Greed is good." Remember, those corporations are multi-national, once their sugar-daddy here is depleted or deposed, they just move to another duped country.

Yes, part of the rising cost of oil is because the increased use by China and India, but the cost in dollars is increasing also because American dollars are worth less than before the Iraq debacle.Because we have shifted so much of our manufacturing overseas, we now are starting to have to pay more devalued dollars for those products made in horrible foreign sweatshops. Steel, heavy equipment, and technology we need to repair our own country have to be imported and will drive us further into debt. Piddling $300 checks are not going to solve our financial crisis, they will not save a family from foreclosure, they are just an election year joke. Maybe the grocery bill gets paid this month, what about next month? For wealthy folks, $300 is no incentive to invest, except in an expensive bottle of single malt.

Under the recent untimely (for us) bankruptcy revision, the credit card companies will get guaranteed runaway profits, but what happens to the American who loses her job or has a medical emergency?

If you really looked at the policies of the Bushists in the name of America and patriotism and their stubborn unwillingness to correct the injustices in this country, you can certainly understand why a frustrated minister can exhort "Goddamn America!"

General BeTrayus, like Colin Powell lost my respect by carrying the lying, murderous, Cheney-Bush water. General BeTrayus is not one of our troops. He will not come home in a body bag or with limbs missing, unless it is the result of "friendly" fire. He quit being a General and became a tool of neo-con crooks. He is lying and his lying is killing our sons and daughters. I have no respect for him and I would bet a vote by our troops on the ground in Iraq would show they have no respect for him either.

Notice that Cheney-Bush fires and retires the Generals on the ground who dare to disagree with their plan. They're plan is to do whatever they have to do to control the 3rd largest oil supply on earth. What's 3 trillion dollars in taxpayer money and 4037 dead US troops when the prize is control of a 30 trillion dollar oil reserve? BeTrayus and his masters in the White House think that's a hell of a deal! And so the war goes on and a barrel of oil topped $113 dollars today. Why? Because they're doing nothing to stop it. Why? Because they want it this way.

So be offended if I call General BeTrayus a Benedict Arnold who should swing from a high branch. Our national shame should be just about as high as our national debt.

Jake, thanks for the thorough post on the refinery situation.

"So be offended if I call General BeTrayus a Benedict Arnold who should swing from a high branch."
This group is too big for a tree. How about giving Halliburton a no-bid contract to build some gallows; there's one I won't give a f$%k about.

Thanks DBI, you're absolutely right.

Great Diversion. Meanwhile all I can do is hope and project justice for the WM3, if such a thing is possible in Reich-Wing America.

>>If it were a war for oil, where is our oil?<<
Servus

You make it difficult to believe it's 2008. Or you reinforce the archetypal image of ignorant Arkansans.
The oil is still in Iraqi soil. Cheney has been bribing the "new Iraqi" government, coercing them into enacting an new Natural Resources bill, to his liking of course. They won't do one to his liking so no oil is gonna be pumped while Darth is in command. Additionally, since Rumsfield/Cheney decided to do their bit of Empire on the cheap there were not enough soldiers to guard the pipelines which get blown up about 48 hours after they've been repaired. The natives know what they want and keep denying it. There will be no added security for pipelines until Darth gets a stranglehold on their mineral rights just as they did to banking via Bremmer's 100 Points plan.
.

Newsweek arrived today, My favorite quote from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,reacting to a speech in which Pres. George ordered an indefinate suspension of troop withdrawals from Iraq...
"President Bush has an exit stragedy for only one man. himself, on January 20, 2009'"...
can that day come soon enough???