53 million gallons in danger of leaking:
"'We could not tell you that there are no leaks happening today based on the monitoring they have,' said Jane Hedges, the nuclear waste manager for the state Ecology Department, which is responsible for making sure the cleanup is done right....The department believes that current engineering data show that the tanks 'structurally are sound and not in danger of any near-term collapse or failures,' Noyes said."

If they are unable to tell if the tanks are leaking, how do they know they are structurally sound? If it is still standing it is considered sound? WTF is going on here!?

Bush says if younger, he would work in Afghanistan | Politics | Reuters:
"'I must say, I'm a little envious,' Bush said. 'If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks,' Bush said."

Too bad he didn't consider Vietnam very romantic when he was younger. He could have easily, you know, confronted danger, made history, had a fantastic experience.

This is a sick, sick individual.

Stop Hyperventilating: Fallon Fired but Iran War Not Back On - The Washington Note:
"Rumors are running rampant now in the aftermath of Fallon's resignation today that Bush called a war room gathering on Saturday this past weekend -- and launched plans to hatch a strike of some sort on Iran this spring. Internet bulletin boards, listserves, and chatter among many on the left and the right are hyperventilating (and some excited) about the prospects of a hot conflict with Iran. My sources in the intelligence arena, in various command staff operations, near Defense Secretary Gates, and even in the White House tell me that nothing structural has changed in America's stance towards Iran. The US is still engaged in an effort to get Iran to the negotiating table if it stops its nuclear enrichment activities. It is continuing to apply UN sanctions pressure via unanimous consent of the UN Security Council to bring Iran into compliance with international obligations. And as Bush, Gates and others have said -- other options can be on the table."

Someone HAS to stop these people! "Launched plans to hatch a strike of some sort"???? This is mind boggling. You think you've heard it all, you think they can't go any further and they just keep right on going! Isn't anyone of any consequence a little nervous about this? Is there anyone in Washington with at least a modicum of statesmanship? And not the phony "patriotism" crap? I'm afraid to say this is a low point for my country because I now know it can get lower. And fast!

Dean Baker | Media Overlook Fed Bailout In Plain View:
"In response to this situation the Fed today announced that it would lend $200 billion to banks and other financial firms, accepting mortgage backed securities as collateral. This is effectively the same as saying that the Fed is going to lend money to banks and accept the counterfeit currency as collateral, treating it just as though it were real money.

The intended effect of this policy is to convince other investors that the counterfeit currency is in fact real currency, or at the very least that there is a really huge sucker out there (the Fed) which is prepared to treat the counterfeit currency as real currency.

So how does this story play out? Well, insofar as the Fed is successful, the counterfeit currency retains its value for a while longer. This allows Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Bears Stearns and the rest of the big boys more time to dump their counterfeit currency on suckers who haven’t figured out how the game is played."

Yep, there is absolutely no way we can afford single payor health coverage for all, nor to "save" Social Security, yet we can throw hundreds of billions at Iraq and we're ready to bail out our rich friends whenever they want it.