John Murtha's Kingdom Of Pork

The Skinny: Pa. Congressman Has Funneled Billions Into His Hard-Luck Hometown

(CBS)  The Skinny is Keach Hagey's take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

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Most people outside of Western Pennsylvania may known Rep. John Murtha as the guy who first called for the troops to come home. But the Wall Street Journal presents a withering portrait of the congressman today as "old-fashioned political boss" who, as the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, has dubiously funneled billions of taxpayer dollars to his hard-luck hometown.

No one could say the hamlet of Johnstown, population 27,000, couldn’t use the cash. The small town 60 miles east of Pittsburgh was once the world's largest steel producer. But by 1983, its unemployment rate was more than 24 percent. Today, thanks to Murtha's ability to bring home defense contracts through earmarks on appropriations bills, it's around 5 percent.

But the Journal asserts that "Johnstown's good fortune has come at the expense of taxpayers everywhere else." Defense contractors have found that if they open an office there and hire the right lobbyist, they can get lucrative, no-bid contracts. Over the past decade, Concurrent Techologies Corp., a defense-research firm that employs 800 people, got hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to Murtha despite poor reviews by Pentagon auditors. The National Drug Intelligence Center, with 300 workers, got $509 million, though the White House has tried for years to shut it down as wasteful and unnecessary, the paper reports.

Murtha refuses to apologize. At a breakfast fundraiser this summer in Johnstown, he said that bringing federal dollars there "is the whole goddamn reason I went to Washington." And this is about the most G-rated thing that the Congressman -- who "curses like the Parris Island drill sergeant he once was" -- utters in the whole article.

Germany Wants To Spy On Suspects' Laptops

For all the hoopla over warrantless wiretapping, Americans have relatively little paranoia about the government peeking onto their hard drives. Even if our phone conversations are open to snooping, at least our personal files are private - right?

Such confidence may be short-lived. A story in the Los Angeles Times about the German government's attempts to get the authority to secretly spy on suspects' computers leaves open the door doubt about just what the U.S. government has been up to on this front, too.

Germany is one of several European countries seeking authority to plant secret Trojan viruses into the computers of suspects that could scan files, photos, diagrams and voice recordings, record every keystroke typed and possibly turn on webcams and microphones in an attempt to gain knowledge of attacks before they happen.

Counter-terrorism officials say such technology would be "very, very helpful" in nabbing terror plotters, but many German citizens are skeptical. In Berlin, T-shirts with the photograph of the interior minister with the logo "Stasi 2.0" - a reference to the former German Democratic Republic's secret police - have suddenly become popular.

German intelligence agencies had already been conducting these kinds of online searches but were forced to cut it out in February, when the Federal Court of Justice Ruled it illegal. Now the government is awaiting a decision from the Constitutional Court. Depending on the outcome, it might propose new legislation to make the practice legal by the end of the year.

Already, Romania, Cyprus, Latvia and Spain have laws that allow "online searches," according to a report from Germany's Interior Ministry. Switzerland and Slovenia appear to also allow them, and Sweden is in the process of adopting similar legislation.

In the U.S. the FBI is known to have implanted software to identify target computers. "But it is unknown, and the FBI won't say, whether the government has tried to surreptitiously search the contents of hard drives," the paper reports.

"I'm not aware of that technique being used in the United States," said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center. "But it's also not clear, given the current view of the president on his powers to conduct electronic surveillance, that it hasn't been used."

Goodbye Gayborhoods?

A moment of silence, please. Actually, scratch that. Let's have a moment of raucous noise to mark the passing of America's best Halloween party, since silence - awful, depressing silence - will be what settles spookily over San Francisco's Castro District tomorrow night for the first Oct. 31 since 1978.

In the cancellation, the New York Times sees a sign of the times.

Specifically, the fabulous street party was nixed this year because in recent years it has become a something of a nightmare, drawing over 200,000 people, many of them "costumeless outsiders." Last year, nine people were wounded when a gunman opened fire at the celebration.

But more generally, the cancellation has brought soul-searching to San Francisco's historic gay village that goes beyond concerns over crime. The Times cites "population shifts, booming development and a waning sense of belonging" that's being felt in gay enclaves across the nation, from Key West, Fla. to West Hollywood.

For several years now, young gay men and lesbians bypassed the Castro for cheaper neighborhoods like the Mission and Outer Sunset, or father, "missoring national trends where you are seeing same-sex couples becoming less urban, even as the population becomes slightly more urban," said Gary Gates, a demographer at University of California, Los Angeles.

At the same time, cities not widely considered gay meccas hav seen sharp increases in same-sex couples, including Fort Worth, El Paso, Albuquerque, Louisville and Virginia Beach, according to Gates.

"Twenty years ago, if you were gay and lived in rural Kansas, you went to San Francisco or New York," he said. "Now you can just go to Kansas City."

Meanwhile, the Castro is becoming filled with strollers, pushed by both gay and straight parents. The city is shutting down transportation to Castro on Halloween, and has launched a Web site, homeforhalloween.com, that lists' "fun" alternatives, including a Halloween blood drive and a "Monster Bash" - in San Mateo.

Boooooo.

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[flappyfolley]

'' ... i''m sorry, but i''m busy, i don''t have time for this, i''m just in the middle of investing trillions of dollars into baby raping warfare to insure i''ve got the option to teach you kids that you''re too young to make sexual decisions for yourselves ... ''

'' ... shut up with your i''m tired i''m hungry i''m lonely i''m bored i''m scared i''m lusty i''m i''m i''m, life is about sitting down and shutting up and working hard to give back to the community that gives so much to you, it''s not about pampering a bunch of whining selfish brats, now behave yourselves or else! i will have order ... ''


'' ...

you''re a girl

don''t go, you know what will happen to you

you know what can happen to you while we''re out here

y''all brought the army into this

if you didn''t do it, why are you so scared

you''re threatening to read me my rights

you''re threatening to give me a fair trial

... ''


'' ... most folk most time dance three hours each night of hike naked dance dressed get well feed world porn songs and twenty minutes each night of hike naked dance dressed get sick tax world porn songs rallied round the hundreds millions and billions sick beds swimming drifting the tens millions and hundreds millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail groups ... ''

'' ... 33 sick beds a night at 33 villages for 33 dollars ... ''

[aaabee-2009]

Posted by notblue at 03:55 PM : Oct 30, 2007

You proved my point for me. As you always do. :)

I like NPR. I like PBS. They have interesting programs that reach out and bring complex scientific and social issues to those of us not in those fields, reducing difficult concepts and making them accessible to the masses.

I have tried to listen to Talk Radio, notblue. I have tried to understand Rush and Mike and Shaun and hear them with an open mind. But it doesn''t take but a few minutes of being called a Nazi for me to turn the station. I don%u2019t react well to constant disrespect. I resent being called nasty names and being held responsible in toto for the issues that plaque this country.

Tell me, what is solved by pumping out hate over national airwaves anyway? If Limbaugh and Hannity and Savage actually used the valuable tools they have been given to work toward solutions, I would listen and gladly. But they only point to other people and blame; no working toward solutions, no accepting a common responsibility.

PBS and NPR has open dialogue. Hearing the truth about your party make you mad? Well, hearing the truth about mine makes me mad too but it%u2019s necessary, if the problems inherent are to be fixed.

I listen because it is the long view, a view that tried to encompass everyone, you, me, our neighbors, our descendents. it is a flourishing and stimulating open conversation about the human condition in all its glory and dirt.

[gunnerv1]

I can''t see where all the Liberals get so up in arms about Fox News or talk radio. They have Tax Payer Funded TV (PBS) and Radio (NPR), plus there are about 10 more different TV stations that are beyond liberal(I call these the "I hate America" Stations). Ithink the main reason is that 90% of America see through PBS and NPR for what it is and don''t want to here it. Why can''t the liberals keep "Air America" on the air? Answer: The listening public don''t want to hear it because they know that it''s full of garbage.

[thebomb475]

Does anybody play gears of war? Yes or NO

[notblue]

AAbee, why is it according to you leftwingers the conservatives a mindless followers, stupid while all the intelligent people are the ones who step outside the mainstream???? Isn''t it possible that some mainstream beliefs are true? Listen, I know plenty of stupid people on BOTH sides of the fence, your generaliztions are part of the polarization problem present in today''s politics.

[aaabee-2009]

Dont be a hater AaaBee. It''''s no good for the soul...
Posted by poopusbuttus at 03:49 PM : Oct 30, 2007

Oh, I am sorry. After being bashed for 7 years by the likes of you, I must have gotten hateful in return.

Can you forgive me?

[aaabee-2009]

hahaha it is video by onetime Clinton donor Peter Paul hahaha Posted by rerrorislam3 at 03:37 PM : Oct 30, 2007

Ho, good one! Got me didn''t you. Ho Ho.

Can you tell me what his issue is ( I can''t get YouTube.)

[poopusbuttus]

AaaBee -- Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but the all polls indicate that the majority of America that actually watch the news side with Fox. In fact, Foxnews trounces all other news outlets by about 4 to 1.

Dont be a hater AaaBee. It''s no good for the soul...

[aaabee-2009]

getcentered: People don%u2019t trust Foxnews huh? Yeah%u2026.Ok%u2026..Posted by poopusbuttus at 03:09 PM : Oct 30, 2007

That is media slanted toward your side, poopus, only reporting an entire global perspective from a singularly narrow Republican point of view.

It is like Talk Radio, poopus. You have to agree with the hate and liberal bashing or you can''t be part of the fun. If you ever begin to think that hate and liberal-bashing is wrong, as those of us who are being hated and bashed actually do, then you endanger yourself as one outside the conservative mainstream of thought and therefore risk being thrown into the hated group. You wouldn''t want that, it takes intestinal fortitude to stand outside the GOP machine.

So don''t do anything stupid, like get ideas of your own. Stay with Fox and Limbaugh, since progressive thinking can get your square little GOP voting card revoked. And you are too valuable a mouthpiece for the GOP propoganda machine to be lost now.

:)

[yankeerebel7]

I also suspected Murtha didn''t have the interests of this country in his heart. Now I''m a little more convinced.

[rerrorislam3]

Posted by AaaBee at 03:33 PM : Oct 30, 2007

hahaha it is video by onetime Clinton donor Peter Paul hahaha

[aaabee-2009]

By the time the marines he slandered are thru with him, he''''ll be living his retirememnt years in squalor. Posted by Signof4 at 03:25 PM : Oct 30, 2007

...while Bush will live on in full luxury with all benefits and a group of his cronies to rehash the fictitious greatness of his legecy.

[aaabee-2009]

Can you really trust someone like this with the presidency? Share this link with everyone you know:
Posted by rerrorislam3 at 02:19 PM : Oct 30, 2007

Would you be so kind as to verify who put this link out? Some unbiased Republican based organization? We accept Republican''s word on anything wiht the same esteem you give Al Gore''s word on anything.

Great try though. Glad to see that good old Republican hate being ramped up for the election year, a year that will be as miserable for you as it will be for us, mostly because of crapp like this.

Some day you GOP guys will re-join the human race and see that your hate serves nothing. If we actually got together again as a nation and began working toward a future, a healthy, pollution free, equality filled future....

Oh, who am I kidding. Every worthwhile cause has to dragged down and stomped on until it is dust, if it dares cut into somebody''s profits. Is money really all that matters to Republicans?

[rerrorislam3]

Teacher says, every time a liberal is victimized, a conservative is born

Zuzu Bailey: Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/quotes

[signof4]

Wow....an ABSCAM democrat being investigated. Imagine that. By the time the marines he slandered are thru with him, he''ll be living his retirememnt years in squalor.

[poopusbuttus]

getcentered: People don%u2019t trust Foxnews huh? Yeah%u2026.Ok%u2026..

[getcentered]

There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON to read or listen to anything the "Wall Street Journal" has to say. Rupert Murdock bought the WSJ for a reason; people don''t trust Fox News, so he needed a new outlet to spew Republican hate and obfuscations about reality.

Turn off Fox News and use the Wall Street Journal as kindling for your fires.

[alphaa10-2009]

airmanc5GOD i love it when the America Haters bring up Haliburton, lmao, Thier "hero" socialist George Soros..."
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So, it''s OK for Bush and the GOP to campaign in the interests of the wealthiest five percent of Americans, and vote against the rest of us... but it''s apparently not OK when one of the wealthy sends money to somebody besides Bush?

Your real objection is the money-- the money-- is not going to Bush. The amusing part is whatever money Soros sends, it is a small part of the glut of cash going to the GOP for special favors.

MoveOn irritates rightwingers because it exposes their fraud, lies and schemes destructive to the interests of most Americans. We need more such organizations, not fewer.

[sonotso1]

'' .. the three year old virgin *** *** refused to believe the few and proud responsible for folk filling prisons and wars and dare houses and forclosures and slaving stacked 20 per closet and for folk taught to invest in their own non charity and taxation and their own chronic involuntary get sick soon and tax the world and for all missing naked lazy ignorant profane blemished promiscuous kids disciplined in dark secret sheltets and for all those populating media and trail space to beg for their souls and they certainly were not responsible for raping more three year old *** *** than 30 and 60 year old men''s .. she screamed jokingly she''d have none of it in her jurisdiction and she turned again to visit 33 sick beds each night with crowds of folk holding hands and weaving bouquets and she continued to dance hike naked dance dressed get well feed world porn songs three hours each night and get sick tax world porn songs twenty minutes each night rallied around hundreds millions and billions sick beds drifting tens millions and hundreds millions spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail crossing yseedsberry trail groups .. using spore bloom levers and wedges and pulleys and screws, she fertilizes and wateres trails that the encyclopedias of weed patches ever rewrite themselves, new poisons ever balancing potentcys of old cures .. eternitys'' strange dreams are almost always made out of edible candys as big as forever and each bit as sweet .. ''

[aaabee-2009]

Posted by airmanc5 at 02:23 PM : Oct 30, 2007

Interesting point. Your own party could use a watch dog like you, but I imagine your nose for details only points one way?