Pentagon To Stop Grabbing Ankles for Defense Contractors
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006
This is not satire: MORE »
This is not satire: MORE »
This is not satire: MORE »
* What’s the worst company in America? The competition was fierce, but the winner is deserving. [Consumerist] MORE »
At a press conference earlier today, President Bush called upon the grande dame of the White House press corps — Helen Thomas — for the first time in three years. He tried to butter up Thomas, one of his most vociferous critics, by complimenting her performance at the Gridiron Dinner. MORE »
* Administration and Sen. Frist (R-Tenn.) agree on 45-day review of Dubai port deal. Scott McClellan: “We believe, however, the additional time and investigation at the request of the company will provide Congress with a better understanding of the facts, and that Congress will be comfortable with the transaction moving forward once it does.” [WP, NYT, NYT, W$J, USAT]
* States make decisions on the “morning-after” pill as the FDA wavers. [WP]
* Army will reimburse Halliburton subsidiary for nearly $2.4b despite findings of overcharges. [NYT]
* Bush sets off on whirlwind two-day tour of India. [NYT]
* Mike McCurry on the White House press briefings: “It has turned into a theater of the absurd.” Ari Fleischer: “The public perceives the press not as watchdogs but as attack dogs.” [NYT]
Our chronically dissatisfied brother is holding a fierce tournament to decide, by popular vote, the worst company in America. The round of particular interest to Wonkette readers is the first one, pitting defending champ Halliburton against old-school favorite Monsanto. A commenter notes that “it’s like if we saw Duke vs. UConn in the first round of March Madness” — and who can forget when Duke manufactured Agent Orange and then caused the worst industrial accident in the history of the United States while UConn sold expired meals to the Army and bilked the government out of billions of uncontested reconstruction dollars? MORE »
For more than a year, Halliburton contractors at the US military base in Camp Junction City, near the Iraqi city of Ramadi, permitted troops and civilians to use contaminated water, the AP reports. The company’s own water-treatment expert at the camp, Ben Carter, wrote in an incident report that “raw sewage is being routinely dumped upstream of intake” and the camp’s water “is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria.” Anothe former Halliburton hand, Ken May, claims a widespread incidence of diarrhea and stomach-cramping. MORE »
Washington Post reporter Tom Edsall catches us with former FEMA head Joseph Allbaugh, who’s down in Mississippi ginning up business for lobbying clients: MORE »
There’s a funny joke going around the internets lately that Halliburton got a contract to help rebuild in the Gulf Coast. Only it’s not a joke. We’re hear they’re starting with Trent Lott’s house first. MORE »
