It's too bad that Paul Wolfowitz isn't leaving along with George Tenet because the war plan has been a tremendous miscalculation. But as we have seen throughout the Bush Administration, the buck never stops with the President, nor does it stop with anyone else in the Administration. There is no accountability, because there NEVER are any mistakes! There is just more and more SPIN. Period. And some people on this website actually think that Bush has been a great leader, even putting him on a level with Ronald Reagan? Get real.
Waggie, you really are one perverted individual. You seem to except the axiom that if somebody is not perfect or if they make mistakes then they should be condemned. I really feel sorry for you and everyone in your life. Bush is not a perfect person but he is a man with a vision and he has some very incompetent people in his administration. However, that can be said of every administration. Waggie, you have no principles, no beliefs, I bet you are not even pro life are you? What exactly do you believe in? What would you be willing to die for tonight, right now if called upon? Does your life have any meaning? You think I'm going to jump off the Bush bandwagon because he has made some mistakes in his life. Shit Waggie, if I treated my friends and family that way I wouldn't have any friends or family. I just don't see how you can live with yourself. How can you even look at yourself in the mirror? Don't you just throw up at the very sight of yourself? I mean you would have to. Because you would be looking at an empty corpse right? I really do pity you Waggie. I really do.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ucla3jun03,1,1871722.story?coll=la-headlines-california UCLA Seeks Funds to Lure, Keep Top Faculty, Students By Stuart Silverstein Times Staff Writer June 3, 2004 Spurred by intensified competition for star professors and top graduate students, UCLA is launching a $250-million fund-raising initiative to step up its academic recruiting and retention programs. The five-year effort, to be announced today, is aimed at adding about 100 endowed chairs for professors and providing new fellowships and scholarships for as many as 3,000 graduate students a year. UCLA officials say they are undertaking the campaign partly because of recent state spending cutbacks for public universities. But they say the effort is also a response to competition from richer, mainly private institutions that are increasingly luring top young professors and snaring the most talented graduate students. "In competing for people, we could see the resource gap growing, and we want to correct it before it gets out of hand," said UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale. Talent raids by well-endowed private universities are being felt by campuses throughout the highly regarded UC system. USC, one of the most aggressive private universities in hiring, is in the midst of a campaign to sign up 100 star faculty from other schools. USC has snagged 11 full professors and associate professors from around the UC system in the last two years, although none were from UCLA. At UCLA, administrators report that other universities are making overtures to faculty, particularly young, up-and-coming professors. "It's in huge numbers," said Ann Carlson, associate dean of the law school. She said 10 to 12 of the law school's 60 professors are being wooed by other universities. The new initiative is aimed at heading off the loss of people such as Jeffrey Grogger, 44, a UCLA professor widely regarded as a rising star in the field of labor economics. He has emerged as a much-cited expert on welfare reform. He recently accepted a position at the University of Chicago, starting in September. Grogger said he was leaving partly because of the lure of joining a school long regarded as one of the nation's best in economics. But another reason is the mixed outlook, because of continuing state budget problems, for UCLA and the rest of the UC system. "There is this question about the extent to which California values a high-quality research university," Grogger said. "It's hard to say the future looks really bright right now." Although he applauds UCLA's new campaign, Grogger questions why the university didn't put more emphasis earlier on such fund-raising for faculty and graduate students. Kenneth A. Schultz, a UCLA political science professor who is leaving at the end of this term for Stanford, said his decision was also based partly on his concern that the state's commitment to top-quality higher education might be waning. Over the long run, Schultz, 36, said, the financial outlook for Stanford is "clearly stronger" than it is for the UC system. However, UCLA said that â largely by making counteroffers, including increased salaries and extra research funds â it has managed to retain about 70% of the professors who received offers from other campuses in recent years. Still, in the 2002-03 school year, UCLA lost 21 of the professors it tried to retain. The campus lost 15 the year before. In all, the university has a little more than 1,800 tenured and tenure-track professors. In announcing the new fund drive, UCLA said it had about $27 million already pledged toward the $250-million goal. The new campaign would almost double the amount raised in recent years for recruitment and retention. The initiative would complement an existing 10-year fund-raising effort, known as Campaign UCLA, that is due to end next year. That larger effort has already raised $2.5 billion, exceeding its $2.4-billion goal. But nearly 90% of that money is earmarked for specific building projects or programs. Carnesale said UCLA and other universities had found that wealthy donors preferred putting their money into new facilities and programs rather than such areas as financial support for graduate students. As a result, he said, UCLA is launching the "Ensuring Academic Excellence" initiative to spotlight its recruiting and retention needs. "Without the very finest people, it doesn't matter how good the buildings are, how well-funded the programs are," Carnesale said. He dismissed the possibility that the controversy over the UCLA medical school's willed-body program, involving two employees arrested in March on suspicion of illegal trafficking in cadavers, would dissuade contributors from giving money to the university. "We immediately shut down the program," he said. "People do recognize that the problem was criminal activity in our midst, rather than UCLA acting in inappropriate ways." UCLA officials said the endowed chairs that would be financed by the fund-raising campaign would bring designated professors not only the extra prestige of a loftier title, but also higher salaries and more funds for research. The university's endowed chairs typically offer professors up to $50,000 annually in salary increases and research funds. The UC salary scale ranges from a $46,300 floor for assistant professors to a high of $128,300 for full professors employed for the regular nine-month academic year. Actual pay, however, varies widely among disciplines, with law, business and the physical sciences sometimes paying well beyond the scale. Currently, the university has 211 endowed chairs, many named after donors, and money for another 20 has been pledged. Funds from the $250-million campaign would bring the total to about 330. The other aim of the campaign is to raise money for graduate student fellowships and scholarships. UCLA officials noted that professors relied on graduate students as their work force in research and they want the best talent for their projects. The new campaign is intended to bring in $150 million for scholarships and fellowships, which could be used to increase stipends for 3,000 students by $2,500 annually. If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives. Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times
Wow, Mav. I feel so bad for myself because you actually pity me. Gee, whiz. An idiot such as yourself that takes cyberspace so freaking seriously. Where is YOUR self-esteem, buddy? It is as if you have no friends, and I am the only one that will debate or discuss things with you. The amount of effort that you have spent chasing each and every single one of my posts is simply mind-boggling. You have no respect for me, yet you continually try to "bait" me into discussion with you. You continually challenge my opinions, because no one wants to play with dear old Mav. Everyone on ET can see that, for Christ's sake! Let me know when we have a President that actually creates and shapes policy, and doesn't leave that executive duty up to his VP. Let me know when we have a President that doesn't get sucked into an absurd invasion of Iraq because of some scrupulous character like Chalabi that we were paying $340,000 per month to mislead us about WMD, get us into a war for his own self-interests and then sell our "secrets" out to Iran. Let me know when we have a President that is accountable for the "cherry-picking" of intelligence that lead us into this invasion of Iraq in the first place. When you let me know the answers to the above questions, then maybe you will look at a real leader, and not George W. Bush!
Let me know when you get back from the polling place and cast your vote for John Kerry. You are nothing but a bleeding heart liberal. But even as a liberal, you don't really believe in anything. How sad. You know, I think your old Aunt Betsie is really proud of you. You know that Aunt you had that worked for Reagan. I bet you make her really proud don't you. Your are just another liberal nut job Waggie and you have proven it time and time again. Don't bother answering me if you are pro-life. I already know the answer.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-airlift3jun03,1,4266804.story?coll=la-headlines-california Gov. OKd Costly Mission to Brazil The state's tab was $147,187 for a plane and 15 people to bring an ailing legislator home. By Robert Salladay Times Staff Writer June 3, 2004 SACRAMENTO â Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dispatched a military jet and a 15-person team in April to retrieve an ailing state senator who was visiting Brazil â at a cost to taxpayers of $147,187, the administration confirmed Wednesday. Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), who has returned to work in Sacramento, said he was nearing the end of a nine-day goodwill trip to Brazil â paid for with campaign funds â when he started feeling pressure in his chest. Vasconcellos said he had undergone heart bypass surgery nearly 20 years ago, and was concerned about a possible heart attack 6,300 miles from home. The lawmaker, who turned 72 in May, checked into a hospital in Salvador, a coastal city in northern Brazil, and stayed for five days. Vasconcellos said he was in a heart and lung hospital, but wanted to return to his doctor in San Jose. Meanwhile, his staff back home scrambled to find a way to get him back to California and requested help from Schwarzenegger's office. The governor ordered the California Air National Guard to retrieve Vasconcellos, and the Pentagon approved the airlift route, which was required because the mission was outside state boundaries. On April 12, a California Air National Guard KC-135 military transport â somewhat similar to a Boeing 707 â took Vasconcellos back to California on a direct, 13-hour flight from Salvador to Moffett Field near San Jose. An ambulance met him there. Margita Thompson, the governor's spokeswoman, said the trip cost taxpayers $147,187. "And 20 cents," she added. She estimated that 15 people on the flight were involved in helping Vasconcellos get back to California. "They called and asked. The senator was in distress and transporting him back was a sensitive issue," Thompson said. "Obviously, he needed medical attention. There was definitely something wrong." Joseph Cece, chief executive officer of AeroCare Air Ambulance in Chicago, said his firm would probably charge about $50,000 for a similar Brazil-to-San Jose flight on a Lear jet with a medical crew. Jeffrey Tolbert, president of AirMed International, said that a flight on a larger jet with a doctor, intensive care nurse, respiratory therapist and hospital-to-hospital service would cost $92,000. Vasconcellos said he used campaign funds to pay for the flight to Brazil and hotel accommodations for the trip during the Legislature's Easter break. He visited Rio de Janeiro, then headed south to California's sister state, Paraná, where he met with officials, and flew north to Salvador for the final leg. He was traveling with Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City), who returned home on his own. Vasconcellos said doctors were concerned that traveling to the United States on more than one flight would have put additional pressure on his heart. He said he got good medical care and constant monitoring throughout the flight. The senator, who leaves office this year after 38 years in the Legislature, said he underwent three angioplasties after returning to San Jose, and is consulting with doctors about another possible heart surgery. Vasconcellos said he was feeling better and was playing racquetball again. He was thankful that the state supplied transportation home and that the governor authorized it. "I was on a Senate trip on behalf of the state and they got me home. I'm grateful," he said. "When your life is at stake, money is not something you think about." If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives. Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times