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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TigerPaw who wrote (57433)	4/6/2006 1:50:44 PM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 93284

AIR AMERICA TUNED OUT? By JOHN MAINELLI AIR America is close to losing its New York flagship station - knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on their second anniversary. The network has a two-year lease with WLIB (AM 1190) that is reportedly set to expire April 1 - and at least one reliable report says it is "extremely likely" the deal will not be renewed. Losing its New York outlet would be a serious blow to the fledgling liberal radio network. "Radio Equalizer" blogger Brian Maloney - who blew the whistle on questionable loans to the lefty network last year - published the first report that WLIB was on the verge of evicting Air America some time soon. Air America's options for a new home are not promising. All of the city's other strong-signal stations are spoken for, leaving only weak-signal "fringe" stations that do not cover the entire city and suburbs. Air America parent Piquant LLC has reportedly been paying Inner City Broadcasting - controlled by former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and his son, Pierre - $2.5 million a year to air Franken and others. An Air America spokeswoman told The Post, "It's business as usual," and declined further comment. Air America got unwanted headlines last year when it was learned that previous management had received what investigators called an "inappropriate" $875,000 loan - since repaid - from a Bronx charity. Calls to Inner City execs were not returned. The leading contenders to take over the WLIB lease are former Clear Channel exec Randy Michaels, who syndicates competing lefty talker Ed Schultz, and the new Radio One black-focused talk network that includes Rev. Al Sharpton.

To: TigerPaw who wrote (57433)	4/6/2006 2:57:41 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 93284

of course they never provided much and even the gunners in the humvees are now BUILDING THEIR OWN TURRETS OF GLASS FROM WINDSHIELDS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES...isn't that THE ARMY'S JOB!? Army Bans the Use of Privately Purchased Body Armor Many soldiers in Iraq bought protective gear they said the military wasn't providing. But the top brass says it may be inadequate. From the Associated Press March, 31 2006 WASHINGTON — Soldiers will no longer be allowed to wear body armor that was not issued by the military, Army officials said Thursday. The order was prompted by concern that soldiers or their families were buying inadequate or untested armor from private companies, including the Dragon Skin gear made by Fresno-based Pinnacle Armor Inc., the Army officials said. ADVERTISEMENT "We're very concerned that people are spending their hard-earned money on something that doesn't provide the level of protection that the Army requires people to wear. So they're, frankly, wasting their money on substandard stuff," said Col. Thomas Spoehr, director of materiel for the Army. Murray Neal, chief executive of Pinnacle, said he hadn't seen the directive. "We know of no reason the Army may have to justify this action," Neal said. "On the surface, this looks to be another of many attempts by the Army to cover up the billions of dollars spent on ineffective body armor systems which they continue to try quick fixes on to no avail." Nathaniel R. Helms, editor of the Soldiers for the Truth online magazine DefenseWatch, said he already had received a number of e-mails from soldiers complaining about the policy. "Outrageously we've seen that [soldiers] haven't been getting what they need in terms of equipment and body armor," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who wrote legislation to provide reimbursement to troops for equipment purchases. "That's totally unacceptable, and why this directive by the Pentagon needs to be scrutinized in much greater detail." Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said, "I don't think the Army is wrong by doing this, because the Army has to ensure some level of quality." But, Rieckhoff said, the military is partially to blame for the problem because it took too long to get soldiers the armor they needed. "This is the monster they made," he said. Early in the Iraq war, soldiers and their families were spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on protective gear that they said the military was not providing. In January, an unreleased Pentagon study found that side armor could have saved dozens of U.S. lives in Iraq, prompting the Army and Marine Corps to order ceramic body armor plates to be shipped to troops this year. The Army ban covers all commercial armor. It refers specifically to Pinnacle's armor. "In its current state of development, Dragon Skin's capabilities do not meet Army requirements," the Army order says, and it "has not been certified to protect against several small-arms threats that the military is encountering in Iraq and Afghanistan." The Marine Corps has not issued a similar directive, but Marines are "encouraged to wear Marine Corps-issued body armor since this armor has been tested to meet fleet standards," spokesman Bruce Scott said. Military officials have acknowledged that some troops — often National Guardsmen or reservists — went to war with lesser-quality protective gear than other soldiers. But now, Spoehr said, "we can categorically say that whatever you're going to buy isn't as good as what you're going to get" from the military.