Have you ever seen that "Army of One" commericial? This is one of them:



Well, according to this email I got from AdAge.com, the organization that created the presentation is being accused of overbilling by The Army:

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Leo Burnett will pay $15.5 million to settle allegations that it overbilled the U.S. Army for work on its "Army of One" campaign, the Justice Department announced today. The suit was a result of whistle-blowing by two former Burnett employees. Among the allegations in the lawsuit, filed in 2004: Burnett was treating the work of its own internet unit as if it was performed by a third-party contractor, as well as inflating the costs of subcontractors it worked with, in order to increase its profits. Read the full story at http://adage.com/article?article_id=133588 -- Jeremy Mullman

Wow, and this from the organization of the Department of Defense, which is known for the $600 toilet!

On The Oakland BART Shooting By Police at Fruitvale Sta

The Oakland BART Police Fruitvale Station shooting was a horrifying act of an individual police officer that, upon reflection, went insane for a moment. I'm glad people had video cameras and used them. But I'm not happy with the state of the police in Oakland and the East Bay.

What the officer did to young Oscar Grant was shameful. If you look at the videos, the officer first drags Grant over the station floor then positions him against the ground, and then pulls out his gun slowly then shoots him, but then looks up as if to say "Oh, that was an accident."

It did not look that way.

This should prompt a major investigation into how police are trained and the backgrounds and attitudes of the people that are recruited and how they're trained. There's something wrong and where there's smoke,there's fire.

Now, Oakland Lawyer John Burris has introduced a $25 million lawsuit against the police department and BART, and given the look of the videos -- there are two with very clear angles -- the evidence is clear and hard to refute.

That police officer deliberately shot Oscar Grant.

NBC TODAY SHOW STICKS IT TO ANN COULTER - New York Post

More at the New York Post: “CONTROVERSIAL conservative Ann Coulter blew a gasket yesterday when the "Today" show abruptly canceled an appearance on the day her new book about the Obamas comes out.

The cancellation sparked reports that she had been "banned for life" from NBC and its two cable news networks.

Officially, NBC said that Coulter was bumped from the morning show because of "breaking news."

Behind the scenes, "Today" sources said they needed to make time for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's mission to the Middle East and President-elect Barack Obama's new plan for an economic stimulus package.”

-- YEAH! And she's angry? So what? That's what she gets for building a career by saying and writing outlandish and tasteless words about people just because their politics are different from hers.

Those days are over -- I hope! Let Ann whine. I love it.

Barack Obama taps Leon Panetta to run CIA

More at chicagotribune.com: “WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama has selected Leon Panetta, a former congressman with little experience on intelligence matters, to serve as the next director of the CIA, according to Democratic officials familiar with the decision.

The selection puts the prominent Democrat in charge of an agency that has been at the center of a storm of criticism in recent years, ranging from intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks to the aggressive tactics that were embraced in its aftermath.

Panetta, who was chief of staff to President Clinton, is regarded as a bright political operative and highly capable manager. But if confirmed by the Senate, he would be among the few directors in agency history with no prior experience at one of the nation's spy services.
”

-- Or was this a trial balloon to see how Senator Diane Feinstein would react? Whatever the case, she was not happy to have learned the news via the New York Times.

Roland Burris Ego On Display In Washington D.C.

More at chicagotribune.com: “WASHINGTON - Roland Burris and Democratic Party leaders headed toward a symbolic showdown at the door of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday as the former Illinois attorney general presses his claim to a disputed seat.

Burris said in an interview Monday evening that he intends to try to walk onto the Senate floor to be sworn in with incoming senators when the Senate convenes Tuesday despite declarations from party leaders that they will prevent the 71-year-old, longtime politician from entering the legislative body's ornate chamber.

The imagery of authorities stopping a graying African-American man at the threshold of political power promises to be a moment of high drama in a controversy that has joined the complicated politics of race with the sensational corruption scandal swirling around Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The governor, undeterred by criminal charges that he sought to sell the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, picked Burris last week.”

-- I can't understand the ego of a man like Roland Burris, who knows damn well he's not going to be confirmed or accepted by the Senate and is just opening up a major can of worms. Burris can't be that stupid, which leads me to think something else is up. What, I don't know.

What bothers me even more is that Burris seems to be doing it in the face of his "good friend" as he put it President-Elect Barack Obama. If he were Obama's good friend, he'd have elected not to be Blagojevich's designated selection. Something's afoot.

Top 10 NFL Coaching Carousel Plot Lines. Who Lands Where?

One week after Black Monday, there are still six head-coaching vacancies, two open G.M. jobs, and no real sense as to who’ll get any of the positions. Here are ten takes on this year’s jobs that have come open, those that haven’t, and those that apparently won’t.

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Oakland Police Officer Shoots Unarmed Man, Handcuffed Man

BART-Police who patrol the Bay Area's subway system came to break up a fight. They had a 22 year old man named Omar Grant in handcuffs and on the ground when an officer shot him point blank in the head.

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