PRESCRIPTION DRUGS PROGRAM

DRUGS

While the rest of the country is trying to get on some program to help with the escalating cost of prescription drugs, the Federal Government has decided not to join them when it comes to Federal Employees and retirees. I'm assuming that it applies to military retirees too, since they are considered Federal employees.

PANDEMIC PLAN

FLU

Bush is supposed to reveal his plan tomorrow on how to ready this country in case of an impeding pandemic. This includes early diagnoses and stockpiling antibiotics and anti=virals. Also includes boosting vaccine production, something we've been lacking.

REBUILDING IRAQ

OIL

As long as the oil fields are up and running, let Iraq fund its own reconstruction. We know that they won't repay the debt of freeing them from Saddam's control, so let their oil pay for rebuilding the country.

None of the countries we have assisted since we became an independent nation, has every repaid their debts to us. France owes us for their revolution, for saving them in WWI, and in WWII and in rescuing them from Vietnam.

Japan owes us for the rebuilding of their country after they Bombed Pearl Harbor and starting the war between us and them. The US helped rebuild Germany twice, after the Kaiser and after Hitler. A lot of countries are indebted to the US but they will never pay.

SANCTIONS

SYRIA

The UN has passed a bill that will impose sanctions on Syria if they do not co-operate in the investigation of the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister. It is believed that two high level Syrians were involved in the crime.

GRASSROOTS GROUP DOES WHAT FEMA CAN'T

SHELTER

While FEMA is still working with housing peopple in and around the New Orleans area, a grassroots organization in Houston, TX has been working to house those evacuess that were staying in the Astrodome. This group has been helping find housing and employment for those who escaped New Orleans. Something FEMA is still working on.

LIBBY LEAK

RUSSERT

Does a seasoned journalist who always has to check and recheck his facts, trump a VP aide who can't remember who said what to whom?

BUSH'S NEW NOMINEE FOR SUPREME COURT

ALITO

Avoiding the same difficulties that Harriet Miers had, Bush's new nominee does have a track record, only, unlike Miers, its a man instead of a woman like he had promised.

Alito was nominated to the Court of Appeals by Bush's father in 1990, and does appear to be the conservative that Bush wanted.

MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

whtfucover said...

No offense, but 1: it would stop coverage of people who refuse to pay. 2: The copay would go from $3 to $5 in 2008. 3" Children under 18 would be exempt from the cost sharing requirements and I think most of all, they want to hand over a lot more control to the States and help the States save money in the process. The Funniest part of the story though has to be BC/BS


The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association warned Congress that if it eliminated the $10 billion fund, it would show that "the government is an unreliable business partner." Blue Cross lobbyists said this would cause some insurers to reconsider their participation in Medicare.

The part about the Government being an "unreliable" business partner.....duh

Well, one part of their plan is to cut that $10 billion fund which they say provided an unfair advantage to such plans as the preferred Provider Organizations. As someone who has seen more than his fair share of providers, when you find a good one and one that has a good bedside manner, yes he or she would be a preferred provider. Instead of like the Air Force used to be like, where you saw whom ever they thought you needed to see. I like to hang on the the good doctors if I can.

NAGIN AND NEW ORLEANS

whtfucover said...

Why should they? poorly managed city for over 60 years, they see the results, do the math.

karen said...

I totally agree, why should the poor black people come back if they are getting a better deal somewhere else.. Nagin has been a total joke and cannot seem to make up his mind what he wants to do!

You both are right. The city has been poorly managed and the fact that on July 23, 2004, FEMA pulled an exercise called Hurricane Pam, and that drill showed what the effects would be if a major hurricane were to hit New Orleans.

DRILL

All the events that were predicted DID happen, yet they knew a year ahead of time what to expect and nothing was done to prepare for it. The levees weren't strengthened or raised in height, no evacuations plans were put into action, the shelters were not stocked with supplies. That was the leadership New Orleans had and now the mayor wants people to come back to that. New Orleans will be rebuilt but not with the same socio-economic make up as it had before. Those that were poor and unemployed moved and found employment elsewhere. A different type of New Orleans will develop there.

MORE POLICE FIRED

POLICE

New Orleans fired another 51 police officers with more to come later, all from their lack of performance or abandonment of the duties during the hurricanes. Over 200 are still being investigated.

FEDERAL CUTS

POOR

Yeah, pick on us poor and disabled, like they haven't done it enough already. They keep taking and taking, but not giving anything back. Wait until its their turnn to be on those programs and the money is not there for them.

NEW ORLEANS

COMMISSION

I think Mayor Nagin is more worried about his political future than rebuilding the city. Instead of taking care of the big projects, like rebuilding the infrastructure, he's more worried about rebuilding the 9th ward. I think he's afraid that because of the hurricanes, a majority of the poor black constituency won't come back.

CHENEY

VP

There is one part of this story that people seem to keep forgetting. Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense during "Desert Storm." Under his leadership in the Defense Dept. The UN did drive Saddam's army out of Kuwait, but they believed that after all the destruction and sanctions, the masses would rise up against Saddam and either assassinate him or throw him out of office. Neither happened.

So, after all that effort and bloodshed, they still had a leader that they wanted to put out of commission. And then 9/11 occurred. It didn't matter if Iraq had nothing to do with it, it gave Cheney a chance to take Saddam out, to let him redeem himself for the mistakes he made before. The "cabal", I think, existed between Rumsfeld and Cheney. Yeah, Bush was right to go after OBL and Afghanistan's Taliban, but Iraq was solely between a former Defense Secretary and a sitting Defense Secretary.

IRAN

Timmer said...

I think you are partly right about the weapons program, but where is this brash and antagonistic sentiment coming from?

This should come as no real surprise to any of us. This past election in Iran was a chance for the people to return to a modern, viable nation with western-like freedoms. Despite a huge movement among young Iranians, they failed to make that happen - whether by an actual lack of a majority or (more likely) a fixed election.

Ahmadinejad gained his momentum with this strategy: He is a self-described principlist (acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles). One of his goals is "putting the petroleum income on people's tables", referring to Iran's oil profits being distributed amongst the poor.

The biggest advantage, perhaps: Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. This went over well with middle-aged and elderly islamists and patriarchal conservatives, who fear a return to the days of female near-equality back in the Shah's 1970's Iran.

Thanks Timer for joining our discussions. Its good to see someone from the Gov't responding.

Iran's problem started when they let the Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini return from exile while the Shah was in the United States seeking treatment for cancer. Many of the older Irani people were upset that the Shah had veered away from Islamic beliefs and had instead taken a capitalistic view. SO they took the opportunity of his absence to invited the Ayatolla to come back and lead the Islamic Revolution.

Its not the politicians that rule in Iran, its the Islamic leaders. And they have a narrow vision of Iran's future with little or not compromise. Until the people of Iran break the control of the Islamic leaders, they will always be looked at as radicals and possible threats to the region.

LYING TO INVESTIGATORS

whtfucover said...

Martha shouldn't have gone to prison, she wasn't even sent to prison for the crime she was accused of, just a bad memory, or as they like to say "obstructon of justice"

Stewart, 62, is charged with conspiracy, obstruction, lying to investigators and securities fraud in connection with the sale of her stock in ImClone, a biotech company, and public comments she made regarding the federal investigation into that sale.

LYING

Libby isn't being indicited with out Valerie Plame, just lying about who said what to whom. Both Libby and Stewart lied to investigators.

CHENEY

DEFERRED PAYMENTS

Cheney's personal financial disclosure forms, together with the pay statements just mentioned, show that Cheney has received $398,548 in deferred salary from Halliburton "as vice president." And of course, all of that is money he earned when he was the company's chief executive officer. Cheney was due to receive another payment in 2004, and a final payment in 2005.

Legally, Halliburton can't increase or reduce the amount of the deferred compensation no matter what Cheney does as vice president. So Cheney's deferred payments from Halliburton wouldn't increase no matter how much money the company makes, or how many government contracts it receives.

On the other hand, there is a possibility that if the company went bankrupt it would be unable to pay. That raises the theoretical possibility of a conflict of interest -- if the public interest somehow demanded that Cheney take action that would hurt Halliburton it could conceivably end up costing him money personally. So to insulate himself from that possible conflict, Cheney purchased an insurance policy (which cost him$14,903) that promises to pay him all the deferred compensation that Halliburton owes him even if the company goes bust and refuses to pay. The policy does contain escape clauses allowing the insurance company to refuse payment in the unlikely events that Cheney files a claim resulting "directly or indirectly" from a change in law or regulation, or from a "prepackaged" bankruptcy in which creditors agree on terms prior to filing. But otherwise it ensures Cheney will get what Halliburton owes him should it go under.

So, even though he bought that insurance policy, that policy has an escape clause if there is a change in laws or regulations. SO, if Haliburton did obtain a no bid contract to operate in Iraq and Congress felt that was against the law, Haliburton and Cheney would lose.

LIBBY

porchwise said...

All cabals need a fall guy. I wonder how far Libby will have to fall before he decides he needs to take some 'pals' with him.

That's what I'm wondering, will he pull an "Oliver North" and fall on his sword or will he take others with him?

IRAN

ISRAEL

Now the truth comes out about the reason Iran has restarted their nuclear weapons development, they want to wipe Israel off the map. Knowing this, Iran better watch out. Back in the 80s, Israel flew into Iraqi air space, bombed a nuclear facility and back, without anyone knowing, except the American AWACS planes in the region.

SYRIA TRYING TO COMPLY

BORDER

After the UN report that Syrians were behind the assassination of the former Lebonese Prime Minister, Syria is trying to show that they are doing more to secure their borders, but with minimum effort. They blame lack of assistance from the UN such as not having night vision goggles.

IRAQI ARMY

ARMOR

If the American forces are expecting theh Iraqi army to repplace them on the front lines, then they should provide the Iraqis with armored vehicles. I know there is a danger of not knowing who you can rely on, that won't turn over that armor to insurgents, but for those that accompany the Americans, they should be given armored tanks and humvees too. If they had the armor it might embolden them to fight harder and take the fight to the insurgents.

DICK CHENEY

VP

From the power that Cheney seems to have, you would think he was president and Bush was his VP. Yes he pushed for the war, and I'm not saying it was wrong to take Saddam out. They should have let Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf do it back in '91 and we wouldn't have had to go back and finish the job.

Cheney benefits from the war because Haliburton is a big part of it. But he has also been more outspoken than any other VP. Most VPs are just "yes men" to the President. They don't make policy or push their own agendas.

Cheney said he got the information about Valerie Plame from Tenet. But, still as VP he knew it was wrong to disclose that information to ANYONE. But since her husband was making waves about the war, I think she was used as a tool to shut him up. You know, mobsters use family members the same way.

PRICE GOUGING

porchwise said...

Personally I think they need a congressional investigation on this problem. Exxon reported over ten billion net last quarter and the big 5, over a hundred billion total net. I believe in capitalism but gouging that hurts me and you, no way. We need an explanation besides the same old lame apologist crap. The downhill slope to recession is covered with oil.

I agree, on CNBC, they showed where just one, Exxon, recorded 3 quarter profits higher than FIVE of the top blue chip stocks.

ROSA PARK-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

The only reason she did not want to give up her seat was that she was PMSing at the time and just did not feel like putting up with bull crap at that point in time!

There's a strong possibility that could be the case.

SUGAR-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

Since I am a diabetic, that will not affect me! Hooray!

Well, I'm not diabetic and I have a big sweet tooth, darn it.

AGENT SCANDAL

Sgt Fluffy said...

And Cheney got his info from Tenent. Its amazing to know that he was not indicted on outing her, but for lying in a non crime. Time to plead the Clinton

I agree, But just like Martha Stewart didn't go to prison for insider trading but for lying to a Federal Grand Jury. What happened to equal justice under the law?

PRICES

mojoala said...

Actually the prices have returned on thursday afternoon to pre-Katrina prices.

I filled up at entec in the morning at 2.59 a gallon. On the way home at the end of the day, everybody was showing 2.49 a gallon.

The Metro Petro in Millbrook is selling gas for 2.38 a gallon.

Glad to see them down, too bad they can't go back to $1 a gallon.

ROSA PARKS

D.C.

I know to half the population in the US, Rose Parks is an icon, but she was just a seamstress who decided not to sit in the back of the bus. How many other people who preformed sit ins or other forms of civil disobediance well get to lay in state in D.C.?

They didn't let Martin Luther King JR to lay in state in D.C.. Now I could see that.
Or Medger Evers, Malcom X, many others who were out there doing it, she just sat in front of the bus.

Why not honor the soldiers who are fighting against terrorism by letting them lay in state in D.C.? She jus sat in front of the bus. Jackie Robinson was court martialed for not sitting in the back of the bus and he never got to lay in state in D.C. and he broke the color barrier in the Major Baseball League.

JACKIE ROBINSON

PAY BANDS

FEDS

The Federal Government is hoping to roll out a new pay schedule for Civil Service employees. If they can get the kinks worked out, the new pay bands will be based on job types, instead of the GS Method.

FBI

Well, one judge decided to limit the FBI's surveillance capabilities. He said that they could not track or trace celluar phone calls without without showing a crime has occured or is in progress.

Darn, I know how much they wanted to spy on us.

MARION BERRY

FORMER NYC MAYOR

They should just put him in prison and throw away the key. How can one political figure get himself into so much trouble. I still can't believe they re-elected him after his Cocaine bust.

CHINA

BIRD FLU

A story that had the world holding its breath, the girl that died recently didh't die of Bird Flu but of pneumonia.

It was originally reported that the girl and her sister and contracted the Avian Flu from eating "cooked" infected chickens. Its been previously reported that you can't contracted it from cooked chickens. Now everyone knows it wasn't the dreaded flu but pneumonia.

SYRIA

CHANGE

After the UN report naming two Syrians involved with the assassination of the former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Syria is promising to make changes in their country, by giving back citizenship to the Kurds, to allow multiple political parties, to have elections. After seeing what is going on in Iraq, I guess they decided they don't want the same thing to happen there.

FRANCE AND RUSSIA

IRAQI WAR

Now we know why France and Russia didn't want to go to war with Iraq, the were paying Iraq kickbacks for the oil for food program. They didnt' want it to be known that they were funding Saddam's military.

Even some individual companies here in the US were paying a surcharge to Iraq:

The report is filled with records of transactions kept by Iraqi officials who demanded special surcharges. DaimlerChrysler is listed as paying $7,000 for a $70,000 contract, while Volvo Construction Equipment in Brussels paid $317,000 in extra fees for a $6.4 million contract.

Russia benefited the most with 1/3 of the oil from the "oil for food" program going to Russian companies.

SUGAR

STORM DAMAGE

UT OH, I can see it now, because the oil industry is getting rich off the storms, now the sugar industry wants a piece of the pie. Because of the hurricane, want to bet that sugar prices will go up? They have four hurricanes last year and nothing was said about the sugar crop. Everyone wants to profit from the storms.

MIERS WITHDRAWALS

SUPREME COURT

Of course everyone has heard about this. She at least did the honorable thing and pulled out, because it wasn't going to be pretty. President Bush needs to nominate someone who has at least served some time on the bench and has some kind of record to go by. Without it, the Democrats are going to brow beat anyone he nominates.

SCOOTER LIBBY

INDICTMENT

It appears that VP Cheney's adviser, Scooter Libby will be indicted in the case of the CIA agent's identity being exposed. According to Tim Russert today on the Today Show, even Dick Cheney made be investigated since Libby said he got his information from Cheney.

OIL PRICES-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

See Gas Prices:

"This is when the Federal Government should come in and file a "windfall profit tax" against the oil companies. They did it before back in the '70s, they can do it again. The price for a barrel of oil has been slowing going down but not the price at the pumps."


There you go, but I don't remember the "windfall profit tax in the '70s but I do remember Reagan introduced it in the 80's up to '87. I can't say for sure but it might have lead to the oil companies coming up with new ways to drill for oil. So, all of those huge profits were being put back into the company for research and development.

OIL-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

But your theory of price caps and suing big oil is how did you say it "punishing a company for making a profit".

I didn't mention price caps or suing. I just think that all those huge profits should benefit someone beside the stockholder. Just like some of those in Washington are suggesting, not build new refineries but to expand amd make improvements on those that already exist. Add to the strategic oil reserve, anything that will benefit the average citizen. Pay my heating cost for this winter. lol.

As it is, I don't want to turn on the heaters because I don't want to pay a huge gas bill, but I dont' want to freeze either.

There is more at stake than the bottomline.

EARTH

Sgt Fluffy said...

There is no such thing as global warming, solar warming maybe. It goes in cycles. As for Earth "healing " itself...man you're scaring me.

First let me purpose the theory that a meteor impacted the earth, causing such a dust cloud that it blocked out the sun for so long the dinosaurs starved to death.

METEOR

Secondly, let me introduce the effects of a massive volcano eruption in the 1800s.

VOLCANO

Long-term effects

The eruption produced spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months afterwards, as a result of sunlight reflected from suspended dust particles ejected by the volcano high into Earth's atmosphere. British artist William Ashcroft made hundreds of color sketches of the red sunsets half-way around the world from Krakatoa in the years after the eruption. In 2004, researchers proposed the idea that the blood-red sky shown in Edvard Munch's famous 1893 painting The Scream is also an accurate depiction of the sky over Norway after the eruption.

And its been shown that Yellow Stone National Park is in the middle of a large Volcano crater that has had massive eruptions.

YELLOW STONE

And we all know about Mount St. Helens. So, if the earth wasn't capable of cleaning its atmosphere, our skies would look like those of Venus or even Jupiter.

WINDFALL

Sgt Fluffy said...

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/10/26/115730.shtml

Wow,She wants even higher prices. Punish the high acheivers, thats the way to boost the economy

No one wants to punish a company from making a profit, that's what they are in business for, but when the profits are double and triple what they were the previous year, exspecially for an industry who claimed to be hurting because of the Hurricanes, they don't appear to be hurting so much. Not at much as the average consumer who has to pay those huge gas prices to eek out a meager living. Or for those of us who may have to choose between staying warm and eating.

Those who are stockholders in those companies are cheering because they get huge dividends. BUT, how many people will die this winter because they couldn't find a warm place to stay because they couldn't afford the heating oil or natural gas. The violins may have played for those oil companies if they had shown some kind of loss due to the storms, but NO, they show pots of gold. While they sit in the ivory towers looking down a the huddled masses trying to keep warm during the winter, they can afford those sky high heating bill.

The oil companies control the flow of oil into the country and by doing so control the price. Its all about the profits.

WATER

Sgt Fluffy said...

Dude...it was sarcasm. But....with that said, the 2/3rds water thing. Water is an abundant source...why should we pay for it?

I agree whole heartedly, I wish we could go back to the days of draw wells, where we didn't have to pay for water. After all it comes free from the sky.

And, I think that the whole "global warming" could be solved if the countries around the world would stop the pollution and let the earth heal itself. After all, for millions of years, volcanoes have been throwing ash and dust into the atmosphere, but the sky isn't blacked out. All the record rainfalls could be washing the atmosphere clear and we wouldn't have to worry about "global warming." And the hole in the Ozone laywer will mend itself too. The earth itself has done more polluting itself that we have.

FDA-CONTINUED

karen said...

Then what would they do for a living? Sorry to say NO TELLING what we are eating.No Wonder sometimes we get Stomach ailments

Oh the food items are covered, in fact if you read the alerts page you'll a long list of food items with a sprikling of medicinal products.

ALERTS

D.C. OWES MARYLAND MILLIONS

HEALTHCARE

A healthcare company in Maryland is seeking reimbursment after D.C. shut down their only public hospital and the patients instead went to Maryland to seek treatment.

GLOBAL WARMING

Sgt Fluffy said...

...what if a drought came around because of the mythical global warming and water became scarce

Time of a physics lesson. The earth is covered with 2/3 water. When water heats up, it evaporates into the air and forms clouds, clouds make rain and the water returns to earth. That is when for the first time in 50 years, Death Valley was in bloom this year.

FLOWERS

And the song "It Never Rains in Southern California" by Albert Hammond, didn't apply this year because Souternn California had record rain fall amounts.

SONG

RAINFALL REPPORT

Even in New England, they have had record rain fall amounts.

FLOOD

Flooding in New Hampshire:

NEW HAMPSHIRE

That's why I've always believed that if the world could cut down on pollution now, the earth would heal itself. The rain would wash the atmosphere clean.

BIG PROFIT

WINDFALL

The one thing oil companies fear most, a "windfall profit tax." Yet look at their reports.

the oil companies have begun to report record quarterly profit. Yesterday, British energy giant BP PLC reported a $6.53 billion third-quarter profit, up from $4.87 billion in the same period last year. And tomorrow, analysts expect Exxon Mobil Corp. To show that it earned nearly $9 billion over the past three months -- the largest corporate quarterly profit ever.

And where are all these profits going? Into research and development? No, into ad campaigns to show that they aren't the bad guys.

In the pages of The Washington Post, for example, according to the paper's ad executives, BP has taken out seven large issue ads so far this year, compared with zero through the same time last year. Exxon Mobil has had 19 so far this year, compared with 12 last year. For Chevron Corp., it's 17 ads so far this year, compared with six last year. And the industry's trade group, the American Petroleum Institute, has purchased seven ads in The Post so far this year, compared with none last year.

There's more.

In the third quarter of 2004, for instance, Exxon Mobil earned $6.2 billion. When the company reports its third-quarter results tomorrow, David Dropsey, an analyst with Thomson First Call research, expects profit of about $8.8 billion.

Chevron made $3.2 billion in last year's third quarter; Dropsey predicts the company will hit about $4.3 billion for this year's third quarter. ConocoPhillips Co. is expecting a $3.5 billion quarterly profit when it reports today, Dropsey said, up from $2 billion last year.

Just like the Pharmaceuticals, the Oil industry knows that Americans need their products so they can raise their prices all they want and there isn't anything the average American can do, except ride public transportation.

BOTTLED WATER

Sgt Fluffy said...

"This price of bottled water doesn't affect every aspect of our daily lives"

First, we need water to live....shouldn't it be free?

Second, what if a drought came around because of the mythical global warming and water became scarce.....shouldn't it to be controlled like you say oil should be? The supply is scarce, demand is up, how much should we be expected to pay for 20 oz of water???

Unless you're someone who lives in Hollywood and is very famous, bottled water shouldn't be the center of your world. There is this device in your kitchen, you turn the knob and water comes out. Its cheaper and as I posted earlier, contains more minerals and things that are good for you, where bottled water doesnt' and to rid tap water of those bad things that are also there, you can by a filter that will last 3 months and is a heck of a lot cheaper than 3 months worth of bottled water.

FDA

INQUIRY

Maybe with hims gone the FDA can finally get back to what they are supposed to be doing, making sure bad drugs don't get released.

BIG OIL

PRICES

After forcing through two pieces of legislation with significant benefits for the oil industry this year, House Republican leaders on Tuesday called for oil companies to return the favor by building new refineries and taking other steps to increase fuel supply and lower gas prices.

See, Congress admits they worked to benefit Big Oil.

Democrats criticized not only the Republican plan for spending cuts but also the new House approach to oil prices, which followed approval this year of a major energy bill and a separate refinery measure that delivered billions of dollars in industry subsidies and other incentives to oil companies.

"Unfortunately for Speaker Hastert and his special-interest cronies," said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, "one photo-op press conference isn't going to change the fact that he has been pushing the very legislation that has led to record profits for the oil industry every chance he gets."

Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, said that while the leadership was pushing for new refineries, expansion of existing facilities could accomplish the same result at a quicker pace.

And there is your proof about Big Oil.

PATRIOT ACT

DEATH PENALTY

Another far reaching aspect of the Patriot Act. Before now, if one juror, during the penalty phase of a trial, voted against the death sentence, the sentence was automatically commuted to Life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now, in the bill before Congress to renew the Patriot Act, there is a provision inserted that would allow prosecutors, in the event that at least one juror voted for the death penalty to go back and empanel another jury for the sentencing phase and argue again that the death penalty is warranted.

They use as an example the 2001 trial of two agents of the al-Qaida terrorist group for their bombing of two American embassies in East Africa. After their trial in New York it was revealed that the jury had voted 9-3 for the death penalty.

If this bill passes, then it will mean that every trial, where the death penalty is on the table, all the DA needs is one juror to vote for the death penalty and he can try again with a new jury to achieve his goal.

SYRIA

LEBANON

In spite of the fact that Syria pulled its troops out of Lebanon, the United States, Great Britian and believe it or not, France is asking the security counsel to put more pressure on Syria, including sanctions, if they don't stop arming Hezbola and other radical groups that continue to operate inside and around Lebanon's borders.

SUNNIS BECOMING MORE INVOLVED

SUNNIS

Well, the last elections in Iraq had one desired effect. It caused the Sunnis to become more invovled with the Government. They have set up their own coalition, made up of 3 groups of Sunnis; the Iraqi People's Gathering, the Iraqi Islamic Party and the National Dialogue Council.

They hope with this coalition, they can counter balance the power of the Kurds and Shiities.

WALMART

EMPLOYMENT

I guess that means I can't apply there, but it also puts them at odds with the People with Disabilities Act. Hey I'd apply if I were cleared to go back to work. Then have the rehab office to go with me down there and see what they say.

BOTTLED WATER

karen said...

Do not even Get started on the Bottled water issue!. Ya know evian backwards is it NAIVE. :-) I think people are always going to be up in arms with something!

You were right but you mis-spelled Evian but I corrected it here. Speaking of bottled water I don't know how many of you all watch 60 minutes on Sundays, but a week ago last Sunday, Andy Rooney was doing his piece and it was on bottled water. How everywhere you turn, you can find a woman with a bottle of water. So, out of curiousity, he gathered all the popular brands and took them to a lab to see what was in the water besides water. Out of all the non-flavored water, there was nothing but water, no minerals or vitamins or anything. You get more from your tap water than you do bottled water. SO, Andy Rooney came up with an idea. He wondered if he took a bunch of empty bottles and filled them from the water cooler, how many bottles could he sell of "Andy Rooney's Bottled Water."
By the way. I saw a report a few years ago, and I can't remember where, but one of those famous natural spring waters comes from a faucet "near" a natural spring. I think I saw that on 60 Minutes.

ECONOMICS-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

Economics is economics weather its taught in high school or college. But you cannot deny we as consumers set the price depending on the demand of the product. Look, if you want to get pissy, Lets look at the price of bottled water. Why aren't people crying about the price of bottled water? Its what $1.29 per 20 oz's. Lets sue big water because hey, they are making one hell of a profit. What about capping the price of water, hey we need it to to survive. Lets just cap the price on everything that is sold because someone out there is going to make a profit on it perish the thought that someone will make money in this country and have more money than most of us, so hey, lets just penalize them for making money. Lets just have mass executions of people who make more money than you and me, that'll teach those bastards to be smarter than us, yap, you are right Kenny, lets kill em all and then everything will be fair. We need that level playing field after all. As for the egg and milk board, how many family owned poultry and dairy farms are left in this country because of price fixing. Not many, because they didn't PROFIT from it. Price Fixing ruins the economy

This price of bottled water doesn't affect every aspect of our daily lives. We can live without bottled water, just by a water filter and attach it to your faucet. But getting back to consumers and they market price. I worked for 3 yrs with a farmer at the Home Depot. Yes he was a full time farmer on a working farm but had to work at Home Depot too. Now, back in the days of the movie "Field of Dreams" with Sally Field and Danny Glover, back then, the farmer who brought is crop in first got the highest price. Then as the market got saturated, the price went down. Now crop prices are set by the commodities market.

As Mike the farmer told me, he grew soybeans and cotton and corn. He had a guy who would come out and look at his fields, how many acres he had for each crop. Once the crops were planted and started coming up, the County agent or who ever he was would come out and estimate the yeld per acre and set the price on each crop based on that estimate. Now, no matter what happens, an extremely dry, or wet summer, that price is what Mike is going to get. Now, if Mike's crops don't produce as estimated, then Mike has to make up the difference, thats what crop insurance is for. But then thats money out of Mike's pocket. So, no, the consumer doesn't set the price of Mike's crops, the Commodities market does. Just like every day they have the hog futures out of Chicago, and those futures affect farmers nation wide.
Now, the futures market can be affected by such things as weather, but that's on prices months away, not today.

BARTERING

porchwise said...

I'm all for bartering...it still works well out here in the country; that and neighborliness.
Here's a good barter plan for oil: Withdraw all our military from the eastern bloc, offer to barter all future arms, aircraft and training for their oil and offer to protect anyones borders in exchange for their oil. In a few months there'd be so many tankers headed our way you'd have to put traffic cops out in the ocean.

Sounds like a great idea. Now if we could get it past Congress and the UN.

BUSH'S SECOND TERM-CONTINUED

karen said...

Rocky? Let me rephrase you. Bush has been stumbling! I am hoping for a rebound!

Me too, for someone who started out so well, he has made a lot of mistakes this time around. But so has the last few presidents who were lucky enough to have a 2nd term. Reagan had Contragate during his 2nd term, and Clinton had Monica in his 2nd term. So, they all do great the first 4 yrs but really screw up the last 4.

NATIONAL SECURITY-CONTINUED

karen said...

Then I would have to believe would be in violation with something Right? Who hasn't Lied when it comes to national security, especially in Politics

True, I haven't seen many politicians who told the truth.

TREASON

mojoala said...

Does this mean we could be looking at the execution of a Vice President for Treason?

If they didn't execute the Fisher family, father, son and daughter, who, for over 30 yrs sold military secrets to the Soviet Union, I doubt they will execute a VP for treason.

ECONOMICS 101

Sgt Fluffy said...

Do you know why the profit? Because according to the Law of supply and demand, we the consumers set the price on everything we buy. There is a high demand for oil from the US,India and China right now, but the supply is strained due to a bunch of factors. Just because "big oil" makes money doesn't make them evil. What about all the governmental and environmental controls on drilling and refineries in the US. They are the reason we are in trouble. No refineries built in over 30 years, no drilling anywhere because some rodent might be harmed, it's insane, why must you think every time some one makes money off of something they are inherently evil? Just because they run a business for profit, does that mean they shouldn't make money? Or have their profits capped? That's delving into communism.

Fluffy, Fluffy, Fluffy, wake up and smell the coffee. We are talking about real life, not high school economics. In school Economics made sense, if everything was run that way it would be great. But this is life. We consumers don't set the price for ANYTHING. The Egg board sets the price of eggs, the milk board sets the price of milk, the beef counsel sets the price of beef. Oil prices from the Arab world is set by OPEC. The gas prices in the US is set by the FTC. Why do you think everyone get up in arms when someone drops the price at the pump a lot lower than their competitors? The Government has all the subsidies that makes sure that no one undercuts someone else. The only example you can find today of a free open market where the comsumer truely controls the price is the farmers market or curb market, where you can haggle the price of produce.

NATIONAL SECURITY

FBI

I know yesterday I said J. Edgar Hoover would be proud, but I think even Joseph McCarthy would be proud too. The FBI is taking the position that all of the violations they have committed the last few years they claim was done in the interest of National Security under the Patriot Act, which Congress is seeking to extend.

PRISONER ABUSE

TORTURE

The White House is asking Senator John McCain of all people to put in an exception to his amendment to a military spending bill, that would ban the use of cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment of any detainee held by the United States.

McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam and was abused while being held, would be the last person to give any excepttions to an entity of the goverment to use torture against a detainee.

NATIVE AMERICANS

INDIANS

The African/Americans think they've had it hard, the Native Americans have had it harder and yet no one marches on Washington for their rights. As it is, hundreds of computers are linked to their banking and other information. Over 6,000 government computers have access to the Indian Trust data. Some in the government say that blocking those computers is against public interest. The trust was set up by the Dawes Act of 1887. At that time, the reservations were being broken up and individual lots were being sold, with the proceeds going into the Trust. The money from the Trust was to be paid out to individual trust accounts held by the Indians.

Some of the Indians lived on the lots, others were leased out for grazing, energy and mineral royalties. In 1996, a law suit was filed on behalf of over a half million Indians, claiming that over the past century, the government has squandered over 137 billion dollars from that trust.

So, can anyone blame them if they want to set up casinos on their land and take back some of the money that the "white man" has been taking from them for over 100 years?

NEW CONSTITUTION

IRAQ

Eventhough Bush's 2nd term has been rocky, at least one thing is going in the right direction. The Iraqi people voted to accept the new constitution, inspite of the Sunni opposition. It puts the new Government in Iraq on more solid ground. Now they have new elections coming up to make their new government more permanent and hopefully unite the country more against the insurgents.

BUSH'S SECOND TERM

FED

Beside the war in Iraq, it appears that Bush's second term is about cronyism. He nominated the White House counsel to the Supreme Court and then he nominates his chief Economics Adviser to the Federal Reserve Board. Ben S. Bernanke must have had a crystal ball, because he sold his house and instead of returning to a tenured position as a professor at Princeton, he told friends that Bush would promote him to a high level Federal position.

CIA AGENT EXPOSED

LEAK

It appears that our Vice President Dick Cheney is the one responsible for the disclosure of Valerie Wilson as a CIA agent. Cheney wanted to know all he could about Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was questioning the truth behind the allegations that Iraq was looking to buy nuclear material for weaspons of mass destruction.

It appears that Cheney found out that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA from the then director, George J. Tenet. It is not known if Cheney knew she was an undercover agent or not, but it looks like the rumors are true; that all because Joseph Wilson went against the White House and couldn't back up their story that Saddam was looking to buy nuclear material, that they made Wilson pay for it by exposing his wife as an agent. And, by doingn so, they broke the "Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982."

AGENT

GAS PRICES-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

Have you EVER read the laws of Supply and Demand?

As a matter of fact I did, when I took Economics in high school. Supposedly, when supplies are high, the price is supposed to come down, and when the supply is low, the price goes up and that affects demand. When the price goes up, demand declines. When the price comes down, the demand increases.

But that doesn't seem to apply in the real world, because when oil was selling for $74 a barrel on the market, the price at the pump was around $3.50 a gal. When I last saw the price today, it was selling at barely $60 a barrel, so the price at the pump should be significantly lower. But, all the oil companies are posting their quarter earnings at Wall Street, showing alot of profits for the last quarter. Gee I wonder why? That might make their stock holders very happy, but the general population I'm sure isn't thrilled.

GAS PRICES

PROFITS

This is when the Federal Government should come in and file a "windfall profit tax" against the oil companies. They did it before back in the '70s, they can do it again. The price for a barrel of oil has been slowing going down but not the price at the pumps.

IRAQI WOMEN TAKE UP ARMS

WOMEN

Back during Dessert Storm, the Arab world thought it was awlful that Americans let women carry arms and be involved in war, but now, companies operating inside Iraq are training women to ride along with the male truck drivers and they are being armed and trained to protect those convoys.

LEVEES

POOR DESIGN

Although there are several black leaders who want to believe that the Army corps of Engineers blow up the levees, especially those around the 9th ward, inspectors say it was a design flaw from the begining that lead to their failure. It appears that they pilings used to anchor the levee weren't driven deep enough into a solid base. Being below sea level, the area surrounding New Orleans is swampy, boggy peat moss. The pilings need to be driven below the layers of peat and into solid rock and earth, and they weren't. That made the levees weak and its why they failed.

A RELIC OF VIETNAM REVIVED

BODY COUNT

The military has revived the body count to show the effectiveness of our forces in Iraq and Afganistan, just as they did in Vietnam, I know. BUT, unlike Vietnam, there isn't a country to the north with billions of people pouring in to join the fight. Yes the insurgents are coming from outside sources, but the military know where the leaks are in the borders and they have hit several border towns that are used as jumping off points. As soon as more Iraqi soldiers come online to join the fight, those leaks can be premanently plugged.

But I think its good for the people at home, who are constantly told of Americann forces killed in action, to know how many of the enemy were killed too.

J. EDGAR HOOVER WOULD BE PROUD

FBI

reminiscent of the days of Hoover, the FBI is back to spying on Americans again without any authorization or oversight. Grant it, after 9/11, there is greater concern about domestic terrorism but, there still should be probable cause when it comes to wire tapping and other surveillance.

KOREA

porchwise said...

Pulling out of Korea? My Air Force son just came home on leave and he's now enroute back to Cheyenne where he leaves Nov. lst for..guess where...Korea, for a years tour of duty.

When Rumsfeld was talking about how thin our forces were stretched, trying to cover our "cold war" positions and fight a war in both Afganistan and Iraq, he suggested paring down our forces along the DMZ in Korea. Not pulling out completely, just shrinking the size of the forces there.

BACKGROUND CHECKS

INTERPRETER

Isn't that something? The man had top level Security Clearence, and had worked in the field for two years. Yet he lied on his autobiography that he gave the government. So, he could be working for Al-Qaida for all anyone knows.

The complaint charges the man with lying to federal officials on three occasions: in his application for naturalization in 1998, in his application for a security clearance in 2003 and in interviews connected with the renewal of his clearance in September.

LAW AND ORDER

CIA

Those of us who faithfully watch the tv drama, and all it's spin offs, Law and Order, we are lead to believe that it isn't necessarily the one who pulled the trigger that suffers the greatest consequence of a crime, but the one who was the "master mind" behind the crime.

Now it appears that it doesn't apply to real life. Although it has been testified to several times in the court martial of the soldiers who were stationed at the prison Abu Grhaib in Iraq, that the CIA was the ones who directed and approved of the mistreatment of the detainees held there, the CIA is going to be allowed to skate free of all but one of the deaths attributed to that mistreatment. And, even in that one, the person being held, David A. Passaro, is not a CIA agent, only someone they contracted out to.

But, then they got away with the biggest criminal case to hit the US, the assassination of President Kennedy, so why wouldn't they get away with abusing prisoners.

NATIVE AMERICANA

INDIANS

This is another case of Native Americans against a state, this time it's Arizona. Several tribes around Flagstaff, Arizona, call the San Francisco Peaks, towering 12,000-foot-plus, their holy land and are against the ski Resort, the Arizona Snowbowl, spraying treated waste water over the mountain sides to create artificial snow. The lawyer representing these tribes likened the project to "pouring dirty water over the Vatican." These tribes gather herbs and the mountain spring waters for their religious ceremonies.

NEW ORLEANS HOUSING

DEMOLITION

They estimate that 50,000, possibly more, homes in the New Orleans area will have to be torn down. Almost entire neighbors, like those in the 9th Ward, where there was wholesale destruction, will have to be rebuilt. They are already claiming that this will permanently change the political landscape of New Orleans.

SYRIA-CONTINUED

porchwise said...

It'll probably boil down to a coin flip in the WH about who to invade next, Syria or Iran. In the short run they're probably both doomed but, in the long run, we're probably doomed to have our military in there forever, or at least until the '08 elections.

I can see how strongly you feel about this, seeing that you posted the same comment 5 times. LOL Just kidding.

But I do agree, that we will probably have to have a military presence there for a while. But we seem to be pulling our military out of Korea and other long standing places, so I guess we have to come up with others to occupy.

NATIVE LANDS

porchwise said...

Or, to put it another way, the government is Big Oil. And, speaking of natives, you know what happens when Imperilists want something off or out of native lands and the natives get restless...bye, bye, natives.

Unfortunately, that has been the government's track record. Putting the Native Americans on reservations just so the government could take their land. AND THEN, going after the mineral rights on those reservations, as they did in North Dakota. What was almost funny, was that in the 1970s, the Wabanaki People, a tribe of Native Americans, were in court stating that they still owned 60% of the land that made up the atate of Maine, due to the fact that several treaties had been broken by the United States, and as a result the Wabanaki People wanted to reclaim their land.

MAINE

EXPIRED VISAS

VISAS

According to the article, millions of people are here in the United Stated on expired visa. In 2004, it was estimated that at least 3.6 million people, out of an estimated 9 million to 10 million illegal immigrants, were those with expired visas. During that period, there were only an estimate of 51 Federal employees following up on these visas.

And if you remember, the 9/11 highjackers were here on expired visas.

KICKBACKS

IRAQI OIL

An American oilman, Oscar S. Wyatt Jr, was indicted on charges that he paid millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime for the right to sell Iraqi oil.
Even after the UN said that Iraqi could only sell their oil for food and medicine, Wyatt started paying a "secret fee" to be allowed to continue to sell Iraqi oil.

ASSASSINATION

SYRIA

A UN report released on Thursday states that they believe Syria was involved in the assassination of the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri. Now Bush and Secretary of State Rice wants the UN to act of that report. Both Bush and Rice would like the the world to isolate Syria because,not only for its invasion and actions in Lebanon but also for its actions along the northern border of Iraq, where Syrian soldiers have clashed with American soldiers.

STRANGE BUT TRUE

BULLET

A woman in Florida found a bullet in a pork loin she just bought at a publix store. No one knows how a bullet got into the loin or how it got past the inspectors.

BIG OIL

MAP

Goes to show that BIG OIL is controling the government. A map that has been in existence since 1978, that marked off the Artic Wildlife Refuge, which is as valuable as the Tundra in Cananda.

So, they have drawn up a new map, that doesn't mark off the Wildlife Refuge and it includes native lands, which, according to the law, 2,000 acres can be used for drilling platforms, airstrips and other uses.

Knowing the need for oil, how much do you want to bet, that someone got rid of that 1978 map, just do they could drill on native land.

MICHAEL BROWN

FEMA

I know many of you probably have heard the saying, "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." Well, it appears that while New Orleans was flooding, Michael Brown was dining. According to the sole FEMA personnel that was in New Orleans at the time of Katrina, tried calling Brown to let him know that the city was flooding and the supplies that were supposed to be at the SuperDome weren't there. But, his calls never then through to Brown because the person who answered those calls and emails, said that Brown had to dine in Baton Rouge.

SADDAM'S TRIAL

TRIAL

I guess Saddam's enemies are trying to make sure he is convicted. One of his defense lawyers was killed yesterday.

MEDICATIONS

porchwise said...

My son-in-laws father is paraplegic and has the same problem with stones. I can tell when they're bothering him because he's got a real sense of humour and when he loses it, I leave him alone.

That's me, and my friend, who post comments on here occassionaly, can tell you, that when I lose my "goofyness" (her words), then she knows something is wrong. No, she just tells me I'm such a goof. That's why I surprised her when I first started this blog, she never knew how much information I had stored in my head. She just thought I was such a goof. LOL In our situations you have to have a sense of humor to keep from going nuts.

MINIMUM WAGE-CONTINUED

Sgt Fluffy said...

Minimum wage is not meant to be a living wage. Think about it, how many years did you work for minimum wage? A lot of high school kids do and people in between jobs do, but its not meant to be permanent.

You're right but there are alot of entry level jobs that only pay minimum wage. Whether you're a teen or someone who is starting over, like you said, its not a living wage.

IRAQI WAR-CONTINUED

whtfucover said...

We were the leaders at the Geneva Convention

We never signed it, we just follow it.Plus it only is for standing armies, The taliban is not really an army as much as a group of pissed off people....well now they are more pissed off now.

You know, I was told that in college, that the US didn't sign the Geneva Accords after WW I, because it called for the destruction of all chemical weapons, and the US did not want to give up its chemical weapons stockpile. BUT, I can't find anything on the net to verify it. I wouldn't believe that our professor would have told us wrong.

FDA-CONTINUED

porchwise said...

I think I'll just stick to my good old insulin, at least it's trustworthy. My little sis (also a type 2) tried some of those 'new' pancreas kickers a few years ago and liked to have died. She now sticks to her insulin too.

I don't blame either one of you. I've always hated then doctors tried changing my meds because the newer ones weren't as good.

Oh and one of my chronic problems is I develop kidney stones and I once tried this experimental medication for prevent them but I had to sign a stack of papers, because it was never tested on paraplegic before.

THE FDA IS AT IT AGAIN

DRUGS

The FDA is willing to release to the public another drug that is already showing signs that it could lead to the death of some of those taking it. The drug is intended for those with Type 2 diabetes, but test show that the drug can lead to death from heart attacks and strokes at twice the level than the placebo. The FDA has this information.

MINIMUM PAY HIKE

MINIMUM WAGE

I guess since they turned down their own pay raise, the Senate decided no one else needed a pay raise either.

IRAQ WAR

Sgt Fluffy said...

I think we need to stop bowing down to the rest of the world and fight the war to win it.

I agree. They start worrying about public opinion and then the enemy takes advantage of that, knowing they can do what they want, but Americans have to fight a humane war. They all scream Geneva Convention when it comes to the Americans but the other countries never follow the Geneva Accords.

AMERICAN TROOPS BURN BODIES

BODIES

I'm not saying that what those soldiers did was right but where was the world's outrage when the soldiers at Dessert One, that were killed in the failed attempted to rescue the embassy hostages in Iran. The Irani people dragged those bodies around the streets.

Or in Iraq when American soldiers were found hanging from bridges. And I won't even go into the rumors that came out of Vietnam. Other countries can do horrible things and the world turns it head, but let an American soldier do it and the world condems it.

SENATE PAY RAISE

porchwise said...

Don't chalk this up to any guilt by the Senators, it's strictly a political move. They've been overpaid since they passed the bill to give themselves pay raises and with the republicans on a downhill slide, this is just another tool to bolster their standing with the public.

Well, they have to do something, they don't have much to offer so they have to make themselves look good. they are getting ready for the mid-term elections and have to put themselves in a positive light.

SENATORS REJECT PAY RAISE

RAISE

Someone check the weather report. I think Hell has frozen over. Its the first time I ever heard of a government worker on any level passing up a pay raise. Now the entire Senate is going to??? Maybe the world is coming to an end.

DEFENSE ATTORNEY BECOMES SUSPECT

WIFE

A nationally known defense attorney, Daniel Horowitz, became a suspect himself in his wife's murder. He claims when he got home to his secluded house where he and his wife lived while they were building a much bigger and better house near by, found her beaten to death. Its normal police procedure to suspect the husband when they are the ones who make the discovery of their wife's body. They also were checking into those who had access to the property during the day.

SADDAM

SADDAM

Saddam Husein wants to disrub his trail, claiming they have no right to judge him since he still believes he is president of Iraq.

TITAN ROCKETS

END OF AN ERA

With the rocket launch today, the Titan rocket will retire for good. After 50 yrs in service. Once used as an ICBM, then it was used to put satellites into space.

RED CROSS

AIDE

The Iraqi's want aid but not marked with the Red Cross. Four aide workers were held when the the insurgents captured and held them because they thought the aid was coming from a Christian organization. The Red Cressent they have not problem with.

ILLEGAL ALIENS

ALIENS

It would be great if Bush could make this work but he cant' even keep out illegal aliens now. And how many right now have visas that have expired a long time ago but they are still here? Round those up and send them back, then talk about stopping them from coming in. The 9/11 highjackers were here on exspired visas.

AVIAN FLU

BIRD FLU

They keep talking its already happened, the flu has crossed species and has become contagious among humans, BUT IT HASN'T YET. That's like talking like the plague is coming. As I said before its the Swine Flu all over again. Several pig farmers came down with a flu that was said to have infected their livestock. So everyone panicked, that the flu was crossing species. A massive effort was made to produce enough vaccine for the up coming pandemic. It didn'thappen.

FLU

FEMA LOST COUNT

COUNT

FEMA has over estimated the number of displaced people still in hotels. Which means the gov't is paying for hotel rooms that aren't being used. Typical government entity. Just like the $500 hammers.

BUS FIRE 3

mojoala said...

Yes they owned the bus, maybe the registration was allowed to elapse due to problems. Buses have to inspected before registration can be reissued in that state. Rick Perry signed a waiver. He is guilty, not the driver, the driver was doing what he was told to do. Are you gonna screw over a soldier because people died when he was following orders?

If you own a limo company, and you know one of the limos needs some major repairs and you let someone take it out anyway, then who is the one responsible? It is your responsibility to tell them, "No, this one needs lot of repairs." I don't care if the president wanted to use your car, if you know its in need of repairs and you don't tell them, you as owner are responsible for what happens.

BUS FINE-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

Juan Robles Gutierrez, a 37-year-old Mexican national is being used as a scapegoat, when it was allowed back on the road because of a waiver signed by Gov. Rick Perry.

Rick Perry should charged with negligent homicide!

He signed the waiver, he accepted all responsibility. NUFF SAID!

I still say Global Limo owned the bus, therefore is responsible for all needed repairs. The waivers the Governor signed had to do with lapsed registrations, not a waiver on proper maintaince

THE RIGHT

Sgt Fluffy said...

Bad side: What will the Right attack next?

I'm thinking the levees again, we didn't quite get all of them last time. Nothing like killing the unborn, elderly and useless people ...right. Hitler would be proud

Better watch it, you're starting to sound like Louis Farrakhan. and I surely hope you don't want to sound like him.

ELECTIONS

Sgt Fluffy said...

"The Republicans that primarily consist of the Salary class will be able to take off of work and vote and not have their paycheck affected."

WTF? What does that have to do with voting. Polls are open from what 7am to 7pm and employers are required BY LAW to allow people to vote. That comparison is so 1900's. Next you're gonna say they are going to bring back the poll tax.

A lot has to do with voter apathy. They don't feel like they are getting what they deserve so why bother. Then comes all the dirt that one party throws at another, all the negative campaigning doesn't really help. The people end up feeling that neither deserve the people's vote.

That happened here in Alabama in the 90's. This state as had a Demogratic Governor since Reconstruction, but in the late 1980s, we had two Democratic candidates that did nothing but negative campaigning, it got so bad that we elected our first Republican Governor in a very long time. People get tired of hearing it and they lose interest in voting.

STEM CELLS

karen said...

I also think thay scientist should find a way to 'HARVEST' EMBROYS WITOUT detroying them by Abortion. With all the "science" of Medicine I think they would Be able to find a way.

Well, this maybe a bad analogy but it would be like plucking a fruit from one tree and trying to atttach it to another. Once those lines of nutrition are cut, its extremely hard to repair.

BUS FIRE

FIRE

The bus driver shouldn't be held responsible, it should be Global Limo, the owners of the bus. They knew its maintance history.

VENEZUELA

CHAVEZ

I don't think it would be a wise idea for Hugo Chavez to get his hands on nuclear technology. He would be the type to use it.

911 DISPATCHER

DISPATCHER

If you're in Washington, D.C., I hope you don't need 911. Lately the dispatchers there have been making mistakes. Some that have cause harm to people.

This one incident, a woman was attacked and beaten before the attacker took her purse. Luckily for her she had her cell phone in her hand. She called 911 as her attacker was walking away. She told the dispatcher that she just left the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Metro Station when she was attacked and she even described her attacker. The dispatcher wanted her to see if she could get her attacker to follow her until the police got there.

Then the dispatcher wanted to know if she was northeast or northwest, because the police couldn't find her. There is only one Georgia Avenue stop and its Northwest

So, as I said, if you're in D.C. don't expect the 911 dispatchers to be helpful during an emergency

MAYOR NAGIN-CONTINUED

porchwise said...

I think what the mayor has in mind is getting the French Quarter up and running in time for the Mardi Gras. It'll probably be a long time before the ports are up and running and the city needs income...but I think I'll pass on this one.

Yeah, that seems to be all his has on his mind is to get the city ready for Mardi Gras, but can he really expect people to come if there isn't accomadations for them? I mean they have the evacuees taking up the hotel spaces down there.

STEM CELL RESEARCH

STEM CELLS

cientist have come up with a way to produce stem cells without destroying embryos. It may be possible to connvert a patient's skin cells to ebryonic cell, then to stem cells. Ebryonic cells created this way are not able to implant into a uterus.

ELECTION DAY


mojoala said...

Is that why our elections are on the weekdays?

The Republicans that primarily consist of the Salary class will be able to take off of work and vote and not have their paycheck affected.

Unlike the Democrats that make primarily consist of the Hourly class cannot be able to take off of work and vote and not have their paycheck affected?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Well then, how would that explain the Democratics that have held the power not only in the Congress but also in the White House. After all, Clinton was there for 8 yrs.

MAYOR NAGIN

karen said...
The Mayor is a KNOB!

Well I don't know if its knob or knoob, but it isn't smart wanting people to come back before the infra-structure is rebuilt. He's asking people come back and help with the clean up, but there were a lot of toxins left behind in the sediment. There's no hospitals to take care of the injured or those who could become sick. Most of the housing in uninhabitable. Its going to take a lot of work and time before New Orleans will even be a shadow of its former self.

ELECTRONIC NEWS-CONTINUED

porchwise said...

I totally agree. I like to digest the news along with my breakfast and that's the only time I have time to do the crossword.

I agree and you run a risk if you take your laptop to the bathroom, where most men do their reading and croswords.

NEW ORLEANS

CLEAN UP

The mayor was in such a hurry to get people back that he never thought about what conditions he was asking people to come bsck to.

CHINA

CHINESE MARKETS

Maybe Bush can do what most western leaders couldn't do since before the opium wars, get the Chinese to open their markets to the west. China has never wanted good or services from the West. They would sell their silks and lacquered furniture but never wanted any goods in return. Now after centuries of being closed, China is starting to open their markets for foreign goods.

TWO SIDES OF THE SUNNI STORY

SUNNIS

Some Sunnis voted against the Constitution because the said it favored the Shiites. Other Sunnis voted in favor of the Constitution because by doing so they were being part of the system that would be their future.

IRAQI ELECTION

CONSTITUTION

It appears that the Iraqis have accepted their new constitution and unlike the last election, the Sunnis participated in this one. Maybe now the insurgents will start to lose their power.

ATTEMPTED FETUS THEFT

BABY

It's happened again, another psycho woman, claiming to be pregnant attacks a pregnant woman and attempts to cut the fetus out. Fortunately, a boy on an ATV came upon the situation and called the police. The baby is fine but the mother is in crital condition.

These psychos need to be put in a mental ward.

GOVERNMENT CONTROLED TV

BIG BROTHER

The government is telling Americans they have 4 yrs to change their television sets. They never made such statements when it came to radios. Not only does Big Brother want to control what TVs you use, but they are bringing moslem propaganda station Al Jazeera to the United States and have asked some well known American Reporters to come to their network.

AL JAZEERA

ELECTRONIC NEWS

PAPER

This may seem like a contradiction but if I could afford it, I'd subscribe to the "hard copy" newspaper over the electronic one. You can't sit at the dinning room table, eat breakfast, drink coffee and read the computer screen. You can't take it into the bathroom without risking dropping it water, if its on mobile device. And what happens if you accidentaly hit the wrong button while reading a story? then you have to back and find the story and try to find where you left off. And you can't start the crossword puzzle and finish it later.

I like the paper version better.

WTC PLAZA

karen said...

I have sooo many mixed Feelings on this Rebuilding on the world trade center site. This can be a bad thing or a Good thing. If they do this Rebuilding It might have some Closure to alot of People

Well, if you look at the way they have handled past tragedies, the Federal building in Oklahoma City, Flight 800 bound for France, and I can't recall others, but each memorial was done in a dignified manner. It is in the finanical district of New York City and they want to do something to bring people back to the area.

Donald Trump even said that if they didn't come up with something soon, he wanted to take over and rebuild the towwers as they were.

STARVATION

Sgt Fluffy said...
But we were told by the media that starvation was euphoric..

Well, the media might say that but I'm talking about personal experience, not only the times I was hospitalized and couldn't get before surgery, but I was also married to a sadistic woman, who, when I got laid up, tried to starve me to death. So, I know about those pains in the stomach.

WORLD TRADE CENTER PLAZA

PLAZZA

After all this time, they might finally be making headway into rebuilding on the site of the twin towers.

SYRIANS

WAR IN IRAQ

I know a lot of comparisons are made between Iraq and Vietnam, but this new information is more like Korea. In Korea, Macarthur was warned about going too close the the Chinese border, Truman was afraid China would join the war.

Now it appears that similar events have happened in Iraq, soldiers getting close to the Syrian border and engaging Syrians in firefights. If we aren't careful, the war will take over the entire Middle East.

SHORTY PRICE

mojoala said...

That would be much as a joke as Shorty Price running for Governor of Alabama!

Yeah, he might have actually won if he was still around.

IRAQI ELECTIONS

Sgt Fluffy said...

Because its a day when a lot more people can make it to the polls. same reason why some countries have theirs on Sunday.

Yeah, can you imagine the possible turn out if they held elections here on the weekends? The voters wouldn't have a big of an excuse that they couldn't get off work. Yes I know people work weekends too, but the majority work during the week, so it would eliminate their excused.

EUTHANASIA-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Hurricane coming thru, you're gonna lose power.

Euthanize the ones that rely on electricity to keep them alive?

That might be more humane then letting them die naturally and horribly when electricity stops flowing.

That appears to be the way the doctors thought, unfortunately for them, they survived to be prosecuted.

Sgt Fluffy said...

They should have let them starve...It would have been a more "euphoric" experience for them...or so i'm told

I don't know about that. Have you ever went a day or two without eating? Those hunger pains aren't all that pleasent.

PRESIDENT'S Q & A

Sgt Fluffy said...

All day yeasterday, from the morning till the time I got home it was billed as a teleconference (it was CNN Radio News) Why the big suprise? Photo op, all the Presidents have done it, but apparently He is the first ever President to have media coverage, oh..and by the way...its all Bush's fault and he is not running in '08

Well, like I said before, I thought all Presidential news conferences were more like a free for all that a well rehearsed show. But then like I said, during Reagan's Adminstration, someone pointed out how Helen Thomas always started and ended each press conference. That was when it was revealed that they do have an organized way of conducting those.

As far as everything the President says is written out for him, not during Reagan's first term in office. He used to drive his staff nuts during press conferences because he would bring up an article on what ever topic they were asking about, and quote from that article. Reagan was a well read President, from Reader's Digest to any other magazine. By his second term, they basically reined in his reading.

FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT

NEWT

Newt Gingrich said he might run in 2008.

REHEARSED Q AND A WITH THE PRESIDENT

QUESTIONS

What was touted as a impromptu question and answer session between President Bush and a group of 10 soldiers in Iraq turned out to be a rehearsed, staged event. Watching it as it was occurring, it looked authentic, but later it was shown how one of the President's men had been talking to the soldiers, telling them watch questions to ask and who should ask them. It was a choreographed as a dance recital.
Now I ready knew that the President's press conference are choreographed. Back during Reagan's adminstration, it was revealed how one woman, a famous reporter from the UPI, Helen Thomas, would always as the first question. From her it went to the AP reporter. Then, it went to the three network reporters. When it was time to end the press conference, Helen Thomas could be heard saying "Mr President, one more question." which he would ignore and he would leave the press room.

So, yeah those were set up that way, but Bush's Q and A with the troops was supposed to be off the cuff.

POSSIBLE EUTHANASIA?

DEATHS

Louisiana's Attorney General is looking into the deaths of several patients that hospitals and nursing homes in New Orleans following the flood. It's been rumored that during the height of the disaster, there was talk among doctors whether it would be better to euthanize some patients, especially those who were on ventilators or needed extreme care. The doctors agreeing that the patients wouldn't survive the ordeal.

IRAQI SOLDIERS LEADING THE FIGHT

DECOY

In an all Iraqi operation, they set up to convoys to deliver ballots for the up coming election. Only, one convoy was a decoy and the other was real. As they had planed, insurgents attacked the decoy trucks while the real ballots made it to the polling place. No Iraqi soldiers were killed but a few were wounded. No American soldiers took part in the operation.

BANKRUPTCY

DEBTS

I don't know if I like the idea of having to use credit counselors. Back when I got laid up, I had a lot of credit cards and I tried going through one of those credit counselors. I was paying them $400 a month, only to find out that they were not paying my creditors, in fact all my creditors said no one from that company every called them. I ended up having to declare bankruptcy.

I know Ameridebt got in trouble for similar practices, but the one I used, got sued and I think they are back under a different name. I say that because I recognize their Company Logo.

Anyway, if they could find a reputable credit counselor that will do what they are supposed to, it would help alot of people out.

ASSISTED LIVING

mojoala said...

Kenny, I do hate it for you. SSI is not keeping up with inflation. Furthermore, I believe that the Government in essense of honoring mother and father and the elderly and the infirmed should provide assisted living. If our government that is supposedly based on Christianity does not take care of these, then all precepts of the government based on the bible is a lie.

First of all, when I found out I was going to have to move out of the house I not only grew up in but inherited from my parents when they passed away, I checked into assisted living. They range in cost from $1500 to well over $2,000 a month. I get well below that in SSI.

Then, all of those in the surrouding area had waiting list over 5 yrs long. I was in no position to wait that long. I rent a house that I can somewhat afford, unless they take more out of my check, and I have my own tv, phone, kitchen and bedroom, plus I have my cat, who has been my means of sanity over the past couple of years. Only a few assisted living facilities will let you have a pet.

FEMA-CONTINUED

HOTELS

The reliance on hotels has been necessary, housing advocates say, because the Federal Emergency and Management Agency has had problems installing mobile homes and travel trailers for evacuees and has been slow to place victims in apartments that real estate executives say are available throughout the southeast.

I post shortcuts to the articles for a reason.

RETIREMENT-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

okay use the triple rule than that would make it currently 2678 a month. And that is more than my take home each month and I have 2 kids at home still.
You can't live off that as a single person, then one needs to reevaluate your onself.

No one said anything about a single person. By retirement age, most have families, unless they were hermits. And, yes at that amount, some poor slob could afford his heart and or blood pressure medication and the astromonical untility bills he will be facing and still be able to eat. Something that a person in my situation worries about on the daily basis.

SPACE SHUTTLE


mojoala said...

Use the current Shuttle. The cargo bay dimensions are 60 feet long by 15 feet in diameter.

The lunar module was 21 feet long by 14 feet. They could make a vessel 30 feet long by 14 feet in diameter. The rest of the space would be used for the Moonauts and supplies and any satellite's they have planned to be put into orbit.

Then when the New Space shuttles are built, which will probably bigger then you can also increase the size of the said vessel.

Again long term is the key and what they want to eventually achieve.

NASA is only looking at the short term goal of getting a man back on the moon, they appear to not be looking at what's next on the plate, building things on the moons surface or below it.

To me it's like walking thru the forest and still living in grass huts.

Well, come out of your grass hut and look at reality. The money it would take the repair and ready the current shuttle for these missions would not be cost effective. Too much has to be done prior to each mission, replace tiles, inspections, replace foam on external tank, inspections.

The inventor of Spaceship One has a better idea as for how astronauts can reach the space station. Burt Rutan showed that his space plane can fly. And there aren't thousands of tiles to inspect and replace. Much more cost efficient.

VACCINE-CONTINUED

mojoala said...

Somebody in the government has some strong interest and/or ties....

Who knows, maybe Haliburton is part of the distribution of the vaccine.

MIERS

Two responses to my post about Miers and her religious beliefs.

mojoala said...

yepper I agree....

porchwise said...

I'm kind of changing my mind on Miers. After reading her background, I think (although she admires Dubya) the lady may have a secret agenda. I know a few Evangelists (very few) and, once they know my religious convictions, I sense a very different and, yes, secularist nuance of how they view the government. Senate hearings should be interesting but I doubt if they will enlighten the crowd much, if any.

Well I haven't been around too many evangelist except for Jehova's Witnesses and the Mormons. And it used to be where all I had to say was that I'm a practicing Catholic and they would leave. That doesn't work anymore.

I'm very much a Catholic, but I don't believe you should push your own religious beliefs on others. And that's what my experiences with Evangelistic people has been like. They don't care about your convictions, they just want to tell you theirs.

NEW ORLEANS

COMING HOME

New Orleans Mayor, Nagin is traveling all over the southeast trying to get those displaced citizens of New Orleans to come back home. Many businesses are coming back but they need people to do the work. One fast food chain is offering a $6,000 signing bonus just for coming back to New Orleans to work.

TYPICAL GOVERNMENT THINKING

VACCINE

Just like the government, a company screws up and what happens? Their contract is renewed. Morton Thykol was responsible for the Challenger explosion and as a reward, the US government renewed their contract to make the solid rocket boosters.

The Chiron corporation, whos entire stock of vaccine last year had to be disposed of due to contaimination, putting millions at risk due to the shortage. Now, this year the government agrees to buy 1.5 million of doses from them. Who is to say that the same thing won't happen again and us Americans will pay the price?

SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

RELIGION

I think Bush is making a mistake in emphasising Mier's religious convictions. Acknowledge them, yes but they shouldn't be the reason she is nominated to the bench. Our laws are secular and must be viewed in that light.

RETIREMENT

mojoala said...

I would narrow it down even further, if your retirement is double the minimum wage, then you don't need social security either provided of course when COLA goes into effect for SS it goes into effect for MW as well.

Double the current minimum wage comes to 1785 a month based on minimum wage of 5.15. I don't know what the current min is.

No, I wouldn't take it down that far. People shouldn't have to leave their homes just to make ends me. I know about that from personal experience. I think it should be based on what their pension or retirement plan is. Although, in light of all the airlines having trouble meeting their pension payments, you might not be able to count on that either.

But for the execs, the ones making the big bucks, they should be limited in Social Security.