Friday Open Thread
Chat away...
Comments (232) «
Good morning, everyone.
For the good of the day. Enjoy it!
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).
Just like a computer, what you allow into your heart programs your thinking and words, which ultimately determines the direction of your life. Your eyes, ears, and mouth are all gateways to your heart. What you watch and listen to goes into your heart whether you realize it or not. You can guard your heart by filtering what you watch and listen to. If you don’t want to be like the people you see on TV, you shouldn’t watch that program. If you don’t want to act like the people in the songs you hear, you shouldn’t listen to them. But beyond that, you have to guard your heart against bitterness and bad attitudes. When those negative emotions sink into your heart, they will keep you from moving forward. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That means your words show where your heart is. Take inventory today of what you are saying, watching, and listening to. Make sure that you are glorifying the Lord with your every action. As you guard your heart and mind, the wellspring of life within in you will flow freely, and you will live in the abundance the Lord has in store for you.
here you go, folks.
A review of all the Lies from the Grand Old Perverts debate the other night !!
GOP YouTube Debate Flubs
Falsehoods, exaggerations and stumbles
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/gop_youtube_debate_flubs.html
This is for Cyn!
Don't forget to click on the link at the bottom of the first list for the recalled Fisher Price toys.
Oops Cyn...my link didn't work.
http://www.usrecallnews.com/2007/10/complete-list-of-recalled-toys-for-lead.html
I posted this article the other day but just incase you missed it there are a couple other toys/poducts adding to the do not buy list.
I do hope that the Democrats running for President don't make the mistake that they Western states are a sure thing. So far most of them have completely ignored Washington voters and only two have come for high cost fundraisers.
This is worth reading for a chuckle or two or three.
Debate time! Once again Wednesday night, Republican candidates came together to taunt the viewing public with the reminder that one of them is going to have to be nominated for president.
Debate time! Once again Wednesday night, Republican candidates came together to taunt the viewing public with the reminder that one of them is going to have to be nominated for president.
Posted by Kristen on November 30, 2007 at 09:56 AM
I love the term to describe them, "None- of- the- Above Crowd". Gleaned from Polls saying Republicans and others check off "None of the Above" instead of one of those Idiots! The lesser of all evils, is still evil!
Pam...she had some great lines in that article. I loved when she described Thompson's campaigan as allegded and this was probably my favorite.
But on the Republican side, it's not hard to imagine the poor voters veering from one to the other. (Him? -- Oh, god no. How about -- him! No, wait, what were we thinking? )
Kristen, If THESE are the best of the lot, just think of those who are not throwing their hats in the ring ! You have Santorrum, Macca Allen, Delay, etc! All slimy, sleazy corrupt, repugs !
Sharp! (speaking of the economy)
Obama Campaign Changes Its Story Over Controversial Donations
(what a baby)
Tom Cruise Had Spielberg's Family Doctor Picketed By Scientologists
Clinton Presidential Campaign Drops Scruggs Fundraiser (a wise move) did Obama drop that radical FREAK Gay hating yet GAY himself Preacher?)
I saw no announcement. I sure hope so lest he be branded himself the same way everyone brands Hillary for her choices along the way!
-------------
and to the sheep trolls; it's called begging!! You may call it prayer, but if YOU do it I'm POSITIVE it's called BEGGING! PLEASE JESUS forgive those pansey liberals and make them MORE like me!! A hateful, blind & greedy bigot lemming of the lord.
NO THANKS - you can keep it to your useless self!
MICHAEL HONEY! CLEAN UP THE DIRTY CACTI AISLE 9DUMDUM!
OFF TO BRUNCH
Peace
Good Morning, ALL!
CYN,
Here's an interactive thingy of a bunch of lead filled trinkets (with pictures). The black dot represents the maximum amount allowed by the government, and the pinkish spot represents the actual amount over that allowed.
It's the hot-link titled "Interactive graphic" in the box with the blue headings Called "Related Content".
Wackogelical Asshattery Attains a New Low in Texas
Update: Welcome, readers of Crooks and Liars! You may want to read the next blog post in this series when you finish the one below. This story gets better and better.What the heck is wrong with Texas?First, they get a creationist governor. Then their creationist governor appoints a creationist to head the State Board of Education.
And now, when Chris Comer, the Texas Education Agency’s director of science curriculum, sends out an email announcing a talk by anti_creationism advocate Barbara Forrest, the TEA forces her to resign.
Why? Hold on to your seats here, folks, because you won’t believe this:
[Texas Education] Agency officials cited the e-mail in a memo recommending her termination. They said forwarding the e-mail not only violated a directive for her not to communicate in writing or otherwise with anyone outside the agency regarding an upcoming science curriculum review, “it directly conflicts with her responsibilities as the Director of Science.”The memo adds, “Ms. Comer’s e-mail implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker’s position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral.”
That’s right, the Texas Education Agency must remain neutral when it comes to science versus antiscience!
Keep 'em stoopit and they'll keep on voting republic. Never in history has any group so glorified and celebrated stupidity, ignorance, bigotry, and all-around being a dumbass and proud of it as today's GOP, the party of asshats and perverts.
Texas used to be such a wonderful place to live; I've lived there three times. When the Democrats had control, it was prosperous, educated and a wonderful place to be (no place but!). Unfortunately, they've got this habit of messing with repelicanism every few years and each and every time the state, its economy, it educational system and environment goes to hell in a handcart.
This latest sad turn really takes the cake for self-destructive idiocy.
g'morning people, sorry if this was posted earlier (the article is from march, 07), but this is the sort of thinking we need more of. american consumers can't make intelligent choices if they don't have the facts to base them on. so, let's hope we see this here.
The UK Will Require Carbon Footprint Labels on Products
You used to be able to count only the calories in your snacks...soon it might be just as easy go on a carbon diet...The first company to launch the label cut the carbon footprint of their cheese and onion crisps by one-third after doing a thorough carbon analysis...If you aren't lucky enough to live in a place as trailblazing as the UK, you won't be able to discover the carbon released during the production of your organic shampoo, but you can still keep an eye on your own carbon footprint with helpful online tools here and here.
Hunters Donate Game meat to Food Banks
Very interesting concept - I had no idea that they took such food product, but then it is perfectly good meat. It's distributed in a ground form. Much of it either venison or elk.
If hunters are doing this and paying for the processng fee themselves for the meat, why can't cattle ranchers or meat producers to the same????
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_re_us/hunters_charity;_ylt=AircsAoUc6B.zWGPTyYLjg2s0NUE
Posted by J on November 30, 2007 at 11:01 AM
J, I don't know about other states, but in california it's illegal to haul off a road killed deer, elk, or such. the highway department will, however, pick up and take the carcasses to shelters or institutions so they don't go to waste.
and now for the truth regarding Seattle's Operation Santa.
Doobee...here's the new Horsey. I do think he has the riders facing the wrong way...we would surely recognize the horses in the race better if they were running backwards.
As I stated this morning to marymac?, the current tax code needs overhauling desperately.
Incentive needs to be given for those that produce a product to donate more with restrictions and oversights to try and avoid fraud. If food producers and say building contractors were given substancial tax savings for giving to for instance food banks and say building a number of homes or housing per year, the hunger and housing shortage would receive a boost in the arm. The programs would be designed so that the donating party would make absolutely no profit in any form. Not even in a replacement of resources used in the donation.
Yes the rich and business reap tax benefits when they donate, BUT they recoup them in the loss/profits or capital gains. The loop holes removed and their being only one road to a reduction in a taxing amount then the of donating of vital items to boost the socioeconomic situation for all who fall below the poverty line increases.
Just a thought........................
Good Morning, ALL!
CYN,
Here's an interactive thingy of a bunch of lead filled trinkets (with pictures). The black dot represents the maximum amount allowed by the government, and the pinkish spot represents the actual amount over that allowed.
It's the hot-link titled "Interactive graphic" in the box with the blue headings Called "Related Content".
Anyone from Ill here that can tell me if there is any chance of a primary before Feb 5th or are the rules specific that it will have to be at that time.
I don't know how that happened. I had a different comment in preview, and when I hit "post" it timed out, so I hit "try again" and the old post came through.
Anyhoo, Thanks, Kristen. I also like this one, whch coincides nicely with Cyn's request earlier today.
J, here's another one. let's say a farmer has a certain amount of land and he typically grows only a couple of different crops on that land each year. to increase the diversity of food produced and to provide food for people in need, it would be a simple thing to, as you say, offer incentives; in this case a direct tax credit of the wholesale value of anything grown on less than 1% of the farmer's land but not to exceed a certain acreage, say 50 or so. simple, easy, effective and would keep many family farms in business. unfortunately, our system frowns upon simple solutions.
Here ya go, Kay. P.S., Denny has said that he's going to be spending A LOT of time in your neck of the woods (living it up at his taxpayer subsidized "fishing lodge"). Also, the Brat Stop is there, not to mention the Cheese Castle. It's a two-fer.
Posted by Kristen on November 30, 2007 at 11:09 AM
Morning Kristen. Funny, even children can figure this one out. It's too bad that our education system has left so many conservatives behind.
Well I just finished sorting through bags and bags of baby clothes and need to get them out for donation so I should probably get busy.
Dawn, if you check in we found out it will be boy number 4!
Have a great day everyone!
Blue, I think our kids have a much better grasp on being a citizen of the world than we ever did.
My son (15) recently told me that one of his best friends 'came out' to all his friends, I cringed at first thinking how hard that had to have been for the young man. Then my son told me that everyone shrugged, told the kid they sorted figured it was the case, and then decided what they all wanted to do for the rest of the day.
I was very proud of him. :)
Posted by Kristen on November 30, 2007 at 11:57 AM
I watched an episode of 30 rock last nite that had something similar. One of the coworkers was taunting another and making cracks about him being gay and the rest of the coworkers just looked at him in a bored manner and went back to work. He couldn't figure out why his taunts weren't funny anymore. Progress is slooowwwww.
Morning again all good Dems,
I tuned past a freak religious show yesterday and they were bitching about the boy scouts allowing gays to join.
Remember all the Millions bush gave these faith based groups.
Well these groups are denying our money to the Biy Sccuts because they allow gays to join.
THIS IS DISCRIMINATION FOLKS AND WE SHOULD NO LONGER TOLERATE THIS FAITH BASED CRAP FROM BUSH USING OUR MONEY.
Posted by BoilerMan on November 30, 2007 at 11:29 AM
I like that suggestion for farmers. I hate subsities - getting paid by the government NOT to plant. High class welfare, is all it is.
USDA used to have a program that took the surplus amounts of crop harvests and packaged them for a give away program by income, but I haven't heard anything of it in about 5 years. At least surplus harvest would benefit someone other than the farmer who in many cases would just turn the ground over.
j,
There used to be a program where the feds gave surplus food to the public schools for their lunch program. Then they sponsored free lunches for the kids.
Do they still do this? I remember ray-gun bitching about it. He wanted to call catsup a vegetable. What a tightwad. ray-gun and every repuke since is a putz.
Posted by Johnedwrd on November 30, 2007 at 12:21 PM
I don't understand. Your angry because religious groups don't give your money to the BSA? My church sponsors the BSA in my town.
Another interesting article by John Dean about the California scheme to steal votes and REAL election reform:
Soon we will learn whether a few desperate but very well-funded Republicans have succeeded in collecting the necessary 434,000 valid signatures to go directly to California voters on a ballot initiative to change the election laws. If the initiative were to succeed, it could significantly help elect a GOP presidential candidate in 2008.
There used to be a program where the feds gave surplus food to the public schools for their lunch program. Then they sponsored free lunches for the kids.
Posted by Johnedwrd on November 30, 2007 at 12:29 PM
I don't think USDA gives food any longer, BUT they do demand an adherence to the Food Pyramid and calerie count/food portions. And yes, there is still the free lunch program.
My understanding (from here in FL) is that instead of the surplus food, the school districts receive Federal funding for food purchases which must correlate with a strict food structure of nutrition.
Posted by J on November 30, 2007 at 12:24 PM
whoa!...just noticed i negelected to add the food, of course, would have to be donated to a certified charitable organization who would validate the farmer's donation. also, usda publishes wholesale values on a weekly basis. there currently is a program offering coupons for eligible low income people to use at farmers markets for fresh foods. last year our farmers market took in over $30,000 worth of these coupons. the program i'm describing, however, would potentially not only bolster the farmer but would make more food available for less cost to the tax payer.
Sometimes diagrams can assist education:
http://saintgasoline.com/2007/03/12/politics-stupidity-religion/
Correct information for those viewing incorrect information.
The NAACP has local/state elected positions. ANY dues paying member, black/white can aspire to any of such. There is a Board of Directors that are appointed positions.
The Congressional Black Caucus is comprised of African-American members of Congress. It is a private organization that has chosen to only accept black members of Congress.
Posted by BoilerMan on November 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
The WIC program here in the State of FL gives coupons on a one time basis for parents to take to Farmers Markets to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables. The allotment is a one time $15.00
The concept is good, BUT give the parent ENOUGH to benefit the child as he gets to know fresh fruit and vegetables. And they give the coupons during the summer months which really is not a good time in the state for produce because of the tremendous heat. They could at least do this twice a year so that children and pregnant women would have the benefit of fresh citrus fruit.
Posted by Johnedwrd on November 30, 2007 at 12:37 PM
I don't think they should either, and until sexual orientation is recognized as a protected class, any group can discriminate against gays. I believe that CA enforces some tougher laws on BSA though because, IIRC, they prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and those groups that continue their unAmerican tendencies won't get a dime of CA's money. We may have to wait for the haters to die off before we see any real enlightenment.
Posted by J on November 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Kind of would defeat the whole purpose of the caucus if they were to allow non-blacks to join. Hopefully, someday there will not be a need to have groups like this and we can trust that all voices are heard. Probably not in my lifetime. :(
The United States could shave as much as 28 percent off the amount of greenhouse gases it emits at fairly modest cost and with only small technology innovations, according to a new report.
A large share of the reductions could come from steps that would more than pay for themselves in lower energy bills for industries and individual consumers, the report said, adding that people should take those steps out of good sense regardless of how worried they might be about climate change. But that is unlikely to happen under present circumstances, said the authors, who are energy experts at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/business/30green.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Global%20Warming&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1196446180-8Md2/C9man8iOYBzrXaHxA
A new United Nations report warns that progress toward prosperity in the world’s poorest regions will be reversed unless rich countries promptly begin curbing emissions linked to global warming while also helping poorer ones leapfrog to energy sources that pollute less than coal and oil.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/world/28climate.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Global%20Warming
Marines to slash mine-resistant truck purchaseWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Marine Corps said on Friday it would slash by nearly 40 percent the number of mine-resistant trucks it was planning to buy, sending shares of armored vehicle maker Force Protection Inc down 20 percent.
Citing security gains in Iraq and a better sense of the vehicles' limitations, the Marine corps said it will buy 2,300 so-called Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected, vehicles -- the number currently under contract -- down from previous plans for 3,700.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3030630120071130
KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and knives, rallied Friday in a central square and demanded the execution of a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Muhammad."The protesters streamed out of mosques after Friday sermons, as pickup trucks with loudspeakers blared messages against Gillian Gibbons, the teacher who was sentenced Thursday to 15 days in prison and deportation. She avoided the more serious punishment of 40 lashes.
They massed in central Martyrs Square outside the presidential palace, where hundreds of riot police were deployed. They did not try to stop the rally, which lasted about an hour.
"Shame, shame on the U.K.," protesters chanted.
They called for Gibbons' execution, saying, "No tolerance: Execution," and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad."
The women's prison where Gibbons is being held is far from the square.
Several hundred protesters, not openly carrying weapons, marched about a mile away to Unity High School, where Gibbons worked. They chanted slogans outside the school, which is closed and under heavy security, then marched toward the nearby British Embassy. They were stopped by security forces two blocks away from the embassy...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071130/D8T82JV80.html
Have the muslim population of Sudan taken leave of their senses? This is a prime example of religious intolerance at its worst. While I can half way understand the deportation order, after all, each nation has a right to its own rule of law to a degree, fifteen days in jail for something as innocuous as naming a teddy bear Mohammed is downright uncalled for. I could understand it if Ms. Gibbons' had a more notorious motive but this is just downright silly.
And now there are armed people marching through the streets of Khartoum demanding her execution? I think I know who is in need of execution here.
Now before someone pipes up with something to the effect of, "Bob you're being insensitive to the view of another culture", I thought of that. Then I read this from the same article:
Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, accused the Sudanese authorities of "gross overreaction.""This case should have required only simple common sense to resolve. It is unfortunate that the Sudanese authorities were found wanting in this most basic of qualities," he said.
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee, a political advocacy group, said the prosecution was "abominable and defies common sense."
The Federation of Student Islamic Societies, which represents 90,000 Muslim students in Britain and Ireland, called on Sudan's government to free Gibbons, saying she had not meant to cause offense.
"We are deeply concerned that the verdict to jail a schoolteacher due to what's likely to be an innocent mistake is gravely disproportionate," said the group's president, Ali Alhadithi.
The Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim youth organization, said Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should pardon the teacher.
"The Ramadhan Foundation is disappointed and horrified by the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan," said spokesman Mohammed Shafiq...
There is only one logical conclusion. The people protesting are nothing more than whack job fundamentalists with one foot in the door of their local Al-Qaeda recruiting office. This is your war on terror Mr. President, not the one you have manufactured.
Posted by J on November 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Kind of would defeat the whole purpose of the caucus if they were to allow non-blacks to join. Hopefully, someday there will not be a need to have groups like this and we can trust that all voices are heard. Probably not in my lifetime. :(
Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 01:04 PM
Blue, I understand their philosophy of wanting to meet in an atmosphere of comfort and being "themselves", BUT I was very, very disappointed when they would not let US Rep. Steve Cohen (TN) who has won Harold Ford, jr. old seat join. I deeply feel this man WANTED to join so that he could give better representation to his costituents. I also detested the manner that they went about telling him that they would not take him in.
All in all, I'm pretty disgusted with them right now (guess that makes Harpo happy). Some of the members now subscribe to the "centrist" mindthought and have hampered the organization terribly.
I agree, hopefully one day organizations like these won't be needed :)
Who says New Yawkers are mean? Out of the goodness of their hearts they funded a lovenest for Bernie Kerik and pimped out the Mayor's ride for his bootie calls:
Following up on an item from yesterday, Ben Smith had a blockbuster when he reported, “As New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani billed obscure city agencies for tens of thousands of dollars in security expenses amassed during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons, according to previously undisclosed government records.”
Are these trolls the stupidest things on Earth? (Yes).
Neither the BCC nor the KKK receive TAX PAYER FUNDING. The BSA DOES, ergo, the money should be cut off.
Also, the biggest supporter of the BSA, with the most troops and dens etc., is the Mormon Church, which is not only anti-gay but also rabidly racist.
the_Burdinator
Harpo_saw_Santa_drowning
__D_A_Cactus_
harpo the dope why dont you bring all your personalities in to on person instead of talking your self all the time in third person
It may be a tad early for the summer olympics but I just love watching an expert execute flips so well:
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 01:20 PM
I wonder what they think of Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.?
Homosexuality is un-natural. It is perverted. keeps those freaks away from the Boy Scouts.
Posted by the_Burdinator on November 30, 2007 at 01:24 PM
Speaking of Perverted--------
Let's ask the RNC to keep their party members from joining them, then.! Rumor has it Craig, Foley, and the rest of the Republican Perverts buying sex in public bathrooms need to be kept away.
Posted by dlesterpoet on November 30, 2007 at 01:14 PM
I thought better of the Marine Corps than this. What do you want to bet that some Bush-worshipping crony in the U.S.M.C.'s procurement department did this either at the request of the manufacturer of Humvees or in an effort to supposedly save money? IMHO, to not provide the best equipment available to our front line forces is tantamount to aiding and abetting the enemy or even treason. Whomever is responsible for this decision should be relieved immediately.
BOSTON -- Police are responding to a hostage situation at a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign office in New Hampshire.
Well, this explains a LOT.
Heck of a job, Chimpy!
Marking the 14th anniversary of legislation that allowed gay men and lesbians to serve in the military but only if they kept their orientation secret, 28 retired generals and admirals plan to release a letter on Friday urging Congress to repeal the law.
“We respectfully urge Congress to repeal the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” the letter says. “Those of us signing this letter have dedicated our lives to defending the rights of our citizens to believe whatever they wish.”
The retired officers offer data showing that 65,000 gay men and lesbians now serve in the American armed forces and that there are more than one million gay veterans.
“They have served our nation honorably,” the letter states.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/30military.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=washington&adxnnlx=1196428265-tvwxX3fSxmlgbWK1dLQopw&oref=slogin
harpo they should Outta run you out of town on a rail.
Homosexuality is un-natural. It is perverted. keeps those freaks away from the Boy Scouts.
Posted by the_Burdinator on November 30, 2007 at 01:24 PM
Do you watch porn?
the_fagurdinator and your perfect to judge other people
Posted by Esmeralda on November 30, 2007 at 01:31 PM
That's a good question. Africans flocked to him in 1975 when he defeated George Frazier for the championship.
There is only one logical conclusion. The people protesting are nothing more than whack job fundamentalists with one foot in the door of their local Al-Qaeda recruiting office. This is your war on terror Mr. President, not the one you have manufactured.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 01:20 PM
-----------------------------------
The Chinese have got Bush and the Neocons checkmated here.
Sudan sells oil to China.
China finances our debt and has our consumer sector by the balls (from chronic "race to the bottom" profiteering by our greedy corporations.)
Sudan practices ethnic cleansings and harbors anti-Western fundamentalist radical Islamic sentiments.
i cna read and your the one harpo thats has three personaliies not me dipe shit
I agree, hopefully one day organizations like these won't be needed
Posted by J
They shouldn't exist TODAY! Outta run 'em out of town on a rail.
Posted by Harpo_saw_Santa_drowning on November 30, 2007 at 01:36 PM
Ever stop to think that because of people like Harpo, that's why they exist????
Hmm..................somthing to think about.
One thing I have to give the MSM 'credit' for (as little as they deserve) is that they didn't dub Larry Craig's toilet trolling with the all pervasive "...GATE" catch phrase. I wonder why that is? Maybe they "mastered" the art of scandal naming, or decided that it would be basically beating the term to death.
11 months before the election. Plenty of time for more Pug perversion, theft, incompetence, and general stupidity.
A scandal fest is awaiting.
Fags are perverts, its unnatural.
Posted by the_Burdinator on November 30, 2007 at 01:39 PM
jealous are we ? this coming from a masterbating creep who lives in his moms basement and gets no sex except with himself.
O.K. From now on I'll call Harpo "Asshole".
Done.
afternoon, Dems. Babysitting today, so just a hit and run!
Fags are perverts, its unnatural.
Posted by the_Burdinator on November 30, 2007 at 01:39 PM
now this made me snicker. From someone who never had sex (at least with another person) until he got shipped to Germany, then married the first girl who put out for him, he probably is not unknown in various public men's bathrooms himself !
back later, Dems. Keep the fire going.
Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 01:37 PM
While I highly respect the General's opinions, because of people like our resident trolls here who are allowed to join the military, DADT policy will be needed until the baby boomers have become irrelevant as they appear to be the last generation where racism is prevalent. Those of us born in 1965 or later, GenX, understand that being homosexual is probably no different than being left-handed.
There are certain religious biases against homosexuality but, that cannot be allowed to affect public policy as it would be a direct violation of the seperation of church and state. When you allow church and state to mingle you get regimes like Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and America from 20JAN01 to 20JAN09.
Lunch break over.
Enjoy the day, everyone.
For the trolls:
"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." - Benjamin Franklin
;P
Here's a one too good to pass up.
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."- Kurt Vonnegut
NEWS FLASH!
ROCHESTER, N.H. -- An armed man has taken people hostage at the Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, police said.
It was not clear how many hostages there were or what weapons the man has. Police have set up a command post near the office on 28 North Main St.
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
updated 18 minutes ago
ROCHESTER, N.H. - A man has taken people hostage at a New Hampshire campaign office for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, police said Friday.
The man claimed to have bomb strapped to him when he walked into the office in Rochester, WHDH-TV reported.
WMUR-TV quoted a woman, Lettie Tzizik, who said she spoke to someone with a child who said she had just been released by the man.
"A young woman with a 6-month or 8-mont-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape,'" Tzikik said recalling the moment.
Police have surrounded the building, evacuated the immediate area and placed other buildings, including a nearby school, in lockdown.
Clinton, who was scheduled to campaign in Virginia on Friday, was not present at the office on Rochester's Main Street.
The number of hostages was not immediately known.
This report will be updated as information becomes available.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Micheal, could we possibly have a thread somewhere to discuss Drug Policy? I realize that some don't want to discuss the War at Home, but there really are some people who would like to have an open discussion on how Drug Policy affects our lives, our rights, and our economy.
Harpo need to see phycoligist he allways talk to him slef and he think he perfect to everybody else
Dusty,
I have reserved the name asshole for bush and cheney but I don't mind using it for the trolls.
Homosexuality is un-natural. It is perverted. keeps those freaks away from the Boy Scouts.
Posted by the_Burdinator on November 30, 2007 at 01:24 PM
``````````````
even those who eat roadkill and molest their baby girl cousins are entitled to fundamental human rights.
Depends who I'm partying with. Heterosexual males usually don't care what I'm talking about as long as they get to look at me while I'm talking.
harpo your a real funny guy in a anal narciccistic arrogant no nothing way.
WMUR TV in NH reports two people (unidentified) are being held hostage by a man claiming to be wearing a bomb - in the Rochester, NH Clinton headquarters. The hostages are volunteer campaign workers.
Nice try, Rudy. I bet they try this scam again.
1250. (07-0016 Amdt. #1NS) Requirements for Presidential Electors. Statute. WITHDRAWN from Initiatives in Circulation. (bold in original)
It all began when Old Coastie [named for her work in the Coast Guard], along with Vikingkingq and PeteB2 from Kos and a few other sharp-eyed observers saw people gathering signatures on multiple petitions in a way that looked suspicious. While ostensibly signing for a children’s cancer hospital [I mean really, how heartless could you be not to support a children’s cancer hospital?] people were asked to put their name on ‘multiple copies.’ But these weren’t duplicates, they were other initiatives, with the deception hidden by using rubber bands across the pages.
PUGS! They will steal anything that's not nailed down, any way they can find.
Posted by gro4me on November 30, 2007 at 02:03 PM
I agree with Gro4me. A seperate thread for drug policy should be introduced.
But don't let that keep you from posting your articles here on the open thread. I was on the fence when you first started posting here but you have done an excellent and professional job on expatiating your view regarding the legalization and/or decriminalization of marijuana. Whether someone agrees or not with your position, you have represented your group admirably and I do not recall ever seeing you use some of the negative tactics we've all resorted to at one time or another, myself included.
There is a function here on the DNC site that I've tinkered with that allows you to make your own blog here at the DNC. You can see it when you click the link that says, "Create Your Own Blog". Theoretically, you could put a link to your individual blog in the "URL:" field above the "Comments:" box whenever you post here on the open thread.
Fight the good fight, Gro. Your an excellent example of what a DNC blogger should be.
Browse > Home / Health / MPP to Offer Giuliani, Romney, McCain $10,000 to Prove Statements on Medical Marijuana MPP to Offer Giuliani, Romney, McCain $10,000 to Prove Statements on Medical Marijuana
November 30, 2007
WEST BABYLON, NEW YORK — On Monday, Dec. 3, the Marijuana Policy Project and two New Hampshire patients will challenge presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney to back up their statements regarding medical marijuana with scientific evidence. The challenge will be announced at a Manchester press conference featuring a mobile billboard with images of the three candidates bearing Pinocchio noses. The exact time and location of the news conference will be announced Monday morning.
In response to questions asked by medical marijuana patients and supporters, Giuliani, McCain and Romney have all claimed that medical marijuana is either not needed or “too dangerous” for medical use. The MPP Medical Marijuana PAC will offer the maximum $10,000 contribution ($5,000 for the primary campaign, $5,000 for the general election) to any of the candidates who can prove that their claims are true.
WHAT: Press conference to announce MPP’s $10,000 presidential challenge.
WHO: Medical marijuana patients Clayton Holton and Linda Macia; Stuart Cooper, campaign manager, Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana.
WHEN/WHERE: Manchester. Exact time and location to be announced Monday morning, at least 2 hours before the event.
VISUALS: Mobile billboard featuring Giuliani, Romney and McCain with Pinocchio noses.
With more than 23,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.
####
MEDIA CONTACT:
Bruce Mirken,
MPP director of communications
415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205
Who the heck is Mr. Quick?
Posted by McQuink
Sheesh, the chronic complainer just looks for ANYTHING and ANYONE to bash.
Must be a sad existence being a Libertarian Pug hybrid knowing what a failure the whole Neo-Con agenda has been.
Bob, I just can't say "Thank You" enough. I try really hard to be professional in all I do with the mj/mmj movement, and it is really nice to have that recognized by someone who is/was neutral on my issue. It really makes it all worth it.
Drug Policy tends to be polarizing, and people lose perspective, and sometimes their tempers because passions run deep. I try to present the facts and the issues that are being brought up as a result of our current Drug Policy.
NEW YORK (AP) - The Bush administration is working with industry on a plan to extend lower, introductory interest rates on home loans before they reset at higher levels.The talks come amid hints from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of another cut in a key interest rate to keep the economy from sliding into a recession.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other top regulators met Thursday with loan servicing companies — firms that collect and distribute loan payments — and other industry executives. No formal agreement was announced, but an accord on this issue could be revealed in the next week or two...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22039594/
How long will it be before this turns into another S & L debacle? How long will it be before our tax dollars are used for another round of corporate welfare because these lending institutions were dumb enough to loan vast amounts of money to people who couldn't figure out the terms of the agreement and who had no chance of meeting the higher payments?
Six to twelve months, that's how long. In the end, I would not be surprised to see that this was a conspiracy by some mortgage lenders so they could forclose on a bunch of houses thus adding to their capital holdings which mean they get to fatten up their net worth for their stockholders and be eligible for bigger lines of credit for having tangible assets.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 01:57 PM
Hey there, some of us predated 65 and were still blessed with open minds and intellectual curiosity. :)
There goes Christmas
As I finished writing the check to refill my heating oil tank this morning, I came to the realization that there went Christmas. I was aware already that due to the continued rising costs of gas over the last few months that it was already going to a meager celebration this year. However, as I paid for my first refill this year I was shocked. My final bill was over $740.00 up a whopping $196.00 from my last fill up last year. When I consider that throughout the winter last year I filled my tank five times, I know I must somehow find the extra $800.00 to $1000.00 for the year. Do not forget that this is on top of the increased $200.00 per month gasoline expenditures our family is experiencing in comparison to this time last year. Sorry kids, only useful items such as clothing this year. Other friends and relatives please do not be offended if we have no gift for you. And yes, we already have done everything possible to cut our costs.
This issue is having such a negative impact on all of America that I was surprised that it was not even mentioned in the Republican debates this past Wednesday night. When I talk with family and friend’s they all seem to have the same concerns.
How are we going to be able to afford the ever-rising cost of energy and the ever-rising cost of everything else as result of rising energy cost? We can directly link the devaluation of the dollar to this problem. It is having a snowball effect on our society and for some reason the issue is being ignored by our Congress and Media. I can only hope that possibly one of the candidates running for President on either side will call some attention to the matter.
I understand that to some the added three to four thousand in yearly expenses do not sound like much. However, to the millions of already struggling families in this country, those extra few hundred dollars per month make all the difference in our quality of life. Unlike Congress, we cannot just vote ourselves a raise. In fact, I have some friends who actually will make less this year due to the impact, this problem is having.
I also have to wonder about that secret Energy Task Force that Dick Cheney formed. If their plan was to help the American public, they have seriously failed. I do not understand why the American public and media are not asking what their plan was. I know there are conspiracy nuts who say it was to grab oil from Iraq. Of that, I do not know. I do know that the meteoric rise of oil company profits begs questioning. Who has benefited from this Energy Task Force? What was their plan? Who was involved? Why has it had such a negative impact on America?
Merry Christmas to all.
Bill Miller
Posted by BillMiller08 on November 30, 2007 at 03:13 PM
Don't waste your time wondering about what Chainee intended when he gathered his secret Cabal. He only intended for himself and his closest conspirators to benefit and to hell with everyone else. The rich get richer and the poor get ignored. The two Americas platform is what drew me to John Edwards. Although I am far from poor, I have been there and do not wish it upon anyone. Working together and caring about your neighbor is what made this country great. We need to get back there.
I sincerely hope your Christmas becomes brighter.
Posted by Johnedwrd on November 30, 2007 at 12:21 PM
??? When did the Boy Scouts, the most homophobic male organization in the country, stop being homophobic?
Do we know the name yet of the republican terrorist in Senator Clinton's campaign office? Yeah, I know I'm speculating on his political persuasion, but given the violence threatened I don't think it's much of a stretch.
Micheal, could we possibly have a thread somewhere to discuss Drug Policy? I realize that some don't want to discuss the War at Home, but there really are some people who would like to have an open discussion on how Drug Policy affects our lives, our rights, and our economy.Posted by gro4me on November 30, 2007 at 02:03 PM
I second the motion!
Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 03:08 PM
Blue, that is true however, people like yourself tend to be the exception as opposed to the rule, IMHO. And far be it from me to start throwing around blanket statements especially when folks like you are there to remind me of such... ;-)
November 30, 2007 WEST BABYLON, NEW YORK — On Monday, Dec. 3, the Marijuana Policy Project and two New Hampshire patients will challenge presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney to back up their statements regarding medical marijuana with scientific evidence. The challenge will be announced at a Manchester press conference featuring a mobile billboard with images of the three candidates bearing Pinocchio noses. The exact time and location of the news conference will be announced Monday morning.In response to questions asked by medical marijuana patients and supporters, Giuliani, McCain and Romney have all claimed that medical marijuana is either not needed or “too dangerous” for medical use. The MPP Medical Marijuana PAC will offer the maximum $10,000 contribution ($5,000 for the primary campaign, $5,000 for the general election) to any of the candidates who can prove that their claims are true.
Want to bet that none of the three will even try to respond with evidence? At best, we'll hear ONDCP platitudes and more of the standard lies they tell all the time.
At worst, they will just ignore the challenge and do the usual obfuscation by talking about anything but the War On [Some] Drugs.
I think this is a very clever and novel method of pointing out the standard bs spewed by most prohibitionists.
GregL,
Maybe I got it backwards. These evangelicals may have been complaining because the Boy Scouts is homophobic but that doesn't make sense. They usually don't support homosexuals. ?????
Posted by Swooper420 on November 30, 2007 at 03:38 PM
Personally, I believe that people like the hatefilled, satan-loving trolls on this blog could have greatly benefitted from mild pot use. I've never met anyone that was high on marjuana that was anything other than relaxed, open-minded and tolerant.
I hope Michael will consider some kind of side bar for those who want to discuss drugs. It is FAR down on my list of priorities right now. In this seventh year of Bush destruction of the country, the world, the peace, the constitution, our military, our vets, our elderly, our children, education, our working class, there is far too much to work on right now to get side tracked.
Personally, I think if we Get a lot more Democrats into office, it will be just a step from legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, so I think your passion and energies should be put towards getting Dems elected (pick a candidate, local or wherever) and start getting them into the majority, until this country is rid of the republican party of corruption, crimes and perversion. THEN work on your pet projects.
Posted by Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 30, 2007 at 03:53 PM
yeah, but they'll eat anything....and everything.
Bill Miller
Posted by BillMiller08 on November 30, 2007 at 03:13 PM
-------------------------
See if you can find someone who makes automatic exhaust dampers for oil furnaces. That should save you 20% right off the top. It kepts the heat in the furnace between "on" cycles. you may want to put a stud some where on that port, so the damper stays slight open (when closed) to keep the draft going in an outward direction, to keep furnace pollutant from backing up into the furnace room.
Make sure your pre-cast combustion chamber is calibrated correctly to your nozzle spray angle and gallons/per/hour rating of the nozzle.
If there is room space that chamber inside the furnace, you may want to pour a pumice-concrete jacket around it. It will not only insulate the chamber, but will accumulate heat to keep the boiler simmering at the end of the cycle. Pumice concrete pebbles come from a California company
ahhhhh, darn, Harpo. Hate to burst your bubble, but Hillary was in VA at the DNA meeting.
So she won't be blown up today! don't cry !
"the fact remains that the war in Iraq cannot be won militarily" and that the Iraqi government has failed to capitalize on "window of opportunity" created by the additional U.S. troops.
Murtha and called for "an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable."
"The House of Representatives has passed a $50 billion funding bill that provides the president, our troops, and our nation with a responsible plan for bringing our troops home," Murtha said. "The president should heed the advice of the American people and allow this funding bill to become law."
--- John Murtha, November 30, 2007
Posted by Johnedwrd on November 30, 2007 at 03:43 PM
Well, it more than likely had to do with the fact Philadelphia is going to take away their lease:
Philadelphia Sets Deadline for Boy Scouts to Renounce Anti-Gay PolicyThe city of Philadelphia is threatening to end a nearly 80-year building agreement with the nation’s third Boy Scouts chapter if the group doesn’t change its policy to accommodate gay employees.
All members of the local Scouts chapter, which operates as the Cradle of Liberty Council, must take the Scout Oath and Law in which they promise to do their duty to God and to be morally straight, as well as to be clean in their thoughts, words and deeds.
While the organization does not inquire about sexual orientation at the time of membership, the group bars an avowed homosexual from leadership because they believe such an individual would not be a role model for the values espoused in the Oath and Law, according to a past news release from Boy Scouts of America.
A 2000 Supreme Court ruling upheld the right of the national Boy Scouts to exclude openly gay members from its ranks since it was a private organization.
However, Philadelphia City Solicitor Romulo Diaz said the group’s currently policy amounts to discrimination and has set a Dec. 3 deadline for the Boy Scouts to either renounce their moral standards or lose the headquarters they have rented from the city for $1 a year since 1928, reported the Washington Post.
It is sick that republicans who claim to support the military will slander and demean veterans whenever they exercise their American Constitutional right of Free Speech.
They truly need to seek professional help in order to stop this fetish with American soldiers only when those soldiers are placed in the crosshairs on foreign soil.
Good afternoon, all.
There have been some interesting developments today on the Palestinian/Israeli front.
US withdraws Mideast resolution at UNBy EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - In an about face, the United States on Friday withdrew a U.N. resolution endorsing this week's agreement by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to reach a Mideast peace settlement by the end of 2008, apparently after Israel objected.
Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff informed the Security Council that the United States was pulling the resolution from consideration less than 24 hours after Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad had introduced it and welcomed the "very positive" response from council members.
Khalilzad had said he needed to consult with the Israelis and Palestinians overnight on the text of the resolution to ensure it was what they wanted.
Well-informed diplomats said Israel, a close U.S. ally, did not want a resolution, which would bring the Security Council into the fledgling negeotiations with the Palestinians. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters Friday in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, that while he didn't know the details of the draft resolution it was a sign of the seriousness of the United States, which he also perceived at this week's Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md...
Two-state solution needed for survival, Olmert saysBy Josef Federman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
11/30/2007JERUSALEM — In unusually frank comments, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned in an interview published Thursday that "the state of Israel is finished" if a Palestinian state is not created, saying the alternative is a South African-style apartheid struggle.
Olmert's explosive reference to apartheid follows his attendance at a high-profile peace conference in Annapolis, Md. He is hoping to prepare a skeptical nation for difficult negotiations with the Palestinians.
Just hours after his return, the Israeli leader received an important boost when police recommended that prosecutors drop an investigation into whether he illegally intervened in the government's sale of a bank two years ago. The threat of indictment in the case cast a cloud over Olmert for months.
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed at the Annapolis summit to resume peace talks after a seven-year freeze. The two leaders pledged efforts to reach an agreement on the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of next year.
In the interview, Olmert said it was a vital Israeli interest to create a Palestinian state due to the growing Arab population in the area.
"The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," Olmert told Haaretz. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."...
www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/world/story/7C6088A1076E5AA9862573A300117608?OpenDocument
It appears that former President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Olmert both understand the true significance of the situation.
IAPEC can no longer manipulate Israel into a false sense of security. A political settlement must be crafted that addresses the needs of both peoples. And it must happen soon before Israel finds itself in the same position as South Africa once was.
Seven years of valuable negotiating time has been lost because Bush wanted to play King David versus Saddam's Goliath in Iraq instead of facing the real problem in the region....or going after Bin Lauden.
I think this is a very clever and novel method of pointing out the standard bs spewed by most prohibitionists.Posted by Swooper420 on November 30, 2007 at 03:38 PM
Maybe the whole thing is that they don't want it legalized cuz they're making a lot of money somewhere from it being illegal....Can't use the Bible on it, don't think there are many prohibitions against marijuana in there.
Btw, why is it people think the Bible says you can't drink alcohol? Fer cryin' out loud, the first miracle Jesus performed was to turn water into wine for a wedding. I'm pretty sure he didn't throw some kinda hissy fit about how they shouldn't drink...nope, he just did as his mother asked...what a good son he was. :)
OOooooooh, what a sleazy bitch.
Rice ‘Planted’ Question With ‘Friendly Journalist’ To ‘Help Erase’ Pre-Iraq War Legacy
It's all LIES and smoke & mirrors with these assclowns in the White House.
I hope Michael will consider some kind of side bar for those who want to discuss drugs. It is FAR down on my list of priorities right now. In this seventh year of Bush destruction of the country, the world, the peace, the constitution, our military, our vets, our elderly, our children, education, our working class, there is far too much to work on right now to get side tracked.Personally, I think if we Get a lot more Democrats into office, it will be just a step from legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, so I think your passion and energies should be put towards getting Dems elected (pick a candidate, local or wherever) and start getting them into the majority, until this country is rid of the republican party of corruption, crimes and perversion. THEN work on your pet projects.
Posted by PamB on November 30, 2007 at 03:56 PM
I appreciate your position, Pam, but I need to disagree with you as to the importance of ending the War On [Some] Drugs. This is a civil war, a war against the very citizens of the country, an unjust war that causes the arrest of over 800,000 citizens every year for simple cannabis possession. If I recall stats I read recently, 65,000 - 80,000 of those arrested for simple possession each year actually do jail or prison time. In fact, in the Southeast, there is a gent who went to jail for life for possession of a single joint … less than a gram of cannabis.
You are correct, one of the very important issues to deal with post-Bush & Company, one being the repair of the US Constitution. However, in the period of time since Nixon declared a War On [Some] Drugs in the 1970s to the present, one of the biggest corrupting factors has been this civil war.
The various laws taking away our rights to determine what we put in our own body, to be safe and secure in our homes from intrusive searches and seizures, to be able to use the phone and internet without governmental observation, all come from the War On [Some] Drugs. Ending this civil war is an integral part of correcting the damage to our Constitution.
I've never met anyone that was high on marjuana that was anything other than relaxed, open-minded and tolerant.Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 03:43 PM
As opposed to tequila! Boy that stuff can make people nasty. Maybe it's true, you are what you drink? :)
Sandy, Chimpy was acting more like Goliath with his big ol' Army to Sadam's David with his puny sling.
We all know how that turned out. Bush is an ass, and we'll never be able to close Pandora's box. (To mix mythologies).
Posted by GregL on November 30, 2007 at 04:27 PM
Oy! To have a son like that! If it was soda water I wonder if he could have turned it into champagne?
Great. IIRC, I have to go to confession now...
Posted by __D_A_Cactus_ on November 30, 2007 at 03:29 PM
Personal responsibility is indeed important. And I have no sympathy for someone who is dumb enough to sign a legal and binding contract when they don't understand the terms. But I must apply that same rationale to the lending institutions as well. If the proverbial Joe Blow comes in to your loan office, fills out a loan application, and you give him say a $150K line of credit when he's busting his hump at the People's Republic of Wal-Mart for $8/hr., the question remains, "What the heck were you thinking?" While he may be able to afford the initial payments of say $600/mo. or so, what happens when the introductory rate drops off and the monthly payment becomes $1000/mo. or more? Joe Blow is still grossing roughly $1280/mo.. But let's give him a pay raise of 4%. OK, now he is making around $1330/mo.. How do you expect him to afford that and what were you thinking for putting him in a loan like that?
The first answer would be, "We were expecting him to get pay raises commensurate witht he increases of the loan payments". Bulls**t. Nobody gets 50% pay raises in George Bush's America execept his friends and we all know that the working poor are not his friends.
The second answer would be, "He could get another job or someone else in his household could get another job". Good answer. That's just what everyone needs. To be indentured servants to a loan company for the next sixty years becuase they suckered you into a shady loan.
America and Americans are too much in debt. The national savings average is negative for God's sake. It's time to take a hard look at the credit industry.
Maybe the whole thing is that they don't want it legalized cuz they're making a lot of money somewhere from it being illegal....Can't use the Bible on it, don't think there are many prohibitions against marijuana in there.Btw, why is it people think the Bible says you can't drink alcohol? Fer cryin' out loud, the first miracle Jesus performed was to turn water into wine for a wedding. I'm pretty sure he didn't throw some kinda hissy fit about how they shouldn't drink...nope, he just did as his mother asked...what a good son he was. :)
Posted by GregL on November 30, 2007 at 04:27 PM
Well, Greg, there IS
Posted by __D_A_Cactus_ on November 30, 2007 at 03:52 PM
Amazing how when you want to make a valid point you can do such without being a jackass about it. Perhaps you and your fellow Republicans should try it more often. We encourage debate. We do not encourage jackasses.
The Associated Press just reported that the nut that was holding hostages in Hillary's office in New Hampshire has given himself up. No one was hurt.
The guy was a well known local nut, most likely a troll.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 04:47 PM
Interesting choice of words Bob. ;)
America and Americans are too much in debt. The national savings average is negative for God's sake. It's time to take a hard look at the credit industry.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 04:39 PM
I don't wish to rattle cages, Bob, but you should speak to Biden, who pushed for the Bankruptcy bill, which would not even allow one who suffered severe medical bills, to file. And the word is, it is because Delaware is HOME to so many of the credit card companies, Biden's home state. I am sure there was a lot of lobbying and money gained by Biden for his vote.
Maybe the whole thing is that they don't want it legalized cuz they're making a lot of money somewhere from it being illegal....Can't use the Bible on it, don't think there are many prohibitions against marijuana in there.Btw, why is it people think the Bible says you can't drink alcohol? Fer cryin' out loud, the first miracle Jesus performed was to turn water into wine for a wedding. I'm pretty sure he didn't throw some kinda hissy fit about how they shouldn't drink...nope, he just did as his mother asked...what a good son he was. :)
Posted by GregL on November 30, 2007 at 04:27 PM
Well, Greg, there IS a huge industry, or series of industries, built around the War On [Some] Drugs. Drug testing labs, drug testing counselors, drug addiction counselors, jails, police, etc. Even home testing kits so you don't have to build and develop trust with your kids, how wonderful!
So, yes, you are right that there is a big money trail, one that leads right to the powerful drug companies (they are or were big sponsors of Partnership for Drug Free America!) and from there to the politician's pockets.
Too bad they don't figure it out that there would be a lot more money to spend if there was no War On [Some] Drugs, money from taxation of cannabis, money from the reduction in amounts of prescription meds one needs to take, money from all the industries that build up the economy while building up a tax base, money saved from NOT arresting and prosecuting [some] drug users (remember Rush Limbaugh? Anyone reading this would have ended in prison for a number of years for the same thing).
As far as what the Bible says about cannabis ... according to biblical scholars, the oil used to anoint the priests in Temple was called Kaneh Bosum (sp?) and was made by soaking cannabis in fragrant oils. I hardly think the Bible would contain prohibitions about using cannabis for any of its numerous properties.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 04:47 PM
Hmm, what's up with reasonableness all of a sudden? Have we gone to some Bizzarro blog where John is is not spouting "FU, troll" and the trolls have gained a brain? Is OZ here? :)
JohnE,
“Local police are believed to be negotiating with a man described as a well-known local resident with a history of emotional problems who told his son to ‘watch the news today.’”
Narcissistic, bossy, obnoxious, totally anti-social, etc. Thinks he's smarter than everybody else.
Would that make the problem some have with cannabis is that it is a FARM product, not a PHARM product? :)
bbl
Would that make the problem some have with cannabis is that it is a FARM product, not a PHARM product? :) Posted by GregL on November 30, 2007 at 04:56 PM
LOL, Good question, succinct and to the point! Answer, YES!
I got an email from James Carville today saying that we don't have enough "Democratic" horses in Congress, we need more of them in 2008.
Then a friend sent information on Senate bill S. 1959, titled the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 being railroaded through Congress by a Democratic majority, apparently intended to assess "homegrown" terrorism threats and causes, loosely defined as any person crossing the line between speaking their beliefs and acting upon them. This bill has shockingly already passed overwhelmingly in the Democratically-controlled House.
Can anyone say "1984"? Come on, people, why are you Democrats moving this citizen-hating President closer to denying us every single one of our Constitutionally-protected rights? This commission, by how it will be chosen, will be Republican-controlled and Bush-friendly despite the Democratic majority. Once in place the commission may deem any gathering or march by concerned citizens who have expressed negative views about our government as potentially needing "intervention"..."before a person crosses that line separating radical views from violent behavior," to quote Democratic Representative Jane Harmon on the subject.
With this President bafflingly still in control, this Act will to put a real chill on any ideas people may have for protest of any kind. This is, I am certain, exactly how the Administration designed it.
My question is, whom do you think you are representing, us or Bush? You are acting as his patsies. You have clearly been drinking his Kool-aid. With Democratic "horses" like you passing Acts against us like this one, what in the world makes you think we would want to elect more of you? Populist Independents are looking better and better!
Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 04:49 PM
I just caught that, Blue. Oops... :-o
Posted by PamB on November 30, 2007 at 04:49 PM
I support Sen. Biden's (D-DE) position on the bankruptcy bill. Individuals who incur debt must at least try to pay off said debt before taking a $600 ride into a Federal Bankruptcy court for a free pass.
However, we agree about the medical aspect. Until we get Universal Healthcare passed, no individual should be broken over medical bills. In the richest nation on the planet, there is no excuse for a single person to be hungry or broke except through their own incompetence.
WOWZER, only 37 dead US boys this last month! That's supposed to be sucess?
Posted by AgitatedAmerican on November 30, 2007 at 05:04 PM
OMFG!! This is pure horseshit!
I have given it a quick read, and this commission can call just about any type of demonstration 'intimidation' and thus homegrown terrorism. The best thing we can hope for is that it - the Commission - gets so bogged down in internecine fighting that it 'accomplishes' nothing.
An idiot republican tried something similar here in Oregon a couple years ago; blocking a doorway to any kind of business or governmental facility during a protest march or demonstration was a crime, "Terrorism," punishable to include the death penalty. When people learned about it, he was laughed out of the legislature.
What is wrong with our demo leaders, to even think about passing this kind of a bill???
Posted by GregL on November 30, 2007 at 04:52 PM
Now I'm steppin' into the Twilight Zone,
The place is mad house...
-Golden Earring
Bob, we all know those who found themselves on that horrendous merry go round with credit cards, where the min amount due did not offset the monthly finance card, merely building up the loan .
But there are extenuating circumstances which lead to situations where there is not other choice than bankruptcy. With the loss of the breadwinners job (sent out of country), or incurring thousands in medical bills thrown on their card. These reasons were thrown out by Biden and others when they passed that bill.
Democrats are supposed to be the party of empathy and compassion. They SHOULD have included some escape clauses for certain situations.
I would be willing to bet Biden's coffers were prettied up by those credit card companies.
Posted by AgitatedAmerican on November 30, 2007 at 05:04 PM
How is this the responsibility of the Democrats again?
S.1959
Introduced: Aug 2, 2007
Sponsor: Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]
Status: Introduced
Cosponsor: Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
How is this the responsibility of the Democrats again? Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 05:26 PM
Since Nancy Pelosi allowed this to go thru the House, see http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-1955 then yes, it is our Democratic Leadership who messed up. Remember, we DO have the majority in the House, enough to kill the darn bill there. Now it's gotta be stopped in the Senate, where the majority is closer.
Let's at least be honest, our Democratic Congress has not a good track record bucking 'homeland security' issues, mostly (imho) they don't want to be labeled as "soft on homeland security" or some other Republican slam.
I hope Michael will consider some kind of side bar for those who want to discuss drugs. It is FAR down on my list of priorities right now. In this seventh year of Bush destruction of the country, the world, the peace, the constitution, our military, our vets, our elderly, our children, education, our working class, there is far too much to work on right now to get side tracked.
Personally, I think if we Get a lot more Democrats into office, it will be just a step from legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, so I think your passion and energies should be put towards getting Dems elected (pick a candidate, local or wherever) and start getting them into the majority, until this country is rid of the republican party of corruption, crimes and perversion. THEN work on your pet projects.
Well, cannabis activists are fairly dedicated to getting rid of Republicans, mainly because they tend to be the most rabid drug warriors so you already have us on your side. But we can't really justify working for a Democrat who wants make sure we can't hold a job if we test positive for marijuana metabolites.
But the fact is that taxing, legalizing, and regulating marijuana instead of spending $42 Billion annually on Prohibition will generate the revenue to to easily insure the 47 million unisured Americans. Marijuana is a $116 Billion dollar untaxed commodity that is already the top agricultural product in America.
When I was in school, we had music programs, and art programs, and theatre programs, and athletic programs and all of that is no longer funded because all we have at school is drug programs.
Murderers and rapists can get Federal Scholastic Aid but anyone convicted of possession (think 800,000 arrests annually) of marijuana can never get financial aid again. Think about that one for a minute: they are disqualifying 800,000 peaceful people from higher education, while at the same time giving money to people who rape and kill to go to college.
Our elderly could benefit greatly from legalizing medical marijuana. It helps a wide variety of pains, prevents Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's anorexia, prevents osteoporosis and doesn't cause strokes or heart attacks.
Our vets could also get tremendous benefit from medical marijuana. An Isreali study showed that marijuana can be very helpful in extinguishing memories in patients with Post Traumatic Shock Syndrome/Disorder. Many patients with phantom pain from amputated limbs have reported relief with medical marijuana.
Want to save the world? Instead of growing corn for ethanol, grow hemp: the stalks and leaves produce more ethanol than corn, the seeds make a high-grade food oil that can also be run in your diesel automobile and the byproduct of making the oil is a high protein seedcake, and it doesn't require fertilizers or pesticides like corn does while using less water than corn.
Or how about making good on our promises to help the people of Africa with their AIDS problem? A couple fields of medical grade seed stock could get the independantly growing their own medicine within 2 years. And the extra seed they produced would feed their people as well.
And let's not forget the working people who already generate $16 Billion dollars a year for the American economy but who have to buy their hemp products from FOREIGN sources? Shouldn't they be able to choose to buy domestic hemp seeds, oils and fibers?
Oh No...the first clear attack on the War on Christmas.
I am sick of having Democratic senators and Representatives blamed because the Republicans have been filibustering 80+ bills this year, requiring 60 votes to pass them, then making sure they do not pass !
The fragile majority we currently have does not amount to a row of beans. LETS MAKE SURE WE TAKE ANOTHER 10 SEATS AT MINIMUM NEXT YEAR IN THE SENATE. 23 SEATS UP FOR BID, LET'S DO IT !
We could certainly use some help unseating Gordon Smith out here in Oregon.
Oh NO!! Not the "War on Christmas!!" (tm)
Well, in that case here's my favorite Christmas song, just to put people in the mood. Let's watch Bill O'Liely spew and sputter until his big head explodes. I'm in the mood.
Time for Friday Season's 'Tinis!
HO HO Ho...
Book Calls Drug Policy Inconsistent, Incoherent, Unjust
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/535722/
Newswise — Society’s attitudes toward different drugs and its ways of
regulating them are often “inconsistent,” “incoherent” and ultimately
unjust, says a new book by a team of University of Utah scholars.
The book says that to create a just drug policy, society must develop a
consistent and coherent way of thinking about the entire gamut of
drugs, from prescription and over-the-counter medicines to alternative
and herbal remedies and supplements, sports-enhancing steroids, illegal
recreational drugs, religious-use drugs such as peyote, and everyday
fixes like alcohol, tobacco and caffeine.
“We must make significant changes, not merely cosmetic prunings, in the
way we treat drugs – all drugs,” says “Drugs and Justice: Seeking a
Consistent, Coherent, Comprehensive View,” a book published Nov. 30 and
written by a team of 11 philosophers, pharmaceutical scientists,
lawyers, doctors and psychologists. “This means scrapping many of the
laws now on the books and starting over.”
They write that making the needed changes in the way drugs are treated
means “resisting politically motivated enforcement and reform measures
that have not been thought through with concern for their impact in all
areas” of drugs – across the board.
The book decries the compartmentalization of drug policy and
regulation, varying definitions of addiction and harm, the failure of
drug experts in different fields to reach beyond their specialties, and
– says publisher Oxford University Press – “inconsistencies that derive
more from cultural and social values than from medical or scientific
facts.”
“It’s the compartmentalization and the differing histories of
regulation of different drugs that result in many of the apparent
inconsistencies and injustices,” says the book’s first author,
bioethicist Margaret Battin, a distinguished professor of philosophy at
the University of Utah. “It’s not that some drugs don’t cause harm.
Some cause serious harm or death. But the way in which we approach
regulation and think about drugs doesn’t correspond to a thoughtful
evaluation of their capacities for addiction, danger, or beneficial
properties in reducing pain or producing pleasure.”
Inconsistencies and Injustices in Drug Policy
“Control of illegal drugs has been an immense focus of domestic and
international policy, with enormous financial and human costs,” Battin
says. “Yet we haven’t really examined our rationale for making some
drugs illegal and others not.”
Some inconsistencies cited in the book include:
-- “Is the rationale for restricting prescription drugs consistent with
the absence of such restrictions for dietary supplements and herbal
drugs?” And why aren’t dietary supplements and herbal medicines tested
for safety when prescription drugs are tested?
-- Should risks of death count? Why is marijuana illegal if alcohol is
not? Why is peyote illegal if tobacco is not?” In the book’s foreword,
physician-lawyer Peter Cohen of Georgetown University Law Center asks:
“Why do we allow the sale of alcohol and tobacco, both responsible for
greater rates of mortality and morbidity than ‘illegal’ drugs? No
doubt, among the many factors responsible for the disjunction between
scientific fact and public policy are the overwhelming influences of
money and lobbying.”
-- Use of anabolic steroids by an Olympic athlete nets a one-year
suspension for the first violation, yet National Football League
players get only a four-game suspension.
-- Under one accepted definition of addiction, someone who drinks
numerous cups of coffee daily, craves it and suffers withdrawal
headaches is considered “addicted.” Under another definition, he is
“substance dependent.” Yet a weekend cocaine user is neither addicted
nor substance dependent under the first definition and only in the less
serious category of “substance abuser” under the other. The definitions
– used primarily in medical and psychological spheres – disagree, but
both define the coffee drinker as having a more serious disorder than
the weekend cocaine user.
-- “According to national surveys, it is about as easy for a high
school student to obtain illegal drugs as it is to obtain alcohol.
Ironically, the law will allow her to purchase alcohol in just a couple
of years but will never permit her to buy or possess other drugs.”
-- “Is there any good reason why the same amounts of crack cocaine and
powder cocaine should result in vastly different criminal punishments?”
Under federal law, possessing five grams of crack cocaine carries the
same five-year minimum mandatory sentence as possessing 500 grams of
powder cocaine – a problem now being addressed by the Federal
Sentencing Commission.
The authors say that “some of these inconsistencies may turn out to be
justified while others may not.” Longer sentences for crack may arise
because it is linked to more violent crime and greater social harm, and
also because it is more widely available – or they may be due to
racism, since blacks are more likely to use crack than powder cocaine.
The history of drug policy has been shaped by politics, racism and fear
of foreigners, with early opium, cocaine and marijuana laws,
respectively, targeted at Chinese railroad workers, southern blacks and
Mexicans the book says.
OK, everyone settle down about S. 1959. Read this section:
`SEC. 899E. PROTECTING CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES WHILE PREVENTING IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.`(a) In General- In carrying out this subtitle, the Secretary shall ensure that the efforts of the Department to prevent ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism as described in this subtitle do not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, and civil liberties of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents.
`(b) Commitment to Racial Neutrality- The Secretary shall ensure that the activities and operations of the entities created by this subtitle are in compliance with the commitment of the Department to racial neutrality.
`(c) Auditing Mechanism- The Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer of the Department shall develop and implement an auditing mechanism to ensure that compliance with this subtitle does not result in a disproportionate impact, without a rational basis, on any particular race, ethnicity, or religion and include the results of its audit in its annual report to Congress required under section 705.'...
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1959
This bill appears to be a study into how to combat homegrown terrorists such as Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh not to mention the so-called Islamofacists. I, for one, think it is a good idea and support the bill. I look forward to their findings and recommendations.
In the 21st century, Fortress America needs to become a reality otherwise our very existence could be jeopardized. The United States has too many enemies now, especially all the additional ones created under the Bush administration, and inaction could be detrimental to our way of life.
ASA Victory: The End of Medical Cannabis Seizures in California
Court rules that police must enforce state, not federal law
Dear ASA Supporter,
Yesterday, a California Appeals Court ruled that it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws. Ending years of dispute, the court ruled in favor of Felix Kha, a medical marijuana patient seeking the return of his medical marijuana that was seized by police. It should now be abundantly clear to law enforcement across the state that it is not acceptable to seize the medicine of seriously ill patients, said Joe Elford, who represented Kha as Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA).
Yesterdays victory marks the culmination of two years of litigation led by ASA. This important decision would not have been possible without the generous contributions of ASA supporters.
To help ASA continue the fight for patients rights, donate today!
"The ruling can help someone else that is in really bad need of access to their medicine." Felix Kha said after hearing of the victory. Felix is not alone: Americans for Safe Access (ASA) has compiled reports from nearly eight hundred patient encounters with local or state police during a period of more than two years. These reports show a glaring trend: more than 90% of all encounters result in medicine seizure by police regardless of any probable cause. According to reports received by ASA, rampant seizure of medical marijuana from qualified patients and primary caregivers has taken place in 53 of California's 58 counties.
As of yesterday, California law enforcement will be fulfilling their more traditional duty to administer the laws of this state, according to the courts ruling. This precedent-setting victory was achieved through years of meticulous planning by ASAs Legal Affairs Department, none of which would have been possible without our members and supporters, whose donations fund the $200,000 annual budget of our Legal Affairs Department.
Donate today! Support ASAs Legal Affairs Department and help set precedents to ensure patients rights!
With your help we can fund several other important legal challenges to achieve the lasting victory we seek: Truly safe and legal access to medical cannabis for every patient who needs it. Thank you for your continuing generous support!
Warmly,
Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access
Posted by Doo-Bee-Doo-Bee-Doo on November 30, 2007 at 04:54 PM
DPD,
They are now saying the nutcase is a Libertarian. There will be a lot more of them, as well as upper middle class Republicans, cracking as the economy gets worse...and blaming it all on the Clintons.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 05:59 PM
IMO, they need to tighten up their definitions. In republican land, simply saying that the war needs to end is akin to "violent radicalisation". There needs to be some safeguards that prevent the conservative jackboots from beating protestors about the head with our own Constitution and locking us away as some sort of insurgent. The plain truth is that we already have mechanisms in place to prevent homegrown terrorism, we simply do not properly utilize them. Instead, we occupy our time with pimply faced pizza drivers who have computer aided fantasies of blowing up GI-Joes.
Medical marijuana patients close in on McCain; McCain insults MPP
Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) was recently confronted by three medical marijuana patients in two days — and after 48 hours of stonewalling was forced to assure a patient that he would work to prevent him from being arrested.
Before Thanksgiving, we attended a McCain event at Dartmouth College. At the end of his speech, Sen. McCain turned to Clayton Holton, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and has never met Sen. McCain, and said: "Sir, I would be glad to answer your question and I know that it's about medical marijuana, and before I answer your question, I will tell you and anyone else here on behalf of medical marijuana that I'm still opposed to it, but would be more than happy to listen to your question or your statement."
Holton responded, "I have a rare form of muscular dystrophy. Because of that, I suffer from pain everyday and I am very, very thin. I've tried every type of appetite stimulator, including Marinol, and it does nothing but make me sick. All of my doctors agree that I'm living proof that it works — that it eases my pain and helps me maintain weight so I do not die. A lot of other people use it to relieve their pain and suffering, but they're being arrested for it. You yourself have said that it's torture to keep medical treatment from individuals who are suffering. You have also said that you would arrest people like me who use medical marijuana as medication. And you have also said that you would not look into any further research on helping people like myself. Sir, please stop playing politics with my life, and making Americans who are sick and dying suffer."
Sen. McCain answered, "I'll be glad to continue the conversations and discussions about it. I have never said that I would have anyone like you arrested, sir. And I won't. And I will continue to look at the issue. Every shred of evidence I have, including talking with the best minds in America, say that there are many other ways to relieve pain and suffering, and I would be glad to look into your particular case … I will continue to encourage crackdowns on people who grow and produce and distribute marijuana." Sen. McCain quickly called on another audience member.
After the event had concluded, Crissy Neves, a registered medical marijuana patient in Rhode Island, shook Sen. McCain's hand and said, "I'm a Rhode Island medical marijuana patient with cancer. My question for you is, if you are elected president, will you support the federal government raids on patients?"
Sen. McCain shot back, "You know, I keep hearing that they did that and I've never seen any evidence."
I handed Sen. McCain a briefing paper on the federal raids, 250 of which had been handed out to audience members prior to the event. Sen. McCain looked it over and pointed to the logo for the Marijuana Policy Project, "This is from whom, the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation? I'm afraid, sir, you're going to have to give it to me from somebody else."
I pointed to the fact that the Los Angeles Times was even quoted in the policy paper as depicting the DEA's actions against patients and caregivers as "a deplorable new bullying tactic."
McCain responded, "You may give me quotes from the L.A. Times, but this is from the Marijuana Policy Project."
Crissy didn't let the senator get away without an answer, asking again, "If you make president, do you support the federal raids on the medical marijuana patients in the country?"
Sen. McCain answered, "No! I do not. But there is still no evidence. I believe in enforcing existing law."
The following day at a town hall event in New London, New Hampshire, registered Rhode Island medical marijuana patient Bobby Ebert asked Sen. McCain, "I'm coming from Rhode Island, and I'm a medical marijuana patient. I'm living with AIDS/HIV. And I'd like to ask you, if you became president, would you let the DEA come in and arrest patients for using the medication that helps them so much? It's changed my life completely from the opiate drugs I was on. I wouldn't be able to talk to you right now if I were on those drugs."
After applause for Ebert had subsided, Sen. McCain responded, "Every town hall now, we have this issue of medical marijuana that comes up. We're consulting with the AMA [American Medical Association], we're consulting with the government — which we should have done some time ago — including law enforcement agencies. And I will be issuing an in-depth policy paper within the next couple of days, and I will get it to you [pointing to Ebert], and I will get it to you [pointing to Clayton Holton, who was also in the audience]."
Sen. McCain gestured for Holton to speak to the audience as well. Holton added, "I'm just really scared if I'm going to be put in jail for trying to keep weight on my body, for using it for medicine."
Sen. McCain answered, "Well sir, I just want to assure you that I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you never have the threat of that happening to you," which was followed by a loud round of applause.
Bob,
Fortress America? I have no intentions of being walled up with these Right wingnuts. I'd rather take my chances with Kucinich's UFOs. I'm surprised that any freedom loving American would be so fast to give up their civil liberties.
Would you be willing to give up your gun, your faith, your vote...so Big Brother can protect you? Nothing can protect me better than the Bill of Rights.
To: vmenard@newsreview.info
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 8:26 AM
Subject: Drug abuse article
Editor-
Kathe Linden (11/29/07) expresses apparent concern about a supposed "conflicting" message being sent to society regarding whether or not marijuana is medicine. Leaving aside the inappropriate inclusion of references to medical marijuana in an unrelated article about the real problem of meth, her comments reflect a widely held misconception of the issue of whether or not marijuana is medicine, and need addressing.
The fact is, in the state of Oregon there is no question regarding the issue. State law is very clear on the subject: quoting ORS 475.300 (1) "Patients and doctors have found marijuana to be an effective treatment for suffering caused by debilitating medical conditions, and therefore, marijuana should be treated like other medicines."
There really is no conflict if the law is kept in mind. Marijuana, like any other therapeutic agent may be appropriate in a medical context, yet may be, like any other therapeutic agent, inappropriate in another context, such as use by children without a medical need. I have found our youth to easily understand the difference. If the message is being mixed, it is only because of people like Ms. Linden trying to mix it.
The real problem with the resulting mix is that our youth, being shown that the anti-drug liturgy is not always true, may tend to discount information regarding other, harder drugs like meth, to their and our detriment.
Laird Funk
Posted by BlueinIdaho on November 30, 2007 at 06:06 PM
I agree wholeheartedly, Blue. This section also gives me some hope that this isn't a railraod job:
`(c) Composition of Commission- The Commission shall be composed of 12 members appointed for the life of the Commission, of whom--`(1) 2 members shall be appointed by the President from among officers or employees of the executive branch and private citizens of the United States;
`(2) 2 members shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate;
`(3) 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate;
`(4) 2 members shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
`(5) 1 member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;
`(6) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives;
`(7) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives;
`(8) 1 member shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
`(9) 1 member shall be appointed by the ranking minority member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate.
`(d) Chair and Vice Chair- The Commission shall elect a Chair and a Vice Chair from among its members.
`(e) Qualifications-
`(1) IN GENERAL- Individuals shall be selected for appointment to the Commission solely on the basis of their professional qualifications, achievements, public stature, experience, and expertise in relevant fields, including behavioral science, constitutional law, corrections, counterterrorism, cultural anthropology, education, information technology, intelligence, juvenile justice, local law enforcement, organized crime, Islam and other world religions, sociology, or terrorism.
`(2) LIMITATION- Not more than 6 members of the Commission shall be from the same political party...
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1959
Anything we can do to better understand the threats against us, the better off we are. President Bush has made the world a much more dangerous place through his version of cowboy diplomacy. America will move on to a better era after 20JAN09. It must for all of our sakes. I think this proposed commission will help facilitate that by balancing the need for security with our constituional guarantees.
I'm intently watching CNN waiting to see if Blitzer's arm may break off from the frantic self-congratulating backing patting going on.
Posted by PamB on November 30, 2007 at 05:26 PM
I would be willing to bet Biden's coffers were prettied up by those credit card companies.
That would not surprise me in the least bit however, the individuals who run credit card companies are his constituents as well. Their voice show carry equal weight as ours. The Bankruptcy Bill was not perfect by no stretch of the imagination. Once we elect a Democrat for the White House and maintain control of the Congress I believe it is definitely an issue worth revisiting.
Posted by Kristen on November 30, 2007 at 06:27 PM
Kristen,
What did Wolf do to which makes him eligible for a pat on the back? I've been watching Tucker who is falling all over himself trying to explain that all Libertarians are not that crazy.
So the hostage taker had mental problems and just wanted treatment. My son, who was passing through the room and saw the broadcast, joked that all he really wanted was "affordable healthcare." Don't we all?
Bob,Fortress America? I have no intentions of being walled up with these Right wingnuts. I'd rather take my chances with Kucinich's UFOs. I'm surprised that any freedom loving American would be so fast to give up their civil liberties.
Would you be willing to give up your gun, your faith, your vote...so Big Brother can protect you? Nothing can protect me better than the Bill of Rights.
Posted by SandyH on November 30, 2007 at 06:10 PM
WOOT!! This is sooo true, SandyH. Benj. Franklin said something about those who would trade liberty for security will end up with neither. He's spinning in his grave as we post.
Sandy, the guy called CNN and CNN alerted the police (guess they forgot the woman that ran into the store and had the clerk call 911) and then they were all over themselves for not broadcasting the police movement that eventually caught the guy...between he and Anderson I'm surprised neither dislocated a shoulder.
Good Evening,
Oh, my gosh! The most important topic for republican and x-tian networks are:
1) Some is trying to steal Christmas,
2) Please cloth the dolls at Victoria Secret stores,
Gee,
According to my bible and historical readings:
A) Supporting a liar and one who bears false witness has punishment more sever than someone trying to steal Christmas. Remember Jesus entered the temple and threw out all the trinkets and all the little idols and all the merchants who preyed upon the worshipers at the temple. …and the commercial Christmas was considered heretical by many puritan religions in early USA history.
B) Please review history, the people in the Middle East with whom the bible stories are told did not wear much clothing during biblical times, look at the historical carvings on the walls and records. The tradition moral and ethical laws of cover the women came from the Genghis Khan when his Mongolian empire reached the Middle East in 1200. Khan’s wife-to-be was abducted early in their relationship. Even though Khan was able to rescue his bride, things were never the same. Khan laid the law to cover the women to prevent abductions. The Khan Mongols conquered most of Mongolia, China, Persia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Syria, Jordan, Afghanistan, Greece, Hungary, Russia, Georgia, even parts of Italy and Austria. Genghis Khan was one of the most religiously tolerant rulers of the time. His descendant were also empire builders, Timur (Also known as Tamerlane) spend his life building the Islamic Mongol/Turkic Empire. He more than any other prior helped spread Islamic faith and ushered the great revival and artistic period of the Islamic Kingdoms. So for those who want to know where the ethic and moral laws requiring covering of women by veil; research the Jin Dynasty archive in Forbidden City Museum in Beijing China and Taipei Museum in Taiwan. One will discover the Persian scripted writing looks very similar to the Jin Dynasty Mongol/Chinese writing!!
In Islam, Jewish and Christian faith the Old Testament carries punishment of great severity for one who support liars and bearers of false witness which is against the 9th commandment from god. Yet these repugnant x-tian reich want to sensationalize the titillation and commercialization of religion over actual moral and ethical teachings.
Posted by SandyH on November 30, 2007 at 06:10 PM
Sandy I think you misuderstand what I mean by Fortress America. My interpretation of that saying is a secure America where everyone coming in or out is known; where every non-citizen is accounted for, where every container big and small is checked at a safe distance from the shoreline, and where our land borders, north and south, are secure. The first duty of the new President should be enacting all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. IMHO, this can be accomplished while still protecting the civil rights we both hold so dear and S. 1959 is a good start as well.
Posted by Swooper420 on November 30, 2007 at 06:37 PM
Mr. Franklin can rest in peace if we Democrats can enact some meaningful security regulations that are indicative of the threats posed in the 21st century. The GOP had their opportunity and they shredded the Bill of Rights to do it. Therefore, a Demcoratic POTUS will have to both fix the GOP mess and enact something we can all live with. There are 300 million Americans, not 150 million blue Americans and 150 million red Americans. Some times, I think we forget that in the heat of partisan battles.
Good night fellow Democrats. Keep the Faith and keep the faith. The liberal revolution is now...
Good Evening,
For those who still do not believe the biblical people were not clothed head to toe, please check the Greek and Roman archives. One will discover the Greeks and Romans reporting of men, women and children running around bearly clothed and food was plenty in the Nile Delta.
It was the Mongols that made people veil the women and cloth them. Even today it is considered impolite to look directly at a women in parts of China and Mongolia. The women in those area are fully clothed and veiled!
Clothing was not a religious or ethical requirement of Jews, Christians or Islam until after 1200 or the Great Khan!
Against abortion? Just want to see it controlled? THEN CALL YOUR REP AND GET HIM TO VOTE FOR THIS !
Women's Health Caught in Congress's Holiday Rush
By Allison Stevens
Women's eNews
Reproductive health advocates are pushing for several bills to become law before Congress adjourns for the holidays. Low-cost contraception and postpartum research are high priorities to make it through the legislative backlog.
Washington - Reproductive health advocates want federal lawmakers to enact a series of bills in time for the holidays. At the top of their wish list is legislation to lower the cost of birth control drugs on college campuses and at health care clinics that serve low-income women. They also want more money to finance family planning programs and study postpartum depression.
And they want it now.
Next year, when the presidential campaign further polarizes Capitol Hill, the kind of bipartisan compromise needed to pass reproductive health bills will be next to impossible to reach, advocates fear.
"We absolutely need Congress to act," Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York, said about a bill to allow pharmaceutical companies to return to their practice of selling birth control drugs at steep discounts on college campuses and clinics. "Every day we don't solve this problem there are more and more people who don't have access to birth control."
CHECK OUT THE FRONT PAGE OF THE BLOG.
HOWARD DEAN'S SPEECH INCLUDED, ALONG WITH EACH CANDIDATE'S (EXCEPT FOR HILLARY) FROM THE DNC MEETING.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on November 30, 2007 at 06:52 PM
Bob,
Thanks for the clarification. I thought you had gone Giulani on us. But I'm still skeptical that we could ever enforce border security along our entire coastal plain.
I'd rather tighten the natural entry points as you outlined and stop the flow of cheap labor by clamping down on those that hire them...including the Congress who keeps giving out visas while our engineers and tech people scramble. It's got to be easier for terrorists to sneak in with the flow.
Sorry about the quick come back. I should have known you had a logical explanation. But so many rational people these days seem all too willing to give up their freedom for false security.
Everyone - check this out.
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, but one document says the administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation's highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs.
The department wanted to provide $3.2 billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, but the White House said it would ask Congress for less than half — $1.4 billion, according to a Nov. 26 document. The plan calls outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year. This is President Bush's last budget, and the new administration would have to live with the funding decisions between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2009.
The Homeland Security department and the White House Office of Management and Budget, which is in charge of the administration's spending plans, would not provide details about the funding cuts because nothing has been finalized. "It would be premature to speculate on any details that will or will not be a part of the next fiscal year budget," OMB spokesman Sean Kevelighan said, because negotiations between the White House and the Cabinet departments over the budget are not finished.
"There's been staunch support of our department, and you'll see it again this February" when Bush's 2009 budget emerges, Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke predicted.
The proposal to drastically cut Homeland Security grants is at odds with some of the administration's own policies. For example, the White House recently promised continued funding for state and regional intelligence "fusion centers" — information-sharing centers the administration deems critical to preventing another terrorist attack. Cutting the grants would limit money available for the centers.
The White House's plan to eliminate the port, transit and other grants, which are popular with state and local officials, would not go into effect until Sept. 30, 2008. Congress is unlikely to support the cuts and will ultimately decide the fate of the programs and the funding levels when it hashes out the department's 2009 budget next year. The White House routinely seeks to cut the budget requests of federal departments, but the cuts proposed for 2009 Homeland Security grants are far deeper than the norm. Congress has yet to approve the department's 2008 plan.
"This budget proposal is dead on arrival," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. "This administration runs around the country scaring people and then when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they say 'sorry, the bank is closed.'"
California receives a large share of the counterrorism money each year, and could lose more than $200 million under the White House plan.
Boxer was particularly incensed about the proposal to end money for port security — a big concern on the West Coast. "California's ports carry over 47 percent of all goods imported into the United States," she said. "A terrorist attack at any of California's ports could shut down our nation's port system and result in a mind-boggling loss for our nation's economy."
Bipartisan opposition to deep cuts emerged from New York, another state that would be hard hit.
"To zero out essential Homeland Security programs which have more to do with protecting Americans and fighting the war on terror than much of the money spent in Iraq shows how warped and out of touch this administration's priorities are," said Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat.
The proposal "goes totally in the wrong direction," said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. "This would be a very grave mistake, and I will do all I can to stop it."
In some years the grant program has created more ill will than security. In 2005, the administration cut by 40 percent the counterterrorism funding to New York and Washington, D.C., the two cities hit hardest on Sept. 11. New York lawmakers were furious, and the Homeland Security official in charge of the grants program eventually resigned. Since then, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has promised to apply more common sense and less "bean-counting" in grant decisions.
The White House plan calls for massive cuts in areas where Homeland Security officials had sought increases. The department requested $900 million for grants to U.S. cities at greatest risk of attack. But the White House only wants to provide $400 million for that program, to be divided among no more than 45 urban areas. In 2007, Congress gave New York City $134 million — about a third of the total amount the White House would give to the highest risk areas in the country in 2009.
While very popular in the states and among lawmakers who take credit for getting counterterrorism dollars to their districts, some of the Homeland Security grants have been criticized as wasteful or excessive.
_$345,000 for crashproof barriers and 60 closed-circuit cameras to monitor the University of Arkansas Razorback stadium, which local officials think could be a terrorist target.
_$5 million for the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology to buy a nearly deserted town to use for counterterrorism training.
_$70,000 for Huntsville, Ala. to create a fallout shelter in an abandoned mine where 20,000 people could take cover underground.
_Several South Florida fire departments have used Homeland Security grants to beef up their gyms. Pompano Beach, Fla., spent $220,000 on fitness equipment for a wellness program, training and physical exams.
While the White House would eliminate at least seven current Homeland Security grant programs, it would create two new grants:
_Targeted investment grants, which would fund administration priorities such as the requirement that states create more secure driver's licenses, secure credentials for transportation employees and state and local planning for catastrophic disasters. The White House would provide $450 million for that.
_A $300 million discretionary grant program for terrorism preparedness, prevention and response, which would fund specific projects instead of sending a set amount to each state.
These grants have long been debated in Congress, particularly whether a certain amount should be guaranteed to each state regardless of its risk of being attacked by terrorists. Rural lawmakers have not wanted the money to be distributed based on risk alone because it would mean their states and districts would see cuts.
In a joint statement, Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairman and ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, said they "urge the administration to reconsider this wrong-headed strategy."
nice song for a friday night. brought to you from new york city, the city that brought you rudy and the city that will take him away to the loony bin where he belongs....ah but i digress....nice song for a friday night...
Posted by marymac_memphis on November 30, 2007 at 08:15 PM
Without going into detail of how, what where, and when (ask PamB about Secret Societies), Bush and the moneymongerers are following true to form.
Now that it's time for George W. to leave office and they have used the ruse of terrorists to frighten/scare the Bejesus out of the country, now it's time to shut down the spin factory and go home with the gajillion dollars everyone has made. Cheney will need a freight train to take home his Halliburton loot.
Bottom Line: Time to take back that money which was never really needed to begin with because the threat was never really there, just ordered up by the "Powers that Be" to whip the public in line so that they would go along with a War for Profit and not see it for what it really was until it was too late.
marymac, I look at the big picture. Keep stepping back and the picture comes more into focus and one thing is absolute - there is no difference in wars/strategies from the streets than there are in the boardrooms and I know the streets as well as the boardrooms, just a difference in scenery and place. There is a special hell all waiting and ready for all the folks that made it possible for a George W. Bush, Jr. to come to the Presidency and preside over every wrong action taken against this country and I'm not talking about the voters and American public.
Posted by gregg on November 30, 2007 at 08:30 PM
Ya know gregg, NYC has had it's share of mayors off the loop. Is the city some kind of bait for them or something???
I guess Bush wasn't really worried about terrorism after all.
Emergency responders face deep aid cuts By EILEEN SULLIVAN and DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press WritersWASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, but one document says the administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation's highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs.
The department wanted to provide $3.2 billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, but the White House said it would ask Congress for less than half — $1.4 billion, according to a Nov. 26 document. The plan calls outright elimination of programs for port security, transit security, and local emergency management operations in the next budget year.
This is President Bush's last budget, and the new administration would have to live with the funding decisions between Jan. 20 and Sept. 30, 2009...news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071130/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/security_grants
(Bold mine.)
Nothing like tying the hands of the people who are our first line on defense with the National Guard over in Iraq. But then, Bush wouldn't give our troops body armor either.
But isn't it interesting that he's upped the number of Secret Service who will be guarding him after he leaves office to like 350 agents plus.
Brave man. He's going to be living in Paraquay with his army. The rest of us can scramble for cover.
Not trying to be be in a dissing mood there because a part of my heart will ALWAYS be there.
Brave man. He's going to be living in Paraquay with his army. The rest of us can scramble for cover.
Posted by SandyH on November 30, 2007 at 08:35 PM
I'll tell you something. When I was digging into the Bush Family and Paraguay/South America the more I dug the more disgusting it got. To the point even I begin to get just a little frightened there as to what I might stumble upon.
gregg on November 30, 2007 at 08:30 PM
Great choice for a Friday night.
Enjoy the evening everybody
Posted by J on November 30, 2007 at 08:33 PM
Hi, J.
The other day when Cheney had to be zapped several times to get his heart beat back, I wondered if he was worried about what lies on the other side.
Does he ever think about those million plus innocent Iraqis he sent to an earlier reward ...after being properly tortured or shock and awed into submission?
I look at this man and just don't get it. He's filthy rich and has had all the advantages in life, but he looks older than George Burns did when he died. He's only three years older than me and he can hardly walk. I'm no spring chicken, but I can still run around the block a few times without any trouble.
I guess that's what comes from being a mean SOB most of your life. And it's not going to get any easier for him in hell. It makes me rest a little easier at night just knowing that.
Oh, I meant to post this, a "cute" recap of the Republican debate by one of our own local guys, Shelby Highsmith (I told ya'll, there is hope for Georgia yet)
10Questions.com's David Colarusso On CNN/YouTube Debate Deficiencies
Good night, Gig.
I'm signing out, too.
It's been an interesting week with the GOP UTube debate and now this nut grandstanding at Hillary's headquarters. Things aren't really looking good for their side. They're all kind of acting desperate and lost to their own perversions.
Good night, everyone. Have a good weekend.
GIG!!!! If there's hope for Florida, there's got to be some for Georgia :)
I think that some of us forget that Senator Obama isn't the perfect antiwar candidate for President that some think he is. This is something everyone should check out and be reminded of.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2182955.ece
Bush claimed we had intelligence on Iraq about WMD and look how that went. Fool me once shame on me, fook me twice shame on me. My vote for the primary is going to Senator Hillary Clinton
Correction: The quote I was using is this "fool
me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"
White House seeks to slash anti-terror fundsWASHINGTON - The Bush administration intends to slash counterterrorism funding for police, firefighters and rescue departments across the country by more than half next year, according to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks, but the administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation’s highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs.
A young black man is running for the highest office of this country. He's stood against the decision to divert attention from terrorism by going to war in Iraq from the start. He stands against those powerful Insurance Companies who have given us a healthcare crisis in America. And he stands for a return to diplomatic approaches that result in positive gains in the area of foreign affairs, an area where our country is severely lacking.
So many talk of glass ceilings when speaking of yet another white woman who could lead one of the worlds most powerful nations, a position similar to those that have been held by numerous powerful white women in other nations, and yet so few speak of the very real boundary that Barack Obama would break if elected. I'd like to know why that is.
With Romney not serving in Vietnam like Bush but as a Missionary and now Romney sons not serving like the Bush family sons and daughters, it seems Political Royals are exempt from Republican Wars.
I first got down on Bush over his bastardized version of tort reform that he and Rove lied and cheated to get passed here in Texas. Then, as I became more involved in the political process, I really got down on Bush about all the Republican ear marks he failed to challenge much less veto. So, I worked hard to help get Democrats elected.
So what do I see on CBS tonight? That the Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Jack Murtha are leading the pack in the Democratic Party in stealing the tax payer's money by ear marks as fast as the Republicans that I despise so much ever did. The fact that the CBS report showed a few Republicans still stealing the people's money by ear marking bills is of no consolation to me. I thought that we were going to make a difference and represent the American People. I am bitterly disappointed in the leadership of the Democratic Party that I voted for.
Posted by TheHonorableFrostyChitlins on December 1, 2007 at 02:54 AM
And one of lowest parasites to call a person dipstick, such a person must Judge as a Republican in order to elevate themselves beyond a midget mind.
Posted by TheHonorableFrostyChitlins on December 1, 2007 at 03:01 AM
You are showing just how dopey you are. Did you graduate from Harvard Law? No!! You are really showing what a racist you are! Obama was born smarter than you will ever be on the best day of your life! And I'm not even supporting him....
Plus a lot of voters don't pay any attention and will think "Obama! ain't dat da mofo what knocked dem towers down, I anin't gonna vote dat sonabitch?"
Posted by TheHonorableFrostyChitlins on December 1, 2007 at 03:21 AM Do you really, honestly think that Americans who are motivated enough to go to the polls and vote are that stupid? I don't.
"Ear marks" get a bad rap. How do you think roads, schools, and bridges get built? A collection plate from the county tax accessor? No, federal funding. Without ear marks, this country would fall in a depression. Ear marks keep America working.
They get a bad wrap because the media combs hundreds of pages to find something like a "woodstock museum." Often the county getting Fed support, like the woodstock museum, does NOT get the amount of Federal Money that other districts get. If a county doesn't have a military base, an interstate, or a university, they don't get squat. The rural area is likely economically depressed, like farming and coal mining areas, and they NEED SOMETHING for economic growth.
The irony is that CORPORATIONS, AND CORPORATE media stations, are getting big tax breaks AND huge subsidizes. Do you hear them complaining about the CORPORATE WELFARE? No. They go pick on some depressed area that doesn't get it's fair share of the Federal budget.
Did you ever see the media report on the logic of mega-profiting corporations, LIKE OIL COMPANIES, from getting tax breaks and subsidies??? Maybe once. But how many times did you hear about "woodstock?"
Be careful about how the media uses information to get people to attack Congress. Go look around your district, and see if you see anything that Federal funds helped build that your district doesn't need. The bottom line is that if corporations and the super rich paid their fair share, our roads, bridges, and schools would not be crumbling.
The bottom line is that "ear marks" keep America working, and spread the wealth. Notice when the media cries foul about an earmark, like woodstock, it's for a small amount, like a few hundred THOUSAND. It doesn't compare to the HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS in corporate tax breaks and subsidies.
Hey DLester and Goodfoe.
Can you guys imagine the Minneapolis Airport during Republican convention?
"Paging Mr Craig. Your party, Senor Frosty, is waiting for you at the first floor men's room in the right wing concourse."
The reports said no money was exchanged... so is that like a "family values" deal? Like a family value deal... only for pervert hypocrite Republicans.
Poor Republicans... nobody will ever believe "moral values, strong on defense, and fiscal responsibility." Republicans have nothing except fear and loathing... and people are getting sick of both. Frosty... our own bigoted, loathing example of Republican Party.
It's clear to see that Rove is working with Romney. Romney's campaign doing the "push poll" against Romney was classic Rove.
Rove grew up in UTAH. He went to High School in Salt Lake City.
I'm sure the public will loooove more Rove politics.
Maybe they can get a campaign headquarters in the Mormon's "Garden of Eden?" Maybe JOPLIN, MISSOURI! HAHAHA
It's pretty sad when trolls have to sit and congratulate each other on being trolls.
Of the last 15 posts, 10 were from these trolls!
Ah, well, let the small minds enjoy their own cleverness.
Bush's base is very anti-Jesus, ignorant, and hateful. But what should we expect from people fooled by someone as smart and well-spoken as Bush? Funny how bigots are usually uneducated.
Thankfully, these trolls represent less than 10% of Americans. They are usually live sheltered lives in rural areas. Sometimes they are left over KKK from the 1950's, or they have insecurity complexes. We can see the hate, bigotry, and stupidity. Thanks for showing us how Bush supporters think... or try to think.
Can you imagine how they would be laughed off any campus across America? Maybe Liberty "college" would support their narrow-minded views. I bet they do real good at most workplaces too.
We should pray for these pathetic people.
A young black man is running for the highest office of this country. He's stood against the decision to divert attention from terrorism by going to war in Iraq from the start. He stands against those powerful Insurance Companies who have given us a healthcare crisis in America. And he stands for a return to diplomatic approaches that result in positive gains in the area of foreign affairs, an area where our country is severely lacking.
So many talk of glass ceilings when speaking of yet another white woman who could lead one of the worlds most powerful nations, a position similar to those that have been held by numerous powerful white women in other nations, and yet so few speak of the very real boundary that Barack Obama would break if elected. I'd like to know why that is.
Posted by Marine on November 30, 2007 at 11:00 PM
Why is that Marine??? You don't even want to go there because you're going to end up comng back to the very reasons you and I and lots of other folks don't like.
But let me say this: Whether I or others support his campaign actively or not, he must be given awesome respect and dignity to even attempt a run for President of the United States with all it's added complications to one's life.
boy do i hope this pos gets indicted!
Firm Employing Bruno Handles Unions’ Money
By DANNY HAKIM
Published: December 1, 2007
ALBANY, Nov. 30 — An investment firm that employs New York’s Senate majority leader, Joseph L. Bruno, is managing tens of millions of dollars from New York labor unions, according to state ethics records and tax documents.
The unions have voluminous interests before the State Legislature, including several measures that Mr. Bruno has backed.
Mr. Bruno, the state’s top Republican, has collected salaries from both the state and the Winthrop Corporation, parent company of Wright Investors’ Service, based in Milford, Conn., since the mid-1990s. He became majority leader in 1995.
While Mr. Bruno’s annual ethics reports have previously disclosed that he is an employee of Wright, the reports do not reveal what he does for the company or who the company’s clients are.
After receiving information from individuals within organized labor, The New York Times examined tax records filed by the unions that detailed the investments.
Eugene Helm, president of Wright Investors, said his company’s relationship with unions predated Mr. Bruno’s employment. Mr. Helm described Mr. Bruno’s role at the company as “business development,” but declined to provide details. Mr. Bruno’s office also would not discuss the senator’s duties...
Good morning, Dems! A dusting of snow on the ground and a chilly 24 degrees with a storm forecast for Sunday afternoon/evening.
A big hug to Kristen and DPD for their links on China recalled products. I couldn't believe some of the stuff that has been recalled.
REGARDING: State Department Can’t Account for $1.2 Billion Paid to Private Contractor.
THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN NEEDS CHECK INTO TAKING THIS ILLEGAL LACK OF GOVERNMENTAL ACCOUNTING OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLES TAXES TO THE SUPREME COURT! (Maybe that is the only way the Democratic Congress is going to get the Republican Congress to move, stay or leave, on the Iraq war funding.)
Yesterday Representative Murtha told the American media that the administration has only followed through on only 2 of the 14 fiscal congressional orders passed along with the Iraq war funding by both the Democratic Congress and the former Republican Congress.
Shall we then assume that the string of lack of accountability for American peoples taxes in the Iraq war funding is because the Bush Administration will not follow government fiscal guidelines set out by both the Democratic Congress and the former Republican Congress?
Why will not the Republican Congress go along with helping the Democratic Congress assert and push the administration to practice legal fiscal responsible government, let alone fiscal rules that push and end to the war?
People, are your taxes going into the Iraq war funding a personal loan for the administration to do what ever the administration wants to with? When you borrow money from a bank for a car, you buy that car; you can’t spend the money on something else. So who does this administration and Republican Congress think they are to spend the American peoples taxes on this war however they want to?
AMERICAN TAXES ARE NOT SPLIT AS REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC IN THIS WAR AND ARE NOT A PERSONAL LOAN FOR MR. CHENEY AND HALLIBURTON TO EXPLOIT. This is not just an issue of certain Republican leaders it is an issue of government law itself.
PEOPLE, THE IRAQ WAR FUND IS SO UNPROTECTED WITH ETHICS THAT IF ANOTHER ROGUE NATION KNOWS THE TREASURY SYSTEM THEY COULD STEAL IT AND EVERYBODY WOULD THINK IT WAS JUST YOU KNOW WHO! SO I SAY TAKE THE CROOKS TO COURT OVER IT, EVEN IF THEY MIGHT GET AWAY WITH IT, TAKE THE CROOKS WHO THINK THEY ARE SMARTER THAN THE CIA TO COURT. GIVE ANY POSSIBLE FUTURE CROOKEDS IN THE WHITE HOUSE A MESSAGE.
gregg, I DETEST Bruno. The party is afraid of running someone against him in a presidential election year. Maybe he will self-destruct and we won't have to worry about it.
good morning cyn. gonna take the pooch out and it is snowing lightly.
Good Morning! No snow but it's cold enough for it!!
Find out your GRINCH NAME here!
Mine translated to Bleakfrown Crustynose ? :-/ heh
and a funny
This years rejected crayon colors.
I'm sure buying stock in a company that is doing this research might pay off. big time...in the end.
Sometimes, it all just comes together.
Cars that will run on...water. Hydrogen-2-Go
Cars can run on water... and President Bush is funding research
Or how about we control sunlight?
Orbiting mirror to reflect sunlight
Be careful what you wish for, you will probably get it.
Posted by the_Burdinator on December 1, 2007 at 06:03 AM
How about good, old fashioned campaigning. And just so you know, here is how we're going to get to a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.
Allard (R-CO) Remember Salazar?
Coleman (R-MN) Franken by 5%
Collins (R-ME) RINO
Dole (R-NC) Retiring
Domenici (R-NM) Retiring
Hagel (R-NE) Retiring
Inhofe (R-OK) Longshot - Says global warming is not real, yeah, right.
Smith, G. (R-OR) It's OR
Stevens (R-AK) Bridge to Nowhere and FBI investigations
Sununu (R-NH) RINO
Warner (R-VA) Retiring
December First! WOW! Well at least I'm caught up!
Have a great weekend everyone.
GO DEMS IN 08!!
Morning all,
I just shake my head when I read ignorant posts from the trolls, like the one above against Clinton, saying he had made the world more dangerous by ignoring attacks, yadda yadda.
Don't these people read ANYTHING other than Right wing bull crap sites? Do they not try and read a view that is not what they want to hear, just so they can say they got a balanced opinion ?
Here is What Richard Clarke had to say about the Distorted movie "path to 9ll" which was trying to depict the very same lies about Clinton and himself as Terrorist Czar within the Clinton WH.
"Comments by Richard Clarke, former counterterrorism czar under Presidents Clinton and Bush, and current ABC News consultant:
As someone who was directly involved in almost every event depicted in the fictionalized docudrama, "The Path to 9-11," I believe it is an egregious distortion that does a deep disservice both to history and to those in both the Clinton and Bush administrations who are depicted.
Sadly, ABC's Entertainment Division hired a production company and screen writer who were apparently unqualified to deal with this historically important subject matter. That error appears to have been compounded by the failure of some of the docudrama's consultants to insure that the account was accurate. Some of the most outrageous scenes were removed after a recent senior level review. What remains, however, is not the true story as told by the 9-11 Commission.
Although I am not one to easily believe in conspiracy theories and have spent a great deal of time debunking them, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the errors in this screen play are more than the result of dramatization and time compression. There is throughout the screenplay a consistent bias and distortion seeking to portray senior Clinton Administration officials as holding back the hard charging CIA, FBI, and military officers who would otherwise have prevented 9-11.
The exact opposite is true. From the President, to all of his White House team, and NSC Principals (Lake, Berger, Albright, Tenet, Reno) there was a common fixation with terrorism, al qaeda, and bin Ladin. The President approved every counter-terrorism operation presented to him, including many that CIA proved unable or unwilling to implement. He increased counter-terrorism spending by 400% and initiated the first homeland security program in forty years. Even though the US had taken relatively few casualties from al qaeda at the time, the President repeatedly authorized the use of lethal force against bin Ladin and his deputies and personally requested the US military to develop plans for "commando operations" against
them. Even though he knew the timing of an attack aimed at killing bin Ladin would be labeled by critics as a political diversion, Clinton decided to follow the advice of his national security team and pay the price politically.
All of us who worked on these issues, then and now, hold some responsibility for the failures to stop al qaeda. I bear that burden every day.
But if history is to know where to assign some of that culpability, it should not be guided by this fictionalization. It might better focus on leaders of the FBI who held back John O'Neill, leaders of the CIA's Clandestine Service whose risk aversion prevented the Counter Terrorism Center from doing its job, and senior generals who strongly urged the Commander-in-Chief not to use our military to go after the al qaeda leaders in Afghanistan. Somehow, all of that is missing from this not too subtle televised politicization of history.
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2006/sep/11/abc_consultant_richard_clarke_blasts_first_installment_of_film
While googling this, one will come upon dozens and dozens of the lies which the Repugs prefer to believe. Take a look at the sources of them. All EXTREME right wing haters. Still trying to offset that Bill Clinton was rated one of the top Presidents in American history! 68% approval when he left office. It just kills these little men that Bill Clinton is still thought of as so good, while the Bush's were thought of as so bad.
Obama, Bloomberg Hold Mystery Breakfast Meeting Obama Picks Up Check; What They Discussed Is Not KnownNEW YORK (CBS) ― Just when the speculation seemed to simmer to silence, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has once again turned up the heat on the presidential hot stove.
The Independent mayor had a mystery breakfast meeting in Manhattan Friday morning with Democratic candidate Barack Obama, a move that could irk the Hillary Clinton campaign seeing as, after all, New York is her turf.
Bloomberg has repeatedly asserted he plans to complete his entire mayoral term and keep out of the presidential race, but he sure knows how to tease the masses.
Obama and Bloomberg met on a coffee date, scheduled because of their "mutual interest." The billionaire mayor and the Illinois senator chatted over eggs and potatoes early Friday at the New York Luncheonette on East 50th Street.
"We are trying to push our agenda because it helps New Yorkers, and because what's worked in New York will work elsewhere," said Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser. "There are a lot of people we'd like to speak to and we're going to continue to press our case."...
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/barack.obama.michael.2.599317.html
Obama/Bloomberg? Bloomberg/Obama? Hmmmmmmmm....
good morning, Bob.
Are you trying to ruin my day? ;p
I hope the meal meeting was a contribution to Obama, and not a vp matter.
Posted by Esmeralda on December 1, 2007 at 09:16 AM
LOL
Posted by Esmeralda on December 1, 2007 at 09:21 AM
ditto
BTW my own personal conspiracy theory is that they are ALREADY doing that with the hurricanes. I witnessed 3 w/in a couple months steer clear at the last minute of the whole AREA poppy bush loves to fish down near Sarasota. Also the same place the evil Harris lived and GW was caught reading my PET GOAT while the towers fell!!
Those hurricanes (all 3) should have hit our area. imo. ALL 3 were last minute turns. (I don't believe in coincidences much)
PORTSMOUTH [NH]— Presidential hopeful Delaware Sen. Joe Biden stated unequivocally that he will move to impeach President Bush if he bombs Iran without first gaining congressional approval.Biden spoke in front of a crowd of approximately 100 at a candidate forum held Thursday at Seacoast Media Group. The forum focused on the Iraq war and foreign policy. When an audience member expressed fear of a war with Iran, Biden said he does not typically engage in threats, but had no qualms about issuing a direct warning to the Oval Office.
"The president has no authority to unilaterally attack Iran, and if he does, as Foreign Relations Committee chairman, I will move to impeach," said Biden, whose words were followed by a raucous applause from the local audience.
Biden said he is in the process of meeting with constitutional law experts to prepare a legal memorandum saying as much and intends to send it to the president.
When local resident Joel Carp asked Biden why not impeach now, given what has already been done, Biden said it was a valid point, but might not be constitutionally valid and potentially counterproductive. A case for impeachment must have clear evidence, Biden said, and blame should be directed at the right parties.
"If you're going to impeach George Bush, you better impeach (Vice President Dick) Cheney first," said Biden, again drawing applause...
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071130/NEWS/711300432
Sounds like a plan to me, Senator. When Joe Biden (D-DE) says it is time for impeachment, then that will be the time for impeachment. That is, until my good friends can produce a smoking gun that the sheeple can comprehend.
Sorry that was in regard to the orbiting mirror link!
lol
Posted by Esmeralda on December 1, 2007 at 09:21 AM
Not in the least, Esme. When I put my tinfoil hat on, I can theorize that Mayor Bloomberg may have given Sen. Obama (D-IL) a Plan B namely, Unity 2008. I shudder to think of the implications of that.
Bob that ought to gain Joe some much needed attention and percentage points.
did you ever think you could equate Dennis and Joe on the same page? How about Biden/Kucinich?
stranger things have happened
ok now I must head out for Brunch
Peace aLL
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on December 1, 2007 at 09:39 AM
Oops, sorry Esme. I bet I did it again, didn't I?
Posted by DawnTheOriginaL on December 1, 2007 at 09:40 AM
Dawn, as much as I appreciate what Rep. Kucinich (D-OH) tries to do, he is way too far to the left in his policies for my liking and I seriously doubt he could ever be a viable national candidate. He is to us what Rep. Paul (R-TX) is to the GOP, IMHO. None the less, I wish Rep. Kucinich and the rest of the Democratic contenders the best of luck in IA, NH, and beyond.
Democrats will send SCHIP bill to Bush, veto expectedDemocratic leaders announced tonight that they would send a $35 billion bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program to President Bush, who is expected to veto it as he did an earlier version.
“After consultations today, Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to send bipartisan legislation that would ensure that 10 million low-income American children receive the health insurance coverage that they need and deserve to the White House," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a statement. "This legislation, of course, passed the House and Senate with broad bipartisan support, and we urge the President to sign it into law. We are sending this legislation to the president now because of concerns about a pocket veto if we wait. Our bipartisan discussions on extending health insurance to 10 million children are on-going.”
A pocket veto occurs when Congress adjourns before the 10-day limit (excluding Sundays) given to the president to sign or veto a bill once it's received from Capitol Hill. Democrats hope to adjourn for the year by mid-December, meaning the 10-day clock would expire then.
Under the Democratic proposal, an additional 10 million children would receive coverage under the SCHIP expansion. The $35 billion price tag would be paid for a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/
Last night on the News Hour (PBS), it was reported that President Bush has requested an additional $30 billion for AIDS funding in Africa. So let me see if I have this straight. POTUS vetoes $35 billion for SCHIP for American children and proposes giving almost all of that money to Africans instead? With all due repsect to our fellow human beings in Africa, BULLS**T!
POTUS' first responsibility is to the citizens of this nation. Let's get our own house in order first, Mr. President. Denying American children affordable healthcare in place of foreign aid is just wrong and you should be ashamed.
Posted by BobVADemHawk-Biden2008 on December 1, 2007 at 10:01 AM
Good grief! If that is true, the Democrats should be shouting from the rooftops. Contributing to the battle against AIDS is admirable and we need to do more. But, I agree - America children deserve insurance.
Or, maybe this is just another commitment that Bush won't fund. He talks a great game but fails to back it up.
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.
