I thought at least Bookman would have a ghost writer or substitute. Times must be hard at theUrinal/Constipation.
Oh well.
We now see the racial pig side of Obowo, and he is retreating, but he made his point. If you’re one of the ‘blood’, its okay to disobey the law, refuse rightful police orders, and then wait for the prez to bail you out.
After all, “we gots Obama”. As Mrs G. would say. relax, Obama’s got this one.
RE: PresBO and Gates. If you want a national dialogue start no further than the issue of racial profiling. Subjectively, take a look at the Atlanta local news on any given day and any questions about racial profiling are put to rest!!!
Beamud, who, prior to moving to Atlanta in November of 2008, worked from 1996 to 2008 as a legal advisor for the Cambridge police department, hopes the incident will lead to more positive steps along the nation’s long road to racial reconciliation.
Well, well, “news” that the AJC specializes in, race baiting, who would have expected them to pass up the chance to breath new life into this goony scenario of theirs?
What would the day be without some stereotyping, eh?
scooter..the reason it cant be defined is because what is an offense and what is a solution,is measured by an individuals perception of what happened.ones perception of the world around them is unique to their own life,and resides in their own mind.with 300 million+ minds out there it;s the national dialog and national solution is an open ended{as you said} and possibly unreachable goal,so I reckon we just keep drivin.
Looks lie the break has start well. Have a good one, Jay.
When you get back, I am sure the wingnuts will be all too excited to demonstrate that they are still in their preadolescent fecal stage, (e.g. references to urine and constipation – ohh sooo clever).
I’m thinking what we got here is the Little Bighorn of racial grievance mongering and the General Custers of the pinko media are busy circling the wagons.
Think about it, we’ve had three recent high profile cases in which the left wingers immediately set up shop in their High Dungeons, Tawana Brawley, Duke Lacrosse, and some other nonsense that I have gratefully forgotten, and all of them have crashed and burned.
Not a good track record for those who make a living by rending their clothing at any and all perceived slights.
And consider also, since the mainstream media has wandered off the reservation and now grazes knee deep in the fever swamps, there are no restraints in place to keep them from demonizing America at will, especially when they are fighting for the very essence of their entire existence.
Queen Pinko has not yet posted tomorrow’s socialist manifesto, anybody care to wager it will be about what a ghastly country the United States is, blah, blah, blah?
When all people are held responsible for their families and their actions, when we quit pointing the finger of blame and living in the past, and when we all realize in this wonderful country of ours that there is really equal opportunity to all if we quit making excuses and just go for it, then maybe racial prejudices will end, after all racism is not a one way street!
“When you get back, I am sure the wingnuts will be all too excited to demonstrate that they are still in their preadolescent fecal stage, (e.g. references to urine and constipation – ohh sooo clever).”
Hypocrisy anyone?
Choice – high road or low road. Why get into the gutter with your own remarks?
We’re sick and tired of having to prove things to the self-righteous reactionary fringe, which looks at life as one, big racial profiling traffic stop: Step out of the car Mr. President and show me your birth certificate.”
You do know that had Obama been born in Europe, Latin America or Asia that the same concern over his “nationality” would be forthcoming, don’t you?
It’s a question of nationality, not race. I think it’s the left’s elitists who are looking to elbow their way across the finish line in “the race”. It’s kinda like them saying THEY MUST follow our LEAD!
Pollster John Zogby tells Newsmax that the Republican Party could be “teetering on the brink” of extinction as it fails to appeal to the fastest-growing demographic groups in America.
He also said the GOP is not taking advantage of Democratic setbacks because it has not put forth alternative policies of its own.
Zogby is CEO of Zogby International, a market research and opinion polling firm he founded in 1984.
He wrote an op-ed piece for the July edition of Campaign and Elections’ Politics magazine, headlined “An Endangered Party?” The article asked if the GOP will go the way of the Federalist Party and eventually disappear as a viable national party.
Newsmax.TV’s Ashley Martella asked Zogby if the Republican Party could really become extinct.
“Let’s face it, it could be teetering on the brink,” he declared.
“There’s been maybe a bit of a resurgence since I wrote what I wrote a few weeks back. However, there still is a lack of a program in a time of change. I’m not sure the Republicans are addressing change.”
Zogby also observed in his article that Republicans are “swimming against the tide of demography.”
He told Newsmax: “That’s very true, and that’s got to be a cause for concern. Look at the fastest-growing groups in the electorate. Those groups are Latinos, African-Americans — even though the numbers of African-Americans are not growing, the number who are voting is certainly growing — young people 18 to 29, and what we call the creative class, people who work in the world of ideas.”
These are college-educated professionals such as software engineers, graphic designers, attorneys, and workers in the healthcare technology field. They make up 20 percent of the workforce, Zogby said, and “make up critical parts of the population in states like North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, and so on.
“Republicans are not appealing to those groups, and yet those groups are on the upswing.”
Martella noted that the United States is still said to be a center-right nation, and polls have been showing that Americans increasingly believe President Barack Obama is a liberal. “Could that pave the way for a possible Republican resurgence?” he asked.
“The premise of your question is true,” Zogby responded.
“About 40 percent of the electorate does in fact consider themselves to be conservatives; 20 percent or 22 percent [consider themselves] liberals. It’s that big middle that’s a concern.
“And for conservatives, there have been some that have been turned off over the [George W.] Bush years, for a variety of reasons.
“But the issue is, winning the middle. It’s still a long way to go from 40 percent to 51 percent, and that’s a difficulty.
“Republicans certainly score points by being critical of Obama, by raising questions about spending. But for now, there is no pro-active program. There’s just putting up a hand as a stop sign and saying halt.”
Martella asked if Obama’s declining approval ratings could be good new news for Republicans.
“It certainly could be for the GOP,” he said.
“I have the president at about 50 percent . . . Good news, but always think of the horizon — what’s the next act for the Republicans? And is this a factor of just saying no to a change program, putting up the yellow light for caution, or is this a response to a Republican conservative agenda? Right now I don’t think it’s a response to a Republican conservative agenda.”
Martella pointed out that the cap-and-trade program to curb carbon emissions and the major healthcare overhaul both appear to be stalled, and asked if that too could be good for Republicans.
“Potentially it could be, so long as there is an alternative,” Zogby said.
“But where is the alternative energy policy, the alternative environmental policy? Remember that centrist voters, including young Christian conservatives, are very concerned about the environment and global warming. Where’s the pro-active agenda? Same thing with healthcare.”
Zogby said if these two programs had been presented in isolation, without other spending programs, they would have a much better chance of surviving. But after the stimulus package, TARP, corporate bailouts and the like, and with Americans not seeing progress just yet, “American voters are sacrificed out.
“That kind of gives pause to the additional reforms. But I think the sentiment for reforms is still there.”
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview that Russia’s economy is “withering,” and suggested the trend will force the country to make accommodations to the West…
“It won’t work if we go in and say: ‘Hey, you need us, man; belly up to the bar and pay your dues,’ ” he said. “It is never smart to embarrass an individual or a country when they’re dealing with significant loss of face. My dad used to put it another way: Never put another man in a corner where the only way out is over you.”
I guess Joe thought they weren’t listening.
Russia’s response? Moscow (PTI): Russian leadership is baffled by the “harsh criticism” of the Kremlin by US Vice President Joe Biden at the time when the two countries are trying hard to improve their ties.
“The Russian leadership is perplexed by the harsh criticism of Russia by US Vice President Joe Biden at the time when the two countries are actively “resetting” their relations,” Deputy Chief of Kremlin Staff and President Dmitry Medvedev’s foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
“The question arises: who sets the foreign policy of the USA — the President or the respected members of his team. We have already gone through this in the past,” Prikhodko was quoted as saying by Interfax.
say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.
So we have ten days of topics to fill eh? At roughly three topics per day we have 30 to come up with. If we do it ala Jay B 15 of those will be obsessing over Sarah Palin and another 10 will be “Republicans are extinct” silliness. That leaves us with 5 and one has to be reserved for Friday night. Assuming this giant fish is an open one we only have three.
One of those will need to be some completely snooze inducing pap about highway funding so we’re down to 2 without touching on any meaningful current event. Sounds like I’ve got the Jay B topic selection system down pat!
“I said, ‘Oh no,’ it is not a down day – my son called this week from Iraq,” Palin recalled, referring to her son, Track, an Army enlistee. “He is safe, he is sound. It is always a good day when my son calls.”
Later, citing military families that have lost loved ones, she again drew loud applause by saying: “Let us continue to love our country, be proud of our country, never apologize for our country.”
But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill’s $1 trillion price tag- Politico
And go tweet someone who gives a flying ____. And keep on reading. (it can be fun!)
Ralph Reed: Bring Youth Back Into GOP
Conservative political strategist Ralph Reed, the first executive director of the Christian Coalition, tells Newsmax that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings can actually help Republicans in upcoming elections.
Reed also predicted that the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 will be the most competitive in more than three decades.
Reed, also a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, has recently formed the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Newsmax.TV’s Kathleen Walter asked him about the organization.
See Video: Ralph Reed discusses his new organization and the youth movement that the GOP must harness to defeat Obama – Click Here Now
“It is a coalition of grassroots citizens, conservatives — both fiscal and social conservatives — people of faith, and others who are concerned about the direction of our country,” Reed said.
“Look at what’s happening in Washington today, with the overreach on healthcare, rationing healthcare, dramatically raising taxes, crushing small business, the cap-and-tax energy plan, the failed stimulus package, liberal judicial nominees, a weakening of our defense, sending signals in my view of timidity in prosecuting the war on terrorism.
“The Faith and Freedom Coalition is designed not only to oppose the Obama agenda in Washington, but to offer conservative constructive alternatives.
“We need to get this economy moving again. We need to create jobs. We believe the way to do that is lower taxes, limited government, fiscal discipline, stronger families, and the growth of small business.”
Reed said one priority of the Faith and Freedom Coalition is to bring younger people into the conservative ranks. The organization intends to have a strong presence on college campuses, and to employ Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites that young people use to communicate.
“We need to be hipper, more technology savvy,” he said. “This is where the culture is going and we need to be there if we’re going to compete.”
He also said the coalition plans to have chapters in every key county in the country, in all 50 states, and virtual chapters on line.
As a conservative organization, the organization will hold both parties accountable, Reed added.
“We believe the Republicans lost their way when they were in power, particularly on spending and earmarks. We plan to lift up a banner of faith, of freedom and conservative values” for people in both parties.
Asked about his previous statement that Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings can help Republicans, Reed responded:
“Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings made it abundantly clear that she is out of the mainstream on a number of issues.
“She declined to affirm that the Second Amendment includes a basic constitutional right to self defense. She is on record as saying foreign law and United Nations jurisprudence should be on the same level as the U.S. Constitution. She’s advocated taxpayer funding of abortion. She’s somebody who embraces judicial activism. And she is somebody who in the past has ruled in favor of quotas.
“And so I think that any red state Democrat who votes for her, any Democrat who’s representing a state where [George W.] Bush did well or conservative values predominate, is going to have a difficult time explaining that vote.”
Reed declined to say that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. But he did say that Romney “was a very strong first time candidate last time and my sense is, just as he was a major factor in 2008, if he chooses to run again he will be again.
“I think that is true for a lot of people . . . There will be a very competitive and muscular primary. If Sarah Palin chooses to run, no matter what the dominant media tries to do or say, she’ll be a factor and she’ll have strong support.
“The same with Mike Huckabee, same with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour if he chooses to run, Governor Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota. There are a lot of compelling people out there and in my view it will be the most wide open and the most competitive Republican presidential primary probably since 1980.”
“say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.”
Speak for yourself. I’ve learned a lot from AmVet and @@, but then you DO sound like nosef, so you probably don’t want to hear from me either. Besides, you broke your own fiat. Go back and count again…and is there someone holding a gun to your head forcing you to read them? If so, call 911…
I Report You Whine , electrician, et al…
I am a liberal as they come. Our boy served a tour in Bosnia, a tour in Kossovo, two tours in Iraq (including shock and awe), and a tour in Afghanistan…he’s a liberal, too, and the last thing he needs to hear is someone doubting his or my patriotism…
As to the differences between the professor’s and the cops’ version of events, I confess I’ve been wary of taking Henry Louis Gates at his word ever since, almost two decades back, the literary scholar compared the lyrics of the rap group 2 Live Crew to those of the Bard of Avon. “It’s like Shakespeare’s ‘My love is like a red, red rose,’” he declared, authoritatively, to a court in Fort Lauderdale.
As it happens, “My luv’s like a red, red rose” was written by Robbie Burns, a couple of centuries after Shakespeare. Oh, well. 16th century English playwright, 18th century Scottish poet: What’s the diff? Evidently being within the same quarter-millennium and right general patch of the North-East Atlantic is close enough for a professor of English and Afro-American Studies appearing as an expert witness in a court case. Certainly no journalist reporting Gates’ testimony was boorish enough to point out the misattribution.
“Yosef- How can you be a liberal and not hate America?????”
I love America BECAUSE I am a liberal. I have freedoms here that are unfathomable in much of the world. Those freedoms came to me from documents penned by liberals. Nor do I doubt a conservatives love of America BECAUSE s/he is a conservative. We owe an equal debt to them. On more than one occasion in our struggle to live up to our national ideals, conservatives have been called on to remind us what it is we are trying to be.
J$–well, I won my bet! I bet that’s who it was. It had bothered me a little bit at first since I wasn’t sure who it was and how to interpret it, but now that I know…sounds like the pot callin’ the kettle black, eh…
I couldn’t agree more on what you said about Pelosi and Reid or Obama. If they are liberals, then I’m the King of Spain.
Yosef- If Jefferson said anything about a government run health care system or how much energy we could use, perhaps then we could have an interesting conversation.
J$–Jay has called me on the carpet for calling them what they really are, in my opinion, but let’s just say for here that there’s a decided Argentine accent to much of what they say and do…
josef…I really had to do some thinkin and lookin to find where iI might have questioned your patriotism, must of been my 1:32, I must confess, a broad accusation,not normally my style…point taken.
electrician–it was the 1:32 and I did find it out of character for you. There is really no apology necessary. I understand the feelings we have when it is our boys’ lives others are treating so cavalierly.
“say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.”
Well, it looks like I missed alot here today…But a day with the Grandson is a day in Heaven…Whiner, to you I’m a liberal too,
you want to doubt my patriotism? I’ll match scars with yoiu any day, son…just sayin’.
The whole point to this is you say, America, love it or leave it. I and the others you call “liburl”, say America, love her when she’s right, change her when she’s wrong, and continue to love her…
I have a little boy waitin’ on burgers, but I’ll be back…
One other thing Whiner, you owe Josef’s boy a big apology…
I realize you were in a rush to get down here to the comment box and run your tedious tough guy routine, but a more careful reading of the blog would show you that it’s more the definition of liberal that caused the confusion. IR/YW was using the modern day definition that applies to people like Pelosi and Obama while josef is using a more traditional definition.
J$–heh, heh! The first time it happened to me, I was “profiled” as a long-haired hippie type and well long ago and far away, no I didn’t want said gendarme inside for precisely your reasons stated.
The second go round, the only doubt the good officer seemed to have was how could I have heaved this tired old butt through that window to begin with. “Now you sure you all right, sir?” More of that damnable profiling!
The big problem with the Gates vs. Police controversy isn’t the truth and accuracy of the matter. It is the fact that health care reform — a far more important and vital subject — has been shoved aside in favor of a catfight. Obama should have simply avoided answering the question, regardless of his opinion. But, frankly, it was a very stupid question to ask in a press conference whose context was the health care debate. The reporter had a right to ask it, but a different, more challenging question about health reform would have served the public far more. The question and its aftermath is a prime example of what “informing the public” has come to mean.
My 24 year-old son (who manages a restaurant and works many hours) may have Whooping Cough. He doesn’t have health insurance because he’d have to work another job to afford it, and we can’t put him on our policy. So, he’s already “paid retail” several hundred dollars for no reliable diagnosis and no relief. He can’t afford several more tests that may or may not be useful. Whooping Cough was almost erradicated, but it’s beginning to return, hitting young people — because so many can’t afford to go to the doctor. They just cross their fingers and hope for the best. Which pretty much describes the future of health care in America.
Dear Abby, Dear Abby …
My feet are too long
My hair’s falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that I’ve no friends at all
Won’t you write me a letter, Won’t you give me a call
Signed Bewildered
Interesting study that was conducted following the Penn Turnpike “profiling” fiasco where the Dept of Public Safety and the head of the Penn Hwy Patrol lost their jobs because of what was called profiling. Turns out that the highway patrol had no clue about who was driving the cars who were stopped for speeding as the speeding cars was zapped with a radar gun at 1/4 to 1/8 mile away. End result of the study….. blacks were stopped more often because they were the people who were driving too fast. No reinstatement of jobs, no apology…. nothing. Sharpton must have been running that fiasco.
Bewildered, bewildered you have no complaint
You are what you are, and you ain’t what you ain’t
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishin’ for bad luck and knocking on wood.
One of the officers pictured in the cell phone photo was a black police officer. He hasn’t said much. But I think your question is a fair one. Over 40% of the police officers in the US are black. Are they accused of profiling when they arrest a black suspect?
Spoken like a genuine female angler. Many of the ones that Bookman will fish for are called “Washington keepers” and they are usually a size 2 or 4. The sizes from 16 up usually are not caught in the US and the angler has to journey to New Zealand or Chile or some other place for those.
No, I really don’t. Crowley is a very upstanding, credible professional who teaches gives lectures on profiling in Cambridge and was picked by a black police officer to do so. Many in the black community are trying to make him into another Mark Fuhrman and the more they do so, the worse they look. It didn’t even work with Mr. Wonderful and he made himself look like a really sorry ass for saying that Crowley was “stupid”. I think Crowley has been trained to look at the situation and put race aside. At least that’s what his black fellow officers think.
I just read a “contribution” at “The Root”. Isn’t that the website that Professor Gates launched? Anyhoo, Officer Crowley could have diffused the situation by saying: “Mr. Gates, I am sorry for any confusion. I was doing my job to protect you, sir. I don’t appreciate your talking about my mother and yelling racial insults at me. It is not necessary and unbecoming of a man like you. I hope you have a nice day, sir.” A man’s home is his castle—or is that no longer true in America? Officer Crowley was right to be insulted and offended by Gates’ verbal attacks on him. But did it rise to the level of arresting Gates? He had no weapons; he did not strike anyone; he was not throwing anything—he was trash talking—“playin’ the dozens” with the officer in a way that maybe only black folks truly understand.
Playing the dozens is one slang term for the verbal game played by African-American men in which they take turns telling one-line jokes to each other that insult their mother or another family member. The object of the game is to tell the best joke, usually after each person has been given twelve tries.
Insulting the women who birthed ‘em!!?!!
Would it be inappropriate for me to say that’s “a privilege” that I’ll gladly relinquish to African-American men????
I guess that strong arming atteempt on the CBO didn’t work out so well.
For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the Democrat’s health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years.
I have no idea how that link got into my excerpt, but I’m going to leave it and see if it works.
But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill’s $1 trillion price tag.
Depends on where he is going. If he fishes the Madison in Yellowstone or any river in Idaho near Haley, he will be limited to size 2 and 4. If he goes to some exotic place in Alaska or someplace where there is little to no pressure, he might get to size 6 or 8. You have to go to some pretty backwoods places for those 16s or 18s.
All trout have scales. Many of the Oregon rivers and streams receive a lot of pressure, especially in the summer. When the fall steelhead run starts in the the Kalamuth , the picture changes, depending on where you go. Oregon is a beautiful place to fish…. have been there many times.
They didn’t lose until the 10th and Carrasco gave up the winning run. At least they weren’t as bad as the Jays today. They were up 9-1 and lost to the Rays 10-9 in 12.
TN- I unmercifully taunted Jim Rice, saying things worse than I have ever said on this blog, from the front row of the right field bleachers at Komuniski Field. Had the man turned completely around, during play, staring at me with an icy cold glare. I had my escape route planned. He came to the plate in the fourth inning, stood off to the side looking directly at me, and then proceeded to strike out on 3 pitches, each swing a monster stroke aimed at my seat.
When he got back out to right field, I turned up the heat.
Underneath the bleachers, there was a picnic table area, best damn food on Earth bring served, and the whole thing was separated from the playing field by a chain link fence.
No kidding, I saw an article later on in the Sporting News, I think, and they were asking players what ballparks they hated going to. Sure enough, Jim Rice said Komuniski Field, because the fans are rabid or something like that.
RW You seem to be young and I hope you are, then maybe one day you’ll open your eyes to shades of gray. I suspect you’ve never been in uniform either, so what you say to me means nothing. Say what you want, when you want, where you want, but don’t exprct me to be baited. It won’t happen.
Whiner, you claim, to be a veteran, and if you truly are then you are a disgrace to the brotherhood. You put down a fellow veteran, one who is still serving and who wants to serve for life because the people who raised him are gay? You seem to lack an understanding of what service to your country is all about. Men and women who serve are brothers and sisters, family. If you really served then why don’t you don’t get it. You owe Josef’s boy an apology.
Abby- I never specifically mentioned Yosef’s boy, you can check the post^^ in question if you so desire, nor will I ever apologize to any lib after I accused them of hating America.
Thanks Kayaker. I’ll never have to scale that question again.
Hillbilly:
I’m being honest but not judgmental, mind you. When I fly, I’m always glad to find out I have a window seat until I see that my seat “buttee” is nosey.
Ahh geeeeez!!!
Since they’re paying and I’m not, I make the best of a great seat-u-a-tion.
The essence of this whole conversation centers on Gates and his middle finger up for white America. He probably would not have reacted the way he did if the arresting officer would have been black but do we have to have a double standard for who is doing the arresting and who is being arrested? Gates appears to have some kind of attitude for those who disagree with him. I would not like to take a class from him at Harvard because I would no doubt take a much different stand on subjects of race than he would. I do not pretend to know more about racial issues than Gates does but Gates is certainly a product of his past. Anyone who would react the way he did must have a lot of unresolved issues that are just below the surface….. like much of the black community. There’s a lot of racial hatred out there and it just takes an issue like this to make both sides of this issue react so differently. We need to get a better handle on this but it will take a couple of more generations before we set this aside.
Except for AmWet, everybody has been on their best behavior without the omnipresent guiding hand of the blog nanny, it’s been almost downright civil in here today. Too bad AmWet had to spoil it with his release of the long pent up fy, followed shortly by a kma, but other than that, tranquility.
Hey, this is a lesson for reduced government interference in our lives if I ever saw one.
Throw off the bonds of government, elect a Repug for your representative!
He Promised Change, but Is This Too Much, Too Soon?
Obama’s decision to launch the most ambitious domestic agenda since Lyndon B. Johnson’s thus became the defining decision of his presidency.
Obama is now dealing with the consequences. His approval ratings on key issues have eroded. He is battling congressional resistance to his health-care initiative. His energy bill passed the House by a narrow margin and is on hold in the Senate.-Washington Post
Aahhh, yes, Thomas Freidman, notorious climate whiner of the Treason Times and exciter of pinkos worldwide, he lives in thee wee little house, like any other lib-
I was born and raised in Oregon. I have fished most of the rivers, and streams there. The Rogue, Deschutes, Sandy etal. In fact the Columbia used to yield (haven’t fished there in years) some mighty big sturgeon. One of my favorite spots was on an indian reservation in the middle of the state called the Ochoco Lake. That’s where I got my first, and biggest rainbow! Fond memories of a time gone past.
If America wants to get back on the right track, scientific space mission-wise, we need to once again pick an inspiring, audacious goal, and man it with the kind of inspirational crew to make it happen. At long last, let us realize mankind’s most cherished dream — sending the entire United States Congress to the Moon by 2010.
Everyone wants to voice their two cents about the Gates incident. Unless you were there and witnessed everything, you can only assume what happened and what each person’s intent was. And we all know the result of A-S-Suming, don’t we? In this case, I can see there may be three sides, the officer’s side, the defendant’s side, and somewhere down the middle is the truth. In any incident like this, no one is going to tell the complete truth because it may reveal something they did wrong that escalated the situation. Gates may have done it by continuously running his mouth. The officer may have done something inadvertently that set Gates off.
As far as profiling, if you haven’t been the victim of profiling, you don’t have a leg to stand on. Some of y’all may believe that racism is a thing of the past, but there’s a few people who post here that are about 2-3 meetings away from earning their sheets. Just because you don’t prejudge people doesn’t automatically make it go away. There’s places that I won’t travel today because of the way people act towards the color of my skin. Do I hold that against all white people? H-E-L-L NO!! Because I refuse to judge all people with broad generalizations.
This is a prime example of what’s wrong with our country now. Economy is rough, job market sucks, and people want to wax poetic about an arrest incident in which they have no dog in the fight. If everyone worked that hard to do something about healthcare, our veterans wouldn’t be committing suicide at the rate they’re doing it. Ten year old girls wouldn’t be suffering from breast cancer. People wouldn’t have to file bankruptcy because their medical emergency wiped them out financially.
For those whom I consider friends here, forgive me for my rant. If I offended anyone…
Since you don’t name your friends or those you’re accusing of being Klanners it’s kind of hard to know whether to be offended or not.
One thing I do know is that all the interaction between an officer and suspect is recorded in Massachusetts and state law says it has to be made public. The lawyers can play games for a while but pretty soon we’ll hear the audio.
IR/YW: I wondered recently about Krugman’s personal finances, etc., but I haven’t (yet) investigated. As far as Friedman’s place, here are a couple of other details (from the Huffington Post of all places):
“As the July edition of the Washingtonian Magazine notes, Friedman lives in ‘a palatial 11,400-square-foot house, now valued at $9.3 million, on a 7½-acre parcel just blocks from I-495 and Bethesda Country Club.’ He ‘married into one of the 100 richest families in the country’ – the Bucksbaums, whose real-estate Empire is valued at $2.7 billion.”
Angry Black Man, I think you have a damned good idea who your friends are here.
As well as though who not only fit the description, “…there’s a few people who post here that are about 2-3 meetings away from earning their sheets.”, but know it hits too close to home.
You have made some great, reasoned contributions in your short time here and have much worth reading. Notwithstanding the trollish or rightfully paranoid responses those posts sometimes generate…
Alrighty din! I have a personal/family experience I can share.
My daughter, driving home from class, gets caught under a traffic light in Morrow with three other offenders. A black police officer pulls up and gives my daughter (white) and another driver (white) tickets. The two other offenders were black. No tickets were issued to the two black drivers.
Can’t do anything about that. We go to court…my daughter gets hit with a $350.00 ticket (first ever) by a white judge. The other guy has his case bound over for trial, putting aside his obvious guilt, ’cause he “thinks” the officer exhibited racial preference.
I was angry about the $350.00 but now I’m thinking…shute! the City of Morrow could’a had $1,400.00 (assuming everyone was a first time offenders) instead of the $350.00 I had to shell out. Don’t know how the other guy’s case turned out — probably lost. He was guilty.
Is that race discrimination, racial preference, profiling or stupidity for having lost an additional $700.00 in revenue?
Does it make you feel good dimwits to pet your little 94%er on the head and agree with everything the idiot says?
Is that the way the dimwits ‘recruit’ their beloved little brainless minorities to the fold, to make happy talk and treat them like the family pet?
Sheeesh.
Obowo displayed his racist pig attitudes for all to see, because it always surfaces for his kind, no matter how high and far he makes it in his personal or professional life, it always bubbles up, always.
Just think of how many times the TelePrompter has tricked Obozo into saying things he didn’t want to.
What about the internal combustion engine making al-Gore believe that the Earth is “warming,” hahahaha, engines do like to have fun.
And what of the TV set, the greatest takeover of humanity in world history, turning the once fiscally responsible and national security conscious democrat party into a bunch of paranoid America hating moonbats?
You should be worried about your machines, America, very, very worried.
Not a chance. He’ll persevere. But it could cost him dearly. I don’t think he really wants to be president for another term anyway. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t check out early. And who could blame him? It just isn’t worth the abuse they have to take.
But he has some unlikey allies:
“Lobbyists the silver lining in health care storm?”
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A strong force, perhaps as powerful in Congress as President Barack Obama, is keeping the drive for health care going even as lawmakers seem hopelessly at odds.
Well, they certainly control our lives. Where would we be without our PCs and laptops? And heaven help us if the power goes off for more than a few seconds.
Communists could only dream of such a spread. Hypocrite? Maybe he rationalizes it by knowing that it doesn’t matter until China and India get on board.
I have a small carbon footprint until I start up the lawnmower.
This whole Gates-Cambridge Police incident was nothing more than just a ruse cleverly set-up by Gates for publicity for his documentary essays (films, books, courses, etc) and taken advantage of by Obama to distract away from the virtual defeat of his flawed and increasingly unpopular healthcare bill. Since Obama made his statements at the press conference that almost no one is talking about Congress not meeting the deadline for the healthcare bill that was going to be deemed a failure if it wasn’t met. The question about the Gates “incident” was most likely planted by the administration and the help of Obama’s allies in the media.
I can’t believe how the right-wingers took the bait and ate this story up. Almost no one was talking about the failure of the healthcare bill, which we may, but most likely may not, hear more about after Congress’ August recess. The Henry Louis Gates’ “incident” was the perfect conversation-changer and distraction to what would have clearly been most likely a crippling political defeat to the Obama Administration without it in the news.
Conservatives seem to have just been the victims of a very clever “bait-and-switch”, using the often intriguing subject of race to change the subject from a failed healthcare bill, but seem either to not know or even be aware of it. Obama made that statement about the Cambridge Police acting “stupidly” on purpose to get everyone to stop talking about the flawed healthcare bill that he had just set a hard deadline for just hours before.
LOOK, OVER THERE, A BLACK MAN! Where? Just like taking candy from a baby. If that’s all it takes to distract conservatives from a “grown-up” conversation about serious issues, Obama is gonna have a field day with the right.
Obama would much rather be seen at a photo op with Gates and the Cambridge officer correcting a minor “gaffe” that gives him credibility with black and latino voters than to be talking about a major political defeat and the right bit right into it and took the bait “hook, line and sinker”. From the all-but-certain Sotomayor Supreme Court Nomination to the Gates “incident” and even going back to the Jesse Jackson “I wanna cut his n–ts off” comments during the campaign, conservatives have got to stop letting Obama and the media lead them around blindly by the nose.
Even after I write this, many conservatives who read this will still have no idea that Obama and the left are having their way with the right at the right’s expense. The right will still be obsessing with the Gates’ story being hand-fed to them by Obama and the left while poses for a photo op over beer and pizza and laughs in their faces knowing that he playing them like a flute and using them like a “tool”.
TN- Don’t get me wrong here for I know that Mother Nature couldn’t care less about your lawn mower, you could crank every lawn mower in America and run them 24/7, that’s nothing compared to a volcanic eruption, but unless you are scratching up a blanket of fallen leaves every evening and calling it home, the libs think you are harming the environment.
I’m pretty sure they prefer that you stop breathing altogether.
Well, I got just four tickets in my whole life. I got them all from police officers that were Those People. I got stopped lots of times by White police officers. After we talked awhile about fishing and bowling and how good the donuts were at Krispy Kreme they let me go. But me and the Black police didn’t have nothing to talk about. I don’t know nothing about rap music and stuff like that. So I got tickets from them.
Now if that ain’t racial profiling I don’t what is. Have a good Sabbath everybody.
I’ve read quite a few of your posts, and you definitely do not fit the meeting description. That comment was directed towards the “lazy, welfare baby momma” crowd. We personally have not chatted back and forth, but I do read your posts and agree with what you say from time to time. On your post I also agree with you. Once the communication is made public, someone will end up with egg on their face. I personally think it would be best to just let the whole incident fade away, but it’s way beyond that point now. I’ll reserve my judgement until the communication is made public and I know more about what happened.
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
10:33 pm
Thanks for the compliment. I don’t contribute nearly what others here do, but I place my two cents in from time to time.
@@
July 25th, 2009
11:18 pm
From what you post, it sounds like discrimination to me. The officer should have written everyone a ticket that was at fault or gave everyone a warning. Unless there’s justification in the law, two people committing the same offense should get the same penalty
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory
Angry Black Male–good morning and how are ya? I’ve been anxiously awaiting your posts. You are “on both sides” of the issue and a man of rational perspective. I am of your opinion that there are three sides to this little set-to, which, in my opinion, is getting attention only because it involves a “prominent scholar” from a “prestige institution.” This sort of thing we all know goes on every day from coast to coast and rarely does anybody even notice, much less get so bent out of shape as to pull in the POTUS and spark a firestorm of “debate.” I am far less concerned in this particular incident with race than I am with this unspoken idee fixe that somehow Professor Gates, “a Harvard scholar,” should somehow be more of a poster child than John Doe in Slidell.
Well, I see this guy down in Jonesboro was arrested for doing You Know What with a dog. I sure hope it don’t turn out he’s a Republican. What with Republicans being arrested for going after teenage boys and men on the commode in a public toilet and others making the news for being in a diaper with a Woman of the Night and running off to be with a mistress in Argentina and getting your Mom and Dad to pay off a woman that ain’t your wife and doing You Know What with a mule, and all. If this keeps up we’ll be called the Party of Preverts. It’s awful hard to talk about Fambly Values when you’re a prevert. So I’m praying this Jonesboro guy turns out to be a librul Democrat.
Should be Mike Cross, a singer/songwriter from the Appalachians. Saw him perform at Moonshadow back in the 80’s. Shoulda remembered this during our discussions about inbred tribalism.
Secretary of State Bruno Klinton thundered on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of a nuclear weapon, warning Tehran: “Your pursuit is futile.”
“The drug industry, the American Medical Association, hospital groups and the insurance lobby are all saying Congress must make major changes this year. ”
Well, it seems Bookman is going to be gone for a week while we talk about FISHING??? Let’s think of something else. Let’s shut the GATES and move on.
I was reading that Gov. Perdue is cutting a lot ($900 million I believe) from Georgia budget and hoping it will be enough. Suppose we set up a VOLUNTEER Worker Program where citizens sign up for many jobs that do not require professional training or some can do even specialized work.. Could volunteers run state parks with a “skeleton” crew of paid employees? Could receptionists jobs be covered? Could ordinary accounting be accomplished? Could highway radar be covered by volunteers? Could volunteers sign up for duty, citing their expertise and then be place in temp non paying jobs?
Of course paying jobs would be lost. But some are being lost anyway. This would only be temporary. But there is a vast talent of retirees out there whom I believe would love to help this state if they knew how and where.
I have an old friend in her eighties who covers the front desk in a hospital several days a week.. She has learned all information quite well and helps visitors and patients daily. She does not get paid. Another is a retired nurse who works as a church assistant and helps and directs people to services needed. I use them as an example of what can be done when a quest for willing capable volunteers is made. Why not help our state when there is a need? We certainly need a stable state government in hard economic times and all others.
Does anyone think we could actively recruit volunteers that would REALLY help the state? Is there already such info available for volunteers in state agencies? Maybe I have missed something.
No worries. I’ve been on a futile quest for years to get people to be more specific when calling someone out. The problem with being non-specific is it gives the intended targets a place to hide, but I also understand that Jay B wouldn’t even allow singling out for long.
Gregory asked if Iran is run by an illegitimate regime.
“You know, that’s really for the people of Iran to decide,” Clinton said. “I have been moved by the … cries for freedom. … People that go back millennia, that have such a great culture and history, deserve better than what they’re getting.”
Glad to see Dusty has a solution to the fiscal crisis in Georgia. Volunteers, huh? Georgia is furloughing teachers and state employees, reducing parks, etc., while enjoying one of the lowest tax rates in the nation. I suppose it’s easier for people like Dusty to seek out free labor than it is to bite the bullet and pay an extra penny in sales tax to help raise Georgia from the educational cesspool in which it resides. There simply has to be something else we can cut, huh, Dusty?
Doggone- Considering that Iran is unlikely to be deterred by Bruno’s blustering, I’m not so sure I would be dissing the invasion of a country that hasn’t attacked us, if I were you.
Meddling is attacking a country that was no threat to anyone.
I think I’m going to market a Polly Progressive doll where you pull the string hanging out the back and it sputters one of these monnbat talking points.
Bruno gave a “reset” button, in which the actual Russian translation turned out to be “overload,” to a gang of communist dictators who have their eyes set on the whole of Eastern Europe, and here’s al-Gitmo wanting to talk “intellect.”
This being the same Bruno that burst into the funeral of a black man and, hogging the spotlight, unleashed a kampaign speech, yelling at the crowd in 1960’s Ghetto Slang.
getalife at 2:26, more like Billy Carter’s league.
Or Dan Quayle’s:
“The holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history.… No, not our nation’s, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century, but in this century’s history.”
“I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.”
“Mars is essentially in the same orbit [as Earth]….Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.”
Or when he addressed the United Negro College Fund, whose slogan is “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”, Quayle said “You take the UNCF model that what a waste it is to lose one’s mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”
That Republican mental midget must have been a great inspiration for George of the Bungle…
“Considering that Iran is unlikely to be deterred by Bruno’s blustering, I’m not so sure I would be dissing the invasion of a country that hasn’t attacked us, if I were you”
Does this make sense to anyone? It sure doesn’t to ME.
al-Gitmo: I think Iran’s first hurdle for the glorious Middle Eastern rampage would be getting an air force. Or rockets that don’t go up and come straight back down.
I’m sure if they wait long enough, Obozo will have United States on the same technological level as they are, only problem is, barry only got four years, hahahaha.
Geezus, dog, you can’t be this helpless, can you?- Iran is going to get a nuke, Palin won’t be able to stop them for 3 and half more years. So how is little obozo gonna live up to his SecState’s bluster? A big blowhard speech? Renounce is support of ImaWhackjob?
“Geezus, dog, you can’t be this helpless, can you?- Iran is going to get a nuke, Palin won’t be able to stop them for 3 and half more years. So how is little obozo gonna live up to his SecState’s bluster? A big blowhard speech? Renounce is support of ImaWhackjob”
Why don’t you try responding to what I *said* and not to the little voices in your head? I did not say anything about “a country that hasn’t attacked us”…I said a country “that was no threat to anyone.”
Now, if Iran becomes a threat to Israel, or any other country, then that statement DOES NOT APPLY to them, now does it?
July 26th, 2009
9:44 am
I know I’ve been MIA for a minute. Those 12hr work days catch up with you after a while. I can see your point too about the “prestige” of the person. No one made a fuss when I was pulled over in college while driving my 1977 Ford LTD II by the Montgomery Police Dept. when they had a 1983 Ford LTD on their stolen car report. The two officers approached the car with hands on guns. It just so happened that they pulled us over in one of the areas that’s predominately black and there were 4 young black guys in the car. I can’t say whether or not they would have approached the car like that if it were you and three of your friends driving near the country club.
RW-(the original)
July 26th, 2009
11:16 am
I’ve seen what happens when you start calling out names around here. I don’t want to add my name to the banned list. If I could be specific without reprecussions, I have no problem with naming people. I don’t think it would do much good. People are going to think and believe what they want to anyway.
Oh great, now we veer off into the fever swamps, doggone wants to debate the Iraq War Resolution, voted for by, guess who, Bruno, to remove weapons of mass destruction that were threatening the region.
I wouldn’t bother. The response I made was to your mistaking talking for meddling. We meddled in Iraq. We are NOT meddling in Iran. I repeat, for your edification: TALKING is not MEDDLING Attacking a country that was NO THREAT TO ANYONE is meddling.
I liked Dusty’s idea, since I assume it would only be temporary. At least she isn’t deliberately underming our economic system like so many of her fellow conservatives.
I don’t know why our education system doesn’t rank any higher than it does, but it isn’t because we aren’t spending enough money. And if the parents are involved most children get a good enough education to advance to the next level. And how many states have anything comparable to Hope?
I sincerely do hope that Iran musters up the courage and enough of an air force to fly over and attack Israel, because if any of their planes do come back, they will be shot full of holes.
Israel would feast on that as-s.
~~~~~~
DOGGONE- YELLING AT ME MAY MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER BUT YOU ARE STILL A DUNCE< JUST SAYIN….
The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution (formally the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 [1], Pub.L. 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498, enacted October 16, 2002, H.J.Res. 114) is a joint resolution (i.e., a law) passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing the Iraq War.
I believe that most of the problems with education are in the home but I couldn’t begin to tell you how to fix it. If people don’t care enough to see that their kids get an education, what can anybody do? We should keep trying but, like you, I don’t think money will fix it.
Nearly 2,000 Show Up for Free Health Care in Virginia Nearly 2,000 people crowded onto a southwest Virginia fairgrounds Friday and waited hours to receive free dental care, eyeglasses and medical procedures.</i?
Remote Area Medical founder Stan Brock said the daily limit of 1,600 patients for the three-day clinic in Wise County was reached by 5:30 a.m. Friday. Another 200 people were admitted to the treatment area later in the morning, but several hundred more had to be turned away.
Thanks for clarifying that. Congress doesn’t have the guts to declare war, and the administrations don’t want the formality of it; might have to abide by laws and conventions.
“The resolution required Bush to “certify that action against Iraq would not hinder efforts to pursue the al Qaeda terrorist network” that attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001. It also required the Bush administration “to report to Congress on the progress of any war with Iraq every 60 days.”[5]”
These rankings are predicated on the scores on standardized university admittance examinations (in the US, the SAT and ACT). We score lower because, unlike other country’s systems, we as a rule test ALL our students whereas they test only those who have completed the track leading to university and who do plan to attend. Naturally, their scores would be higher. The same thing is at work here in the US. Some states do not test all their students and those tend to be the higher scoring ones. States such as Georgia which test all of them, tend to have lower mean scores. Years ago when we only tested those going on to college, our mean scores were much higher. When scores on standardized tests before graduation (such as the ITBS in the US) are compared, where all students are tested, the US rankings are not nearly so dismal in comparison.
Secondly, in ethnically homogenous societies with smaller populations and less less socio-economic class distinctions, (Denmark, Costa Rica, Slovenia, etc.), scores are higher.
I was SO angry when that resolution passed. If it had been in MY power I would have tried every Senator and Representative who voted Yes for treason. Apart from the fact that I *knew* Bush would abuse that power, I absolutely could NOT believe how easily Congress gave up their Consititutional power to declare war.
They aren’t fly fishing, @@, that’s all just the excuse guys use to get into the woods.
They are gathered together inside the 54′ Winnebago, A/C turned up to the max, cracking open the cold beers and talking about how the Repugs wanna burn all this to the ground, ew.
July 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, completing the steepest two-week rally for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2000, as companies beat profit estimates and an increase in home resales signaled an economic recovery may be underway.
Her first order of business as a private citizen is to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. She also wants to campaign for political candidates from coast to coast, and continue to speak her mind on the social networking site Twitter.
Free speech was a theme of her farewell speech at a crowded picnic in Fairbanks, as the outgoing governor scolded “some seemingly hell bent on tearing down our nation” and warned Americans to “be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free.”
First, you can tie your own flies, which is an art form all of it’s own. Then choosing the right rod and reel combination, line size and hip waders. Find the spot in the drink where you think the fish are most likely gathered, stand back aways from there about 20 or so feet. Start feeding your line out in an overhead back and forth motion until you are hitting the spot on the forward cast, play the fly on the surface of the water for just a few seconds, no strike, pull it back and whip it to the same or a new spot.
Stay away from waterfalls, lest you want to drown.
Or you could drive to Buford and net them in the pond.
Larry Landry, 51, of Fairbanks held up a red, white and blue sign that that read, “Quitting: the new American value.” The other side read: “Thanks for the laughs.”
Landry, a registered independent, said he respected Palin when she ran for governor in 2006, but she changed during last year’s presidential campaign.
“She turned into a vicious vixen,” he said. “She descended into ugly, divisive politics.”
The AP/Obama didn’t catch it and I’m guessing most libs are mouth agape wondering what I’m pointing out, but some angry dude with a sign heckling this woman and, at the same time, whining about “ugly, divisive politics?”
Upchuck- Yes, I’m proud that you read my posts and store them in your empty head for future reference, but did I also whine about “ugly, divisive hecklers” while I was heckling?
Heckling is heckling—-if you need to differentiate your behaviour to make yourself feel better then fine. You are, however, criticizing actions that you have bragged about doing.
Again…a Southern California media site has an article:
The secretary of State seeks to calm Moscow after Vice President Biden’s recent comments that the country is badly damaged economically and its leadership is clinging to the past.
Clinton has been struggling to make her voice heard in foreign policy at a time when a long list of administration luminaries, including Biden, special envoys George J. Mitchell and Richard C. Holbrooke, and Obama’s own aides, are vying for attention.
She described herself as “the chief advisor,” the “chief executor” and the “chief diplomat” but said that ultimately Obama made the foreign policy decisions.
You’d never know it the way things are looking.
Window dressing! The guy is nothing more than window dressing.
“The Mannequin” has no clothes. Our ship is at sea without a captain at the helm.
Hecklers! Hecklers! Who needs ‘em. The Braves played like heroes and beat that other team to a frazzle. I mean, they could not stop hitting homers and anywhere else they could hit one. Kelly Johnson got his “stuff” back and all the rest did GOOD too.
And speaking of GOOD, I went through South Carolina recently and bought some “picked off the tree ripe” peaches near Gaffney, the little town with the great big peach water tank. I haven’t tasted anything that good in a long time. Gold with a little pink middle and sweet and juicy and an absolutely heavenly flavor amd the best thing to ever come off a tree. .Oh, I wish I still had one to drip over my computer. THAT GOOD!!
Who cares about fishy scaly things you have to catch and look ‘em in the eye. Get a pteach!!
Thank you, Andy. You described it just like my search did. I was wondering why they didn’t use their reels. Seems like it’s only used for storage when moving from spot to spot.
Using a net’s no challenge. I’d enjoy the challenge. Maybe an annual girl’s trip? Naahhhh, they don’t like anything challenging.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I read an article today where dissidents in Russia are more impressed with Liz Cheney’s perspective on Russia than they are Obama’s.
Upchuck, now check this out, I am a polluter of the environment but I have no problem with polluters because the Earth can withstand anything we do to it, God made it that way.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 26 (Reuters) – A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station said on Sunday it looks like Earth’s ice caps have melted a bit since he was last in orbit 12 years ago.
Now, knowing that I am a polluter, have you ever heard me whine about “melting” ice caps?
For most shuttles, the damage comes from the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, require at shuttle launch to provide 71.4% of the thrust at lift-off and elevate the shuttle to an altitude of 45km (28 miles).
As a shuttle launches, a “cloud” becomes visible which contains SRB exhaust products, either dissolved or as particles in the water vapour released by the main engines.
Hydrochloric acid formed in this launch cloud leads to acidic deposits in the surrounding area, a phenomenon which may also be observed some distance away if exhausts are carried on prevailing winds.
The scenes of dead fish in Spain could be repeated next to launch sites
John Pike, president of Global Security.org, and an expert on the US space programme says: “The hydrochloric acid can pit the paint on your car if it is too close to the launch site.”
A 1993 Nasa technical manual considered environmental effects of space shuttle launches at Kennedy Space Centre, and stated that some cumulative effects of launches in the nearby area are “reduction in the number of plant species present and reduction in total cover”.
The manual also pointed out that acid deposits from the launch cloud can also impact nearby water lagoons and their wildlife.
This “moderation” thing makes no sense at all. There’s no pattern or reasoning to it. You don’t have to use “bad” language or anything objectionable and it fires off. Maybe it has a list of IDs and when each one comes up more than 2 o3 three times then it “moderates”.
Whatever. Bookman should have taken it with him and thrown it in the river. Maybe it could “moderate” some trout and make them all liberal suckers. Nawww….I’ve caught catfish and dogfish but never a sucker. Not even a liberal one.
Dusty, moderated comments make me all the more determined.
Did you freeze or can those peaches. My husband bought me a gorgeous canner. I grow pink-eye peas in the garden but they lose their distinctive flavor when frozen. Besides, ants love peas and picking ‘em is a pain. With my new canner, (I’m so excited) I can buy them by the bushel and eat them all year long. Their flavor is maintained through canning.
I use to do some canning but not much any more. Seems like there is always something else I oughta be doing. I did try some spiced peaches recently, just a jar or two. But everybody pushed them around their plate and left them.. Ended up, I had to eat most of them. (My cooking is not “inspirational”.) We did eat the SC peaches in a hurry. So good! Just wash them and take a delicious bite. That pleased everybody.
Good luck with your new canner. That was a fine gift ( with an eye to some good veggies this winter)..
I love fresh peas. You must be a good gardner. I have a couple of spindly tomato plants. I think they will fall over dead if they ever develop a tomato. Couple of patio tomatoes look pretty good. My specialty seems to be weeds. They can come up through concrete around here.
Well, getting late. I’d better get going so I can get up in the morning. G’nite!
Add gov’t networked healthcare/insurance/whateveryouwannacallit to your financial history (credit report, credit cards) and your shoppers club cards, and this is what you get:
I used to work for a company where I could punch in the phone number on the caller ID and see all the particulars about them. It did have an upside though. They’d call in ranting and raving, thinking they were anonymous. When they got through venting their spleen, I’d very politely thank them for calling, by name. Never failed to change their demeanor.
Like sitting at this computer and knowing that somebody out there knows everything I see on my monitor. I find it comical that many surf at work with no idea that most of them are being watched. I’ve witnessed many firings where the employees are presented with a mega page report as they are escorted out the door.
Because of the medical center’s location on the South Side of Chicago, a large number of indigent patients, without health insurance, were using the hospital’s emergency room for care. The nonprofit hospital, which in 2007 made more than $100 million in profits, largely because its beds and facilities were used by paying patients and those fully insured, paid Mrs. Obama to oversee the Urban Health Initiative program that identified indigent patients and then steered them to other area medical facilities. In fact, some of those profits came from Canadian citizens who traveled to the U.S. for medical procedures they could not get due to Canada’s restrictive national health care programs.
It wasn’t just Obama’s wife who was involved in creating the program. Senior White House adviser and political strategist, David Axelrod, and his PR firm in Chicago were retained to develop a media campaign to encourage area residents not to use University of Chicago as a medical facility-AmSpec
I signed in this morning to tell y’all a little story. remember back when we were talking about the F-22 and the Soldiers in Afganistan? I got POed when I realized that the Marines didn’r have proper gear and all. So, in my frustration, I snapped off a couple of nasty grams to Chamblis and Isakson. Haven’t heard from Isakson yet, but I got a reply from good ol’ Saxby, thanking me for my note about Sotomayor…
Our representatives are really out there listening to the people, don’t cha think? G-d help us all…
Scooter, you da man…My problem is I actually continue to think that our Representatives care about us. I am the walking definition of insanity(don’t go there, Whiner);>)
I don’t even bother with them. I do waste my time and energy with my representative tho, a medical doctor no less.
About waiting here for a doctor’s appointment with a specialist. I think they send you to the emergency room if you’re too sick to wait a few days or a few weeks.
Hell, he just checked in. Hang around, he’ll clean up Bush’s mess soon enough. It would take Jesus at least 2 years. I don’t remember Jimmy being that bad. He didn’t launch any preemptive strikes or run up trillions of dollars of debt. And before you talk about the misery index, that was the fault of the fed, left over from Nixon’s glorious days. No sex scandals which should have increased his standing in your eyes. And did I mention, a Christian, but I guess not a “real” Christian.
I Report,
Did it ever occur to you that some medical facilities are set up to handle indigenous care better than a university hospital? The same service at a university hospital probably costs a multiple of the costs of a facility set up to handle indigents.
So, in effect, Michelle and David Axelrod were trying to reduce the medical fee burden on EVERYONE else by properly channeling the recipients.
Typical Republican: no idea how or where to even start cutting costs. Wouldn’t know “fiscally conservative” if it bit you on the leg.
Jimmy Carter didn’t run up $1.7 TRILLION by giving tax breaks to the rich.
Talk about welfare!!!! Bush was a welfare queen.
Like a HO: flash W a wad of cash and he would start gushing and giving you wahtever you wanted.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Even high estimates for an early draft of the health care plan are “less than the $1.8 trillion cost of the Bush tax cuts.”
Paul Krugman on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 in a column
And did I mention, a Christian, but I guess not a “real” Christian.
Well, if you think being a Muslim is Christian I reckon you ain’t been to church in your life. And not even born in America to boot. It’s no wonder we’re in such trouble. And to think, every one of us redneck Conservatives that dies off gets replaced with a librul. I don’t even like to read the death notices no more. It just gets me down when I think, There goes another good Conservative with Fambly Values. Heck, our own kids are telling us we’re wrong about things. In a few years we’ll be half Mexican and about a third Those People and a fourth Towelheads and maybe about 1% good White Christian Conservatives. It gets me down when I think about how we’re going to be destroyed in a few years and probly loose the whole South to the libruls. I sometimes even hope I don’t live long enough to see my great grandkids. Which will be half-Those People and maybe a little Mexican throwed in.
Jimmy did lust in his heart, he should have stuck against Iran, but he had disassembled the military by then, and his feeble attempt failed.
Gandalf, Good Morning! Jimmy did lust in his heart and confessed the sin, and remember we both agreed he helped the Military Family by raising our pay. The hostage rescue failed because of a combination of bad luck and poor planning by the military leaders. Not Jimmy’s fault.
Carter sent a rescue team in to get our people out, and a frickin’ sand storm screwed it up.
Like Ronnie Raygun, those of you have never served have no inkling that any mission like that is damned dangerous and things can and do go wrong. And people, great people, get killed.
At least Carter tried. I admired him for that.
And Ronnie? He turned tail and ran right out of Lebanon when the shiite hit the fan. But he did save us from those marauding Grenadians!
The difference is that one – the Annapolis grad, Carter – was a real military man while the other – Bedtime for Bozo – just played one in the movies.
And thus he is the epitome and hero of these never-served, never-will Republiconned chickenhawks…
He opened his Free Market Warrior kiosk last spring, selling such items as “Impeach Obama” bumper stickers and baby bibs that say, “My parents chose life. Thanks Mom and Dad!”
And, of course, the free speech loving liberals are trying to shut him down.
She wants to write a book? She has the rest of her life to write books. I guess the money may not be there later. Well, hopefully the book won’t include tips on keeping yourself and your daughter from getting pregnant since abstinence “just ain’t gonna happen.”
Abstinence education is stupider than prohibition: everyone has sex, not everyone drinks. But in both cases, those who want it are going to get it.
From USA Today, Sen Sessions. I like the line about the ruling taking private property and giving it to developers (to generate more taxes) a ‘pillar of liberal thought.’ It was the liberals on the Court, after all, that made such rulings possible.
But he does document quite nicely how Judge Sotomayor did not defend her past – she ran from it. So the question is, was she truthful?
USA Today
“Opposing view: A confirmation conversion
Nominee lacks deep convictions needed to resist judicial activism.
By Jeff Sessions
Elections have consequences: President Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, will likely be confirmed.
But supporters of liberal judicial philosophy might find it a Pyrrhic victory. During three days of careful questioning, Judge Sotomayor renounced the pillars of activist thinking.
She rejected the president’s “empathy standard,” abandoned her statements that a judge’s “opinions, sympathies and prejudices” may guide decision-making, dismissed remarks that personal experiences should “affect the facts that judges choose to see,” brushed aside her repeated “wise Latina” comment as “a rhetorical flourish,” and championed judicial restraint.
Judge Sotomayor’s attempt to rebrand her previously stated judicial approach was, as one editorial page opined, “uncomfortably close to disingenuous.”
Why not defend the philosophy she had articulated so carefully over the years?
Because the American people overwhelmingly reject the notion that unelected judges should set policy or allow their social, moral, or political views to influence the outcome of cases. Rather, the public wants and expects restrained courts, tethered to the Constitution, and judges who impartially apply the law to the facts.
In the end, her testimony served as a repudiation of judicial activism.
But pledging “fidelity to the law” and practicing judicial restraint are different things. Which Sotomayor will we get?
At the hearings, which were praised for their substance and respectful tone, we looked closely at the record:
– Her 2006 private property decision permitted the government to take property from one developer and give it to another.
– Her 2008 Ricci decision allowed a city to discriminate against one group of firefighters because of their race. That ruling was recently reversed by the Supreme Court.
– Her 2009 Second Amendment decision would give states the power to ban firearms.
These rulings have three things in common. Each was contrary to the Constitution. Each was decided in a brief opinion, short on analysis. And each was consistent with liberal political thought.
I don’t believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism. She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent. “
Well, well, well. After a few days to coordinate and get the Administration policy straight on whether or not we’ll ‘allow’ Iran to get a nuke (in spite of statements made during the campaign), our SecState had this to say on Sunday:
” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and reiterated Washington’s commitment to protect close ally Israel from any threat posed by Tehran.
“We are going to do everything we can to prevent you (Iran) from getting a nuclear weapon. Your pursuit is futile,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, adding that Iran did not have the right to develop a nuclear weapon.”
So, the US decides what it will ‘allow’ another country to do.
The US is committed to do ‘everything’ we can to keep them from getting a nuke. “Every” thing. That means there is not anything we won’t do.
Do you see the implications?
Report/Whine, if I may borrow a line from you: “Is Bush looking pretty good about now?”
Judicial activism on the Supreme Court? Yeah, like no one would notice. The Ricci case was overturned on another 5-4 decision. Not exactly cut and dried.
“Judicial activism on the Supreme Court? Yeah, like no one would notice. The Ricci case was overturned on another 5-4 decision. Not exactly cut and dried.”
AND they introduced an element into the judgement that was not in the precedent used by the justices, of which Sotomayor was only one, that affirmed the lower court decision.
You were addressing Paul but I can’t help but notice your blind comment that Bush was paralyzed.
Bush revived this country after 9/11 and moved it forward. He took every step he thought would provide protection for us from future attacks. He had enough foresight to see that the MidEast was headed for a total involvement in terrorism.
Bush can take credit for diminishing much of the threat of terrorism. It is not totally gone, just diminished. Now Obama is following the plans of Bush, something he said he would never do.
Bush was honest and effective in our defense. If you do not want to protect or fight for your country, then you do not understand the policies of Bush.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new single-family homes in the United States rose more than expected in June, while the inventory of homes for sale fell to a more than 11-year low, government data showed on Monday.
I meant he was paralyzed on what he could do with Iran, and in fact did nothing but include them in his axis of evil. Bush implemented Obama’s plan in Iraq and now Obama is trying to correct the mistake of neglecting of Afghanistan.
Gelding, you need to read a bit more into that figure.
“That was 11 percent above the upwardly revised May rate of 346,000, but 21.3 percent below the June 2008 estimate.
Sales prices fell however, suggesting builders have been cutting prices to clear inventory. The median sales price fell to 206,200 from 219,000 a month earlier. And the median length of time homes were on the market was a record 11.8 months.”
It was up from an ESTIMATE of new home sales. That doesn’t mean any recovery is in place. And prices were DOWN more than 6%. We assuredly aren’t in good hands.
Well, I see somebody called the little old lady that decides how the stock market does and told her to sell out. The market is down even tho new home sales went up 11%. We need a new little old lady. Or maybe she heard about how this Obama is going to spend us into bankruptcy and decided to get out while the getting’s good.
Glad to see Sister Dusty is back. While she was gone things were just too peaceful around here. Bookman didn’t even kick anybody off of the blog and things were so peaceful he decided to take a week off and go fishing. Even the Whiner was peaceable. Now she’s getting into it with Normal and it won’t be long till she’s at it with somebody else.
” The hostage rescue failed because of a combination of bad luck and poor planning by the military leaders. Not Jimmy’s fault.”
Sorry, but this is flawed logic.
Jimbo was the CIC, responsible for appointing the “military leaders” and therefore responsible for their actions. Same with any manager, they are held accountable for those they manage – dispense of the weak link or suffer the consequences.
Bush implemented Obama’s plan??Did you really write that?
Obama was implementing his plans to get elected and said whatever his audience wanted to hear while Bush was calling Iran eactly what has proven to be true this day. Iran is a theocrtic non-democratic country building nuclear bombs and calling it something else. It is also suppressing it’s freedom seeking citizens. What has Obama done? Nothing but impressing them with butterfly diplomacy.
Our troops in Afghanistan who have never left must appreciate your total rejection of them. We have never withdrawn all our fighting forces from Afghanistan. They have been working quietly and not advertising their moves. What would you have them do? Tell Osama exactly where and what to expect? You do know that Afghanistan has it’s OWN GOVERNMENT not controlled by the Taliban? You do know that Iraq has it’s OWN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, don’t you?
You surely can overlook a LOT. What makes you so blind?
“It was up from an ESTIMATE of new home sales. That doesn’t mean any recovery is in place. And prices were DOWN more than 6%. We assuredly aren’t in good hands.”
every time the monthly numbers are released, they are a preliminary estimate and are revised one way or the other the following month. however, even if prices were down 6%, down 6% is still better than nothing – ask any builder. clearing inventory – that’s the name of the game right now.
or bulldozers. but I think most builders would agree that selling houses at a discount beats bulldozing.
It will be destabilizing. Not just for us, not just for Israel. For Iraq. For Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria.
Russia doesn’t see them as a threat (a view I find interesting, given their experiences with terrorism and the tension in the former Republics).
It’s a long way from detonating a device to constructing a weapon. A very long way. But the fundamentalist regime in Iran seems determined. Will they use it as an item to get respect or deter adversaries (altho in the last thirty years the only ones they’ve come to blows with have been the Iraqis)? I have my doubts if they’ll be all that ‘live and let live.’ Just last week Ahmadinejad wanted to appoint a top advisor but the ruling cleric told him to pick someone else. Seems a year ago the guy said “Iran is a friend to all countries – even Israel.” When a comment like that gets you booted from a gov’t job…
There are just too many ways this could go. But three separate signals last week on America’s intent does not help us. Seems the Administration is going the verbal warning route, leaving it up to the Iranians to decide just how we’ll follow through if they proceed. How they view us is key –
TNGelding
So, what’s your opinion of the Eminent Domain case? Allowing local gov’ts to take homes and low income business so a developer can bring in more taxes?
Dusty,
Sometimes, ‘facts’ are in the eyes of the beholder!
Doggone GA
[[AND they introduced an element into the judgement that was not in the precedent used by the justices, of which Sotomayor was only one, that affirmed the lower court decision.]]
Wasn’t a big element of the Court’s decision that fear of a lawsuit is not adequate to cite disparate impact? Also, didn’t Ricci, et al, bring up extenuating factors that Sotomayor ignored that the Court considered?
Regardless of the answers or opinions to the above, a concern now is, does Judge Sotomayor have the caliber of legal mind necessary for the Court? Of course, Chief Justice Warren elicited the same concerns -
[[the other signators have a right to say that they aren’t allowed to develop nukes.]]
Consequences?
I’ve a feeling that’s what Iran’s considering – what’s the risk with this Administration? They already know the risk posed by nearly every other country – nil.
I think Professor Gates was NOT going to be told what to do by some high school graduate making $35,000 per year. That he was white merely fed into the Prof’s stereotypical thinking.
We DO have cops who are prejudiced black/white or white/black. We also have quite a few folks, black and white, who have NO intention of doing what they are told by a person in authority.
Re: John Prine. I like “Sam Stone” awfully well–”while his kids ran around wearing other people’s clothes”.
I like to scroll up from the bottom and read a person’s comments before I see who wrote them. Much of the time I can identify the writer. Dusty, you are the easiest. (Hopefully no man has ever said that to you or someone you love)
“I’ve a feeling that’s what Iran’s considering – what’s the risk with this Administration? They already know the risk posed by nearly every other country – nil.”
actually, didn’t China recently come out against Iranian nukes, as well?? fact is, oil prices will rise again – can Iran afford to alienate all its buyers? I think a military strike would be the worst possible solution for any country, but especially the US. jaw-jaw is always better than war war (if that’s good enough for Churchill, that’s good enough for me)
Russia doesn’t see them as a threat (a view I find interesting, given their experiences with terrorism and the tension in the former Republics).
I think Russia thinks of Iran as economic competition and gives that view because they would like nothing else than to see Iran eliminated
from the oil playing field. As always, Russia looks out after Russia…
Best guess: yes, they can. Because if demand for oil continues to rise, there will be someone else along soon to buy it instead.
Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.
Future city – any city – actions will be interesting to watch, no matter the level of pressure local activists bring to bear, as happened in this case. From the concurring opinion:
” As initially described by the dissent, see post, at 2–12, the process by which the City reached the decision not to accept the test results was open, honest, serious, and deliberative. But even the District Court admitted that “a jury could rationally infer that city officials worked behind the scenes to sabotage the promotional examinations because they knew that, were the exams certified, the Mayor would incur the wrath of [Rev. Boise] Kimber and other influential leaders of New Haven’s African-American community.” 554 F. Supp. 2d 142, 162 (Conn. 2006), summarily aff’d, 530 F. 3d 87 (CA2 2008) (per curiam).
This admission finds ample support in the record. Reverend Boise Kimber, to whom the District Court referred, is a politically powerful New Haven pastor and a self-professed “ ‘kingmaker.’ ” App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 07–1428, p. 906a; see also id., at 909a. On one occasion, “[i]n front of TV cameras, he threatened a race riot during the murder trial of the black man arrested for killing white Yalie Christian Prince. He continues to call whites racist if they question his actions.” “
Dusty, you said,
You do know that Afghanistan has it’s OWN GOVERNMENT not controlled by the Taliban? You do know that Iraq has it’s OWN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, don’t you?
Part of that problem is Afganistan’s Government can’t or won’t help the outlaying populas, the local governments are mostly corrupt and operate on the bribe. The reason the Taliban has been able to florish there
is because they offer law that works, even if it is barbaric. A drowning man will grasp any straw…
“Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.”
they’re not teenagers.
they’re not trying to build nukes out of pique because mom said they couldn’t have the car this weekend.
“Because if demand for oil continues to rise, there will be someone else along soon to buy it instead.”
even though China and India have a growing population of car owners, I think that India would definitely respect a trade embargo (due to their proximity). and I think China would if Russia did.
“EXPAT You are thinking rationally (well, as rationally as you do ) and assume that Iranians do too! They don’t! They want to see the West fall!”
please. Iran has an extremely westernized population, an extremely young population – they’re not ignorant peasants who blame the west for all their ills.
DUSTY, forgot to finish. I’m gettin’ old, I guess. Yes Iraq has it’s government, but that won’t be enough to save it when we leave, but we have to leave and let it happen.
It is a compliment to be easily identified by a liberal. That means I stay true to what I believe and have no politically correct views. They are just my own.
Paul,
You said “Facts are sometimes in the eye of the beholder.”
No, Paul, the interpretation of the facts is in the eye of the beholder. The facts stay the same.
Scenarios gamed show no good outcomes and a lot of unintended consequences. But if the Administration finds that preferable…
maybe I will buy a hybrid, after all…
Normal
Now there’s an interesting theory. Get the ball rolling, stand back, watch someone else stop the ball.
DoggoneGA
[[Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.]]
What’s the basis (in statements by Iran’s leaders?) for that? Didn’t Pres Obama, SecState Clinton, even before their current jobs, make their statements based on Iran’s actions and statements of intent? That, plus IAEA findings?
You don’t plan a program, build hardened facilities, import foreign assistance, buy materials, install and get working gazillions of centrifuges within a few months of someone saying “we really don’t want you to have a nuke.”
I read the fine print. But the trend is up. Inventory is coming down, even with all the bargain foreclosures on the market. I still don’t understand why someone would pay 3 times what it cost to build a home. But they did, and now we’re suffering the consequences.
“The Court said they could take that path only if they could show there was a strong basis in ‘evidence’ they’d be liable”
You left out a step. The city negated the results, because under the law, the disparate results would be considered proof of the bias of the test…hence their fear of a minority based lawsuit.
The Supreme Court has put them in the place of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Personally, I’m hoping the minorities DO sue…and WIN.
“I referred to the US striking Iran. not Iran striking another country.”
Now why would the US strike Iran if Iran was not a threat at striking another country? Its not about Iran having nuclear weapons, its about Iran using nuclear weapons.
“Now why would the US strike Iran if Iran was not a threat at striking another country? Its not about Iran having nuclear weapons, its about Iran using nuclear weapons.”
actually, it’s about Iran HAVING nuclear weapons and breaking the NPT.
okay, my fine feathered folkses … I’m heading out to meet a friend for drinks and din – have a good evening!!!
What I’m finding interesting is that the military components are beginning to act independent of the politics in both Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan’s, Zardari seems more than happy to let them. For the first time Pakistan’s ISI was invited to India’s negotiating table.
Netanyahu weighed in after Hillary’s “nuclear umbrella” comment. Iran is so riddled by internal conflict that they can’t find time or consensus on foreign policy. They’re lookin’ very weak and vulnerable right now. The IRGC is making their move — missile threats against Israel.
U.S. defense, intelligence and political officials will be holding a series of meetings in Israel this week focusing on Iran. An odd combo. Psychological?….or is something in the works?
Gunfight at the O.K., you asked for it, corral. It’s “High Noon” or “Tombstone”?
High Noon — my brother’s all-time favorite. Tombstone — RW’s.
I see you have no faith in the building of a democracy. Have you forgotten our own history? Were we one complete nation without upstarts, tribes, loyalists, etc. after the Revolutionary War? We worked on it a long time and still do. We made some mistakes but perfection is impossible. Iraq is in the early stages. Afghanistan is less farther along with tougher problems.
I do not believe that human beings ever want a barbaric government. You see I haven’t lost the belief that people forever desire freedom from oppression. I’d give you a line or two from the Star Spangled Banner but truly, I believe we have a great country because we are FREE. You’ve heard all that before and fought for it, but it is still worth remembering..( No one should be afraid to be patriotic!)
EXPAT: HAD an extremely westernized civilization. Now they are theocratically controlled by the Ayatollahs. My neighbor is part of that generation of westernized Iranians that left in the late 70’s. He tells me all about it. They all need to rise up and revolt or face the consequences of thermal nuclear destruction.
“My neighbor is part of that generation of westernized Iranians that left in the late 70’s”
And that qualifies him to tell you what Iran is like NOW? Hate to tell you, and him, but it’s been 30 years since the late 70’s. A lot can change in 30 years. And having a “theocratically” controlled government is not mutually exclusive with haveing a Westernized society.
I’m enjoying seeing that the usual yahoos can windbag ad nauseum about Obama, liberals, criminal blacks and the standard selection of grievances with no impetus other than … a fish.
This could be fun for you, Jay. Every day, just put a photo of some random object online, and invite your naysaying chorus to pontificate. A real time-saver for you!
Rather than speculating how Gates might have behaved had the arresting officer been black (and guess what, one of them was), more productive would be to ask how the cops would have reacted had the homeowner been white. Imagine, if you will, the following picture …
Officers in Johns Creek respond to a suspected break-in in one of the burb’s wealthy subdivisions, armed only with the info that the perp is a white dude. On arrival, they see an older white man, with greying hair and a cane, come to the door. They demand to see his I.D.
Irritated caucasian grandpa smarts off to them, but dutifully shuffles back and produces what they request. The officer still seems skeptical, and insists the homeowner come outside –
Gramps says “Why? This is my house.”
Argument ensues, older guy raises his voice in anger, and officer, not getting the amount of deference and obsequious groveling he believes his due, feels his manhood threatened and slaps on the cuffs, poste haste, in front of a growing crowd. The “suspect” is publicly humilated in front of his neighbors, driven downtown, gets his mugshot and tossed in the cooler. He makes bail, and is released.
It is then discovered that the “suspect”, turns out to be a well-known author and professor at an Ivy League university, and a close personal friend of many extremely influential and powerful people. The charges are quietly dropped, but as furor mounts over the arrest, the police department closes ranks and continues to insist the officers were in the right.
Ya think? No. Truth? This BS charge and arrest would NEVER have happened.
In said senario setup, officer would’ve confirmed the white older homeowner’s identification, apologized along these lines: “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, sir, but we had a report of a break-in, so we had to check it out. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Annoyed grandpa mumbles acceptance of apology, probably shuffles back to his dinner, book,
TV show, no escalation, no raised voices, no argument. If cops aren’t bright and throw their weight around and an arrest ensues … City and police officials would’ve realized they are screwed. They’d quickly see they’ve rattled the cage of someone with the contacts to create a PR nightmare for them, and a likely lawsuit. I’d venture angry homeowner gets a letter from the department with another apology, explanation that they’re especially sensitive to rising crime in the area, hope he understands and will join with his neighbors in helping police keep his neighborhood safe.
You can bet they wouldn’t be all over the media, trying to justify themselves. They’d be desperate to shut this up and make it go away, less said, the better.
I’m pissed at the prez too, for apologizing to the police after pressure from the right-wing nut media. Though “stupid” probably WAS a poor choice of words. “Arrogant” and “incompetent” would’ve been more accurate.
What happened to the real RedNeck Convert? The current one is a big stuffy and doesn’t make good jokes. Maybe an understudy or something? Hit in the head by a golfball? Maybe there is a treatment for parodies and he got it! Ah the wonders of science! (Or maybe he married catlady! Now that would be a match made in heaven.)
Think of this, The difference in time and weaponry between 1776 and 2009 is great, don’t you think? If Iraq was only facing flintlocks, I’d give them a 50/50 chance. The main thing here, and the biggest thing here, is religion. The shia and Sunni are holding grudges that go back to the beginning of time and they won’t stop holding those grudges until the proper amount of murders and meyham have been paid. No Government or army will be able to stop it, either, because they are afterall, sunni and shia also. It has to happen, it is ordained.
I agree with you that no one wants a barbaric government. Most people, like us just want to be left alone and live our lives to the best of our abilities, pay our sou to Caesar, and try to save the rest, but the point is that no one in the whole of the middle east understands what “freedom” is. There has never been an instant, as far as I can remember, that each country hasn’t had a king. They have nothing to compare.
I’m glad you hold our way of life in such high esteem, but remember that we are the only country in the history of man to have this kind of life. We know it’s a good life and we want no other, but we can’t force it on others, they have to want it for themselves and we have to be a constant living example of how good our kind of life is. That is our challenge.
I think you might be just as big a peace-nik as I am…
“Rather than speculating how Gates might have behaved had the arresting officer been black (and guess what, one of them was), ”
No other officers were involved until AFTER Crowley left the house. Up until that time, he was the only officer Gates saw. Just to keep the discussion honest.
July 27, 2009 0923 GMT
Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak said July 27 that Israel is taking “no option” off the table regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Israel National News reported. Barak was speaking to reporters with visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who said the U.S. government’s attempt to engage Iran was “not an open-ended offer” and that the United States expects a response from Iran about its nuclear program by September.
“All of the Supreme Court cases are beyond my comprehension. I just find the 5-4 decisions perplexing.”
You should try reading the written opinions sometime. It can be VERY illuminating to read the dissenting opinions. It was in Bush vs Gore. I read them all, on both sides of the decision.
Our troops are in the process of leaving Iraq and are fighting extensively in Afghanistan to give support.. In the meantime, Obama and his Secretaries are playing footsie with Iran while playing poker with Israel and Russia.
You, in the meantime, approve any move by a Democrat. Maybe you are a bit confused about the meaing of budgets, trillions. and debt. Obama certainly does not seem to understand them. Neither does Geitner. Two lambs directing the wolves of dependence.
[[You left out a step. The city negated the results, because under the law, the disparate results would be considered proof of the bias of the test…hence their fear of a minority based lawsuit.]]
That’s what I thought, based upon what we hear so often. But it appears what the Court said wasn’t something new, but a restatement of what was supposed to have been:
” When an employer in a disparate-treatment case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 claims that an employment decision, such as the refusal to promote, was based on a legitimate reason, two questions—one objective and one subjective—must be decided. The first, objective question is whether the reason given by the employer is one that is legitimate under Title VII. See St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U. S. 502, 506–507 (1993) . If the reason provided by the employer is not legitimate on its face, the employer is liable. Id., at 509. The second, subjective question concerns the employer’s intent. If an employer offers a facially legitimate reason for its decision but it turns out that this explanation was just a pretext for discrimination, the employer is again liable. See id., at 510–512.”
[[Personally, I’m hoping the minorities DO sue…and WIN.]]
Why? Sue for what? Can you imagine the results if that attitude was brought into an academic setting, particularly one where the number of minority/nonminority students is evenly split?
Pat
Except the officer never insisted the homeowner go outside. He said if the homeowner had any questions other than the one he kept repeating, which was answered twice previously, he’d be outside and would speak with him there.
Please don’t discount the Grand Ayatollah ali Al-Sistani’s influence in Iraq. Sunnis and Shias have through his edicts worked together. From day one he’s been instrumental in the successes within Iraq. He’s Persian and sees Khomeini as illegitimate. The only mistake he made, in my mind, was negotiating with Sadr.
The June 24 (from the link above) strikes me as the kind of fact many don’t want to grapple with. Just easier to say ‘they’re uninsured.’ ‘Course now, Pres Obama’s speaking of Health INSURANCE Reform, so looks like that 1,000 pages is gonna need an addendum -
I am a peacenik until it comes to defending our country. I think Bush had the foresight to see what might come out of the Middle East. You do not agree with his appraisal and his efforts at defending us. None of our presidents are perfect.(Who is?) But I could understand the efforts Bush made.
We also differ on freedom. You think it is an acquired trait. I think it is an essence born in the human personality. Many Europeans and the UK have Kings and Queen but they are figureheads. Even though I do not like their configuration of medical care and the resulting 50% tax rate that usually goes with it, I consider them free.
It is always nice to post with you. Your kind heart is hard to hide!
What great planning. Bookman’s on vacation, Wooten is semi-retired. All this before having l’il Kyle “Right” Wingfield and Cindy Tucker (NEVER gonna happen) blogging.
I’ve been critical of Obama and think he made a mistake by increasing the stakes in Afghanistan. But unlike Iraq, at least a case can be made for it. But as I’ve said before, I ain’t got no quarrel with no Taliban. They need to get Osama and get out. But it looks like now it’ll take years to totally withdraw, and even longer if the decision is made to truly stabilize the country.
It wasn’t me that disrespected the troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It was Bush. He withdrew support and redirected it to Iraq, using the men to whom he was entrusted as bait to lure Jihadists that would otherwise be home making babies.
[[srael’s defense minister Ehud Barak said July 27 that Israel is taking “no option” off the table regarding Iran’s nuclear program,]]
Same thing Pres Obama and SecState Clinton said.
Oh, and Pres Bush, too?
DoggoneGA 12:33
[[No other officers were involved until AFTER Crowley left the house. Up until that time, he was the only officer Gates saw. Just to keep the discussion honest.]]
Ummm, not exactly. Go to the bottom of the report, see what Officer Figueroa had to say:
Doggone, you really are a hoot! Yes it does let them tell me what it’s like now you silly old cooter you! THEY have family over there, that THEY talk to on a regular basis. THIER family isn’t muslim, so THEY have been persecuted. YOU obvoiously haven’t left your computer in months, so I doubt you even know your neighbors. IRAN is an evil place, full of evil people. We can’t afford to let them gain access to Thermo Nuclear weapons. Doggone, I wish you were well, not dog, but just gone!
EXPAT: Britian’s done it, France has done it, Germany has done it, Russsia has too. What the big deal about invading? It’s an extension of the political process.
July 27th, 2009
12:43 pm
@@, I hadn’t considered that and I hope you are right. And I agree about Sadr, thank you.
Dusty; You have a big heart too.
And remember that the European and English Kings and Queens weren’t always figureheads…
TnGelding:
If Sadr wants to be Iraq’s Khomeini, that is exactly what he’s doing…laying low and saving ammo. I hope what @@ suggests is right, or it’s going to get ugly real fast. We will have gone from a known devil(Saddam),whom we could have controlled, to an unknown devil who we may never be able to control.
ALL of our troops were NEVER withdrawn from Afghanistan. They were decreased. Then more troops were withdrawn from Iraq as it was stabilized. They were sent to Afghanistan. Did you really not know that or were you just guessing?
And Bush using “our troops as bait to lure jihadist that would be otherwise at home making babies”. you said about Afghanistan.. That is about the wildest thought I have seen posted in a long time.. That and your eager establishment that you have no quarrel with the Taliban.
I am leaving for a while. Maybe Osama will sent you a nice card of appreciation. He has no quarrel with the Taliban either.
The UN and the USA did not control Sadaam for ten years after the first Bush won a quick war. Why do you think a free but struggling Iraq might not have a better chance of ruling with justice? That dictators are easier to work with than a free country? I hope you are not influenced by your dislike of George W. Bush but it does appear that way sometimes.
There once was a time when we KNEW that dictators were evil as they have shown us time after time. When did that change?
I really can’t figure out why you wingnuts get on this blog. Do you really think you are going to convert someone over to the GOP?
Here’s a reality check for you. America voted you and your party out of power for a reason. And how does you party react? They move further to the right, being more stubborn and more obstructionist.
Good luck in the 2010 midterms. You certainly are going to need it, especially after using the health of Americans as a political stunt.
Palin 2012. (Cue Vincent Price’s laugh from the song “Thriller”).
“When have we, or any other country, not done so?”
Oh sure, it’s always happened…but you can’t really convince those “morally superior” types of that. But we DID get less inclined to get in wars against them, and start propping them up instead…when we could do it in the name of “fighting communism.” As long as they were left-leaning dictators and not right-leaning, they were less in danger of attack and more in “danger” of support. Though the “danger” was born more by their populace than by the dictator himself. (ever notice that dictators are almost always male?)
My point is simply that nations will deal with some pretty unsavory characters if it advances their interests.
Always have, always will.
As far as male/female: it’s the nature of the power structure. In cases where the female comes to the head, they’ve generally been the equal, or surpassed, their male counterparts for toughness.
mm, we know all you suffer, after all “Liberalism is a mental disorder”. We do feel sorry for you and hope you will seek treatment, but like all mentally ill people, we doubt that you shall. Until you realize your illness and commit to doing something about it, nothing much we can do. Point our your flawed logic does little good, but it teaches us patience.
Jay’s off to the river leaving only disjointed streams of thought to wade through in here.
OK, here’s mine, about everyone’s favorite: Former Governor Sarah Palin.
Imagine my surprise last night in the grocery check-out line to see a scandal-sheet story detailing an alleged affair between Ms. Palin and the First Dude’s former business partner and naming it as the reason for her abrupt resignation. Sources to the pub said that although the affair is supposedly over, the threat of embarassing revelation was enough to solidify her decision.
Now the fun part. Knowing Ms. Palin’s immediate-response TwitBlitz to any media slight, perceived or otherwise, who’s with me to sit and watch the fireworks this week?
“Now the fun part. Knowing Ms. Palin’s immediate-response TwitBlitz to any media slight”
Maybe you should twit her to let her know about, because really – if she’s taking the time to read every newspaper and online news site to find “bad” news about herself, she won’t have time for anything else. We couldn’t be THAT lucky.
Either you don’t read very well or I don’t write very well. Bush used the troops to lure the Jihadists into Iraq:
“The sad reality is that Iraq is already the epicenter for anti-Western terrorism.Iraq is the only place in the world where prospective jihadists can engage in live-fire exercises with the U.S. military and hone their skills in battle. It is not accidental that techniques pioneered in Iraq, like “improvised explosive devices” (IEDs), have been exported to other battlefields, like Afghanistan.”
“There seems to be a fundamental misconception that there is a finite number of potential terrorists in the world and that the use of Iraq as “bait” will lure them for destruction at the hands of U.S. forces.”
(And there were many elements that made up the “surge” other than additional troops.)
“And there’s the rub. Many of these fighters in Iraq have signed up precisely because they want the chance to kill themselves, along with US-led coalition troops, and/or sectarian rivals. Indeed, the suicide bombing–or in Islamic parlance, the “martyrdom operation”–is the signature act of Islamic radicals across the world, from Baghdad to Bali, and Morocco to Manhattan. By and large then, we are not talking about rational people, but suicidal-homicidal fanatics in search of a theatre where they can exercise their already radical impulses.”
A little rhetorical question aimed at no one in particular.
If you took the 100 most important cases (by whomever’s criteria) decided by the Supreme Court since the beginning of the Republic, how many were 5-4 decisions?
I don’t know the answer to that but what was decided by one vote say 150 or so years ago we would now take as the prevailing attitude of the time. It might have more likely reflected a 50-50 split among the population then. No position or idea is without substantional opposition anytime.
In Revolutionary times about 1/3 of the people wanted to break away, about 1/3 wanted to remain loyal, and the other 1/3 didn’t care and just wanted to be left alone. As a former poster here used to say, the winners write the history books and the opposing view gets forgotten.
Anyhow I was just thinking how a different vote here and there down through the generations and things might have been quite different.
“Like Obama in Afghanistan?” What’s wrong with that? We’d be out of there if Bush had not moved most of our troops to Iraq.
“Like Obama and indefinite detention?” Gitmo will close.
“Like Obama and wiretaps?” Since it’s a secretive program, how do you know what has changed and what has not?
“Like Obama and secret energy meetings?” Energy meetings? I know Obama had some pharma CEO’s over at the WH, and did not want to release the names. But he did release the names, just not the companies they worked for. Even a moron can google their names and find out which companies they work for.
Gandalf, glad to see you have patience. You’re gonna need it.
What’s wrong with out current health care? People that are in small groups pay more than people in big groups? Big deal. Illegal aliens are forced to get there care at emergency rooms, which are more expensive than primary care physicians? who cares, they’re here illegally to begin with and shouldn’t get anything they don’t pay for. People who don’t work can’t afford health insurance? Get a job, work a little, and maybe your health will improve.
Obama just wants to let the old conservatives die off and replace them with young, Democrat-voting formerly illegal aliens.
I’m against war, period. It would have been a good thing if the “shot heard ’round the world” had never been fired. There’s almost always a better way. And Islam is not our enemy.
TnG war is what separates us from the animals! It’s the one thing humans do well. Embrace it and learn to love it. With Barry in office it might be coming to a street near you soon!
TnG Islam most certainly is our enemy silly! That’s why islamofacist terrorist kill Americans every single day, don’t be blind. Islam is evil, end of story.
Either you don’t read very well or I don’t write very well. Bush used the troops to lure the Jihadists into Iraq:]]
Something many don’t want to address is this: if Iraq had never happened, where would all the jihadists recruits have gone? Answer: Pak/Afg.
When VP Biden, as Senator Biden, was talking about invading Sudan, OBL put forth that jihadists would flood the area.
In other words, they’d go where we go.
mm
[[“Like Obama in Afghanistan?” What’s wrong with that? We’d be out of there if Bush had not moved most of our troops to Iraq.]]
See remarks above. It’s not about numbers, it’s about objectives and strategy. Focusing on numbers was part of our downfall in Vietnam.
[[“Like Obama and indefinite detention?” Gitmo will close.]]
I said nothing of Gitmo. I’m speaking of Pres Obama’s willingness to hold suspects indefinitely, without trial.
[[“Like Obama and wiretaps?” Since it’s a secretive program, how do you know what has changed and what has not? ]]
Because the cases are being litigated and the Obama Administration has, in several instances (and to the consternation of the Left) taken a harder stance than even the Bush Administration.
[[“Like Obama and secret energy meetings?” Energy meetings? I know Obama had some pharma CEO’s over at the WH, and did not want to release the names. But he did release the names, just not the companies they worked for. Even a moron can google their names and find out which companies they work for.]]
Coal executives. And others. In advance of cap n trade proposals. You know, the legislation that didn’t have carbon credits available for auction because //the Administration had already GIVEN them away in consideration of political support!//
Dusty: I would use the adjective “predictable”. But certainly, you can count on you. Stake a position and hold fast. A good kind of person to have around when times are tough.
As for me, I would not use “liberal”. I can argue both sides, whether I agree or not. I would call myself an “eclectic free-thinker.” Socially pretty liberal; economically pretty conservative.
GAndalf said: war is what separates us from the animals!
If you consider ants part of the animal kingdom, I’ve seen some pretty impressive wars between black and brown ants in my yard as a kid. Pretty wild battle too. Must have been thousands of ants.
“Something many don’t want to address is this: if Iraq had never happened, where would all the jihadists recruits have gone? Answer: Pak/Afg”
yep…and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE…instead of splitting our resources and attacking a country that had nothing to do with them UNTIL we were stupid enough to draw them in that direction.
I don’t know why. Sure, we enraged many Iraqis who just wanted to fight against the Americans, but many, many in Iraq were foreign true believers. They went where the infidels were.
It’ll be interesting to see if the same happens in Afg. If it doesn’t, many can make the point that by now AQ has been severely, severely disrupted with not nearly the capability it had five or six years ago.
I posited this scenario some many months back in response to those who saw Afg as a slam-dunk if only we’d not invaded Iraq.
We build up in Afg. AQ uses Pak as safe haven. American casualties mount. Americans mount covert raids into Pak (why not flood the area with Predators and UAVs like we are now? Because when we went to war we had only a COUPLE available for missions. Remember what SecDef Rumsfeld said about going to war with the army you have?). Covert raids not enough – conventional forces build up along border, then stage incursions into Pak. Pak gov’t protests. US assures no permanent bases. Americans escalate operations, establish base camps on Pak side of border in areas outside Pak gov’t control. Pak civilians protest, Musharaff attempts to placate. Military stages a coup, radicals within Intel Services take control, demand Americans leave and respect Pak sovereignty. Americans refuse. Pakistanis, unable to confront America conventionally, detonate a nuke on American camp on Pakistani soil.
Farfetched? Or just as plausible as thinking “if only we hadn’t gone into Iraq, we’d have had all these forces we could have used in Afg and Pak!”
I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals. ANY scenario is POSSIBLE, though most are, at best, unlikely. The bottom line is that Afghanistan was where the “enemy” WAS and Iraq had NOTHING to do with them or with 911. We should not have attacked Iraq, period.
Here’s a hypthetical for you: why didn’t we attack Sudan instead of Iraq? Or Somalia, or if you prefer to stick to the Middle East, how about Libya? You know the answer as well as I do: because they had NOTHING TO DO with 911. And neither did Iraq.
We should have left Iraq alone and concentrated on the country we KNEW supported the 911 attackers: Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has never been a slam-dunk for anybody. Not the Brits, not the Soviets, and it won’t be for us. Paul’s scenario isn’t far-fetched.
By the way, does anybody remember why the Soviets invaded Afghanistan? Their Afghan puppet government was in danger of being overthrown. By whom? By Afghans who didn’t like the puppet government’s attempts to educate women and its other liberal policies. Basically, the same kind of religious zealots who comprised Saddam Hussein’s political enemies.
It’s a complicated neck of the woods, and made more complicated by not bothering to devote some study to its language, culture and history before trying to turn it (and the rest of the Middle East) into New Hampshire.
[[“Farfetched?” I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals. ]]
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!! But don’t you see? Your original post that started this at 2:42 was a hypothetical assuming some kind of advantageous outcome!
Your second paragraph – I already said, if we’d never invaded Iraq. Afg was where they were, Pak is where they went, and when we went to Iraq, many of them went there. So?
As far as Sudan: you are aware VP Biden’s all in favor of invading Sudan, aren’t you? And we are conducting ops in Somalia, too?
[[We should have left Iraq alone and concentrated on the country we KNEW supported the 911 attackers: Afghanistan.]]
And what would have happened, hmmmm? I know you dislike hypotheticals, but do you posit an outcome that’s wonderful and rosy and has all our forces home now? Rather than the one I suggested? If so, why?
“and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE”
Stating a FACT is not postulating a hypothetical. I made no predictions about any possible outcome. I simply stated the fact: the forces in Iraq are forces that ARE NOT
Or, let me put it this way: if “Ok, let me put it this way: We should not have invaded Iraq. Period” why do we assume the situation in Afg would be any different than it is now, if not worse (as I posited) or, given we wouldn’t have had the change in strategy/surge model of Gen Petraeus in Iraq, that the likes of him would ever have risen to the top and we (hypothetically speaking) might not be in a worse position there now than we are?!!?
“and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE”
Stating a FACT is not postulating a hypothetical. I made no predictions about any possible outcome. I simply stated the fact: the forces in Iraq are forces that ARE NOT available to be in Afghanistan.
And since Iraq had nothing to do with 911, there was…and IS…no valid reason for us to be there. That’s not a hypthetical either…it’s a FACT.
Good article: the massive Republican tax cuts of the 1920s (from 73% down to 25%) led directly to the Roaring ’20s stock market bubble, temporary boom, and then the crash and Republican Great Depression of 1929.
Rates on the very rich went back up into the 70-90% range from the 1930s to the 1980s. As a result, the economy grew steadily; for the first time in the history of our nation we went 50 years without a crash or major bank failure; and working people’s wages increased enough to produce the strongest middle class this nation has ever seen.
Then came Reaganomics.
Reagan cut top marginal rates on millionaires and billionaires from 74% down to 38% and there was an immediate surge in the markets – followed by the worst crash since the Great Depression and the failure of virtually the entire nation’s savings and loan banking system.
“Here’s a reality check for you. America voted you and your party out of power for a reason.”
Another reality check – because we voted against one, doesn’t necessarily equate to voting for the other. Personally, I and many like me have been voting the lessor of 2 evils for quite a while now. And as long as the dems keep the likes of Pelosi and Reed at the helm, the next vote against their evils won’t be too difficult. Barry at least tries sometimes to straddle the middle, but those 2 buffoons sure don’t.
Without the tinkering of Fannie and Freddie and the relaxing of the ratios/documents to get mortgages, the current bubble would more than likely have never happened, as there would be no defaults on the mortgages and the derivatives would still be worth something. Not to mention the sharp increase in home selling would have never happened.
“why do we assume the situation in Afg would be any different than it is now”
We don’t, I don’t. I’ve stated my opinion: that the forces tied up in Iraq are NOT AVAILABLE for Afghanistan. Would they have made a difference? Who knows? But we DO know they CAN’T make a difference in Afghanistan, because they can’t be in two places at once.
Iran’s gotta be feeling pretty squeezed out by now.
The U.S. government has lifted a ban on exporting information technology products and aviation industry goods to Syria, Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Mustafa said July 27 on Syrian national television. Mustafa added that U.S. President Barack Obama is considering lifting more bans as his administration is expected to do a line-by-line re-evaluation of existing economic sanctions on Syria in order to improve relations between Damascus and Washington. Mustafa’s announcement came a day after U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell’s visit to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
While at the same time, there’s a big POW WOW going on in Israel.
This (from your link) doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Speaking to CNN by phone, Murphy said she was trying to clear Whalen’s name after she’s come under attack by bloggers and in chat rooms, accused of racial profiling when she first called police.
She said Whalen is “devastated” by such characterizations because she is sensitive about such issues because of her own complexion. Whalen worked down the street and was on her lunch break when she called police.
“She just wants to clear her name. She doesn’t want to create more controversy,” Murphy said. “She falls outside the plain lines of race, and I think she wanted people to know that.”
Leftists attacking a civic-minded citizen before they had all the facts.
Hello, Midori! Been busy? You’ve been rather scarce –
Doggone/GA
Most of the “if we hadn’t been in Iraq we’d have had more in Afg” comments I read have as an underlying or implicit assumption things would now be going along just swimmingly. I understand your point about Iraq – but do you hold a position as to whether or not things would be worse, the same, or better, in Afg if Iraq had not had happened?
If one can not make a case either way, then Iraq as it relates to the situation in Afg is really irrelevant, is it not? So we’d have had more forces available – would they have been used, or would they merely have stretched the rotations? If they had been used, but used not to the best advantage (as in Iraq) numbers wouldn’t have mattered.
@@
Good with Syria. If we’re lucky, we may see some lunatic extremists in Lebanon get their knees cut out from under them.
“I understand your point about Iraq – but do you hold a position as to whether or not things would be worse, the same, or better, in Afg if Iraq had not had happened?”
My point is that if Iraq had not happened, things in Afghanistan MIGHT be different. Whether different is better or worse, we’ll never know. But we gave up the potential for a cleaner, faster difference if Afghanistan BECAUSE we sent troops on a wild-goose chase to Iraq instead.
And if Iraq hadn’t happened, then we wouldn’t be bogged down IN Iraq.
The Americans and Saudis are growing impatient with Syria’s growing list of demands, but Damascus has made some tangible moves in these negotiations. The Syrian government has long been sharing intelligence with the United States and Saudi Arabia on al Qaeda in Iraq and the surrounding region. And to the detriment of Syria’s relationship with Iran, the Syrians have already been laying the groundwork to corner Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The rift between Hezbollah and the Assad regime is something I’ve been watching for a year and a half. I’m lookin’ for instant gratification. The piecemeal give and take is exasperating.
Friedman sees Hezbollah as far more dangerous than Al Qaeda ever hoped to be.
” Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.”
“Both senators were VIP borrowers in the program known as “friends” of Angelo. Angelo Mozilo was chief executive of Countrywide, which played a big part in the foreclosure crisis triggered by defaults on subprime loans.”
“Feinberg also told House investigators that Countrywide counted both of Dodd’s’ homes as primary residences.”
“Other names that have surfaced as “friends” of Mozilo include James Johnson, a former head of Fannie Mae who later stepped down as an adviser to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and Franklin Raines, who also headed Fannie Mae.”
Colombia shares Israel’s concerns over the possible presence of Hezbollah in Latin America, and is investigating the case in conjunction with international organizations, El Universal reported July 27, citing Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos in a radio interview with Caracol. Santos, who made the remarks following a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said Colombian intelligence services are responsible for the investigations.
Actually, I agree with much of what you’ve written. Surprised? I’d said years ago Iraq was a speed bump in this entire anti-jihadist venture. I was simply interested if you saw a positive outcome in Afg sans Iraq.
@@
Anyone who thinks Hezbollah isn’t dangerous, dangerous, dangerous hasn’t been paying attention. I gather we’ve some here who think they should have a voice at the table because they are ‘democratically chosen.’ Nonsense.
Hey, try this out: “The Americans and Saudis are growing impatient with Syria’s growing list of demands” as “The House and Senate are growing impatient with Obama’s growing list of demands”
Syrians have a good understanding – strike while the iron’s hot, get the momentum going. Just hope Assad doesn’t get bumped.
Midori
Good luck. I replaced both units a bit ago. Didn’t go with the super-high SEER units, either. Payback wasn’t there. They can get mighty expensive compared to a 13 or 14.
The newly elected March 14 coalition is having a difficult time getting it’s government up and running in Lebanon. Lots of interference from both Syria and Hezbollah.
Maybe lifting the sanctions in Syria was our way of getting them to ease up.
But now Nasrallah is heating things up with Israel.
“And any force from the enemy’s army that steps on Lebanese land, will be destroyed, and that is a fact.”
I can’t see Israel going after Hezbollah in Lebanon right now. I think they’re looking to drain the tidal pool.
“I was simply interested if you saw a positive outcome in Afg sans Iraq.”
I think we’re more likely to get a postive outcome than were the Russians…because we HAVE made it clear that we are not there to “conquer” them. But I think the outcome might have been faster, maybe even considerably faster, if we’d kept our resource there and not squandered them in Iraq.
Well, I see from the ads they got this new reality show on TV that stars plus-size women. I guess plus size means the same thing as fat.
Anyhow, since Sister Dusty is so smart I reckon she’s got a new career on that show if she wants it. Most of you women don’t need to bother to apply. You might could be smart, but that don’t mean you’re a good fit, if you know what I mean.
Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Friday floated the idea of bypassing the committee and taking the bill directly to the House floor but later apologized to the Blue Dogs for the comments.
Single cougars from all over America will converge on the Silicon Valley, the ONLY major metropolitan area in America with a surplus of single men, many of whom are young, educated, attractive, and prosperous, but lacking in experience with women.
If you hear the Republican attributing their health care facts to the Lewen Group then you should know it’s a consulting firm/think tank owned by United Healthcare.
Looks like they keep pulling that name out of the hat as the source of their facts.
So, in effect, Republicans are voting with the insurance companies and against the American people.
Must be time for the Blue Dogs and the moderate repubs to leave their respective parties and form their own party to represent what the polls show to be a centrist country, instead of electing 2 parties that tend to spaeak for the fringes.
“Failure to reform health care might be a boon for some members of Congress, but it would be a disaster for middle-class families, for the 47 million uninsured Americans, and for small businesses across America.”
JAMA articles report the effects of positive behaviors on the heart
The July 22/29, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published two reports that contribute to the growing evidence in support of adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors to help protect the heart.
In one article, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School report that men who had a greater adherence to 6 lifestyle factors, including maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, engaging in regular exercise, consuming alcohol in moderation, consuming breakfast cereals, and consuming fruit and vegetables, had a lower risk of developing heart failure.
CFTC report blames speculators for oil price swings: report
(Reuters) – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is planning to issue a report next month that suggests that wild swings in oil prices were significantly driven by speculators, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.
U.S. turns off Havana news ticker that angered Cuba
HAVANA (Reuters) – The United States has turned off a news ticker at its diplomatic mission in Havana that long had irritated the Cuban government, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, in another sign of efforts to improve relations with Cuba.
$20m holiday home at Blue Heron Farm suits Barack Obama to a tee
“Mr Obama and the First Family are planning to spend their summer break on a $20 million retreat on the wealthy playground island off Cape Cod and even seem undeterred that the property is owned by a Republican.”
That’s because the Atlanta Renewal Community has invested just $7.3 million in services — while spending a nearly equal amount on administration — for a program set to expire at year’s end when the remaining $30 million in unused cash will have to be returned to the federal government.
hmmmm, Atlanta Renewal Community, or Atlanta Community Renewal, er, ACORN.
Now let’s make them justify 7.3 million for administrative costs.
Rather than re-thinking any of his key proposals in the face of this growing public disapproval, Obama’s answer was to try to ram a health care bill through Congress, as well as a global warming bill, before the August recess — even if no one had the time to even speed-read what’s in the legislation.
Suicide is, uh, painless, it brings on many changes, hahaha.
Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban
“A concerted effort to start unprecedented talks between Taliban and British and American envoys was outlined yesterday in a significant change in tactics designed to bring about a breakthrough in the attritional, eight-year conflict in Afghanistan.”
Well, it kinda indicates he ain’t slumming. Let’s hope he realizes how far he has come and strives to deserve and respect the many opportunities the presidency allows him.
To the member that bought some Ford stock last year: I got you to $7 as promised and it will go to $14 eventually. But I’d guess at this point it would see #3.50 first. Sure glad you bought it instead of GM.
IRYW – Don’t despair! The Health Insurance (formerly Care) bill can not possibly get voted on this week. Candidate Obama promised we would have 5 days to review proposed legislation. Part of his transparency pledge? Right?
BTW, when will Gitmo close and the detainees be released?
“Well, it kinda indicates he ain’t slumming. Let’s hope he realizes how far he has come and strives to deserve and respect the many opportunities the presidency allows him”
Well, I’ve had nowhere near the success he has had…but I’ve stayed in multi-million dollar holiday destinations. I don’t recall that getting me ANY “respect”
The future is not foreordained. I saw a recent report indicating that if the economy continues to fizzle, Hillary Clinton might challenge Obozo in a primary.-AmSpec
Remember, you heard it here first.
“Obama is now seen as politically liberal by 76%. That’s up six points from a month ago, 11 points since he was elected, and the highest total to date,” reports Rasmussen. “Forty-eight percent (48%) now seem him as Very Liberal, up 20 points since he was elected.”
The most liberal congressman in the US Senate before the election was held, people are just now figuring it out?
It just goes to show you, people voted for this klown based on their hearts and not their heads. Or was it the tingle up their legs?
Birth Certificate or Certificate of Live Birth, or as Barry called it Certification of Live Birth. All the same? Look it up folks. He’s a liar. He’s a muslim.
Mine was poorly worded. I meant for him to respect, i.e., not do a Clinton. Do you know who was in the group that approached him about running for president? I can only remember Chris Dodd.
IRYW @ 7:30 – “The future is not foreordained. I saw a recent report indicating that if the economy continues to fizzle, Hillary Clinton might challenge Obozo in a primary.-AmSpec”
Now that would be a lot of fun to watch. If Hillary runs against the POTUS, you suppose he would fire her as SoS? Or maybe just apologize for whatever he did to upset her?
this on the heels of the article from the other day about attempts to limit artificial intelligence – there are a lot of cross-purpose objectives going on.
“Isn’t it time to dismantle the metal detectors, send the guards at the doors away and allow Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights by being free to carry their firearms into the nation’s Capitol building?
I’ve been studying the deep thoughts of senators who regularly express their loyalty to the National Rifle Association and have decided they should practice what they preach. They tell us that the best defense against crime is an armed citizenry and that laws restricting guns do nothing to stop violence. If they believe that, why don’t they live by it?
Why would freedom-loving lawmakers want to hide behind guards and metal detectors? Shouldn’t NRA members be outraged that Second Amendment rights mean nothing in the seat of our democracy?
Congress seems to think that gun restrictions are for wimps. It voted earlier this year to allow people to bring their weapons into national parks, and pro-gun legislators have pushed for the right to carry in taverns, colleges and workplaces. Shouldn’t Congress set an example in its own workplace? ”
Health-insurance premiums for families have risen 119 percent since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Menlo Park, California-based policy-research firm. Inflation has risen 28.5 percent over that period, according to the Labor Department.
Premium costs are projected to rise another 9 percent next year, an increase that 42 percent of employers plan to pass on to their workers, according to a report last month by PricewaterhouseCoopers. That’s likely to further squeeze millions of Americans who find themselves in high-deductible insurance plans as wages stagnate because of the recession.
Earnings per hour climbed by a 0.7 percent pace on average over the last three months, the Labor Department said earlier this month, the smallest gain since the agency began keeping records in 1964. Meanwhile, the share of insured workers with at least a $1,000 deductible has almost doubled since 2006 to 18 percent, according to Kaiser.
Wal-Mart Weighs In
For companies, the cost of health care “appears to be borne by the employees in the form of forgone wage increases and by consumers in the form of higher prices,” according to an October 2007 research paper by economists Victor Fuchs and John Shoven of Stanford University.
Some companies say the rising costs are also hurting them.
“Health reform could not be more critical,” Mike Duke, president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, said in a letter last month to Obama. “Reforming health care is necessary not just to improve the health of all Americans, but also to remove the burden that is crushing America’s businesses.”
Paul,
Regarding the drones. 60 minutes did a segment on them a few weeks back. They had Leslie stahl standing on the ground with a drone above her head and she couldn’t make it out.
Pretty impressive technology. They were showing tapes of actual drone attacks on known terrorists: one guy was driving along in his car and the next second the car was a bunch of little pieces.
In one tape they showed a group who had just finished an attack on US soldiers. They followed them a little ways and then just sent them to meet thir virgins.
Krugman – the devil’s in the details, as they say. I think the public wants reforms, but not at any cost. That’s where, I think, the President’s lack of firm direction and the House’s penchant for playing Santa are primarily responsible for the debacle. The Blue Dogs just pointed this out.
Then again, it’s always easier to point the finger at someone else and ignore the four fingers pointing back at oneself.
I faulted the Administration and Congress for both not doing a more methodical review, taking what worked, discarding what doesn’t, in this whole endeavor. We’ve focused a lot on “Canada, England, socialist, oh no!!” and ignored examples closer to home. Massachusetts is a mixed bag. But Kathleen Parker cites Utah – and Pres Obama’s appointment of its governor as China ambassador – as a model of what could have been.
Remember, this is the governor of a conservative state, large LDS population, wide support. So does the ’socialist health care’ response fit? I think not. He’s also the governor who’s in favor of full civil unions for gay couples – and the populace support him still. Interesting governor, interesting state.
“Regarding the drones. 60 minutes did a segment on them a few weeks back. They had Leslie stahl standing on the ground with a drone above her head and she couldn’t make it out.”
Craig Ferguson’s great. New American citizen, too! And, he does his routine without much of a script, I understand. Just goes out with a general idea and takes it from there.
the drones – they’re causing an institutional shift in our Defense establishment (Army’s developing them too, and, they’re using recon drones, some the size that fit in backpacks – but the Army doesn’t pay their guys a 20 grand bonus.. just have to keep needling that point…). But the best is the uncertainty, the fear, the absolute stress it causes for the enemy. You’re trudging along a mountain path, lugging your weapons, far from American patrols. You’re shielded by terrain. You’re heading in for an ambush… then you see the guys in front of you vaporize. And you can’t hear for a long, long time….
Interesting. I hadn’t heard of Utah’s reform. We certainly need to make sure it gets done right. I’m really not concerned about the projected higher costs because there almost has to be offsetting savings. Hillary’s plan was much better thought out than anything being considered now.
“The service (Air Force) also is training officers who aren’t pilots to fly UAVs and is looking at allowing non-officers to fly some of them.”
Those are two game-changing institutional shifts for the Air Force. The first – dragging their feet on shifting to UAVs, is, IMHO, one of the things that lead SecDef Gates to fire the AF Secretary and Chief of Staff. The second, non-officers in pilot positions, has been fought tooth and nail for 50 years.
I’ve said before, and I wonder how many Americans feel the same way – reform is needed, but the Administration and Congress are blowing it. An opportunity like this doesn’t come along often. I just wonder how many people will be so ticked that they couldn’t deliver on an issue so important (and they can’t blame Republicans for the failed effort) that Dems will suffer in the next elections. We’ll see.
It’s been said that Obama sought an appointment for Utah’s governor to avoid any discussion of Utah’s healthcare initiative.
As far as the drones go…call me old fashioned…but I’m not getting on a commercial flight without a pilot up front.
There’s a program on T.V. about new weaponry — hosted by a retired marine (Gunny?). I was watching it the other night — everything’s geared towards GPS location. Gunnie(?) says to the launching crew (?)…..”Let’s go kill somethin’.”
Is it ^^^ obvious how little I know about the terminology used?
Here’s a CNN interview with Officer Crowley’s coworkers. Listen to the African American, female officer – “Gates threw up a smoke screen” and “I won’t vote for Pres Obama again.” Wow.
A blonde correspondent? You sure that wasn’t Fox? Thanks for the link.
@@
I’ve heard the same about Pres Obama’s apppointment of the Utah gov. But I wonder – the guy seems to be a practical, moderate Republican. But with experience as only a governor (you can bet that in the future the ‘experience’ factor will come into play again – from those who want to ignore Pres Obama’s experience to those who say his performance illustrates what happens…). But, why accept the appt as ambassador? It gives him foreign policy cred on station with a major power. Doesn’t take him out of 2012 at all – except in the groundwork of campaign organization, perhaps –
“Let’s go kill something” – yeah, those guys are different!
“they couldn’t deliver on an issue so important (and they can’t blame Republicans for the failed effort)”
you’re kidding, right. the DeMint “this is going to be Obama’s Waterloo” comment is going to haunt him if this goes down. The Dems will attack the GOP with everything they have – especially since they compromised with them from the get-go.
I’ve already seen GOP sound bite after sound bite talking about how this is going to help the party – NOTHING about what it will do to the country.
and you think they’re going to walk away untarnished???
keep dreaming. the Dems’ infighting hasn’t helped them, but at least they have reached across the aisle and TRIED to work with the GOP.
A Democratic Senate aide said the co-op plan is still “very much at the fore of what’s being considered as a viable alternative to the public option.”
A cooperative is basically a not-for-profit patient-run insurance organization. Instead of executives running it, you’d have people who are themselves enrolled. There would be relatively little overhead compared with a private insurance company—no profit means less advertising and no commissions or underwriting—and every patient would have a say in how it’s run. Many such cooperatives already exist. Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound near Seattle and HealthPartners in Minnesota are two of the most successful examples.
Mrs. Beauchaine recalls approaching the food table at an Independence Day picnic: “I told the girl, ‘I’m going to have a hot dog. If I’m dead in the morning, I’ll never know.’” In the morning she was back at Berkshire Medical Center.
The government spends an estimated $12 billion a year on “potentially preventable” readmissions for Medicare patients, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent congressional agency. U.S. leaders are trying to reduce such costs as they wrangle this week over how to retool the country’s health-care system. Though private insurers also pay for readmissions, these charges are especially prevalent among the elderly covered by Medicare.
“Medicare has been paying for quantity and not for quality,” says Barry Straube, Medicare’s chief medical officer. “The goal is to not pay for things that shouldn’t happen.”
From mandating parents get on board with education to mandating that old folks change their habits. Ain’t-ah gonna happen.
I don’t even like cars that tell me to fasten my seat belt. I wear a seat belt but only because I had to pay $150.00 for getting caught NOT wearing one.
Are we gonna tell the Mrs. Beauchaines that they have what European healthcare calls “a duty to die”?
She said officers wouldn’t back up one of their own who hadn’t acted properly.
I think if she hadn’t wanted to say what she said she wouldn’t have gone with the group in the first place. But maybe she would have. She didn’t strike me as the type of person who would be intimidated into not speaking her mind.
unless you live in a country with socialized medicine and know what it’s like firsthand, then, really sit down and let the grown-ups talk.
I live in the UK and have had good experiences with the healthcare here. more imporantly, my MIL (75) who has had chronic illnesses for the last 30 years has had amazing care, including house calls, weekly doctor visits when needed, and free hospitalization when she had pneumonia. She’s now facing extensive surgey and do you know what her bill will be??? £0.
My SIL had 2 high-risk pregnancies – do you know what her medical bills were after both deliveries? £0. She also received home health visits to check on her health and that of her girls.
so, enough with the lies and obfuscation – we’re not trying to week out the old and infirm in countries with not-for-profit healthcare. we’re actually providing excellent care and, in fact, provide better care for every dollar spent than the US.
You are so insensitive. They have so many fees involved in the playing of golf. If you don’t keep the insurance folks and other corporate executives swimming in cash, the golf industry and game as we know it could suffer so. Where would all the golf pros work?
Bosch!!!! how ya feelin, buddy??? I saw that you got through your tests on Friday – have you gotten your results?? we were thinking about you and sending you good thoughts
So, screw the american people, take care of the insurance companies first?
Yup. Looks like the unions that negotiated for better benefits and sacrificed higher raises are going to take it up the old you-know-what. Their members are going to get socked with a big-time tax on their Cadillac plans. Wouldn’t want to be a Democrat seeking union support after this thing surfaces.
And businesses big and small will not be penalized heavily for not offering health care plans. Expect a lot of businesses to dump their current group plans and pay the piddling amount of penalty to the government.
The insurance lobby also wins by crushing the public plan–cooperatives will be the alternative.
The Republicans don’t have to do anything to win. The Blue Dogs and the compromising regular Democrats have done it for them. Republicans can point to this abortion as the failure it is, all the while benefiting from it.
Seems Thursday is beer night at the Whitehouse.
Gates will have one of the following…Old English 800, Colt 45 or Schlitz Malt Liquour.
Crowley will have Guinness Stout or Sam Adams.
Obama will be served Crow.
“All the tests are coming back okay, so hopefully with some medicine and laying off the hot sauce for a while, I’ll be okay.”
excellent news … although, I’m sure you’re more than a bit frustrated after all the tests … but, like you said – you were terrified it was the c-word and it turns out that it isn’t. anything after that is gravy and totally deal-able!!!
Given she wasn’t the only African America officer interviewed: my expectation is that if Officer Crowley really was a rogue cop who acted in a racist manner (Prof Gates’s characterization) then other officers, white as well as African American, would be only too happy to hang him out to dry. Not come to his defense.
I think it’s good that there is some differences of opinion. If they can work it out, the resulting bill should be improved. It’ll be interesting to see if Obama vetoes anything that doesn’t meet his objectives.
But page by page, the bills reveal a web of restrictions, fines, and mandates that would radically change your health-care coverage.
If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your company’s Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests — you may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under the rules proposed in the two bills that herald a health-care revolution.
In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and highly subsidized coverage — including a lot of benefits people would never pay for with their own money — but deliver it through a highly restrictive, HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can’t have. It’s a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.
Don’t forget the natural, organic route – distillates of corn, wheat, potatoes… a little modified grape juice… some barley and other grains with a bit of yeast added…
I thought hot sauce was supposed to be GOOD for you? Kill off all the bad flora and fauna and all that -
Midori
I do hope this episode will cause people to think before they speak, be open to the idea that each situation is new and not a repeat of the past, and that change is possible, regardless of one’s experiences.
NEW YORK (AP) — A widely watched index shows home prices posted their first monthly increase since the summer of 2006, indicating prices are finally stabilizing.
“Hope they don’t get drunk and brawl on the WH lawn. Maybe they should invite more potential litigants to the party?”
if you haven’t seen today’s Luckovich, it’s priceless …
Paul –
“Don’t forget the natural, organic route – distillates of corn, wheat, potatoes… a little modified grape juice… some barley and other grains with a bit of yeast added…”
unless you live in a country with socialized medicine and know what it’s like firsthand, then, really sit down and let the grown-ups talk.
If I believed everything I read on this site, I’d believe you live in the U.K. and know of what you speak, Ms. Groaner Upper. It’s far more likely that the “place” where you reside is a figment of your imagination — not mine.
My former minister (whom I adore) is a british citizen with an unreliable ticker and a previous bout with prostrate cancer. He resides here in the states 9 months out of the year and 3 months in the U.K.. He’s in his late sixties.
When it comes to everday ailments, he’s O.K. with the U.K.’s healthcare. When it comes to critical care, he opts for the good ol’ U.S.A. although he considers the price tag a shocker. He’s learning his way around it though.
When it comes to illness among the aged, the brits do refer to it as “a duty to die”. It’s the reason for their push towards legalized euthanasia.
Consequentialists similarly think there is no intrinsic value in a human life; the only value lies in the quality of the life that is being lived. That’s why Lady Warnock thinks that if people have lost their faculties, they should forfeit their existence to benefit others whose lives are – in her eyes – worth more.
This is indeed the path to barbarism. But Lady Warnock is by no means alone in holding these views. They are mainstream among our secular, anti-religious elites – and alarmingly, nowhere more so than in the medical profession.
Do I support living wills? Absolutely but only if the individual is lucid when they’re executed.
I do not, however, support government assisted death for profit.
Dignitas under investigation for ‘profiteering’ from assisted suicide patients
The Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas that has helped close to 1,000 people kill themselves is under investigation amid fears it may be profiteering from its vulnerable patients.
The founder of the group is reported to have become a millionaire by helping at least 870 terminally ill people – an estimated 100 of whom were British – die. It is said to have taken as much as £61,000 from one woman, 10 times its usual fee.
Today I’m a teacher here in the U.S. who is on summer break. Tomorrow I’m gonna be a proctologist/brain surgeon in the U.K.
“I’d believe you live in the U.K. and know of what you speak, Ms. Groaner Upper. It’s far more likely that the “place” where you reside is a figment of your imagination — not mine”
right. cuz I have nothing better to do. I believe those who make that kind of assertion are usually guilty of the crime, themselves – or, as the saying goes “he who smelt it dealt it”.
“Tomorrow I’m gonna be a proctologist/brain surgeon in the U.K.”
well, considering some of your past posts, I believe proctologist is at least in the right neighborhood.
as far as the right to die, yes. we’re trying to kill off the old and infirm. sadly, though, with global warming, there are no ice floes on which to push them off, out to sea.
or, it could be because we don’t think that people should be prosecuted just for helping people get to a foreign country where they can die with some dignity. I’ve seen people die from cancer – there’s no dignity there. none at all.
“When it comes to everday ailments, he’s O.K. with the U.K.’s healthcare. When it comes to critical care, he opts for the good ol’ U.S.A. although he considers the price tag a shocker. He’s learning his way around it though.”
considering people can’t afford to be seen by a doctor for everyday ailments, THAT is the problem in the US. ask any ER staffer how many patients they see now for “primary” care rather than urgent care (or urgent care that didn’t have to be urgent if they could have afforded a regular doctor)
Technically (were I in the public school system) you’d be right. Since I’m the only teacher in the classroom and since I’m solely responsible for the progress of my students, the parents and my director of education classify my position as that of a teacher (among one of their best) according to them.
And you are…..?
USinUK:
I’ve seen people die from cancer – there’s no dignity there. none at all.
and I’ve seen people here in the U.S. who beat their prognosis of terminal cancer through the miracles of modern medicine here in the U.S.
“and I’ve seen people here in the U.S. who beat their prognosis of terminal cancer through the miracles of modern medicine here in the U.S”
wow. modern medicine? like, you don’t use maggots and burning sage to beat diseases, anymore??? ooooooo …
my mother died of lung cancer right there in Marietta, darlin … so, please take your assumptions and place them ever-so-gently where the sun don’t shine.
if someone decides they’ve had enough of the pain, that’s their decision and their morals and their god to deal with – not yours. they should have the legal right to say to a doctor “thank you for all your help, but I’d like to check out, now”
“The reality is, the Russians are where they are,” Biden said, in comments published Saturday. “They have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they’re in a situation where the world is changing before them and they’re clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable.”
The Kremlin sent a bristling response questioning whether the president or the vice president was shaping U.S. foreign policy goals, and Clinton tried to smooth things over by calling Russia a “great power” in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But the damage was done.
No, no, don’t get excited y’all, Obozo still wants to surrender.
The biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs here in the U.S. is the fact that E.R.s are overwhelmed with those who come in for the most minor of ailments — people who don’t hesitate because it costs them nothing and people who are lacking in common sense like the Mrs. Beauchaines of the world.
Let me know when and how OUR preferred government can mandate common sense.
“And you are?” Well, I guess since you can be a teacher, then so am I!
Gotta love private schools! You don’t even have to go to college and can call yourself a teacher.
Kind of like being a Baptist minister – one day you can be a homeless drug addict on the street, and the next day – “Hey! I’m a preacher now – praise the Lord!”
“The biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs here in the U.S. is the fact that E.R.s are overwhelmed with those who come in for the most minor of ailments”
no, the biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs is prescription drugs and technology:
“Spending on prescription drugs and new medical technologies has been cited as the primary contributor to the increase in overall health spending. Some analysts state that the availability of more expensive, state-of-the-art drugs and technological services fuels health care spending not only because the development costs of these products must be recouped by industry but also because they generate consumer demand for more intense, costly services even if they are not necessarily cost-effective”
so, the next time you see one of the umpteen commercials telling you to ask your doctor for AstroZenicaBuProfinItol, know that your healthcare costs just went up …
“Let me know when and how OUR preferred government can mandate common sense.”
Gotta love private schools! You don’t even have to go to college and can call yourself a teacher.
I do have a college degree in a field that is of great value in my chosen profession.
I could work in the public schools where special ed is more or less warehousing for babysitters with teaching degrees.
When one of our students is mainstreamed into the public school after our efforts in early intervention, it’s those teachers with degrees who want to know how we got them to their advanced levels in learning.
Now, I will discuss, no further, my students or their education. Why? Because they (my students) have, in the past, been the object of leftist ridicule here.
“the Dems’ infighting hasn’t helped them, but at least they have reached across the aisle and TRIED to work with the GOP”
Thats funny. Hey gop, want to come over and vote for “our” bill, we will be able to tell America its bibartisan if you do. What, you have ideas too, no, you have to vote for our bill, we won, we are the ones that will write it, now be patriotic and vote for our bill.
Working together in Congress for a better America – yea right.
“what is the point of the black female officer’s opinion?”
Maybe the fact that she was willing to give her opinion after she herself looked at the facts.
No way was she “told what to say” as she volunteered the fact that she voted for Barry and would not do so again. If she was told to say anything remotely close to that, she would have had Al, Jesse and the whole gang on the spot asap.
I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.
USinUK:
It’s the advances in technology that make our healthcare superior. The drugs? On that we can agree. Far too many of them are unnecessary and have unintended consequences that remain to be seen. Anti-depressants, in my opinion, are not only dangerous, but unjustifiably prescribed.
“I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.”
You would prefer that they just wander around, sick as dogs, and infecting lots of other people? People do still get really neat diseases like the black plague you know. My preference would be for them to be treated, so *I* don’t catch it too.
““I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.””
hooray!!! no more ER treatment for stay-at-home-moms!! we now have the new threshold where people qualify for treatment – if they’re of age, they have to contribute tax revenue!!
“in the long run prevention is cheaper than treatment”
Sure it is, but if you don’t have insurance and can afford to pay for regular preventative care…then you only see the Doctor when you are sick and it’s acute enough that you think you NEED a Doctor.
Isn’t that the whole point of the “health care debate”?
They can afford it, they just refuse to purchase. Healthcare for themselves and children takes a back seat to $200 tennis shoes, PS3, Blu-Ray, X-box, Maxed out credit cards, Financed Rooms to Go furniture, hoopdyes, 25 inch rims, grills and all this other non-sense.
These idiots want womb to tomb govt involvement and think its a good thing.
Ah yes, the black female officer in a town with a black mayor, in a state with a black governor, in a country with a black president, felt pressure to take whitey’s side.
“Advertising drugs should be banned. Our overuse is a national disgrace”
I agree with your last sentence, but not with your first. It doesn’t matter how much a drug is advertised, it still takes a Doctor to prescribe it. If they are being overused (overprescribed) then look to the name at the bottom of the prescription…not to the TV set.
Would I prefer they wander around sick? NO! but I would prefer they pay something — a nominal fee at the very least. Many of Europe’s socialized programs are requiring it to discourage abuse.
USinUK:
You do have technology. It’s use is, however, restricted and not widely available due to budget constraints.
OH LOOK!!! It’s Sven Larson from Sveeeeden with “Tales from the Darkside of Socialized Medicine.”
In October 2003 Mrs. A., who lives in Malmo, Sweden, gave birth to a baby boy. (1) She was signed out from the hospital six hours after delivering the baby. There are not enough beds, so delivering a baby “without complications” is an outpatient procedure. Budget cuts have eliminated beds and medical staff.
The next day Mr. and Mrs. A. noticed that their baby was weak and did not want to eat. As is common in Sweden, they did not call a doctor. Instead they called the tax-paid “TeleMedicine” service. Nobody advised them to go see a doctor right away.
The following day their baby died of pneumonia.
In May 2006 another couple lost their three-year-old son to the budget-starved medical system. (2) When Mr. and Mrs. B.’s son suffered from diarrhea and had been vomiting for almost two days, they took him to the emergency room at the nearby university hospital. A doctor ordered a supply of intravenous fluids, and the boy was sent on to the pediatric clinic to have them administered. When he arrived, the nurses had no time for him. Mr. and Mrs. B. repeatedly called on the medical staff to ask why nobody was coming to give their son the intravenous fluids he so desperately needed.
Every time they got the same answer: nobody has time. They have too many patients and too little staff.
Six hours later the three-year-old boy died of heart failure.
That’s just the “little ones”. It goes on to tell horror stories about adults.
After I hit submit I thought of: and don’t allow free samples or sales calls to doctors. But patients go in asking for the drug after they’ve seen it advertised. And it’s a lot easier and quicker for a doctor to write a prescription than to take the time to prescribe a lengthy lifestyle change.
It’s the advances in technology that make our healthcare superior.
Oh yes, like the PET scan I had six months ago and for which the company billed my insurer $10,000–I kid you not! $10,000 for five hours pre- and post- with the scanner and a doctor’s review of the results. Who can afford that kind of technology?
And the prescription drug coverage? I recently had occasion to refill a monthly prescription of what the insurance company calls a Tier III drug to treat diabetes–Acta, if you must know. Normally, my share would have been $37. But this time, I was charged the full cost of $173 because my refill came exactly one day before the insurer said it could be refilled. The pharmacist didn’t care, and it was a fait accompliby the time I picked the refill up. And we want to call government-provided insurance nanny care? An insurer dictated what would be covered and even the period of time during which I could refill a prescription.
The current system is broken beyond repair. Almost anything would be better than what we now have.
I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.
@@, think about it. If those people abusing ERs are employees – illegal immigrants or otherwise – the fact that their employer is not paying for their medical coverage is contributing to the employers bottom line.
So, the uninsured is contributing to the progress of capitalism because they cost less to employ. So, the employer is getting off without having to pay the medical care costs for the individual: we, the rest of the working population, the rest of society, are paying for that care!
You want to blame the problems on the illegals and those employed without insurance? They’re the tool that allows the employer to shift his/her costs onto the rest of us.
that PET scan wasa not needed then. You can’t afford it, neither can we. Get rid of Technology in health care. DRs need to guess more. That is the real answer, oh and tort reform. By tort reform I mean get all Stalin on all lawyers. Kill every single one, especially the politicians and teachers. Then start fresh. Worked in Russia!
@@, any country in the world can buy any piece of medical equipment or drug used here.
We sell weapons to other countries, hello! You don’t think we would also sell them health care equipment? Maybe they don’t have the cash to buy the equipment? Guess what! Other countries employ Visa and MasterCard too.
Fortunately for you turd stupidity doesn’t.
not everyone riding around on 25’s is on welfare, your assumptions show your hand.
Many hard working people of all races cannot afford health care.
If you do, you get to fill out FAFSA to qualify for assistance (grants,etc). Good ole gov’t run program. Problem is, it only considers income, with no mention of expenses.
You make 50,000 a year, your contribution to the program is 10,000, and help is based on that number.
You make 50,000 a year and have medical debts of 500,000, and your contribution is 10,000.
Don’t make the mistake to think for a minute that gov’t is the answer to healthcare. There ARE better solutions.
md, why would a student loan program base its distribution on how much you spend a month?
What if I make $50,000 a year and have the highest speed cable bill, and credit card payments of $5,000 per month, and I have to have the nicest car in the world so I owe $2,000 a month on that. In other words, I like to live beyond my means.
I’ve run into the same problem with an early refill. I took the initiative by asking the pharmacist why he didn’t verify with the insurance company prior to filling? Once done, I had no intention of paying the increased price. I told the pharmacist to give me a partial refill until I could straighten it out with my insurance company. Done!
Did you not see the deadline date? Do you not have the option for 90 day scripts — a lot of money to be saved in those. If you’re not willing to fight to protect your money, you must be a liberal lacking in common sense.
Finn:
If it’s mandated that business offer insurance then the employer will quidkly be adding to the unemployed or raising the cost of his product on the unemployed consumer. As much as you guys would prefer it not be, business is entitled to employ or not employ in the interest of employing, at the very least, some.
It’s not that other countries can’t get the equipment, it’s that their dwindling resources restrict the use of it.
Well, I reckon I might as well come right out and be honest. Since the rest of the people that don’t like this guvmint health care won’t do it.
The reason I’m against it is I got my health care and I don’t want to pay for anybody else’s health care. If I do that my taxes and costs will go up. If people want health care and don’t have it they can go out and find a job that pays for health care like I did.
Another reason is I don’t like alot of the people that would get health care on the cheap with this Obama plan. Now I wouldn’t mind maybe paying for a ticket to watch right after a Dr. tells Whiner You’re going to feel a little pressure now. That’s Dr.-speak for This is going to feel like I’m running a hot poker up your rear end and the pain will be unbearable, but heck, I won’t feel nothing and I got to earn my pay. And the same thing would go for being there the minute the Dr. tells Sister Dusty she’s just plain old fat and needs to loose about 150 pounds.
The last reason I don’t want this Obama care is I don’t want to wait long in a Dr.’s waiting room. If this plan passes the waiting room will be busting at the seams with Those People and a whole bunch of folks that wouldn’t be there otherwise. I could be made to wait for hours.
Anyhow, that’s the whole truth and I reckon I can sleep good tonight after being so honest. Have a good p.m. everybody.
oh, you didn’t just go there with infant mortality, did you??? REEEEELLLYYYYY???
so, A baby died in Sweden and therefore socialized medicine is “teh sux”???
darlin, Sweden’s infant morality rate is 3.2 per thousand and their mortality for children under 5 is 4.0 per thousand. The US is 6.3 and 7.8, respectively.
“The last reason I don’t want this Obama care is I don’t want to wait long in a Dr.’s waiting room.”
That’s another thing that chaps me. If ANYONE here has a doctor who sets an appointment with you and can see you within 15 minutes of that appointment on a consistent basis, please tell me who it is so I can switch to that doctor.
I always take a book cause it could be that day again where I’m sitting there 45 minutes before getting seen. I’ve actually told them I had to leave after waiting an hour one time.
I get there on time, why can’t I be seen on time? Overbooking perhaps? Poor resource management?
If I have an appointment to get my haircut and have to wait around for 30 minutes after I got there on time, I can speak loudly by witholding my tip. Maybe I will see how far witholding my copay will get me? Jail time?
I’ve had them reschedule me and left on more than one ocassion. I also call sometimes before leaving from home to make sure they are running on schedule. They do have emergencies sometimes that have to be handled immediately. It’s not the wait so much, as their total unconcern.
christian values:
1) the meek shall inherit the earth
2) do unto others as you would have them do unto you
3) turn the other cheek
Sorry, christian values do not belong in America (unless you are totally kidding yourself) so why should we expect “family” values? Or how about just “moral” values?
The parents and kids cant take care of the children and elderly. For those who have problems the we should take care of them, however, I suspect many that state they have financial issues are bluffing and would rather live beyond their means, keep up with the jones’ than be honest about things.
They would rather finance a house they KNOW they cant afford, lease the Beamer, purchase living room suites, purchase 25″ rims, purchase season tickets, go out and blow money just to see and be seen THAN live within their means.
Kinda funny how suddenly after years of pay increases they find themselves with debt that will take 15 year to pay. THEN WE ALL HAVE to pitch in and help…I dont wanna be on a team such as that. NO THANKS!
you’re approaching your visit to the doctor’s office all wrong … you need to look at it as an opportunity to catch up on your reading while wearing a paper robe with your backside hanging out.
once you accept that, the doctor’s office isn’t so bad.
I’m guessing you are not a small business owner. If you were, you would know that banks do not loan to small businesses without personal guarantees. In doing so, FAFSA penalizes every small business owner in this country. Its bad enough as it is trying to keep ones head above water as a small business, but uncle sugar just keeps stacking the deck against.
Personal spending -sure, but why penalize business owners when all they are trying to do is make payroll without laying people off and making a decent living. It sure doesn’t affect the FAFSA’s of the employees.
Personally I don’t have any debt that I can’t pay for.
I have a good career a reasonable mortgage.So it’s no skin off my back to help a little(good for my karma),but I could see how a person living beyond their means might not want to.
Turd, the people you are most accurately describing have no idea about finances. They don’t understand how to determine at what point they are “living beyond their means.”
Think about the ads and the sales pitch.
Salesman: “You are paying $900 in rent on an apartment? Well for no money down you can OWN the house and your monthly payment will actually go DOWN to $750″
or this:
Salesman: “I see you like the Mercedes S500…how much do you want your monthly payments to be? $300? Sure, we can do that, step into my office.”
One side has the information and the calculator……the other side sees a deal that will immediately move them up while maybe lowering their current expenses.
I you have none now, the answer is yes. Even those that do not want insurance will be required to get it.
Side note, it will also cover any and all here illegally. What a great carrot that will be. Come have and have your baby on US soil and we will not only grant it citizenship, but we will also throw in free insurance for the whole family.
Reagans amnesty compounded the problem as this will do also.
So Finn is proposing we not hold the uneducated responsible. Thats great considering most already opted out of a free education system. Lets see how stupid we can all get and maybe uncle sugar will take care us us all.
“Don’t talk of dust and roses
Or should we powder our noses?
Don’t live for last year’s capers
Give me steel, give me steel, give me pulsars unreal
He’ll build a glass asylum
With just a hint of mayhem
He’ll build a better whirlpool
We’ll be living from sin, then we can really begin
Please savior, saviour, show us
Hear me, I’m graphically yours
Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you
We want you Big Brother, Big Brother
I know you think you’re awful square
But you made everyone and you’ve been every where
Lord, I’d take an overdose if you knew what’s going down
Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you
“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns said in a letter yesterday that the health care bill now before Congress would require “some administrative and a small number of benefits-related adjustments” to some plans under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Those changes would be necessary to make sure all FEHBP plans meet the government’s standards of a “qualified health benefits plan,” Towns said in his letter to Ranking Republican Darrell Issa.
The health care bill, HR 3200, would require all citizens to have a minimum level of insurance coverage through a qualified health benefits plan or other form of coverage. Issa asked Towns on July 17 whether federal employees and their dependents enrolled under FEHBP would be in compliance with that requirement.”
md, you are missing my point on the uneducated. I’m not saying they should be rewarded.
But you can’t fault someone for trying to make their situation better off
OR!!! Is that bad in your mind? hmmm, people trying to put themselves in a better situation…hmmm, where have we heard that before….someone was whining earlier about some FAFSA thing….hmmm
How about this fact, 10 % of healthcare dollars were spent on obesity related diseases last year. Now that is a truely subjective problem. Just don’t be such a glutton already, and move your big butt a little more.
“If government healthcare is good enough to run private insurance out off business so be it.
free market at work.”
You consider a government run system that us subsidized by taxpayers and is not required to make a profit, or even break even, to be ‘free market at work’? The intention is to drive private insurance companies out of business. I fully expect many employers will drop plans for workers not covered by collective bargaining agreements, forcing them to the government plan, because it will cost them less than what they now pay. Free market?
md, you want to hold the uneducated accountable. That’s fine.
But you don’t say anything about holding the scam artist and the deceptive salesman accountable. They should get off easy? They were just doing a job?
The person who had the most information, the one who knew it was a deceptive practice all along….well, maybe they went to the right school? The same school you went to? Or, maybe this guy is your neighbor? Or maybe the scam artist’s son is an alter boy in the same church your son’s in?
OBAMA IS A SHEPHERD,
I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.
HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT.
YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,
I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.
OBAMA HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,
MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,
SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER IN A RENTED HOME.
BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,
I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.
PRINCETON, NJ — Americans view themselves as more knowledgeable than members of Congress regarding the current debate over healthcare reform. Nearly half (48%) say they personally have a good understanding of the issues involved, while only 27% say so about members of Congress.
Now if the question involved raising taxes, then no one could touch Congress.
I hold all parties to the fiasco accountable. I give none of them a pass. Wall St, Main St, Democrats, Republicans, etc, etc. I just get so tired of listening to folks here tell me how the ones that knew they couldn’t afford a home should get a pass. Thats bs.
And if you support the democratic party, then you support the enabling of those that choose to not help themselves. (And there is a big difference between those that can’t and those that choose not to).
You’re right, it’s not the well-intentioned gov’t programs that are bad. It’s the scam artists that abuse them and the users that misuse them. Too many of us just don’t have any integrity. We’ve got to find a way to instill that into our young people.
You Obama supporters, be honest now. Read the following and tell me how you would have reacted:
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the fourth of May (Cuatro de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had miss-spelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as “proof” of what a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on “Earth Day”, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually “get” what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again 10 times within years, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all the above in just 5 months — so be patient you’ve still got three years and seven months to come up with an answer…
I actually remember the Doctor coming to the house when I was a kid. Gave me a shot for something or other. (Remember I was sick but not what it was). Said Doctor recently retired and is in his 80’s. If you want to hear somebody cussing a blue streak you should ask him about insurance companies and hospital administrators.
I also remember in later years the same Doctor giving me samples that had been given to him so I wouldn’t have to pay for a prescription.
I know people who see drug ads on TV and immediately begin to experience symptoms. (Granted only a couple but still).
My little local hospital here (for profit) has a new CAT Scan machine. You can bet your sweet bippy that they are going to do enough CAT Scans each month to make the payments. And they don’t do serious emergency trauma here, those people are transported or life flighted elsewhere as needed.
If hospitals are such money losers why are people lined up trying to get certification to build new ones?
Does it really matter if my treatment is refused or postponed by a government decision or an insurance company decision?
What happens if you have insurance but through illness or injury you hit your lifetime coverage limit (I know people who have)? What you going to do then? All your careful planning is out the window then.
A writer over on the Wooten blog suggested no major procedures for people over 60 unless they pay for them themselves. Wonder if he realizes that is still productive working age according to the Social Security Administration?
The Health Care system needs to be straightened out and if Congress and the President blow it on this, it’ll be 2 or 3 decades before it can be tackled again. So take some time and get it right.
For those here that have employer sponsored health care plans, you may want to really read this bill. As a small business owner myself, I will do the math and if it makes sense to quit paying for a plan and pay a penalty instead, I will do so. How many employees in companies now work solely on their benifit plans? How many will be out of a job if it is cheaper to ditch it all and hand it over to uncle sugar? One finance guy making a payment vs an entire dept administering a plan.
Unintended consequences tend to do more damage than the original plan ever does.
If this latest ObamaCare debacle is so wonderful why do we have NO ONE Congressional Representative clamoring to be the first to take advantage of it.
Why are they and Obama not shouting from the rooftops about being the FIRST to sign-up? Why are the Congress Reps not ditching their current plans they approved for themselves?
They know better and are relying on you Sheeple to get snookered.
I wanna hear Pelosi, Reid, Obama-Junior Jesus taking advantage of this GREAT GOVT PROGRAM thats for THE PEOPLE. Are they also not THE PEOPLE?
Does it really matter if my treatment is refused or postponed by a government decision or an insurance company decision?
Hillbilly Deluxe,
You have methods of fighting the insurance company decisions as well as the ability to switch providers, but once it’s the government’s decision you’re stuck with it.
md,I don’t have coverage now. So I take it that I will be forced to pay for it. I can always go to the VA for help. Would that exempt me from the HC bill?
I’m surprised it hasn’t crashed and burned already.
Take it Up the Backside
July 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
No, I wouldn’t and I don’t He was too young and inexperienced to start out running. He’s still on training wheels. At this point all we can do is give him more time. But none of the stuff you mentioned is catastrophic. And some things attributed to him were out of his control or he didn’t do. And some just aren’t factual. But you made a good point.
Does anyone, other than those currently without health insurance or else very under-insured, expect to benefit from whatever reforms pass through Congress? Not being snarky here–just curious about opinions.
No, my thinking is we’re going to have to give up something to cover those without. Which I really don’t mind, but it shouldn’t be necessary if done “right”.
If you have insurance through your employer, you have no realistic chance of changing providers, especially in today’s job market. As for fighting insurance company decisions, you better have plenty of time, money, and patience. And if you try to change companies at that point you’ve got a pre-existing condition to contend with.
Somebody mentioned the Utah plan. Can anybody shed a little light on that for those of us who aren’t familiar with it?
TnG @3:17
I agree with you. Unfortunately, the politicians don’t care about getting this “right”. None of them, not the Dems or Repubs, give a rat’s @ss about our health care. It’s all about power and control. I don’t trust any of them to craft a fair plan. There is no valid reason to try to jam this through in such a rush.
For one, no unconditional hand outs. For example – If one dropped out of school, s/he should be required to choose to re-enroll in exchange for assistance.
Food stamps – ok, do litter detail along the highway, etc. Something, anything.
Once uncle sugar starts giving money, help with no strings attached, it becomes a lifestyle choice. I have seen and heard folks on gov’t assistance refer to their monthly check as a “paycheck”. Why bother to choose to work when others can make that choice and work for both of us.
There is nothing wrong with a hand up, but hand outs should be earned. But if the democratic party actually helped people better their circumstances and people realized that they can do without uncle sugar, then the dems would loose votes. Certainly don’t want that to happen.
“md,I don’t have coverage now. So I take it that I will be forced to pay for it. I can always go to the VA for help. Would that exempt me from the HC bill?”
As I understand it, you will have to get it through the exchange unless you can access a gov’t plan through the VA. Either way, you will be forced to get it through one or the other.
Hillbilly writes: “What happens if you have insurance but through illness or injury you hit your lifetime coverage limit (I know people who have)? What you going to do then? All your careful planning is out the window then.”
Now that is the kicker! That is what keeps us that “know” up at night. Anyone on here could have a wreck on the way home and within days be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and financially ruined – not just me but my wife and kid!
I have a great job, no copay, great benefits – heck, $25 gets you a new set of spectacles. But all it takes is one glance at the radio knob or one sneeze at the wrong time…and, if the insurance limits are hit, you start paying out of pocket — your life is completely ruined.
People in Canada and France don’t go bankrupt beacuse of health care bills! On your way home count the number of dumbazz drivers who are putting your future in jeapardy by tailgating, driving slow in the left lane, switching back and forth in lanes.
md writes: There is nothing wrong with a hand up, but hand outs should be earned
I suppose you take advantage of no tax breaks in your small business? You don’t take any of the small business welfare offerings? That’s what it is, md, it’s corporate welfare.
The whole american system is built on a system of welfare for corporations and businesses. What do you think farm subsidies are? What are bank bailouts? Capitalism isn’t alive here. We’ve been in a socialist state since Reagan was elected.
Md, could you run your business succesfully without the government hand-outs? the tax breaks? the loopholes? the subsidies? If you can, then how do you feel about your competitors who need the handouts and are taking full advantage of them?
The government does not need to be called upon to provide folks with insurance. That is just plain stoopid. First, we need to get rid of this mess called Medicare and Medicaid ’cause it is just taxpayer- funded insurance for old folks. Then, we need to get rid of this FEMA backed flood insurance ’cause people should know better than to live where it floods. Then, we need to get rid of the VA hospitals and such ’cause they mess up more wounded soldiers than they fix and private insurers could do a lot better with them. Then, we need to shut down all them doctors and stuff that are paid for with the tax payer’s money that are right there in D.C. almost in the same offices as the congressmen are in ’cause they only take care of congressmen and they do it at no charge to the congressmen. They send the bills to the tax payers. “Course, this is just the beginning of the problems with government provided insurance. I mean, what do we need government insuring us against terrorist attacks for anyway. I’ve never been attacked but the government wants me to pay for the insurance even when I don’t want it. This is just plain silly to be required to pay for all these different insurance programs that I don’t use but other folks do use. It just ain’t right, either.
“In the world of social welfare programs, there are no “unconditional” handouts. Sorry, learn more about the system if you are going to criticize.”
Maybe near you, but I witnessed it first hand on many occasions. There are many that play the system, happens everyday. Ask yourself why there is so much fraud in medicare and medicaid. I’ve learned plenty – first hand.
So have I. There are no unconditional handouts in the social welfare program. Sure there is abuse, there is abuse in any system.
It’s just easier to blame the people on social welfare programs because it makes you feel somewhat superior to them – they are an easy target. Where’s all the outrage for other programs where there is abuse and fraud? They get handouts and you don’t, so somehow that makes you better, and it’s harder to criticize individuals who get government handouts through corporate loopholes. It’s the same thing, but the social taboos associated and labeled by the poor or disabled who need assistance somehow make them easier to blame for any of the financial problems in our country.
Just remember, in a capitalistic society, there will always be poor people. It’s just that simple.
I’ve asked this question many times on this blog with no one being able to answer it:
Name one social welfare program where people get money just because they don’t want to work.
Read the piece about the Utah plan. I’d love to see Gov. Sonny propose doing something like that here in Georgia, of course I’d hate to be swinging from a rope until that happened. The details would need to be argued over and worked out but at least it’d be a start.
I listened to the Obama speech and he did an incredibly poor selling job for his plan. After watching all that I still don’t understand how it would work for me. I’m very leary (sp?) of his plan but I don’t think what we have now works either.
I’ve often seen you ask if we were starting from scratch what should we have. For me, I don’t have the answer to that but I know I wouldn’t want it to be the system we have now.
Oh YEAH!! Bayern Munich is one of my fav clubs. I read your post earlier – congrats to the Blues! And yeah, that sucked about the Golden Cup. Mexico – pssshaw!
The gold cup matches were basically played by the “B” team—the big game is coming up in August. A WC qualifier against Mexico at El Azteca stadium in Mexico City—high altitude and bad air in a hostile environment. I understand that you play. Do you have a preference in the brand of boot you wear?
Instead of creating another entitlement based on questionable promises of how it would be financed, I propose another alternative to the plan proponents on this thread.
My alternative would be for the government to initiate all of the promised cost-savings, eliminations of fraud / waste / abuse, and glowingly optimistic economic projections of growth and revenues NOW and as the alleged revenues are realized, earmark any money that materializes to a help-you-pay-your-health-care fund.
Any of the mythical money that is allegedly going “to pay” for the new boondoggle and produce anything approximating the promised “revenue-neutrality” could be targeted toward this little pet project.
If the economic forecasts are wrong (which they are), the taxpayers would not be on the hook to bailout another socialist debacle.
If the alleged cost savings to be realized by elimination of fraud / waste / abuse do indeed not materialize (as most would rationally expect), taxpayers and those currently paying for their health care / health insurance will not have those costs transferred onto them.
If the promised “competition” provided by government as an payor does not offer the decrease in costs (but actually leads to higher costs and fewer choices), the taxpayers will not have a growing pool of dependents stampeding to an option that they (the taxpayers, not those benefiting from the coverage) are having to fund.
Net-Net: -IF- this doomed plan actually beats the historical odds for socialist scams and experiences some success, its funding will come from its own success; not on the backs of taxpayers. -IF- it fails as do all tax-and-spend redistributionist schemes, then it will not be the taxpayers left to again pay the bill for never-ending benefits that individuals should provide for themselves.
Now, that’s a “compromise” that I’d expect liberals could agree (unless they already know the plan is a sham doomed to failure and, like Speaker-PE, Leade-RE, and Prez-BO, are simply hoping to ram through a scam as quickly as possible for political reasons).
“But if you killed all the poor, how would you know who the last poor person and the first middle class person were?”
Not a problem. The middle class would then be the new poor. Start over.
[[I listened to the Obama speech and he did an incredibly poor selling job for his plan. After watching all that I still don’t understand how it would work for me. I’m very leary (sp?) of his plan but I don’t think what we have now works either.]]
I said before the speech I thought Pres Obama needed to get down to the common level – watch some recordings of Pres Clinton, he was a master at it. Obama didn’t and, I think, many Americans were put off further. “I elected this guy to fix health care and he punts to Pelosi & company and the come up with 1,000 pages in a few days and no one can tell me what it means to me?!!?”
Very valid point. Every analysis of the plan I’ve read uses really vague words like “might” and “could” and such. I want to read the real deal without all the lawyerese and it to tell me what it “will” mean.
The thing is no one knows what this will evolve into, but when the system we have is so flawed, it can’t suck more.
“Do you have a preference in the brand of boot you wear?”
Nah. I’m not that particular. I haven’t played serious soccer in a long time (which even then it wasn’t “serious”), I was lucky to get whatever I could find. My son is all about the boots though. I didn’t even know there were different kinds for a long time (different ones depending on the field) until he “explained” this to me. I always tell him that it isn’t the boots that make the player. Now, I just borrow my sons old ones because they are broken in.
Obama did a poor job because he has no plan. Obama has to rely on Pelosi (boy, that must instill a lot of confidence in his heart), Reid, Rangle and Dodd. Obama’s plan is pretty much just saying “it has to be done”. “Crap on the details”. That is this man’s problem. His ego is such that he thinks that if he declares an edict, then it must be right and it must be done. After all, the media has told him so because he is the first black president and as such, he must be wise. More to the fact of the matter, this man is proving to be a “babe in the woods”. And all of those that support him are like people that buy a new car and find out that consumer reports says that the car is full of problems after they buy it. They will still defend their choice because gosh darnit, they made that choice and they are too embarassed to say different. This guy and his White House staff are faulty merchandise. Pelosi, Reid and Rangle will flush him like yesterdays waste whenever it goes bad for him but they will still be there. They don’t have to take the blame because they know that their constituents will continue to elect them not matter what. These people have made a career out shifting blame.
Because sometimes, they just don’t see you. It’s one of the most frustrating verities of African-American life. Sometimes you simply know: They are looking your way but seeing their fears, their preconceptions, their stereotypes, that other black guy who did them wrong – everything except the one and only you.-Leonard Pitts
Or he might have “saw” someone who was yelling at him and talking about his mother.
What would Mr. Pitts do without his little racism boogeymen?
Well, I’m with this Dave R. Just round up all the savings from cutting the waste first. Then figure out how much you got and work up a health plan that costs the same thing. I figure they might could cobble together 600 bucks or so, the way they see things. Just send everybody a aspirin and tell them not to swallow it all at once. Have a good night everybody.
I didn’t know there were that many either until Eurosport sent me a catalogue. I’ve never played but I wear futsal boots as leisure shoes mainly because no one else is wearing anything like them and I have yet to see anyone else wear Umbro.
The rainbow trout is a propaganda photo, just like his editorials. He may have it now, but someone else caught it. We all know a liberal would not work to catch a fish if they can take it from someone who did work for it.
“Just round up all the savings from cutting the waste first”
And since the insurance industry hasn’t done that already, how do you propose it BE done without some kind of government regulation? And if it’s going to take government “interference” – well, might as well go whole hog and reform the whole system. Funny, isn’t it? That’s what they’re trying to do NOW.
I like that idea of cuttin’ out waste and fraud and stuff and usin’ that money to help the citizens too. I especially like it that they cut those worthless F-22 aeroplanes. Nothin’ but flyin’ money pits. They need to do a lot more of that kind of cuttin’, like aircraft carriers that we don’t need to go along with the planes that we don’t need. Besides, if we ever need any of that stuff, we should just borrow it from our friends and lenders of first and last resort, the Chinamen. We’ll just promise to return them when we’re through with them and in as good a shape as they were when we borrowed them. Maybe even with a fresh coat of lead-based paint just to make ‘em look all spiffy.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 39% would opt for their Democratic opponent.
In Colorado, 14 people have fallen ill from hamburger meat tainted with antibiotic-resistent salmonella, the Boulder newspaper Daily Camera reports. (Note that antibiotic-resistant salmonella is distinct from MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, increasingly associated with industrial meat production, that kills 20,000 Americans each year–more than AIDS.)
Those folks shore don’t need to be waistin’ their money on health inshorance since that stuff is resistent to anti biotics anyway. Besides, they shoulda knowed better then to eat bad meat. I always smell mine first before I even waste the coal to cook it on.
Obama and the Democrats proposed health ‘care’ adjustments, in my opinion, draw a very dark similarity in style and substance as far as the bleak outlook for senior citizens to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis approach to dealing with the Jews.
And the really sick funny part of it is that AARP and most of the Jews in this country voted for him.
And sicker still is the belief of the black and minorities in this person to the point that one must assume they have no parents over the age of 55, are not that old themselves, or that “it don’t apply to us cause we gots Obama”.
You can’t legislate smart from stupid, and the Obamaniacs are, quite simply, a collection of stupid racist morons.
Sweet potatoes are native to the tropical parts of South America, and were domesticated there at least 5000 years ago.
They grow well in many farming conditions and have few natural enemies; pesticides are rarely needed. Sweet potatoes are grown on a variety of soils, but well-drained light and medium textured soils with a pH range of 4.5-7.0 are more favourable for the plant (Woolfe, 1992; Ahn, 1993). They can be grown in poor soils with little fertilizer. However, sweet potatoes are very sensitive to aluminium toxicity and will die about 6 weeks after planting if lime is not applied at planting in this type of soil (Woolfe, 1992). Because they are sown by vine cuttings rather than seeds, sweet potatoes are relatively easy to plant. Because the rapidly growing vines shade out weeds, little weeding is needed, and farmers can devote time to other crops. In the tropics the crop can be maintained in the ground and harvested as needed for market or home consumption. In temperate regions sweet potatoes are most often grown on larger farms and are harvested before frosts set in.
Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato.(NCSPC)
Although it is sometimes called a yam, the sweet potato is not in the Yam family, nor is it closely related to the common potato.
But some people make a doctrine of it. American conservatism could be described as a movement of denialogues, people whose ideology is based on disavowing physical realities. This applies to their views on evolution, climate change, foreign affairs and fiscal policy. The Vietnam war would have been won, were it not for the pinko chickens at home. Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaida. Everyone has an equal chance of becoming CEO. Universal healthcare is a communist plot. Segregation wasn’t that bad. As one of George Bush’s aides said: “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”
I done went and hurt myself on the job reel bad ta other day and the doc give me a special pain pill to help me make it through the months of soap oprys at home. So, enyway, I called in the perscription and they said that ifin I was in that much pain then I should make it a rush order. Course I told em right away that this perscription was for me and if rush wanted some he could buy em with some of that money he has. It took me months of cashin in my youngins food stamps to buy those special pills and I shore aint givin em to that druggie. I am thinkin bout givin up the television now since my neighbors done moved and took their dish with them and I don’t have no digital con verter box. I heer that the quitter from Alaska, that perty girl named Sarah, is talkin bout doin radio so that will give me five shows in a row maybe to watch. That’s Sarah and Huckebe and Hannety and Rush. They are my heros cause they always tell me the truth and that is what makes them the best persons in the whole world. They not at all like those other people. Those aleens and such.
The islands of Polynesia have long been a source of mystery and speculation for armchair scientists1. The origin of the Easter Island statues, the abandonment of the so-called ‘Mystery Islands’ and the ultimate origins of the Polynesian people are some of the more well-known. However, perhaps the greatest mystery of them all is that of the sweet potato.
“I suppose you take advantage of no tax breaks in your small business? You don’t take any of the small business welfare offerings? That’s what it is, md, it’s corporate welfare.”
Actually Finn, I do. And those tax breaks allow me to hire or keep people employed. Is allowing an employee to keep their job considered welfare? Is having enough profit to grow the company and hire more people welfare?
If it was just me and I was taking breaks out the wahzoo, then you may have a point. Otherwise, its income and expenses and the more income the better for everybody, or have you not noticed unemployment at 10+%. Take away the tax breaks/welfare and how high is unemployment then?
So this md person at least admits to taking money from tax payers by takin’ all them business tax credits and stuff. Probly has money stashed in one of them swedeish banks two to keep from payin any taxes at all. Just feedin off the trough with the rest of us. Probly likes to lissen to Sarah and Hannety and Rush and Huckebe as much as I do. Well scoot over and quit hoggin that trough. There is plenty to go around. I heerd the Chinamen done loaned us some more.
Yeah, md, it says you can’t manage your business. It says you need welfare to run your company – you can’t compete without the guvmint giving you a hand out.
close your doors. you have no business running a business.
Bush did not invent sex education without the sex. Clinton’s last budget set aside $80m for abstinence teaching. But by 2005 Bush had raised this to $170m, and engineered a new standard of mendacity and manipulation. A congressional report in 2004 explained that programmes receiving this money were “not allowed to teach their participants any methods to reduce the risk of pregnancy other than abstaining until marriage. They are allowed to mention contraceptives only to describe their failure rates.” The report found that over 80% of the teaching materials “contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health”. They suggested, for example, that condoms do nothing to prevent the spread of STDs, that 41% of sexually active girls and 50% of homosexual boys are infected by HIV, and – marvellously – that touching another person’s genitals “can result in pregnancy”.
md, everyone is for smaller government, nobody likes to pay taxes.
The difference is that no one wants the services “they” use and rely on to be cut. You want to cut out the welfare for individuals? I say we cut out the welfare for you- you and your great company which can’t stand on it’s own two legs.
Barack Obama’s new budget aims to change all this, by investing in “evidence-based” education programmes. The conservatives have gone ballistic: evidence is the enemy. They still insist that American children should be deprived of sex education, lied to about contraception and maintained in a state of medieval ignorance. If their own children end up with syphilis or unwanted babies, that, it seems, is a price they will pay for preserving their beliefs. The denialogues are now loudly insisting that STDs and pregnancies have risen because Bush’s programme didn’t go far enough. The further it went, the worse these problems got.
yeah, I’m trying to hit 30 pages before Jay gets back.
All I done was point out that there was some fella that lived down @@’s way that was like Bush. @@ went and added on this sicko perverted stuff all by hisself. You is one more sick puppy, @@.
Boy Finn, you sure do a lot of assuming. Thats not healthy, maybe Obamacare can cure that for you. Guess what my boy, I still pay plenty of taxes and take away those breaks and guess what, I’m still in business but people I employee would sure be out of luck. Probably people like you.
And for the record, I have no problem paying taxes for services. I do however have a problem paying for my services and then also having to pay for your services. How about we agree to pay for our own services, unless you are a moocher, that should work, right.
And how about the taxes we already pay for the services called education. If one chooses to opt out of that taxpayer boondoggle and wallows in mediocrity, you want to pay for his services, cause I don’t. Problem is, you want to help them anyway, but you want to do it with other peoples money.
Let’s make a deal. I pay for me and you pay for you, and if either of us wants to help those that choose not to pull their own weight, we may do so. But do it with your dime, not mine. I may choose to help someone actually trying. vs those that CHOOSE not to.
And jest cause I is a southpaw dont mean you gots to go and insult me by callin me a leftie, @@. There jest aint no need to go and turn on your own kind. I is loyal to the cause and I proves it every time I git on the road in my pickup with the two confederated flags flappin in the breaze. I never hardly ever misses Hannety cuz he’s the most truthful person to ever be put on radio and when the quitter lays off the twitter and starts blowin her own whistle on the radio, I’ll be listenin to her too. Sarah is my hero. Any one that can shoot off her mouth as good as she shoots a gun caint be all too bad. Even if she is a quitter. And there just aint no better party then the party that takes a likin to lincolns log and cabins and such. That’s the toe tappin, wife cheatin, divorcin, three-timin, Republicans that we have all got to know so very well and that’s what we love about em. They’s just one of us Someone you can sit down and down a Bud or a Pabst or a jug of your finest aged Boones Farm with.
You tell em, md. I jest knowed you was one of us. We jest need to git the govment offin our backs and then we will all be all right cause we will all be doin what we want when we want. I never did like havin people ask me what I was brewin or ifin I had permission for killin my supper just cause it was on someone else’s land. I was jest trackin it and that was where I caught up with it. And I shore dont need to be payin for some other youngins to be goin to some fancy smancy school. I never had no need for em neither, jest like you.
The very basis of insurance tells you most of them won’t have expenses they can’t cover, but most of us that can afford it don’t want to take that chance. Health insurance doesn’t equal health care, and in the worst case scenario means you don’t get care. And the uninsured can get care at the ER if they don’t have a family doctor.
I’ve suggested before that we make it easier to qualify for Medicaid and give everyone else Medicare. These systems at least work reasonably well. Since you need Medigap insurance to cover what Medicare doesn’t pay, the insurance companies could fight over that. The deductibles and co-pays could be increased for those that could afford it, and that is most of us. That extra expense could be covered by Medigap if desired. The payroll tax would have to be increased and the entire amount could be transferred to the employees over a period of years as could the Social Security portion. That would get the expense off of business and make us more competetive in the global market place. The increase in taxes should be much less than the employer and employee are currently paying under the plans made available by the companies.
But the bottom line is we have to stop making ourselves sick with poor lifestyle choices. We’ve got to get back to the basics of good nutrition, exercise and rest.
We’ve got to do a better job of educating our children about sex, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, drugs, driving, sun screen and any other harmful activity to be curtailed or avoided so they won’t make the bad choices so many of us did.
And yes, we have to examine how we die in the good old USA. A time to live, a time to die. Death with dignity should be our goal when it’s our time.
The current plans being considered are just too complicated and have too many mandates and restrictions, and should not be passed. The current trend is for more and more of the expense be paid by the insured. When it gets high enough, maybe we’ll start making better decisions on when and if to seek care.
Tn, you have too many here that don’t want to hear about choices – poor ones that is.
Poor lifestyle choices increase medical costs for us all. But many here like the idea of someone else paying for their bad choices.
Not making enough money because they decided school was no fun, easier to complain and make excuses and then pay for those choices with other peoples money.
That’s the way it should work. The president should just propose broad guidelines and leave it up to Congress to write the bills. They have thousands on staff for that. Pelosi and Reid should have been replaced at the beginning of this session of Congress. Therein lies the problem. That and there are just too many special interest groups to satisfy.
I’m not sure Obama is willing to be completely honest with us on what he’s seeking. Too many folks aren’t going to be pleased. That’s probably why he can’t sell it.
And how did Sarah govern? Alaska continued to be the biggest net recipient of federal dollars and the oil companies saw their taxes increased so the good citizens could be rewarded with even more largesse. By 2012 she’ll be a footnote in history.
LONDON (AP) – International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as “probable carcinogens.” A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30. Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused worrying mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.
Um, if you happen to be a connoisseur of the game of baseball and appreciate the high points of the game, you would do well by tuning into the White Sux- Twins right now, there are some remarkable things in the making.
Me, I’m praying that I was not specific to jinx anything.
I wonder if ole Saxby uses a tanning bed. Dont he look like one of those fellers that uses one with those white circles right around the eyes and tanned everywhere else. He look like a good canidate for sperimenting with radiation on.
Don’t be so harsh. It’s just the way things are done now. We need more people to show the dedication and willingness to work hard to start a business. I knew from an early age I didn’t want to deal with the red tape, not to mention the personnel problems. We simply must make it easier and cheaper to start and run a business so we can compete in the global economy. And health insurance mandates do just the opposite.
But too many of us, for whatever reason, aren’t in a state of mind to make the right choices. And by helping those that need help, we are also supporting the many small business owners, and large ones as well.
Looks like everyone checked out. Tomorrow is another day. Night all.
“Democrats Say House May Miss Deadline on Health Care”
“It doesn’t look like it to me,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said in an interview. “I really hoped that we could have gotten a bill out of here by now,” he said, adding that he has a “heavy political heart.”
This is the liberal democrats goal with your money, summed up succinctly-
“We are going to look for the most expedient way to spend the money,” said Peggy Harper, chair of the board overseeing the city’s $53 million Renewal Community. “The goal of the board is to not send any money back.”-Urinal
Good morning Andy. I’m waiting on my insurance company to call back – a tree fell through my house about an hour ago. You wake up early! It takes a giant oak falling through my bedroom to get me up this early!
Well, I do more before 5 am then most folks do before 4 am and it is all cuz most folks is asleep whilst I am out hunting for breakfast. Squirrel, anyone.
This has been demonstrated in the real world with capital gains taxes in recent decades. Since the 1960s, capital gains taxes have been cut 3 times and raised 3 times. Every time they have been cut, capital gains revenues have actually increased. Every time they have been raised, capital gains revenues have fallen.-AmSpec
So where do the liberals take us now? Less revenue, that’s where!
Let me see if I gots this new amspec[ial] math strait now. Ifin the govment taxes me fer 10 parcent of my take home, they git about two legs worth off that squirrel I cooked up this morning but ifin they taxes me at zero parcent, they gits the whole danged squirrel. Hell, I’d ruther pay the ten parcent.
Republican local governments take and spend the borrowed funds, too. It’s become the way in the USA. That’s why so much power has been relinquished to Congress and the executive branch. They control the purse strings. It started with the feds taking over the National Guard.
I didn’t know this:
Title 10 of the US Code states:
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 16 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
National Defense Act of 1916
This act abandoned the idea of an expandable Regular Army and firmly established the traditional concept of the citizens’ army as the keystone of the United States defense forces. It established the concept of merging the National Guard, the Army Reserve, and the Regular Army into the Army of the United States in time of war. The act further expanded the National Guard’s role, and guaranteed the State militias’ status as the Army’s primary reserve force. The law mandated use of the term “National Guard” for that force, and the President was given authority, in case of war or national emergency, to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of the emergency. The number of yearly drills increased from 24 to 48 and annual training from five to 15 days. Drill pay was authorized for the first time.
The Montgomery Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987
provides that a governor cannot withhold consent with regard to active duty outside the United States because of any objection to the location, purpose, type, or schedule of such duty. This law was challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1990 in Perpich v. Department of Defense.[15]) [14]
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 Pub.L. 109-364
Federal law was changed in section 1076 so that the Governor of a state is no longer the sole commander in chief of their state’s National Guard during emergencies within the state. The President of the United States will now be able to take total control of a state’s National Guard units without the governor’s consent.[16] In a letter to Congress all 50 governors opposed the increase in power of the president over the National Guard.[17]
The National Defense Authorization Act 2008 Pub.L. 110-181
Repeals provisions in section 1076 in Pub.L. 109-364 but still enables the President to call up the National Guard of the United States for active federal military service during Congressionally sanctioned national emergency or war. Places the National Guard Bureau directly under the Department of Defense as a joint activity. Promoted the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from a three-star to a four-star general.
John Conyers, D-MI, says yesterday ‘i don’t has to read no steeniking bill”(whining about people asking whether nor not legislators are actually READING bill 3200.
No, morons like him and all the others don’t want to be bothered with the fine details of a bill that will tax millions, change the entire health infrastructure of the nation, affecting millions more for years to come (if they are allowed to live that long).
Conyers doesn’t need to worry. He gots Obama. He gots all the 94%ers that reelect him like the good little slaves they are. The mindless toadstools that comprise the Democrat electorarte gots no worrys at all.
More hypocrisy from the right….well what are we to expect I guess!
Paul Stanley, Tennessee State Senator, Quits After Affair With 22-Year-Old Intern He also spoke out against funding for Planned Parenthood because he said unmarried people should not have sex.
I wonder ifin that Stanley feller from Tennassee remembered to abstain cuz ifin he did not then he is gonna have to take keer of that youngen since she cant have no aborting. May be she is a witch and she done put a spell on him too. Maybe he ought to be thinkin bout becomin a mormon.
“Economic effects. Past capital gain tax rate cuts have increased revenue to the federal government in the first two calendar years after the cuts, yet lost revenue thereafter.”
His committee has a staff that takes care of the details and keep him and the rest of the committee abreast of what is in the bills. His attitude tho, is appalling.
You didn’t, I introduced that topic to show how the feds have taken over control of everything. And then stumbled across what I thought was some very interesting stuff about the guard I didn’t know.
Are you saying Bush wasn’t a conservative and Palin isn’t a Republican? Well, I had sworn off Bush-bashing, but she couldn’t do any worse than he did. After all, she eats so she hunts. If you want to call shooting fish in a barrel hunting.
Well, I’m against this making Congress people read the bills before voting on them. The reason is because it favors the pinheads that read good. If we had that only the people that went to colledge and studied would be able to be in Congress. It would be the same thing as saying godly Republicans ain’t welcome. We all see what happens when people get too educated. Most of them turn out to spout garbage about human or civil rights and they want the rest of us to go along.
Just look at the pinhead we got as President now. I bet he never hardly partied at all when he was going to colledge. He come out of Harvard with stars in his eyes. Now it was diffrent when My President took office. He never talked like no book and sometimes he got all mixed up when he talked, like when he talked about baby Drs. giving their love to the mothers. But his heart was in the right place. And I bet he never read any of the bills he signed. He probly just had some pinheads tell him what was in them. That’s the kind of President we need right now. And that’s the kind of people we need in Congress.
That’s my opinion and it’s very true. Have a good day everybody.
He is your worst nightmare. And the reason you are going to get annihilated at the polls for a third consecutive time a year from November.
He’s young, black, a West Point Grad (brilliant), a decorated combat veteran (ewwww) and he’s gay.
While you conservaclowns insist on trotting out yesteryear’s bible-thumping flat earthers, clueless reactionaries and never-served, never-will chickenhawks, you are getting left further and further and further behind in this nation. From sea to shining sea.
I like shootin fish in a barrel cuz it is more challenging then findin things that them republican conservatives have gone and done wrong like sayin one thang and doin the oppsite and that sorta stuff. When I wuz younger folks here in georgia thought I was reel smart cause I even thought that shootin fish in a barrel was more challengin way back then almost ten years ago. That is why I did not bother finishin high school. Three years in that nineth grade did not make me one bit smarter.
TN- If you want the condensed version, the current leaders of the Republican party are too stupid to realize that Conservatives will not support big government, big spending, squish moderates, like them for instance.
They want to replace us with illegal aliens, hahahahaha.
dude. you are in a major spiraling vortex of suck right now. hopefully, the tree is the last of it!! but, as you say, you’ll have a nice amount of “fahr” wood for the winter, so always a silver lining!
Bud –
“Maybe he really didn’t have sex, you know, like Bill Clinton, on “what the definition of is, is…””
um. evidently, you haven’t read the story. there are pictures. there is video. and it isn’t of their vacation snaps. nice try, though.
Whiner –
last but not least … gummint spending isn’t a Dem or GOP issue — unfortunately, ALL governments are set up as a “use it or lose it” when it comes to budgeting. cost savings aren’t rewarded, they’re punished with budget cuts the following year.
Bosch, From a tiny acorn, a mighty oak tree falls…Remember you just had some very good news about your health, so what’s modified tree house in the grand scheme of things…No one was hurt, and that’s what insurance is for. Keep smilin’, Bro…just sayin’ (sorry @@)
Well, I really couldn’t get past the 9th grade, and still don’t fully understand exactly why. Of course I got a little more education later, but that joke hit home.
last but not least … gummint spending isn’t a Dem or GOP issue — unfortunately, ALL governments are set up as a “use it or lose it” when it comes to budgeting. cost savings aren’t rewarded, they’re punished with budget cuts the following year.
The US Constitution “sets up” the government and I failed to notice the articles that enumerated the “use or lose it” clause.
Idiocy like this is the reason we will shortly no longer be a superpower.
“The US Constitution “sets up” the government and I failed to notice the articles that enumerated the “use or lose it” clause. Idiocy like this is the reason we will shortly no longer be a superpower”
hey – I’m against use it/lose it, too (hey-hey, we agree on something)
I’m just saying that, even under the GOP, the same thing was going on in agencies all over the country at the state level as well as the national level. and it isn’t limited to the US, either -
Well, TnG, my pappy made it all the way through the fifth grade back in the depressing days and still managed to pick a few bags of cotton before sundown and he went on to be a mighty fine superviser for the city where I growed up. He was a mighty fine pappy too. So, a good edication aint all got from books and a good person shore aint made from jest book learnin. Take this feller, Phil Gramm for xample. He had all kinds of book lernin from that dawg trainin school and he turned out to be a real mean and nasty critter, like an old doberman that was abused his hole life.
Monday, the City of Cambridge released the 911 and arrest tapes from the incident in which Gates was arrested by white police officer James Crowley. It is no wonder that Gates has begun to back down from his allegations of racism. The tapes show no such motivation, and they confirm that Gates was being disorderly, which he had denied.
The tapes reveal a couple of crucial points. 1) the woman who reported the possible break-in at Gates’ home never mentioned black males at all. 2) Gates was in fact shouting, despite his claim that this was impossible.
I remember a time long ago, in the unwise days of my youth, when myself and several of my associates were out “road loading,” um, that being driving around aimlessly on country roads throwing empty beer cans out the window. Sure enough, we happened upon the law. The gentleman explained that if he saw us again that night, we were all going to jail. One of my compadres in the back seat noisily demanded a clarification, as he had been drinking much more heavily than the rest of us. The cops reached into the backseat and snatched our hero out through the open car window. When we saw him again the next day, he was sporting several nice bruises about his head and upper torso.
And to think, he was just as white as the pure driven snow.
Ain’t that a b*, he couldn’t call anybody a racist.
July 29th, 2009
8:14 am
“Republiconned, look closely at this guy.
He is your worst nightmare. And the reason you are going to get annihilated at the polls for a third consecutive time a year from November.”
The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County. The last REAL man to come out of there was Sir Ronald W. Reagen. God bless his soul.
Ronald Reagun started out all righty in californa makin western movies. He was a reel merican hero. Then he went and got all weerd and started having his way with a chimpanzee and that jest werent right. We done gone and evolved past that kind of behavior or at leest I thought we had until I heerd about that feller down in Jonesboro. Jest goes to show that some change is good and that we dont need to be doin the kinda thangs that they used to do way back in the days before we was taught the new ways with that trainin film called deliverance no more.
Next year’s elections are going to produce a political earthquake. That is because we currently suffer the most left-wing government in our nation’s history. After just 6 months in office, the flower children that rule Washington in overwhelming numbers are already smashing through all records regarding federal taxes, spending, deficits, and debt. Obama and his ultra-left Democrats adopted a so-called stimulus bill raising spending a trillion dollars that never had a prayer of actually creating jobs and promoting long-term economic growth, because it was based entirely on old-fashioned, brain dead, proven to fail, Keynesian economics. Though we would have to double federal taxes to finance the entitlement promises we have already made, the ruling Washington Democrats completely ignore that and focus instead on adopting yet another entitlement — national health insurance — that would be the biggest of all.
“The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County”
I’m sure the fine folks of Boeing appreciate that.
Not to mention, I think you had better get off the intertubes if you think that anything coming out of CA is so awful (not everything intertube-related came from WA, after all)
Me, I’m mighty partial to the lovely fermented grape products of Napa
Then, let’s not overlook the movies and teevee shows you watch.
And, of course, there’s Robert Frost, Joe DiMaggio, Justice Warren, Francis Ford Coppola, John Fogerty, Pauline Kael, Dorothea Lange (my photography hero), Rita Moreno, Alice Waters (one of my top 5 culinary heros) and Thornton Wilder. Frankly, I’ll take any of them over Reagan, but that’s just me. YMMV.
“The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being,” John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in “Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions.”
So basically all we gots to do now is figger how to give them republican conservatives the opportunity and they will be all right cept for the older ones since they cant get younger no matter how much they pay fer their health care. After all, that skin stretching and other high technology stuff and tannin beds dont really make a person younger. It is what the edicated ones call a facade. I learned it as puttin on airs myself.
The last good POLITICIAN that came out of California.
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.
Ronald Reagan
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
Ronald Reagan
and I hope you GA republicans are feeling the love:
Ohio Senator George Voinovich says that the GOP is “being taken over by southerners,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
In an interview with with the paper, Voinovich said shrinking demographics and southern senators are alienating his conservative constituents. He cites Republican Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn as the GOP’s biggest problem.
“We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It’s the southerners. They get on TV and go ‘errrr, errrrr.’ People hear them and say, ‘These people, they’re southerners. The party’s being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?’,” Voinovich said.
get it through your heads … they want your vote but they sure as HELL don’t want YOU.
We’ll remain a super power, but the wealthy are going to have to start investing more in America and less in Ponzi schemes. Wonder how many more Madoffs are out there?
I used to like Reagun back when he was a hollywood wild west actor. When he got elected though he was supposed to stop makin believe and start dealin with real world stuff. He had to go and give them bad evil folks in them foreen countries all kinds of germs and deadly gases and stuff and then he even give them iran terriers US aeroplanes and stuff. That was when I finally understood that Reagun was still thinkin that he was still makin pretend movies even though he was really hurtin a whole lot of people. He is dead now though so he cant never be punished for being such a stoopid man here on earth. He is in the devils hand now and that is where he will stay.
It is a good thang that we gots us some conservative democrats in Washington cause ifin we did not have them then the conservative republicans would probly still be sittin around sayin no instead of offerin to help.
Well, he did sell us out to the Japanese. But hey, he was properly rewarded with a $2 million speaking fee. It would have been a bargain for them at $2 billion. And then there’s that little matter of the increase in Social Security taxes from such a principled actor. Not to mention the promise of smaller government.
Admittedly, I have a difficult time understanding the market and economy, but when I read that consumer confidence (I’m more inclined to place my confidence in the people) was down in July in spite of everything government has done, I’m thinking…..hmmmmmm.
Regardless of what we’re being told, the “stimulating conversation” coming out of Washington does not appear to be working.
It’s a long article (puzzle) that pulls in a lot of pieces. Worth a read.
A personal note….we decided to go for the “cash for clunkers” stimulus since our daughter is going away to school and needs a car that’s under warranty. We’re standing there with the cash in hand but they insist on financing? How many of those car loans are gonna go into default? Not ours! We were told we could pay it off in three months. It will be paid off but I resent the fact that our cash wasn’t acceptable under the program. It’s cash and carry in our household.
You failed to attribute that quote, but it was nothing but wishful thinking. The jobs will come, the economy will grow, Wall Street will soar and Democrats will rule. But it would be nice if we could replace them with Libertarians. The GOP might pick up a few seats in 2010, however.
Oh, and health care reform and cap and trade will be long forgotten. Obama will tinker with current regulations.
Perdue is a yankee! Who woulda ever thought that. But if this md says so then it must be true. I aint no Yankee though. I was borned and raised and edicated right here in georgia. This is where I has lived my whole life.
Among conditions that White House aides say Obama will outline later Wednesday: insurers would be required to set annual caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses, fully cover routine tests to help prevent illness, and renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full.
Insurers also would be barred from refusing coverage because of pre-existing conditions, scaling back insurance for people who fall very ill, charging more for services based on gender, and placing caps on coverage. And, they wouldn’t be able to deny children family coverage through age 26.
Why this here stuff is jest stoopid in so meny ways. First off it is jest more govment that we dont want or need. and finally how can we expect inshorance companies to even stay here with all them tough rules. They will all jest up and move to India unless we at least promise their executives that they will never have to pay any taxes or do any jail time for whatever they might have done or ever will do. It is only right. We cant jest keep on runnin off fine inshorance companies like AIG.
That @@ person is weerd too. He must be one of them conservative republicans that likes lincolns log and cabins too like that toe tapper feller. And, I guess I dont have to do what this @@ wants me to do since this @@ aint no boss at the ajc. So, you can keep yore sick sthick or whatever you call yore thang to yore self or them other fellers down thar in Jonesboro.
.
I am jest glad that we aint birthin no two headed youngens here in the US. First off, the conservative republicans would not let them jest get aborted and second off they would insist that the mommy take care of it even ifin she aint got no money or insurance and ifin it ever died then they would charge the mommy with murder and probly let the pappy off scot free since it was never his legs that got spreaded in the first place.
“the number of discouraged workers nationwide has more than doubled in the past year. This trend won’t be reflected in the widely publicized unemployment rate, as discouraged workers aren’t included among the unemployed”
Very large segment of workers quit looking all together. Their confidence surely isn’t on the rise.
“Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?”
–Ronald Reagan, campaign speech, 1980 (Why, indeed.)
‘Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. Was too strong.’
- Ronald Reagan (Died to soon to witness it.)
‘Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.’ – Ronald Reagan (Even his book bombed.)
The object of your obsession (Mr. Edwin Robles) is a recently relocated hispanic. Are you willing to say it’s a cultural thing? If not….move on. He’s not a southerner in your “typical sense” or lack thereof.
Man I wish I was a cop today! I would go arrest a minority perp and get me a free trip to the white house to drink with Barry and the minority perp member I arrested. Maybe after a couple beers I can demonstrate some of them there enhanced interrogation techniques for Barry on the criminal.
Whiner, suppose you and your buddies had nothing to drink that night and were on your way home from work. The cop stopped you because you looked like a carload of kids that were drinking and throwing beer cans out the window. Your friend asked the cop for an explanation and got snatched out of the window and beaten up. Now, how would you feel?
TnG Gates was disrespecting a Police Officer. He was creating a public nuisance, and last but not least, the race baiter is an idiot. He deserved it, I wish he would have resisted! That would have been sweet!
One Big A$$ Mistake America
The policeman did nothing wrong EXCEPT accept Barry’s phone call and invitation to have a beer. I would have hung up on him after telling him not to call stupid no mo.
“The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County. The last REAL man to come out of there was Sir Ronald W. Reagen. God bless his soul.”
jt,
Wow, that may be a first in all of AJC blogging.
An absolute brilliant observation followed immediately by such an absolutely abysmal one.
But hey! One out of two ain’t terrible (by Republican standards!)…
“You didn’t read the article, did you? Just like you conveniently ignore what’s “behind the baby count” (infant mortality rates).”
last thing first – you’re saying that we have double the mortality rate than countries in europe because they don’t count babies smaller than 12″ … that is, in technical parlance, a STRETCH.
first thing second – yes, I read the article. and, again, confidence will begin to rebound when people stop being pummeled with every Thursday’s weekly new unemployment filings over 500K. they’re finally under 600K after 6 months and have been dropping fairly steadily over the last 5 weeks (last week being a hiccup, but still below the forecast).
I think the most important item in the article is the “new normal” – and that’s what all economists are trying to muddle through right now. consumer spending accounts for 70% of US GDP, so if the current cycle that we find ourselves in (called the paradox of thrift) continues, what will the new standard of GDP be? previously, “standard” GDP was 3% – should we now expect it to be 2%? and will that be permanent? or is it just that the rebound from the recession will look more like an extended hockey stick?? and, falling out from that, what will the new standard unemployment number be? previously, standard or equilibrium unemployment was around 3.5-ish%. will it now be 6-7% if consumer spending stays low?
again, that’s why I say, “consumer confidence – meh”. it’s a snapshot USUALLY driven by gas prices — you can chart out average pump prices vs. the Univ of Michigan confidence and they are inversely related to each other. (and, yes, for giggles and to prove a point to my boss, I did that one day). right now, it’s being driven by the relentless news about unemployment. that will change and confidence will pick up again.
“confidence – meh. that can be boiled down to 1 word: employment. now that new filings are decreasing, confidence will begin to rebound.”
I believe you are the one that linked employment to confidence, and just because NEW filings are down, it doesn’t necessarily equate to rebounding confidence. One must look at the entire picture, not just NEW filings.
The object of your obsession (Mr. Edwin Robles) is a recently relocated hispanic. Are you willing to say it’s a cultural thing? If not….move on. He’s not a southerner in your “typical sense” or lack thereof.
Yuk. @@ even knows the guy’s name. So, he aint no southerner and neither are you from what you say. That means neither one of you knows the culture here in the south. Go home, Yankee.
“One must look at the entire picture, not just NEW filings.”
I agree with you that the entire picture is important – however … just like the equity markets and the housing market have shown us, people start to see a glimmer of hope when we are no longer careening down the cliff face. now that new unemployment numbers are receding, the fear of being laid off also recedes, improving confidence.
I was havin read to me where some folks is gettin hospital work done to them and their inshorance companies are bailin on em and leavin em holdin the bag for bills that might be $100,000 or $800,000 or jest about anything else and these folks might be in their 40s or 70s even and some of them might have a house that is part paid for and others might be livin with their youngens or out on their own in an apartment or a tent. Jest all sorts of folks. So, I got to thinkin what if a 65 year old that is livin off maybe a thousand dollars a month and spendin every penny of that on food and rent and such gits saddled with a $300,000 hospital bill that aint covered by inshorance for whatever reason they dreamed up to not cover their bet that went the wrong way. Well, ifin this person could do without somethin and scrape together say $300 per month to pay toward this bill and ifin this person lived another 20 years then this person could have payed off $72,000 of that $300,000 that was owed before dying. Then, who will git stuck with the rest of the bill. Maybe the conservative republicans can figger a way to pass a bill that makes yore relatives responsible for yore bills when you die. That would make the folks that they is beholdin to might happy, I reckon. So, then I got to figgerin that maybe this person should jest be forced to give the whole $1000 per month to the hospital to pay off that debt and then in 20 years that person would have paid $240,000 of the $300,000 and then the relatives would only git stuck with $60,000 unless they start tacking on a subprime interest rate or somethin. Then, I suppose we might as well just all accept our fates as the indentured class. Hospitals and doctors and inshorance companies and such will own us all for our entire lives. Sounds sorta like one of them socialist life styles cept that it will be the big businesses that we be beholdin to forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. At least it aint called communism or socialism so that makes it better.
“now that new unemployment numbers are receding, the fear of being laid off also recedes, improving confidence.”
Maybe historically, but we are in unchartered waters. Many of the 80+% still employed are working in very lean environments knowing their turn may be just around the corner. Housing appears to be a false flag, as historically, people move in the summer while school is out. Large segments of the housing market still in limbo, and fall and winter have always been down months. How many builders across the country hanging on by a thread and waiting for round 2 of layoffs with the fall/winter numbers? Commercial real estate also at the bottom with many up against the wall not paying their mortgages. Commercial historically fails with a lag time behind residential, and businesses continue to close their doors leading to even less income for landlords.
I’d love to be wrong, but historically, the other shoe hasn’t even fallen yet.
ha. here’s the choice: being an international broker working with world leaders (which will lead to HUGE speaking fees and book deals later on ) and being 1 of 9 and not in charge.
So, I got to thinkin what if a 65 year old that is livin off maybe a thousand dollars a month and spendin every penny of that on food and rent and such gits saddled with a $300,000 hospital bill that aint covered by inshorance for whatever reason . . .
(cough) bankruptcy (cough)–with apologizes to our conservative friends.
She knows where the money in her and Bill’s account came from. I bet she’s chomping at the bit to not have sex with someone and joining the very lucrative speaking circuit. Then she can write a juicy book on how she got even with Bill.
The fastest way to build consumer confidence is to let that consumer know that less wealth will be seized from his or her by our benevolent goverment.
The federal withholding, state taxes, permits, fees, worker’s comp, etc…… and NOW some insurance scam gets to be a drag on motivation, confidence, and innovation.
When times were flush, goverment grew exponentionally. Now that it is tight, the federal goverment should shut up and get out of the way. And lay off 40% of its workforce.
If not, we are talking a 10 year malaise. Or a lost decade. Or maybe the great depression redux.
I believe November 2010 will prove the wisdom of the great American silent majority.
Libertarians will finally break double digits, which will cause the R&D party to behave. somewhat.
According to all them believers in free markets and things, the only thing we done wrong was to git in the way by throwin good money after bad. They knows that in a free market things jest go up and down naturally and we jest go along for the ride. Some rides the crest and makes out like bandits and some fall in the trough and die and that is the law of nature at work. So what we needed to do was jest let businesses fail that was gonna fail like all of the banks and the auto makers and all of them that support them and that way we coulda already bottomed out at about 25 percent unemployment and been on the road to recovery and everyone would been better for it.
“Maybe historically, but we are in unchartered waters. Many of the 80+% still employed are working in very lean environments knowing their turn may be just around the corner. Housing appears to be a false flag, as historically, people move in the summer while school is out.”
well, the thing about forecasts is that they factor those things in, so when you read that home sales are better than expected, part of those expectations include normal activity.
“How many builders across the country hanging on by a thread and waiting for round 2 of layoffs with the fall/winter numbers? Commercial real estate also at the bottom with many up against the wall not paying their mortgages. Commercial historically fails with a lag time behind residential, and businesses continue to close their doors leading to even less income for landlords.”
well, that’s why everyone is following what’s going on with new home sales (which exceeded expectations this month).
as far as commercial real estate, I agree that’s the next shoe – but I can tell you this from first-hand experience – investors aren’t being caught with their pants around their ankles on this the way they were with residential.
me, I’m still voting for bulldozers to solve the inventory problem.
“Libertarians will finally break double digits, which will cause the R&D party to behave. somewhat.”
The problem with this premise is Libertarians tend to take votes away from the gop, and not the dems. Dems like gov’t, libs do not. So, the dems benefit and the rest of us suffer the consequences of bigger gov’t.
(cough) bankruptcy (cough)–with apologizes to our conservative friends.
That is clearly the logical step to take. And, if enough people take that step, what sort of lesson do people learn from that and implement themselves. Would that naturally drive people away from even trying to own anything of value since they know that they could lose it all in bankruptcy court due to one big hospital bill. Do big businesses look then to get even more changes made to the laws such as not allowing medical bills to be removed due to a bankruptcy, etc.
“well, the thing about forecasts is that they factor those things in, so when you read that home sales are better than expected, part of those expectations include normal activity.”
And considering those forecasts are based on already lower numbers, then its a wash. 10% of nothing is still nothing.
“as far as commercial real estate, I agree that’s the next shoe – but I can tell you this from first-hand experience – investors aren’t being caught with their pants around their ankles on this the way they were with residential.”
There are in my area, as the banks refuse to help. Too many banks with tarp money factored in to the equation. Why help the investors when uncle sugar has deep pockets of our money.
al-Gitmo: Bruno has spent her entire career scheming and plotting, you think she’s retired now that there is a nice fat plump little target like Obozo on the firing range?
hahahaha, yeah, ok.
Billy is probably gnawing on his restraints as we speak.
The fastest way to build consumer confidence is to let that consumer know that…corporations will be held accountable to the rule of law.
And that white collar criminals by the thousands will not be allowed to walk off with you money and mine. But will serve time for their piracy and gangster capitalism.
But it ain’t gonna happen boys and girls. Too many lobbyists, too many monied masters that own the politicians and WAY too many dupes who are either too thick to understand or two immoral to care..
“And considering those forecasts are based on already lower numbers, then its a wash. 10% of nothing is still nothing.”
as Ava Gabor would say, had she been an economist, “movement, daahling” … it’s the steepness of the decline/the trend of whether the decline is speeding up or slowing down. even though the year-on-year numbers are negative, most numbers have been less negative than preceding months – and, in fact, the S&P/Case Schiller house price index showed its first month of growth in 3 years. you can look at it as 10% better than crap, but most people look at it as a sign that the market is turning.
as far as commercial – i’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I mean institutional investors that held CMBS but have since liquidated their holdings.
“The problem with this premise is Libertarians tend to take votes away from the gop, and not the dems. Dems like gov’t, libs do not. So, the dems benefit and the rest of us suffer the consequences of bigger gov’t.”
jt replies- as opposed to Republicans.??? Before Obama came along, Bush, with his REPUBLICAN congress broke all goverment spending records. And grew it too. Astronomically.
The less of two evils is still evil.
At least the democrats have more truth in advertising.
“you think she’s retired now that there is a nice fat plump little target like Obozo on the firing range?”
you guys love to say that the left is obsessed with St. Sarah of the Tundra, but let me tell you, it’s NOTHING compared to the fever dreams you guys have about Hillary.
This has got to be the dumbest chief executive to ever hit the White House, hands down, somewhere Dhimmi Carter breathes a sigh of relief. Herbert Hoover smiles from beyond.
If Axelrod or Emanual don’t tell Obozo that the knife is fixing to be stuck in his back, he will just keep playing with the toys in his rubber room, totally unaware.
What a prime target of opportunity.
And who knows, they may all soon be conspiring against their little tard.
“jt replies- as opposed to Republicans.??? Before Obama came along, Bush, with his REPUBLICAN congress broke all goverment spending records. And grew it too. Astronomically.”
Historically, Reps are fiscally conservative, as are Blue Dog dems, and Bush was , well Bush.
If you go back in history, Obama was one of very few dems to ever campaign on tax cuts/freeze.
And don’t look now, but Barry and his all dem congress is blowing away any spending done by the Bush crowd. Even the Blue dogs can see that.
“And that white collar criminals by the thousands will not be allowed to walk off with you money and mine. But will serve time for their piracy and gangster capitalism.”
No way man, corporate welfare is the new new thing (at least new since the last bailout of S&Ls back in 1991)
Agreed wholeheartedly–though I do believe that lobbyists do play a role by giving those with no voice access to our elected officials. Unfortunately lobbyists are working for corporations like GE, Altria, Ratheon etc. who have very large voices. The only silver bullet I see is campaign finance reform. Alas, those laws must be written by the very people that need to be regulated.
I’m am not and will not defend Bush, he spent too much.
Having said that, just because it was done in the past doesn’t make it ok now. We need a gov’t that will cut up the credit cards and balance the budget, not one that just continues to raise the credit limit.
You can’t forget that democrats are some low, power hungry mf’s, when they see Obozo dragging down their whole filthy house of cards, loyalty is going to extinct.
Well, I see this Obama keeps going down and down in the polls. I sure wish we had somebody that could run against him. Sarah, much as I love her, couldn’t get elected Class Treasurer right now. And nobody down here is going to vote for a heathen Mormon like Romney. Everybody down here would vote for the Rev. Huckabee but nobody else in the whole country would. And then the man that might could of been our best hope left his fambly and state and went off to Argentina to be with his mistress. And if old Newt decided to run they’d be bringing up them divorce papers he served on his wife that was in the hospitle with cancer and then later was sleeping with a woman while he was married and trying to get Clinton impeached over that intern.
So there’s the problem. Right there we got the White House just about wide open and ready for us to take but we got nobody that can take it. Heck, I might have to open the Redneck Convert for President campaign again just to give us a chance. I know I could get more votes than any of the “name” Republicans that might decide to run. Have a good p.m. everybody.
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday added the Postal Service to its list of high-risk federal agencies in need of change.
The post office has been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase in the price of stamps in May, and cuts in staff.
“There are serious and significant structural financial challenges currently facing the Postal Service,” the GAO said.”
Postal service, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, public education………………..and now the buffoons want to add healthcare on top of programs they already have problems with.
Is it just me, or does anybody else see a problem with this picture.
As usual, in your dreams. The party that’s crashing is the one you support. You know, the one that doesn’t care about the health of Americans. The one that doesn’t care about the environment. The one that tried to block help for the unemployed. The one that tried to cut funds for education. The one that brought California to it’s knees. I could do this all day.
mmoron- When you liberals were nothing but obscure diaper filling moonbats splashing around in the fever swamps, making Mount Whine out of every Bush molehill, you could lie to the American people what smart and wonderful people you were.
But now that you have been flushed out into the open and forced to act like adults, the American people are saying eewww, what dummies.
Those are the chief findings of the latest NPR poll of 850 registered voters conducted nationwide Wednesday through Sunday by a bipartisan team. The pollsters found 53 percent approving of the president’s handling of his job, while 42 percent disapproved — the narrowest gap of the Obama presidency to date. Most of the approving group said they approved strongly, and an even greater majority of the disapproving group said they disapproved strongly.-National Pinko Radio
If you’ve lost NPR, you’ve lost the moonbats, ahahahahaha.
Wrong again. The only people complaining are the republicans and their dimwit uneducated supporters, and they don’t act like Americans. The only Dem supporters I’ve seen complaining are the ones that are mad because the dems have not shoved healthcare straight up the GOP @sses.
md,
I don’t expect a wingnut to own up to a mistake. It’s bad enough the GOP destroyed our economy, but their tax cuts have crippled our state and local governments as well. But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.
“I don’t expect a wingnut to own up to a mistake. It’s bad enough the GOP destroyed our economy, but their tax cuts have crippled our state and local governments as well. But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.”
Put up or shut up. Post facts please. Show is all the the underlying facts of your assertions. Google is your friend. Per California, do you always read just the cover of the book? You sound like a good little parrott, towing the party line.
And do you always use the term “wingnut” for anybody that doesn’t agree with what you think? Thats so juvenile.
By the way, it shore was nice of the Bushwhacker 2001 to look out fer the consumers with that Bankruptcy law stuff that he signed off on. Ifin you learn anything from a conservative republican it should be to never turn yore back on one of them. 2005 Bankruptcy Law Changes Causing Subprime Loan Scandal
I heer that republican gubernator out in californa is showing everyone what for. He don pulled the plug on helpin them poor youngens in his state that cant take keer of themselves even though they has done popped out of their mommies and should be able to by now. And that is jest fer starters. Ifin I was him, I would go ahead and open all the jail cells up too and send all the police and farmen home since they is jest too spensive to upkeep. Then, they could git rid of their real teachers too like we done here in georgia.
A bit of history trivia here…Y’all know where the term “Lobbyist” came from. U. S. Grant, when he was the President, used to like to sit in a hotel lobby and relax(can’t remember the name of the hotel), but people would come up to him and push their special interest and became known as lobbyists. Strange that one of the most corrupt administrations in our history would start what has become a bane on our government…did I mention Grant was a Republican?
Arizona lawmakers, desperate for cash, are considering selling the House and Senate buildings, then leasing them back over several years before assuming ownership again. Dozens of other state buildings may also be sold off and leased back as the state grapples with a huge budget deficit. Under the complex financial arrangement, state government services would continue without interruption while the state picks up a cash infusion estimated at $735 million. For investors, the deal means long-term lease payments from a stable source.
The state’s budget shortfall is projected at around $3.4 billion.
If they would jest try to live within their means they would not be so bad off.
“But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.””
This is also where you are wrong. Unlike yourself, I prefer to watch all the channels so as to make the best decision possible as to what to believe and what not to believe. One can not make an informed decision leaving out variables. You do yourself an injustice by only watching those channels you agree with. Sitting in your chair nodding your head in agreement is hardly the way to keep an open mind.
Wow, your very own Tom Price will be introducing a health care reform bill tomorrow.
“According to the summary, the bill aims to make health care accessible to all Americans by creating tax incentives for consumers to purchase insurance on the individual market, encouraging states to assist consumers with pre-existing conditions, and promoting the employer-based insurance system that is popular with many Americans.”
“Instead of focusing on regulating private insurers, the plan would in fact give them more freedom to work across state lines.”
So lets see, another TAX CUT by a republican. This one will cut government revenues and give the money to insuance companies. Wow, an annual $1000 dollar tax cut to pay for an $800 a month insurance premium. And deregulating the insurances companies.
No telling what else is in this POS bill. Is there nothing a wingnut thinks a tax cut won’t cure?
We all knows that dinosaurs roamed the earth a thousand years or so ago. and whatever Hannety says has to be the gospel truth cause he would never let his outwardly bigoted and jest plane mean and nasty thoughts toward Obama influence his journalistic integrety and the same goes for Huckebe and for Rush and one day maybe even for Sarah ifin she ever gits a time slot on the radio or on fox, the only channel for truth in the news channel. Every other channel is jest piled knee deep in them other people that dont know the truth bout nothin.
Yes, lobbyist have a bad rep, but I believe they can serve those with no access to elected officials. When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals free speech was when lobbyists began to run this country.
Is there nothing a wingnut thinks a tax cut won’t cure?
Nope. Why, they claim to not even need Viagra ifin they git a big enough tax cut. And, even better, they claim that the effects never wear off for them. Their swelled heads jest stay that way permanently or until they catch wind of another tax that they did not git rid of.
I wants to know why cant we jest elect businesses to govment and cut out the middle man. Exxon could be the ’senator’ for texas, georgia power for georgia and so on. That way everyone saves. The big businesses would not need lobbyists no more and they would not need to give money to themselves to run campains since they would all ready be the govment. They could even git rid of elections since they would not serve no porpoise no more. Come to think of it, we don’t need no steenking govment.
Kamchak, yes the issue of lobbyists is a touchy one.
In theory they serve a good purpose. But in reality they are out of control and have undue power (via boatloads of dirty money and influence peddling).
The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750!
The lobbying boom has been caused by three factors, experts say: rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of federal benefits.
“There’s unlimited business out there for us,” said Robert L. Livingston, a Republican former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and now president of a thriving six-year-old lobbying firm. “Companies need lobbying help.”
Lobbying firms can’t hire people fast enough. Starting salaries have risen to about $300,000 a year for the best-connected aides eager to “move downtown” from Capitol Hill or the Bush administration. Once considered a distasteful post-government vocation, big-bucks lobbying is luring nearly half of all lawmakers who return to the private sector when they leave Congress, according to a forthcoming study by Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.
But the worst aspect is that this nation is now a government of the General Motors, by the General Dynamics and for the General Electrics…
md wrote: The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday added the Postal Service to its list of high-risk federal agencies in need of change.
The post office has been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase in the price of stamps in May, and cuts in staff.
The GAO should be applauded here – this is a prime opportunity to cut a dying beast. They should cut the number of delivery days to 4 and consolidate facilities. I am just flabergasted when I see spaning new usps facilies springing up all the time.
Maybe they could switch the Passport photo/application process to the police stations or fire stations.
The only thng I use mail for is Netflix and packages I don’t need right away…and some bills.
I find it interesting that USinUK(cough) measures infant mortality in inches.
If a baby is born breathing and then dies within 24 to 48 hours, they’re not counted as mortals in many European countries. They’re mythical in U.K.’s world. Americans will always count babies as worthwhile — some of us will anyway.
On the economy? You’re entitled to all the confidence you can muster but not many Americans are sharing in it.
As much as government revenues have dropped, I’m thinking there is an increase in noncompliance. Wonder how many “businesses” are behind on forwarding their payroll deductions to the IRS and can’t get loans to make payroll?
A true conservative-based party would likely have NONE of these modern day Republiconned in it. As soon as they heard there’s no Jesus in government, they’d say no thanks…
And Bob Dole? At least he was a GOPer with some freaking guts! One of the last of the Republicans who was not yellow to the core ala Bush, Cheney, Saxby ad nauseum…
As for besting the mulatto, how could he do it when RINO McCain, 9/11 Rudy, Flip flopping Lurch, Flat-earth Sam, Large & Lazy Fred, Huckleberry, Duncan “Nuke ‘em” Hunter and Tom “Who?” Tancredo couldn’t?
A laughable and sorry lot.
But gawd, last year was a lot of fun! Watching those buffoons implode on the national stage and the ensuing teeth gnashing by the idiotic talking heads and their faithful followers was and still is, outstanding entertainment…
Wow This talk about The Family is some really sicko whackjob nutcase preverted stuff. These folks say they operate like the mafia and that they want the world to be run by folks like Osama bin Laden and Hitler and some feller named Inhofe from Oklahoma is one of them. Yuk.
“A president and a governor, what else do you need? Oh, I forgot, they don’t do that “vision thing.””
May want to include the rest of the gov’t. CA has been traditionally democratic for many years. But for many here, its much easier to ignore the involvement of both parties in order to push forth an agenda. The gop was the head of the snake, but there were many others (read dems) that made up the body.
Take a look at the direct subsidies for Medicare Part C if you want to get really riled up.
“Medicare Advantage plans wrap physician and hospital services in one, often with vision and drug coverage. Unlike traditional Medicare, the government doesn’t pay physicians and hospitals directly but instead pays insurers to manage care. Currently, though, a patient in these plans costs the government an average of 14% more than if he or she stayed in traditional Medicare.”
Just to prove how much I care….pick any one of your posts and I’ll continue to run it while you’re on vacation. I can change the wording just a tad so’s nobody’ll know you’re gone.
I’ll be your proxy poster. The post you choose cannot, however, be directed an any particular blogger. One of your many generics will do.
This blog is amazing. I mean there are people here who neither, eat, sleep or ….well…depart from this place. What a life! 100% of the time blogging! A mind shriveling approach to finality!
The most realistic plain spoken and irritating (to some) blogger here is “I report (You whine)” He is so factual, his posts hit liberals right on their weak wanderings which irritates them no end. The truth hurts so he uses it!
The most boring blogger is the copycat RedNeck with an ID he calls “We don’t need no steenking gov’t”. He spouts what northerners think is Southern conversation. Just skip over his trash. Don’t waste your time on waste..
I commend @@ for her knowledge of national and international affairs. She tries to bring some rational info to the mudslinging here. She is one California girl I say welcome to southern status anytime. She’s a winner (and can even “can” peaches and peas!)
Then there is Bosch, an original with a fresh approach. Sorry about his oak tree. My son went through that recently, only a pine tree hit his home. And pine not even good for firewood!
So carry on…the good, the bad, the ugly! Bookman shall return! Journalists never die. They just fish away. (But he will be proud of his long lost liberal loonies whose only home is this blog.)
Yeah, I’m aware of the Democrats controlling the legislature. Did the decline start with Reagan? I’m thinking and hoping y’all will come back stronger and better. I was surprised that Arnold was elected.
Well, you can tell Sister Dusty I ain’t We Don’t Need No Steenking Govt. Don’t know who that guy is, but looks like he writes pretty good–just too often. Otherwise, Sister Dusty has hurt me real deep and I don’t think I’ll be including her in my prayers at the trailer tonight. Have a good night everybody.
Does the term “multi-tasking” mean anything to you?
“House Democrats reach healthcare deal”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives reached a deal on Wednesday with a group of fiscal conservatives in their own party on healthcare legislation in a significant step forward for the bill.
I is hear on a two-folded mission. I wants to see what number comes after 999 cause it is the invert of 666 and so it has special meaning to us Billy Grayham southerners. Then, I likes to jest spread the werd. Finally, I likes to show folks like Dusty and @@ that they aint the only comedy show in town although they are perty funny. It is that Gonedeaf the White or whatever he calls hisself that is most boring though. Dusty is jest plane wrong. He’s probly not even southern like that @@ aint.
Kamchak writes When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals free speech was when lobbyists began to run this country.
You got a point there.
AmVet mentioned Bob Dole.
I’d recommend his book, “One Soldier’s Story”. There is very little political content in it, it’s mainly about his upbringing and his struggles to overcome his war wounds. He talks about how he and two fellow patients, Phil Hart and Daniel Inouye went on to serve in the Senate. He said that even though they had opposing political views there was always a bond between them.
Shouts out to Gale, Gandalf and USinUK from the former W2W blog. Have any of you heard from Mara?? I sure miss chatting with her.
I am tempted to join in the ObamaCare discussion, but I’m not sure my blood pressure can take it. Now that the Free Lunch crowd is in control, everything that has made the USA the greatest country on Earth is being systematically dismantled. 2010 can’t come soon enough for me…
I will say this, however: “Health”, “Health Care”, and “Health Insurance” are three distinct entities, none of which depends on the other. To wit, “Health” comes from within, and is generally a reflection of our lifestyles, and not the amount of “Health Care” ( i.e. drugs and surgery) one receives. As for “Health Insurance”, the biggest improvement we could make to our current “Health Care” delivery system would be the elimination of the third-party payor system altogether. If that happened, 99% of the fraud and waste would be eliminated overnight once consumers were back in control of their own spending.
The bottom line is that the only legitimate purpose for ANY type of “insurance” is to protect people from rare, catastrophic events. Once you start including routine expenses, such as routine doctors visits, it is no longer insurance.
For those of you here who don’t know me, I have been a health care provider for the past 23+ years and have also taken the Actuarial Exams. In addition, I am one of the “Uninsured Americans”–by choice. From what I have read, part of ObamaCare calls for the direct seizure of money from the bank accounts of those who choose not to participate in the scam known as “Health Insurance”. Heil Obama!
I’ve both read Gone With The Wind and seen the movie. I’d recommend the book over the movie. It’s a pretty good story but it’s fiction. People forget that. There’s tons of historical inaccuracies in it. Taken as a story it’s pretty good. Scarlett was the main character in the book but I found her younger sister Caroline to be far more interesting. (Her role was cut way down in the movie, to barely being there.) I also found the music in the movie to be way overblown but that may have been the movie making style of the time.
And by the way the famous line in the book and movie are different. The movie, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. The book, “My dear, I don’t give a damn”.
Is it true the blue dogs have surrendered to the non-profit cooperatives? It’s what…$100.00 a year buys up to $3,000 in healthcare. Can I assume that $300.00 a year buys up to $9,000.00 in healthcare…
I’m sorry you have not read Gone With the WInd. It is one exciting book. Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1937. It had taken her ten years to write it. Over 30 million copies have been sold at last count. Anyway, Scarlett was one beautiful, hardheaded determined Southern plantation “belle’ of Irish heritage who was never dull in any way. When Civil War hard times hit, she just fought harder for what she wanted. She succeeded in some ways and lost in others. The movie was as good as the book with Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh at their best. Classic entertainment.
I did not see your review until after I had posted mine. That was a book and movie I really enjoyed. Haven’t come across anything as entertaining as GWTW in a long time.
The book I can do. I have yet to go to watch a two-hour movie all the way through. Either I can’t sit still long enough or I fall asleep. My husband told me that GWTW was four hours!!??!!
2,171 comments Add your comment
Bud Wiser
July 25th, 2009
7:36 am
I thought at least Bookman would have a ghost writer or substitute. Times must be hard at theUrinal/Constipation.
Oh well.
We now see the racial pig side of Obowo, and he is retreating, but he made his point. If you’re one of the ‘blood’, its okay to disobey the law, refuse rightful police orders, and then wait for the prez to bail you out.
After all, “we gots Obama”. As Mrs G. would say. relax, Obama’s got this one.
Yeah, for dam sure he does.
j$
July 25th, 2009
7:38 am
My, that’s a large trout.
Paul
July 25th, 2009
8:17 am
RE: PresBO and Gates. If you want a national dialogue start no further than the issue of racial profiling. Subjectively, take a look at the Atlanta local news on any given day and any questions about racial profiling are put to rest!!!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:20 am
The Urinal ain’t gonna give it up, are they?
Beamud, who, prior to moving to Atlanta in November of 2008, worked from 1996 to 2008 as a legal advisor for the Cambridge police department, hopes the incident will lead to more positive steps along the nation’s long road to racial reconciliation.
Well, well, “news” that the AJC specializes in, race baiting, who would have expected them to pass up the chance to breath new life into this goony scenario of theirs?
What would the day be without some stereotyping, eh?
electrician
July 25th, 2009
8:46 am
ever notice that no one has ever defined how we will know when we finally get to the end of that” long road to racial reconciliation”
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
8:52 am
electrician,the long road has no end. No definition needed.Unfortunatly!
electrician
July 25th, 2009
9:29 am
scooter..the reason it cant be defined is because what is an offense and what is a solution,is measured by an individuals perception of what happened.ones perception of the world around them is unique to their own life,and resides in their own mind.with 300 million+ minds out there it;s the national dialog and national solution is an open ended{as you said} and possibly unreachable goal,so I reckon we just keep drivin.
@@
July 25th, 2009
9:45 am
This picture reminds me of a very risque’ joke my cajun neighbor shared with us once. A big fish story.
Are you fly fishin’, jay?
catlady
July 25th, 2009
9:57 am
Let’s sit around and talk about him.
Brad Steel
July 25th, 2009
10:10 am
Looks lie the break has start well. Have a good one, Jay.
When you get back, I am sure the wingnuts will be all too excited to demonstrate that they are still in their preadolescent fecal stage, (e.g. references to urine and constipation – ohh sooo clever).
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
10:11 am
I’m thinking what we got here is the Little Bighorn of racial grievance mongering and the General Custers of the pinko media are busy circling the wagons.
Think about it, we’ve had three recent high profile cases in which the left wingers immediately set up shop in their High Dungeons, Tawana Brawley, Duke Lacrosse, and some other nonsense that I have gratefully forgotten, and all of them have crashed and burned.
Not a good track record for those who make a living by rending their clothing at any and all perceived slights.
And consider also, since the mainstream media has wandered off the reservation and now grazes knee deep in the fever swamps, there are no restraints in place to keep them from demonizing America at will, especially when they are fighting for the very essence of their entire existence.
Queen Pinko has not yet posted tomorrow’s socialist manifesto, anybody care to wager it will be about what a ghastly country the United States is, blah, blah, blah?
electrician
July 25th, 2009
10:20 am
stop groveling Brad,..Jays not here
TnGelding
July 25th, 2009
10:25 am
Long, winding road that leads to the bridge to nowhere.
Let’s wait and see how this plays out.
for real
July 25th, 2009
10:31 am
When all people are held responsible for their families and their actions, when we quit pointing the finger of blame and living in the past, and when we all realize in this wonderful country of ours that there is really equal opportunity to all if we quit making excuses and just go for it, then maybe racial prejudices will end, after all racism is not a one way street!
md
July 25th, 2009
10:32 am
“When you get back, I am sure the wingnuts will be all too excited to demonstrate that they are still in their preadolescent fecal stage, (e.g. references to urine and constipation – ohh sooo clever).”
Hypocrisy anyone?
Choice – high road or low road. Why get into the gutter with your own remarks?
Brad Steel
July 25th, 2009
10:40 am
they take the bait every time. suckas.
Jack
July 25th, 2009
10:52 am
Regarding Gates, it must be wonderful to be able to always blame someone else for one’s own shortcomings.
md
July 25th, 2009
10:56 am
Life’s low road is a hard journey, but some just can’t help themselves.
getalife
July 25th, 2009
11:27 am
“John Ridley, 07.24.2009
Emmy-Winning Commentator and Writer for Esquire
We’re sick and tired of having to prove things to the self-righteous reactionary fringe, which looks at life as one, big racial profiling traffic stop: Step out of the car Mr. President and show me your birth certificate.”
Yeah, lets talk about racism with the birthers.
Geez.
@@
July 25th, 2009
11:40 am
Getalife:
You do know that had Obama been born in Europe, Latin America or Asia that the same concern over his “nationality” would be forthcoming, don’t you?
It’s a question of nationality, not race. I think it’s the left’s elitists who are looking to elbow their way across the finish line in “the race”. It’s kinda like them saying THEY MUST follow our LEAD!
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
11:59 am
Zogby: GOP Faces Extinction Risk
Pollster John Zogby tells Newsmax that the Republican Party could be “teetering on the brink” of extinction as it fails to appeal to the fastest-growing demographic groups in America.
He also said the GOP is not taking advantage of Democratic setbacks because it has not put forth alternative policies of its own.
Zogby is CEO of Zogby International, a market research and opinion polling firm he founded in 1984.
He wrote an op-ed piece for the July edition of Campaign and Elections’ Politics magazine, headlined “An Endangered Party?” The article asked if the GOP will go the way of the Federalist Party and eventually disappear as a viable national party.
Newsmax.TV’s Ashley Martella asked Zogby if the Republican Party could really become extinct.
“Let’s face it, it could be teetering on the brink,” he declared.
“There’s been maybe a bit of a resurgence since I wrote what I wrote a few weeks back. However, there still is a lack of a program in a time of change. I’m not sure the Republicans are addressing change.”
Zogby also observed in his article that Republicans are “swimming against the tide of demography.”
He told Newsmax: “That’s very true, and that’s got to be a cause for concern. Look at the fastest-growing groups in the electorate. Those groups are Latinos, African-Americans — even though the numbers of African-Americans are not growing, the number who are voting is certainly growing — young people 18 to 29, and what we call the creative class, people who work in the world of ideas.”
These are college-educated professionals such as software engineers, graphic designers, attorneys, and workers in the healthcare technology field. They make up 20 percent of the workforce, Zogby said, and “make up critical parts of the population in states like North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, and so on.
“Republicans are not appealing to those groups, and yet those groups are on the upswing.”
Martella noted that the United States is still said to be a center-right nation, and polls have been showing that Americans increasingly believe President Barack Obama is a liberal. “Could that pave the way for a possible Republican resurgence?” he asked.
“The premise of your question is true,” Zogby responded.
“About 40 percent of the electorate does in fact consider themselves to be conservatives; 20 percent or 22 percent [consider themselves] liberals. It’s that big middle that’s a concern.
“And for conservatives, there have been some that have been turned off over the [George W.] Bush years, for a variety of reasons.
“But the issue is, winning the middle. It’s still a long way to go from 40 percent to 51 percent, and that’s a difficulty.
“Republicans certainly score points by being critical of Obama, by raising questions about spending. But for now, there is no pro-active program. There’s just putting up a hand as a stop sign and saying halt.”
Martella asked if Obama’s declining approval ratings could be good new news for Republicans.
“It certainly could be for the GOP,” he said.
“I have the president at about 50 percent . . . Good news, but always think of the horizon — what’s the next act for the Republicans? And is this a factor of just saying no to a change program, putting up the yellow light for caution, or is this a response to a Republican conservative agenda? Right now I don’t think it’s a response to a Republican conservative agenda.”
Martella pointed out that the cap-and-trade program to curb carbon emissions and the major healthcare overhaul both appear to be stalled, and asked if that too could be good for Republicans.
“Potentially it could be, so long as there is an alternative,” Zogby said.
“But where is the alternative energy policy, the alternative environmental policy? Remember that centrist voters, including young Christian conservatives, are very concerned about the environment and global warming. Where’s the pro-active agenda? Same thing with healthcare.”
Zogby said if these two programs had been presented in isolation, without other spending programs, they would have a much better chance of surviving. But after the stimulus package, TARP, corporate bailouts and the like, and with Americans not seeing progress just yet, “American voters are sacrificed out.
“That kind of gives pause to the additional reforms. But I think the sentiment for reforms is still there.”
@@
July 25th, 2009
12:02 pm
WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview that Russia’s economy is “withering,” and suggested the trend will force the country to make accommodations to the West…
“It won’t work if we go in and say: ‘Hey, you need us, man; belly up to the bar and pay your dues,’ ” he said. “It is never smart to embarrass an individual or a country when they’re dealing with significant loss of face. My dad used to put it another way: Never put another man in a corner where the only way out is over you.”
I guess Joe thought they weren’t listening.
Russia’s response? Moscow (PTI): Russian leadership is baffled by the “harsh criticism” of the Kremlin by US Vice President Joe Biden at the time when the two countries are trying hard to improve their ties.
“The Russian leadership is perplexed by the harsh criticism of Russia by US Vice President Joe Biden at the time when the two countries are actively “resetting” their relations,” Deputy Chief of Kremlin Staff and President Dmitry Medvedev’s foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
“The question arises: who sets the foreign policy of the USA — the President or the respected members of his team. We have already gone through this in the past,” Prikhodko was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Joe’s are bigger than Obama’s?
Too funny! ‘Ya just gotta luv Joe.
cut-n-paste dopes
July 25th, 2009
12:11 pm
say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.
@@
July 25th, 2009
12:16 pm
c-n-p:
It’s hard to be brief when I’m quoting Joe Biden.
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
12:30 pm
Doper, skip past it if you like. Your ADD isn’t my problem… (Brief enough?)
getalife
July 25th, 2009
12:31 pm
@@,
Hillary and McTortured looked into it and found he was born in the US.
It’s a lie and more pathetic unpatriotism from your side.
Do you feel shame for your party?
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
12:46 pm
So we have ten days of topics to fill eh? At roughly three topics per day we have 30 to come up with. If we do it ala Jay B 15 of those will be obsessing over Sarah Palin and another 10 will be “Republicans are extinct” silliness. That leaves us with 5 and one has to be reserved for Friday night. Assuming this giant fish is an open one we only have three.
One of those will need to be some completely snooze inducing pap about highway funding so we’re down to 2 without touching on any meaningful current event. Sounds like I’ve got the Jay B topic selection system down pat!
j$
July 25th, 2009
1:01 pm
I think the Obama health care strategy should be broken down into a 10 pronged talking point.
Who would like to start? (and Prof. Gates can’t be no.1)
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
1:10 pm
“I said, ‘Oh no,’ it is not a down day – my son called this week from Iraq,” Palin recalled, referring to her son, Track, an Army enlistee. “He is safe, he is sound. It is always a good day when my son calls.”
Later, citing military families that have lost loved ones, she again drew loud applause by saying: “Let us continue to love our country, be proud of our country, never apologize for our country.”
A gathering^^ of patriots.
You libs wouldn’t understand.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
1:18 pm
So which group does every body think will be the next one that Obozo tramples all over?
Gold Star moms, perhaps?
electrician
July 25th, 2009
1:32 pm
report@1;18..could be ,we are still a blue star family{know what that means libs?]
getalife
July 25th, 2009
1:33 pm
Patriots never quit.
Lets start with the gop plan for health care:
Wait, there is not one.
@@
July 25th, 2009
1:39 pm
Do you feel shame for your party?
What party, Getalife?
Don’t you know I’d never throw a party without inviting you?
Midori
July 25th, 2009
1:40 pm
what a gorgeous fish!!
cut-n-paste dopes
July 25th, 2009
1:44 pm
AmVet, my request is your command. thanks for complying with your order.
electrician
July 25th, 2009
2:02 pm
getalife..have you read Obamas plan?…has anybody?
getalife
July 25th, 2009
3:05 pm
electrician,
Yes, his changes he wants are not very specific or drastic but left it for our corrupt Congress to write the bills.
The House plan is very complicated and the Senate’s is full of corporate welfare.
Americans do not trust our corrupt Congress so here we are.
plumber
July 25th, 2009
3:06 pm
GOP health care plan: plan on not getting sick
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
3:17 pm
But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill’s $1 trillion price tag- Politico
I hear the fat lady getting ready to sing.
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
3:21 pm
Doper, enjoy.
And go tweet someone who gives a flying ____. And keep on reading. (it can be fun!)
Ralph Reed: Bring Youth Back Into GOP
Conservative political strategist Ralph Reed, the first executive director of the Christian Coalition, tells Newsmax that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings can actually help Republicans in upcoming elections.
Reed also predicted that the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 will be the most competitive in more than three decades.
Reed, also a former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, has recently formed the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Newsmax.TV’s Kathleen Walter asked him about the organization.
See Video: Ralph Reed discusses his new organization and the youth movement that the GOP must harness to defeat Obama – Click Here Now
“It is a coalition of grassroots citizens, conservatives — both fiscal and social conservatives — people of faith, and others who are concerned about the direction of our country,” Reed said.
“Look at what’s happening in Washington today, with the overreach on healthcare, rationing healthcare, dramatically raising taxes, crushing small business, the cap-and-tax energy plan, the failed stimulus package, liberal judicial nominees, a weakening of our defense, sending signals in my view of timidity in prosecuting the war on terrorism.
“The Faith and Freedom Coalition is designed not only to oppose the Obama agenda in Washington, but to offer conservative constructive alternatives.
“We need to get this economy moving again. We need to create jobs. We believe the way to do that is lower taxes, limited government, fiscal discipline, stronger families, and the growth of small business.”
Reed said one priority of the Faith and Freedom Coalition is to bring younger people into the conservative ranks. The organization intends to have a strong presence on college campuses, and to employ Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites that young people use to communicate.
“We need to be hipper, more technology savvy,” he said. “This is where the culture is going and we need to be there if we’re going to compete.”
He also said the coalition plans to have chapters in every key county in the country, in all 50 states, and virtual chapters on line.
As a conservative organization, the organization will hold both parties accountable, Reed added.
“We believe the Republicans lost their way when they were in power, particularly on spending and earmarks. We plan to lift up a banner of faith, of freedom and conservative values” for people in both parties.
Asked about his previous statement that Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings can help Republicans, Reed responded:
“Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings made it abundantly clear that she is out of the mainstream on a number of issues.
“She declined to affirm that the Second Amendment includes a basic constitutional right to self defense. She is on record as saying foreign law and United Nations jurisprudence should be on the same level as the U.S. Constitution. She’s advocated taxpayer funding of abortion. She’s somebody who embraces judicial activism. And she is somebody who in the past has ruled in favor of quotas.
“And so I think that any red state Democrat who votes for her, any Democrat who’s representing a state where [George W.] Bush did well or conservative values predominate, is going to have a difficult time explaining that vote.”
Reed declined to say that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is the favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. But he did say that Romney “was a very strong first time candidate last time and my sense is, just as he was a major factor in 2008, if he chooses to run again he will be again.
“I think that is true for a lot of people . . . There will be a very competitive and muscular primary. If Sarah Palin chooses to run, no matter what the dominant media tries to do or say, she’ll be a factor and she’ll have strong support.
“The same with Mike Huckabee, same with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour if he chooses to run, Governor Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota. There are a lot of compelling people out there and in my view it will be the most wide open and the most competitive Republican presidential primary probably since 1980.”
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
3:23 pm
cut-n-paste dopes
“say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.”
Speak for yourself. I’ve learned a lot from AmVet and @@, but then you DO sound like nosef, so you probably don’t want to hear from me either. Besides, you broke your own fiat. Go back and count again…and is there someone holding a gun to your head forcing you to read them? If so, call 911…
I Report
You Whine 
, electrician, et al…
I am a liberal as they come. Our boy served a tour in Bosnia, a tour in Kossovo, two tours in Iraq (including shock and awe), and a tour in Afghanistan…he’s a liberal, too, and the last thing he needs to hear is someone doubting his or my patriotism…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
3:35 pm
Yosef- How can you be a liberal and not hate America?????
Have you not gotten the memo that we are a bunch of racist, war for oil, pollution hogs and energy pigs? Who hate the poor?
I’m so confused.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 25th, 2009
3:38 pm
is there someone holding a gun to your head forcing you to read them?
Some folks don’t understand that concept, Josef. They’d rather p!ss and moan.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 25th, 2009
3:41 pm
Besides, Amvet hates the DH and isn’t that more important than politics anyway?
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
3:48 pm
I knew this Gates dude sounded familiar.
As to the differences between the professor’s and the cops’ version of events, I confess I’ve been wary of taking Henry Louis Gates at his word ever since, almost two decades back, the literary scholar compared the lyrics of the rap group 2 Live Crew to those of the Bard of Avon. “It’s like Shakespeare’s ‘My love is like a red, red rose,’” he declared, authoritatively, to a court in Fort Lauderdale.
As it happens, “My luv’s like a red, red rose” was written by Robbie Burns, a couple of centuries after Shakespeare. Oh, well. 16th century English playwright, 18th century Scottish poet: What’s the diff? Evidently being within the same quarter-millennium and right general patch of the North-East Atlantic is close enough for a professor of English and Afro-American Studies appearing as an expert witness in a court case. Certainly no journalist reporting Gates’ testimony was boorish enough to point out the misattribution.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/gates-professor-black-2506786-racism-sgt
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
3:53 pm
The ggony health “care” bill is a win/ win for the Repugs.
Pass it and the American people will boot the democrats out of office the first chance they get, and then demand that it gets repealed.
And if it is DOA, we are gonna hang it around Obozo’s neck in ways you can’t even imagine. But I can.
heh
Question
July 25th, 2009
3:57 pm
Take away the teleprompter and we hear PresBO say physicians are running scams and police act stupidly — yup, change we can believe in….
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
3:59 pm
I Report
You Whine 
“Yosef- How can you be a liberal and not hate America?????”
I love America BECAUSE I am a liberal. I have freedoms here that are unfathomable in much of the world. Those freedoms came to me from documents penned by liberals. Nor do I doubt a conservatives love of America BECAUSE s/he is a conservative. We owe an equal debt to them. On more than one occasion in our struggle to live up to our national ideals, conservatives have been called on to remind us what it is we are trying to be.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
4:02 pm
Those freedoms came to me from documents penned by liberals.
Come on, man, be serious.
What part of limited government do you not understand?
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
4:07 pm
I Report
You Whine 
Have you read Thomas Jefferson? If you choose to subscribe to John Adams, fine and good and no argument, but…
nosef jix
July 25th, 2009
4:07 pm
hi, my name is nosef jix and i am a liberal and i hate america!!!
nosef jix
July 25th, 2009
4:14 pm
and i have alot to say on this, my own personal blong.
j$
July 25th, 2009
4:15 pm
Don’t mind the liberal wanker (nosef jix), josef.
I like you josef, but those documents were not penned from the feather by the likes of pelosi, reid, or obama
Midori
July 25th, 2009
4:17 pm
Question — you idiots get about the same amount of mileage with that teleprompter lunacy as you do with the birth certificate stupidity.
keep it up.
i love it.
getalife
July 25th, 2009
4:19 pm
cons taling about patriotism is hilarious.
They want our CIC to fail in a time of war and demand to see his birth certificate.
It does not get more unpatriotic than that Andy.
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
4:22 pm
J$–well, I won my bet! I bet that’s who it was. It had bothered me a little bit at first since I wasn’t sure who it was and how to interpret it, but now that I know…sounds like the pot callin’ the kettle black, eh…
I couldn’t agree more on what you said about Pelosi and Reid or Obama. If they are liberals, then I’m the King of Spain.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
4:25 pm
getalife
yet they screamed bloody murder when the left questioned the lack of a paper trail of Bush’s AWOL from the TANG.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
4:25 pm
Yosef- If Jefferson said anything about a government run health care system or how much energy we could use, perhaps then we could have an interesting conversation.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
4:30 pm
I think we screamed louder about the forged paper trail SeeBS tried to sell us.
getalife
July 25th, 2009
4:30 pm
Midori,
Like empathy, they have no shame in their blatant hypocrisy.
Their true colors are red not red, white and blue.
Attacking their patriotism is fair game.
j$
July 25th, 2009
4:32 pm
touche josef
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
4:33 pm
diM- That wasn’t a question.
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
4:37 pm
J$–Jay has called me on the carpet for calling them what they really are, in my opinion, but let’s just say for here that there’s a decided Argentine accent to much of what they say and do…
getalife
July 25th, 2009
4:37 pm
RW,
Rather’s case is still open and he has won a victory with more memos released.
I tend to be biased for journalists challenging government instead of all those that shill for government.
electrician
July 25th, 2009
4:40 pm
josef…I really had to do some thinkin and lookin to find where iI might have questioned your patriotism, must of been my 1:32, I must confess, a broad accusation,not normally my style…point taken.
j$
July 25th, 2009
4:40 pm
midori- didn’t bush choke on a pretzel?
game. set. match. checkmate. etc. etc.
Greg Mendel
July 25th, 2009
4:46 pm
“Regarding Gates, it must be wonderful to be able to always blame someone else for one’s own shortcomings.”
When did entering one’s own home become a shortcoming?
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
4:47 pm
electrician–it was the 1:32 and I did find it out of character for you. There is really no apology necessary. I understand the feelings we have when it is our boys’ lives others are treating so cavalierly.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
4:50 pm
J$
Bush choked.
period.
j$
July 25th, 2009
4:50 pm
a little advise for the cop haters out there.
if you have done nothing wrong:
follow the officer’s orders.
don’t talk about the officer’s mama.
and first and foremost, put yourself in that officer’s shoes.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
4:51 pm
LOL. Greg.
and there you have it.
Greg Mendel
July 25th, 2009
4:53 pm
“say it in 100 characters or less. no one wants to read your pedantic, long toothed, cut-n-paste lectures. that means you AMVet and @@. learn the art of brevity.”
bmpr stckr
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
4:54 pm
Question–how many of you arguing back and forth on this have ever been questioned by the police for “breaking in” your own house? I have.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
4:58 pm
Well, I see ya’ll found something to talk about. Let me guess. Who is more patriotic, libs or cons. Right?
md
July 25th, 2009
5:07 pm
And if they caught me breaking into my own house, I would commend them for a job well done as that is what we pay them to do.
Greg Mendel
July 25th, 2009
5:07 pm
“What part of limited government do you not understand?”
The part that tried to limit the Constitution for the last 8 years.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
5:14 pm
Greg @ 5:07, the limitations are still Intact with the present adm. are they not?
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
5:15 pm
Scooter @ 5:14–habeas corpus, anyone?
electrician
July 25th, 2009
5:16 pm
Scooter@ 4;58..well that will cover the first five days ..at least.
Bud Wiser
July 25th, 2009
5:17 pm
When the 94%ers cannot reason fact against fact, they retreat to their little cubbyhole of ‘we HATE Bush!’
Idiots.
Blind to the end.
And its coming soon to a town and job near you.
Normal
July 25th, 2009
5:17 pm
Well, it looks like I missed alot here today…But a day with the Grandson is a day in Heaven…Whiner, to you I’m a liberal too,
you want to doubt my patriotism? I’ll match scars with yoiu any day, son…just sayin’.
The whole point to this is you say, America, love it or leave it. I and the others you call “liburl”, say America, love her when she’s right, change her when she’s wrong, and continue to love her…
I have a little boy waitin’ on burgers, but I’ll be back…
One other thing Whiner, you owe Josef’s boy a big apology…
Midori
July 25th, 2009
5:19 pm
oh, shut the teleprompter off Bud.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
5:24 pm
Hey Normal, I was wondering where you were. Figured you were entertaining the kids!
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
5:39 pm
Normal,
I realize you were in a rush to get down here to the comment box and run your tedious tough guy routine, but a more careful reading of the blog would show you that it’s more the definition of liberal that caused the confusion. IR/YW was using the modern day definition that applies to people like Pelosi and Obama while josef is using a more traditional definition.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
5:42 pm
Dang, I didn’t mean to run ya’ll off!
j$
July 25th, 2009
5:42 pm
“Question–how many of you arguing back and forth on this have ever been questioned by the police for “breaking in” your own house?”
Why would you have a problem with an officer asking for id when he is called upon to investigate a breaking and entering?
i bet gates was probably nervous about the quarter bag and roach clips in the kitchen drawer…
just sayin
Normal
July 25th, 2009
5:44 pm
Scooter, sorry I missed your “hello”. Yeah, it was fun.. can’t stay here tho, still got cooking to do…see ya
RW, Don’t care…
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
5:49 pm
J$–heh, heh! The first time it happened to me, I was “profiled” as a long-haired hippie type and well long ago and far away, no I didn’t want said gendarme inside for precisely your reasons stated.
The second go round, the only doubt the good officer seemed to have was how could I have heaved this tired old butt through that window to begin with. “Now you sure you all right, sir?” More of that damnable profiling!
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
5:52 pm
RW, Don’t care…
You should since it makes all the difference in the world as it relates to your bluster.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
5:53 pm
j$ @ 5:42,you could be right. I think Gates just has the McKinney syndrome. ????
Greg Mendel
July 25th, 2009
5:53 pm
The big problem with the Gates vs. Police controversy isn’t the truth and accuracy of the matter. It is the fact that health care reform — a far more important and vital subject — has been shoved aside in favor of a catfight. Obama should have simply avoided answering the question, regardless of his opinion. But, frankly, it was a very stupid question to ask in a press conference whose context was the health care debate. The reporter had a right to ask it, but a different, more challenging question about health reform would have served the public far more. The question and its aftermath is a prime example of what “informing the public” has come to mean.
My 24 year-old son (who manages a restaurant and works many hours) may have Whooping Cough. He doesn’t have health insurance because he’d have to work another job to afford it, and we can’t put him on our policy. So, he’s already “paid retail” several hundred dollars for no reliable diagnosis and no relief. He can’t afford several more tests that may or may not be useful. Whooping Cough was almost erradicated, but it’s beginning to return, hitting young people — because so many can’t afford to go to the doctor. They just cross their fingers and hope for the best. Which pretty much describes the future of health care in America.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
5:54 pm
Abby- I can almost imagine myself apologizing to Yosef, but I lot of things would have to go wrong before that happened.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
6:01 pm
Scooter,
or maybe Gates didn’t adhere to the officer’s demand to see his birth certificate?
josef nix
July 25th, 2009
6:05 pm
Dear Abby, Dear Abby …
My feet are too long
My hair’s falling out and my rights are all wrong
My friends they all tell me that I’ve no friends at all
Won’t you write me a letter, Won’t you give me a call
Signed Bewildered
–John Prine
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
6:06 pm
Midori,
maybe he should have!
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
6:11 pm
Interesting study that was conducted following the Penn Turnpike “profiling” fiasco where the Dept of Public Safety and the head of the Penn Hwy Patrol lost their jobs because of what was called profiling. Turns out that the highway patrol had no clue about who was driving the cars who were stopped for speeding as the speeding cars was zapped with a radar gun at 1/4 to 1/8 mile away. End result of the study….. blacks were stopped more often because they were the people who were driving too fast. No reinstatement of jobs, no apology…. nothing. Sharpton must have been running that fiasco.
Kamchak
July 25th, 2009
6:25 pm
Bewildered, bewildered you have no complaint
You are what you are, and you ain’t what you ain’t
So listen up buster, and listen up good
Stop wishin’ for bad luck and knocking on wood.
Signed Dear Abby
–also John Prine
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
6:31 pm
Kayaker, do you think Gates would have acted differently if the arresting officer was black? ????
electrician
July 25th, 2009
6:37 pm
Josef..Kamchak,,speaking of John Prine..’Your flag decal wont get you into heaven anymore’ would probably apply around here from time to time.
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
6:37 pm
Scooter,
One of the officers pictured in the cell phone photo was a black police officer. He hasn’t said much. But I think your question is a fair one. Over 40% of the police officers in the US are black. Are they accused of profiling when they arrest a black suspect?
@@
July 25th, 2009
6:37 pm
You guys could all take a guess on the biggest trout that’ll be caught.
Do they come in sizes like 2, 4 and 6…
16, 22 or 48?
Midori
July 25th, 2009
6:40 pm
Kayaker/Scooter,
you think the policeman would have behaved diffeently if Gates were white?
electrician
July 25th, 2009
6:42 pm
got my windshield so covered with flags ,I could’nt see.
Kamchak
July 25th, 2009
6:42 pm
electrician
My favorite John Prine song has to be “Illegal Smile.”
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
6:43 pm
@@,
Spoken like a genuine female angler. Many of the ones that Bookman will fish for are called “Washington keepers” and they are usually a size 2 or 4. The sizes from 16 up usually are not caught in the US and the angler has to journey to New Zealand or Chile or some other place for those.
electrician
July 25th, 2009
6:44 pm
dont cost very much ,and it lasts a long while
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
6:50 pm
Midori,
No, I really don’t. Crowley is a very upstanding, credible professional who teaches gives lectures on profiling in Cambridge and was picked by a black police officer to do so. Many in the black community are trying to make him into another Mark Fuhrman and the more they do so, the worse they look. It didn’t even work with Mr. Wonderful and he made himself look like a really sorry ass for saying that Crowley was “stupid”. I think Crowley has been trained to look at the situation and put race aside. At least that’s what his black fellow officers think.
@@
July 25th, 2009
6:54 pm
I just read a “contribution” at “The Root”. Isn’t that the website that Professor Gates launched? Anyhoo, Officer Crowley could have diffused the situation by saying: “Mr. Gates, I am sorry for any confusion. I was doing my job to protect you, sir. I don’t appreciate your talking about my mother and yelling racial insults at me. It is not necessary and unbecoming of a man like you. I hope you have a nice day, sir.” A man’s home is his castle—or is that no longer true in America? Officer Crowley was right to be insulted and offended by Gates’ verbal attacks on him. But did it rise to the level of arresting Gates? He had no weapons; he did not strike anyone; he was not throwing anything—he was trash talking—“playin’ the dozens” with the officer in a way that maybe only black folks truly understand.
Playing the dozens is one slang term for the verbal game played by African-American men in which they take turns telling one-line jokes to each other that insult their mother or another family member. The object of the game is to tell the best joke, usually after each person has been given twelve tries.
Insulting the women who birthed ‘em!!?!!
Would it be inappropriate for me to say that’s “a privilege” that I’ll gladly relinquish to African-American men????
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
6:54 pm
I guess that strong arming atteempt on the CBO didn’t work out so well.
For the second time this month, congressional budget analysts have dealt a blow to the Democrat’s health reform efforts, this time by saying a plan touted by the White House as crucial to paying for the bill would actually save almost no money over 10 years.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25415.html#ixzz0MJYlUDSd
I have no idea how that link got into my excerpt, but I’m going to leave it and see if it works.
But on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office said the proposal to give an independent panel the power to keep Medicare spending in check would only save about $2 billion over 10 years- a drop in the bucket compared to the bill’s $1 trillion price tag.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
6:56 pm
Kayaker,
I have never heard of a black officer being accused of profiling period!
@@
July 25th, 2009
6:56 pm
Stupid paragraph closer.
No Andy, I am not feeling boldly black today.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
7:00 pm
Midori, Yeah what Kayaker said.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
7:05 pm
Kayaker, you can get a 16 out of the BIG Manistee river in Mich.
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
7:05 pm
Scooter,
And you know that if they represent 40% of the police force nation wide, they must be arresting a lot of black suspects.
@@
July 25th, 2009
7:09 pm
Kayaker:
So all the trout that jay catches will be petites? Is there a limit?
We could always guess where, within the limit, jay will fall. OR how many over the limit he’ll have to throw back.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
7:09 pm
Jenks coughs up a run sending it to extra innings.
“Sweet.”
I guess Obozo doesn’t have his Komuniski Field White Sux jacket on.
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
7:20 pm
@@,
Depends on where he is going. If he fishes the Madison in Yellowstone or any river in Idaho near Haley, he will be limited to size 2 and 4. If he goes to some exotic place in Alaska or someplace where there is little to no pressure, he might get to size 6 or 8. You have to go to some pretty backwoods places for those 16s or 18s.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
7:30 pm
I take that back, Jenks also gives up the winning run in the 9th, precluding the need for extra innings.
“Sweet.”
When is the trade deadline?
Halladay, please.
@@
July 25th, 2009
7:31 pm
He’s fishing in Oregon, Kayak. I don’t know where though. The trout in that picture doesn’t appear to have scales. Is that the case?
I dine on ‘em without ever making their acquaintance.
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
7:38 pm
@@,
All trout have scales. Many of the Oregon rivers and streams receive a lot of pressure, especially in the summer. When the fall steelhead run starts in the the Kalamuth , the picture changes, depending on where you go. Oregon is a beautiful place to fish…. have been there many times.
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
7:41 pm
Jenks is jinxed. Like all the Black Sox.
Told Ya.
The Uppity Muslim curse continues.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
7:46 pm
Andy,
They didn’t lose until the 10th and Carrasco gave up the winning run. At least they weren’t as bad as the Jays today. They were up 9-1 and lost to the Rays 10-9 in 12.
TnGelding
July 25th, 2009
7:50 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 25th, 2009
7:09 pm
I saw my first ML game at Comiskey Park in 1955 against the Tigers.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
7:51 pm
Kayaker/Scooter,
something for you to consider: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1912778,…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
7:53 pm
RW- You’re right, I was right the first time, I turned the TV off when Jenks gave up the tying run and then checked back on MLB.com. Was confused.
They both suck.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
7:54 pm
P.S.
I think you both are substituting cries of racism for ego and extreme authoritarism.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
7:54 pm
The page you’ve requested has been moved or taken off the site.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Nice one Midori.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
7:55 pm
my bad: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1912778,00.html?artId=1912778?contType=article?chn=us
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
7:56 pm
They both suck
Maybe you can package them with a spare outfielder or two and trade them for Doc.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
7:56 pm
Midori, I didn’t get the link. It said error on page. ?????
Midori
July 25th, 2009
7:57 pm
i just posted the correct link, Scooter.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
8:00 pm
Midori,
You should have stuck with the broken link. I don’t think you’re going to get too far trying to prosecute Crowley for false arrest.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:00 pm
TN- I unmercifully taunted Jim Rice, saying things worse than I have ever said on this blog, from the front row of the right field bleachers at Komuniski Field. Had the man turned completely around, during play, staring at me with an icy cold glare. I had my escape route planned. He came to the plate in the fourth inning, stood off to the side looking directly at me, and then proceeded to strike out on 3 pitches, each swing a monster stroke aimed at my seat.
When he got back out to right field, I turned up the heat.
Underneath the bleachers, there was a picnic table area, best damn food on Earth bring served, and the whole thing was separated from the playing field by a chain link fence.
I got his autograph.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:02 pm
Pardon me, left field bleachers.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:05 pm
No kidding, I saw an article later on in the Sporting News, I think, and they were asking players what ballparks they hated going to. Sure enough, Jim Rice said Komuniski Field, because the fans are rabid or something like that.
I laughed my as-s off.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
8:07 pm
RW,
you sure take a lot of leaps and bounds.
I fail to see where the author suggests that.
Midori
July 25th, 2009
8:08 pm
further, I fail to see where “I” suggest that.
and I fail to see where I even suggested you join this conversation.
Normal
July 25th, 2009
8:09 pm
RW You seem to be young and I hope you are, then maybe one day you’ll open your eyes to shades of gray. I suspect you’ve never been in uniform either, so what you say to me means nothing. Say what you want, when you want, where you want, but don’t exprct me to be baited. It won’t happen.
Whiner, you claim, to be a veteran, and if you truly are then you are a disgrace to the brotherhood. You put down a fellow veteran, one who is still serving and who wants to serve for life because the people who raised him are gay? You seem to lack an understanding of what service to your country is all about. Men and women who serve are brothers and sisters, family. If you really served then why don’t you don’t get it. You owe Josef’s boy an apology.
Scooter
July 25th, 2009
8:09 pm
Midori, Race aside. I will always give law and military people the benefit of the doubt. I know there is rotten apples in the barrel. ???
Just saying…(sorry Normal)
Normal
July 25th, 2009
8:10 pm
To the rest of you out there, have a wonderful night…
I have to take a sleepy little boy home.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 25th, 2009
8:11 pm
@@
If a trout is size 16 or larger it can’t work for Delta and wear a red dress. At least that’s what I heard, ….I think.
(IW&SH)
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
8:11 pm
Norma,
You sure spend a lot of time obsessing over my age. What’s up wid dat?
Midori
July 25th, 2009
8:15 pm
Normal,
RW is 53.
and he’s exhibits tumultuous behavior.
gee — where’s a cop when you need one?
thanks Scooter.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
8:19 pm
RW is 53
Now why would you go and tell such a malicious lie? It’s YOU that’s 53 dearie.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:23 pm
Abby- I never specifically mentioned Yosef’s boy, you can check the post^^ in question if you so desire, nor will I ever apologize to any lib after I accused them of hating America.
Have you been listening to their president?
What don’t you understand?
getalife
July 25th, 2009
8:29 pm
I was watching the St. Louis- Philly game and some philly guy was using a lasar on St. Louis hitters.
They never caught him because philly fans don’t snitch.
@@
July 25th, 2009
8:31 pm
Thanks Kayaker. I’ll never have to scale that question again.
Hillbilly:
I’m being honest but not judgmental, mind you. When I fly, I’m always glad to find out I have a window seat until I see that my seat “buttee” is nosey.
Ahh geeeeez!!!
Since they’re paying and I’m not, I make the best of a great seat-u-a-tion.
(ISH)
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
8:31 pm
Midori,
The essence of this whole conversation centers on Gates and his middle finger up for white America. He probably would not have reacted the way he did if the arresting officer would have been black but do we have to have a double standard for who is doing the arresting and who is being arrested? Gates appears to have some kind of attitude for those who disagree with him. I would not like to take a class from him at Harvard because I would no doubt take a much different stand on subjects of race than he would. I do not pretend to know more about racial issues than Gates does but Gates is certainly a product of his past. Anyone who would react the way he did must have a lot of unresolved issues that are just below the surface….. like much of the black community. There’s a lot of racial hatred out there and it just takes an issue like this to make both sides of this issue react so differently. We need to get a better handle on this but it will take a couple of more generations before we set this aside.
getalife
July 25th, 2009
8:37 pm
RW,
Lets see your birth certificate.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
8:40 pm
getalife,
As soon as I can phony something up I’ll post it on line for you. Got Dan Rather’s number handy?
@@
July 25th, 2009
8:43 pm
Whoops!
Nosey.
getalife
July 25th, 2009
8:44 pm
RW,
Make sure you go back in time and print a birth notice in the local paper.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
8:45 pm
Except for AmWet, everybody has been on their best behavior without the omnipresent guiding hand of the blog nanny, it’s been almost downright civil in here today. Too bad AmWet had to spoil it with his release of the long pent up fy, followed shortly by a kma, but other than that, tranquility.
Hey, this is a lesson for reduced government interference in our lives if I ever saw one.
Throw off the bonds of government, elect a Repug for your representative!
@@
July 25th, 2009
8:49 pm
Oh my! This is a herring? The kind we eat?
@@
July 25th, 2009
8:50 pm
What’s goin’ on with my links today? Probably some url vs html thing that I care not to understand.
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
8:51 pm
getalife,
I once had a newspaper clipping that said I was in the gunfight at the OK corral.
Finn McCool
July 25th, 2009
8:52 pm
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/07/25/sirota/
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 25th, 2009
8:52 pm
@@
Just copy and paste the web address. It’s easier.
@@
July 25th, 2009
9:02 pm
O.K. Hillbilly.
http://fishindex.blogspot.com/2008/09/king-of-herrings-longest-fish-in-ocean.html
^^^ That’s a herring? The kind we eat?
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 25th, 2009
9:20 pm
@@
Not sure. There’s a spring branch down in the holler but nothin’ that big in it. (IWH)
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
9:38 pm
He Promised Change, but Is This Too Much, Too Soon?
Obama’s decision to launch the most ambitious domestic agenda since Lyndon B. Johnson’s thus became the defining decision of his presidency.
Obama is now dealing with the consequences. His approval ratings on key issues have eroded. He is battling congressional resistance to his health-care initiative. His energy bill passed the House by a narrow margin and is on hold in the Senate.-Washington Post
Looking for the eject button, hahahaha.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
9:52 pm
Aahhh, yes, Thomas Freidman, notorious climate whiner of the Treason Times and exciter of pinkos worldwide, he lives in thee wee little house, like any other lib-
http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTI2YjgzY2YwOTMzNmFiMWQ5NTY1ZTk2MWY2Y2EwZDE=
Yep, we must downsize but they……….
communists
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
9:54 pm
Anybody got a picture of Krugman’s crib?
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
9:56 pm
Anduhng, your nom de guerre is really the ultimate blogging joke, ya know?
But by all means, keep on whining, baby. I find it rather cute…
eagle scout
July 25th, 2009
9:59 pm
Kayaker 71
July 25th, 2009
7:38 pm
I was born and raised in Oregon. I have fished most of the rivers, and streams there. The Rogue, Deschutes, Sandy etal. In fact the Columbia used to yield (haven’t fished there in years) some mighty big sturgeon. One of my favorite spots was on an indian reservation in the middle of the state called the Ochoco Lake. That’s where I got my first, and biggest rainbow! Fond memories of a time gone past.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
10:11 pm
If America wants to get back on the right track, scientific space mission-wise, we need to once again pick an inspiring, audacious goal, and man it with the kind of inspirational crew to make it happen. At long last, let us realize mankind’s most cherished dream — sending the entire United States Congress to the Moon by 2010.
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/
Angry Black Man
July 25th, 2009
10:15 pm
Everyone wants to voice their two cents about the Gates incident. Unless you were there and witnessed everything, you can only assume what happened and what each person’s intent was. And we all know the result of A-S-Suming, don’t we? In this case, I can see there may be three sides, the officer’s side, the defendant’s side, and somewhere down the middle is the truth. In any incident like this, no one is going to tell the complete truth because it may reveal something they did wrong that escalated the situation. Gates may have done it by continuously running his mouth. The officer may have done something inadvertently that set Gates off.
As far as profiling, if you haven’t been the victim of profiling, you don’t have a leg to stand on. Some of y’all may believe that racism is a thing of the past, but there’s a few people who post here that are about 2-3 meetings away from earning their sheets. Just because you don’t prejudge people doesn’t automatically make it go away. There’s places that I won’t travel today because of the way people act towards the color of my skin. Do I hold that against all white people? H-E-L-L NO!! Because I refuse to judge all people with broad generalizations.
This is a prime example of what’s wrong with our country now. Economy is rough, job market sucks, and people want to wax poetic about an arrest incident in which they have no dog in the fight. If everyone worked that hard to do something about healthcare, our veterans wouldn’t be committing suicide at the rate they’re doing it. Ten year old girls wouldn’t be suffering from breast cancer. People wouldn’t have to file bankruptcy because their medical emergency wiped them out financially.
For those whom I consider friends here, forgive me for my rant. If I offended anyone…
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
10:21 pm
ABM,
Since you don’t name your friends or those you’re accusing of being Klanners it’s kind of hard to know whether to be offended or not.
One thing I do know is that all the interaction between an officer and suspect is recorded in Massachusetts and state law says it has to be made public. The lawyers can play games for a while but pretty soon we’ll hear the audio.
TGT
July 25th, 2009
10:27 pm
IR/YW: I wondered recently about Krugman’s personal finances, etc., but I haven’t (yet) investigated. As far as Friedman’s place, here are a couple of other details (from the Huffington Post of all places):
“As the July edition of the Washingtonian Magazine notes, Friedman lives in ‘a palatial 11,400-square-foot house, now valued at $9.3 million, on a 7½-acre parcel just blocks from I-495 and Bethesda Country Club.’ He ‘married into one of the 100 richest families in the country’ – the Bucksbaums, whose real-estate Empire is valued at $2.7 billion.”
Indeed, that is quite a “footprint.”
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
10:33 pm
Angry Black Man, I think you have a damned good idea who your friends are here.
As well as though who not only fit the description, “…there’s a few people who post here that are about 2-3 meetings away from earning their sheets.”, but know it hits too close to home.
You have made some great, reasoned contributions in your short time here and have much worth reading. Notwithstanding the trollish or rightfully paranoid responses those posts sometimes generate…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 25th, 2009
10:38 pm
Really, the way Friedman whines about America’s carbon “footprint,” you would never figure that he lives in a military-industrial complex.
liberalism is a disease
@@
July 25th, 2009
11:18 pm
Alrighty din! I have a personal/family experience I can share.
My daughter, driving home from class, gets caught under a traffic light in Morrow with three other offenders. A black police officer pulls up and gives my daughter (white) and another driver (white) tickets. The two other offenders were black. No tickets were issued to the two black drivers.
Can’t do anything about that. We go to court…my daughter gets hit with a $350.00 ticket (first ever) by a white judge. The other guy has his case bound over for trial, putting aside his obvious guilt, ’cause he “thinks” the officer exhibited racial preference.
I was angry about the $350.00 but now I’m thinking…shute! the City of Morrow could’a had $1,400.00 (assuming everyone was a first time offenders) instead of the $350.00 I had to shell out. Don’t know how the other guy’s case turned out — probably lost. He was guilty.
Is that race discrimination, racial preference, profiling or stupidity for having lost an additional $700.00 in revenue?
@@
July 25th, 2009
11:42 pm
I can wait until tomorrow for an answer. If I never get one that’ll be O.K., too.
Normal
July 26th, 2009
6:49 am
Enter your comments here
Bud Wiser
July 26th, 2009
7:07 am
Does it make you feel good dimwits to pet your little 94%er on the head and agree with everything the idiot says?
Is that the way the dimwits ‘recruit’ their beloved little brainless minorities to the fold, to make happy talk and treat them like the family pet?
Sheeesh.
Obowo displayed his racist pig attitudes for all to see, because it always surfaces for his kind, no matter how high and far he makes it in his personal or professional life, it always bubbles up, always.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
7:09 am
Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man
What do you mean “may?”
Just think of how many times the TelePrompter has tricked Obozo into saying things he didn’t want to.
What about the internal combustion engine making al-Gore believe that the Earth is “warming,” hahahaha, engines do like to have fun.
And what of the TV set, the greatest takeover of humanity in world history, turning the once fiscally responsible and national security conscious democrat party into a bunch of paranoid America hating moonbats?
You should be worried about your machines, America, very, very worried.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
7:25 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 25th, 2009
9:38 pm
Not a chance. He’ll persevere. But it could cost him dearly. I don’t think he really wants to be president for another term anyway. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t check out early. And who could blame him? It just isn’t worth the abuse they have to take.
But he has some unlikey allies:
“Lobbyists the silver lining in health care storm?”
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http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_OVERHAUL_SILVER_LINING?SITE=GACAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
7:27 am
I Report You Whine
July 25th, 2009
9:38 pm
Oops, got a little more in there than intended. Sorry.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
7:31 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 26th, 2009
7:09 am
Well, they certainly control our lives. Where would we be without our PCs and laptops? And heaven help us if the power goes off for more than a few seconds.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
7:47 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 25th, 2009
9:52 pm
Communists could only dream of such a spread. Hypocrite? Maybe he rationalizes it by knowing that it doesn’t matter until China and India get on board.
I have a small carbon footprint until I start up the lawnmower.
Tar Heel Bred bleeds Tar Heel Blue
July 26th, 2009
7:53 am
This whole Gates-Cambridge Police incident was nothing more than just a ruse cleverly set-up by Gates for publicity for his documentary essays (films, books, courses, etc) and taken advantage of by Obama to distract away from the virtual defeat of his flawed and increasingly unpopular healthcare bill. Since Obama made his statements at the press conference that almost no one is talking about Congress not meeting the deadline for the healthcare bill that was going to be deemed a failure if it wasn’t met. The question about the Gates “incident” was most likely planted by the administration and the help of Obama’s allies in the media.
I can’t believe how the right-wingers took the bait and ate this story up. Almost no one was talking about the failure of the healthcare bill, which we may, but most likely may not, hear more about after Congress’ August recess. The Henry Louis Gates’ “incident” was the perfect conversation-changer and distraction to what would have clearly been most likely a crippling political defeat to the Obama Administration without it in the news.
Conservatives seem to have just been the victims of a very clever “bait-and-switch”, using the often intriguing subject of race to change the subject from a failed healthcare bill, but seem either to not know or even be aware of it. Obama made that statement about the Cambridge Police acting “stupidly” on purpose to get everyone to stop talking about the flawed healthcare bill that he had just set a hard deadline for just hours before.
LOOK, OVER THERE, A BLACK MAN! Where? Just like taking candy from a baby. If that’s all it takes to distract conservatives from a “grown-up” conversation about serious issues, Obama is gonna have a field day with the right.
Obama would much rather be seen at a photo op with Gates and the Cambridge officer correcting a minor “gaffe” that gives him credibility with black and latino voters than to be talking about a major political defeat and the right bit right into it and took the bait “hook, line and sinker”. From the all-but-certain Sotomayor Supreme Court Nomination to the Gates “incident” and even going back to the Jesse Jackson “I wanna cut his n–ts off” comments during the campaign, conservatives have got to stop letting Obama and the media lead them around blindly by the nose.
Even after I write this, many conservatives who read this will still have no idea that Obama and the left are having their way with the right at the right’s expense. The right will still be obsessing with the Gates’ story being hand-fed to them by Obama and the left while poses for a photo op over beer and pizza and laughs in their faces knowing that he playing them like a flute and using them like a “tool”.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:18 am
TN- Don’t get me wrong here for I know that Mother Nature couldn’t care less about your lawn mower, you could crank every lawn mower in America and run them 24/7, that’s nothing compared to a volcanic eruption, but unless you are scratching up a blanket of fallen leaves every evening and calling it home, the libs think you are harming the environment.
I’m pretty sure they prefer that you stop breathing altogether.
thomas
July 26th, 2009
8:19 am
Seems as if Gates now wants this all to go away.
Funny he was out doing interviews, and saying he wanted to make sure this didn’t happen to any other Americans, but now wants it to go away.
Wonder what changed his mind? Facts coming out maybe?
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 26th, 2009
8:20 am
Well, I got just four tickets in my whole life. I got them all from police officers that were Those People. I got stopped lots of times by White police officers. After we talked awhile about fishing and bowling and how good the donuts were at Krispy Kreme they let me go. But me and the Black police didn’t have nothing to talk about. I don’t know nothing about rap music and stuff like that. So I got tickets from them.
Now if that ain’t racial profiling I don’t what is. Have a good Sabbath everybody.
thomas
July 26th, 2009
8:25 am
Why aren’t the dems blasting their elected officials afterall it is the dems in the the house who have held up the health refrom bill.
Oh I know why because Obama is making it political blaming republicans so his sheep follow.
Guess both sides have trouble being honest and blaming themselves huh?
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:46 am
The AJC just dutifully passes along the lying democrat propaganda-
46 million without health insurance-Urinal
Nary a mention that 37 million of them are temporarily in between jobs, illegal immigrants or receive health care paid for by some other means.
The other 9 million can afford it but CHOOSE not to pay for it.
For this they want to trash the best health care system in the world.
So ask yourself, do they care about you or their power over you?
Angry Black Man
July 26th, 2009
9:08 am
RW-(the original)
July 25th, 2009
10:21 pm
I’ve read quite a few of your posts, and you definitely do not fit the meeting description. That comment was directed towards the “lazy, welfare baby momma” crowd. We personally have not chatted back and forth, but I do read your posts and agree with what you say from time to time. On your post I also agree with you. Once the communication is made public, someone will end up with egg on their face. I personally think it would be best to just let the whole incident fade away, but it’s way beyond that point now. I’ll reserve my judgement until the communication is made public and I know more about what happened.
AmVet
July 25th, 2009
10:33 pm
Thanks for the compliment. I don’t contribute nearly what others here do, but I place my two cents in from time to time.
@@
July 25th, 2009
11:18 pm
From what you post, it sounds like discrimination to me. The officer should have written everyone a ticket that was at fault or gave everyone a warning. Unless there’s justification in the law, two people committing the same offense should get the same penalty
TechLover
July 26th, 2009
9:16 am
I thought it was going to be a story about Sonny’s fish ponds.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
9:42 am
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 29% of the nation’s voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -11. That’s the first time his ratings have reached double digits in negative territory
Drive on, democrats, drive on!
josef nix
July 26th, 2009
9:44 am
Angry Black Male–good morning and how are ya? I’ve been anxiously awaiting your posts. You are “on both sides” of the issue and a man of rational perspective. I am of your opinion that there are three sides to this little set-to, which, in my opinion, is getting attention only because it involves a “prominent scholar” from a “prestige institution.” This sort of thing we all know goes on every day from coast to coast and rarely does anybody even notice, much less get so bent out of shape as to pull in the POTUS and spark a firestorm of “debate.” I am far less concerned in this particular incident with race than I am with this unspoken idee fixe that somehow Professor Gates, “a Harvard scholar,” should somehow be more of a poster child than John Doe in Slidell.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
9:54 am
Here’s something for you global cooling deniers, haha-
3,000 Low Temp Records Set This July!
http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?blog=weathermatrix&partner=&pgUrl=/mtweb/content/weathermatrix/archives/2009/07/1000_low_temp_records_set_this_july.asp
Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
10:05 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 25th, 2009
10:38 pm
But is conservatism the cure?
I Report
You Whine 
July 26th, 2009
8:18 am
They and many others!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 26th, 2009
10:17 am
Well, I see this guy down in Jonesboro was arrested for doing You Know What with a dog. I sure hope it don’t turn out he’s a Republican. What with Republicans being arrested for going after teenage boys and men on the commode in a public toilet and others making the news for being in a diaper with a Woman of the Night and running off to be with a mistress in Argentina and getting your Mom and Dad to pay off a woman that ain’t your wife and doing You Know What with a mule, and all. If this keeps up we’ll be called the Party of Preverts. It’s awful hard to talk about Fambly Values when you’re a prevert. So I’m praying this Jonesboro guy turns out to be a librul Democrat.
Have a good Sabbath everybody.
Kamchak
July 26th, 2009
10:19 am
josef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpsTj4ijnkw
Should be Mike Cross, a singer/songwriter from the Appalachians. Saw him perform at Moonshadow back in the 80’s. Shoulda remembered this during our discussions about inbred tribalism.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
10:29 am
cons had there chance and destroyed our country.
The bush depression is officially over.
Never again.
Hillary was a pro on MTP.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
10:40 am
Secretary of State Bruno Klinton thundered on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that Iran will never achieve its goal of a nuclear weapon, warning Tehran: “Your pursuit is futile.”
Now Obozo has to issue a “clarification,” hahaha.
eewwww!
getalife
July 26th, 2009
10:53 am
This is my first pro lobby post:
“The drug industry, the American Medical Association, hospital groups and the insurance lobby are all saying Congress must make major changes this year. ”
Shocking.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
11:01 am
No clarification needed Andy.
Do you ever listen to the President?
Dusty
July 26th, 2009
11:13 am
Well, it seems Bookman is going to be gone for a week while we talk about FISHING??? Let’s think of something else. Let’s shut the GATES and move on.
I was reading that Gov. Perdue is cutting a lot ($900 million I believe) from Georgia budget and hoping it will be enough. Suppose we set up a VOLUNTEER Worker Program where citizens sign up for many jobs that do not require professional training or some can do even specialized work.. Could volunteers run state parks with a “skeleton” crew of paid employees? Could receptionists jobs be covered? Could ordinary accounting be accomplished? Could highway radar be covered by volunteers? Could volunteers sign up for duty, citing their expertise and then be place in temp non paying jobs?
Of course paying jobs would be lost. But some are being lost anyway. This would only be temporary. But there is a vast talent of retirees out there whom I believe would love to help this state if they knew how and where.
I have an old friend in her eighties who covers the front desk in a hospital several days a week.. She has learned all information quite well and helps visitors and patients daily. She does not get paid. Another is a retired nurse who works as a church assistant and helps and directs people to services needed. I use them as an example of what can be done when a quest for willing capable volunteers is made. Why not help our state when there is a need? We certainly need a stable state government in hard economic times and all others.
Does anyone think we could actively recruit volunteers that would REALLY help the state? Is there already such info available for volunteers in state agencies? Maybe I have missed something.
RW-(the original)
July 26th, 2009
11:16 am
ABM,
No worries. I’ve been on a futile quest for years to get people to be more specific when calling someone out. The problem with being non-specific is it gives the intended targets a place to hide, but I also understand that Jay B wouldn’t even allow singling out for long.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
11:18 am
Gregory asked if Iran is run by an illegitimate regime.
“You know, that’s really for the people of Iran to decide,” Clinton said. “I have been moved by the … cries for freedom. … People that go back millennia, that have such a great culture and history, deserve better than what they’re getting.”
Brilliant.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
11:38 am
Mr Obama said he believed Iranian voices should be heard, although he added that he did not want to be seen to be “meddling”.
Bruno is not meddling?
Curious Observer
July 26th, 2009
12:25 pm
Glad to see Dusty has a solution to the fiscal crisis in Georgia. Volunteers, huh? Georgia is furloughing teachers and state employees, reducing parks, etc., while enjoying one of the lowest tax rates in the nation. I suppose it’s easier for people like Dusty to seek out free labor than it is to bite the bullet and pay an extra penny in sales tax to help raise Georgia from the educational cesspool in which it resides. There simply has to be something else we can cut, huh, Dusty?
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
12:28 pm
“Bruno is not meddling”
Talking is not meddling. Meddling is attacking a country that was no threat to anyone.
Midori
July 26th, 2009
2:03 pm
Doggone,
you hear that sound/
his head just exploded
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
2:06 pm
Doggone- Considering that Iran is unlikely to be deterred by Bruno’s blustering, I’m not so sure I would be dissing the invasion of a country that hasn’t attacked us, if I were you.
Unless you think Klinton is lying, maybe?
RW-(the original)
July 26th, 2009
2:25 pm
Meddling is attacking a country that was no threat to anyone.
I think I’m going to market a Polly Progressive doll where you pull the string hanging out the back and it sputters one of these monnbat talking points.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
2:26 pm
I am sure Andy should not try to match intellect with Hillary Clinton.
Not even close to being in her league.
Just stating the obvious.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
2:35 pm
Bruno gave a “reset” button, in which the actual Russian translation turned out to be “overload,” to a gang of communist dictators who have their eyes set on the whole of Eastern Europe, and here’s al-Gitmo wanting to talk “intellect.”
I rule Klinton.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 26th, 2009
2:38 pm
Enter your comments here
getalife
July 26th, 2009
2:38 pm
And Andy was a w hack.
I rest my case.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 26th, 2009
2:40 pm
This being the same Bruno that burst into the funeral of a black man and, hogging the spotlight, unleashed a kampaign speech, yelling at the crowd in 1960’s Ghetto Slang.
No contest, hahaha
AmVet
July 26th, 2009
2:54 pm
getalife at 2:26, more like Billy Carter’s league.
Or Dan Quayle’s:
“The holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history.… No, not our nation’s, but in World War II. I mean, we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century, but in this century’s history.”
“I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.”
“Mars is essentially in the same orbit [as Earth]….Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe.”
Or when he addressed the United Negro College Fund, whose slogan is “A mind is a terrible thing to waste”, Quayle said “You take the UNCF model that what a waste it is to lose one’s mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”
That Republican mental midget must have been a great inspiration for George of the Bungle…
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 26th, 2009
2:57 pm
I wonder if this old hag even consults with Obozo anymore, she knows just as well as the rest of the world does that this is a one term president.
The door for 2012 is wide open.
All she has to do is find out what he thinks and then say the exact opposite, how can she go wrong?
Does anybody really believe that it was barry who nutted up on Iran?
uh, I rule.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
3:08 pm
AmVet,
He drank beer, Andy guzzles vodka.
Just sayin
getalife
July 26th, 2009
3:13 pm
Iran took it to a new level saying they will attack Israel’s nukes.
They will attack Saudi oil fields and close the shipping zone.
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
3:17 pm
“Considering that Iran is unlikely to be deterred by Bruno’s blustering, I’m not so sure I would be dissing the invasion of a country that hasn’t attacked us, if I were you”
Does this make sense to anyone? It sure doesn’t to ME.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
3:18 pm
al-Gitmo: I think Iran’s first hurdle for the glorious Middle Eastern rampage would be getting an air force. Or rockets that don’t go up and come straight back down.
I’m sure if they wait long enough, Obozo will have United States on the same technological level as they are, only problem is, barry only got four years, hahahaha.
Not enough time, suckers
getalife
July 26th, 2009
3:22 pm
Yeah Andy,
No gas lines is a good thing. If you factor the cost of the military and occupation, the price of gas is very high. They don’t want to make it higher.
Attacking Iran would be a bigger disaster than Iraq.
Adults are in charge so it will not happen.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
3:24 pm
Geezus, dog, you can’t be this helpless, can you?- Iran is going to get a nuke, Palin won’t be able to stop them for 3 and half more years. So how is little obozo gonna live up to his SecState’s bluster? A big blowhard speech? Renounce is support of ImaWhackjob?
Perhaps you could tell us?
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
3:29 pm
“Geezus, dog, you can’t be this helpless, can you?- Iran is going to get a nuke, Palin won’t be able to stop them for 3 and half more years. So how is little obozo gonna live up to his SecState’s bluster? A big blowhard speech? Renounce is support of ImaWhackjob”
Why don’t you try responding to what I *said* and not to the little voices in your head? I did not say anything about “a country that hasn’t attacked us”…I said a country “that was no threat to anyone.”
Now, if Iran becomes a threat to Israel, or any other country, then that statement DOES NOT APPLY to them, now does it?
Angry Black Man
July 26th, 2009
3:31 pm
josef nix
July 26th, 2009
9:44 am
I know I’ve been MIA for a minute. Those 12hr work days catch up with you after a while. I can see your point too about the “prestige” of the person. No one made a fuss when I was pulled over in college while driving my 1977 Ford LTD II by the Montgomery Police Dept. when they had a 1983 Ford LTD on their stolen car report. The two officers approached the car with hands on guns. It just so happened that they pulled us over in one of the areas that’s predominately black and there were 4 young black guys in the car. I can’t say whether or not they would have approached the car like that if it were you and three of your friends driving near the country club.
RW-(the original)
July 26th, 2009
11:16 am
I’ve seen what happens when you start calling out names around here. I don’t want to add my name to the banned list. If I could be specific without reprecussions, I have no problem with naming people. I don’t think it would do much good. People are going to think and believe what they want to anyway.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
3:33 pm
Oh great, now we veer off into the fever swamps, doggone wants to debate the Iraq War Resolution, voted for by, guess who, Bruno, to remove weapons of mass destruction that were threatening the region.
wonderful.
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
3:36 pm
” doggone wants to debate ”
I wouldn’t bother. The response I made was to your mistaking talking for meddling. We meddled in Iraq. We are NOT meddling in Iran. I repeat, for your edification: TALKING is not MEDDLING Attacking a country that was NO THREAT TO ANYONE is meddling.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
3:43 pm
getalife
July 26th, 2009
10:29 am
Wonder if the White House had to approve her appearence? Not many people get the entire hour.
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
3:44 pm
Oh, and BTW…and for your further edification…there was no “Iraq War Resolution”
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
3:54 pm
Curious Observer
July 26th, 2009
12:25 pm
I liked Dusty’s idea, since I assume it would only be temporary. At least she isn’t deliberately underming our economic system like so many of her fellow conservatives.
I don’t know why our education system doesn’t rank any higher than it does, but it isn’t because we aren’t spending enough money. And if the parents are involved most children get a good enough education to advance to the next level. And how many states have anything comparable to Hope?
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
3:58 pm
I sincerely do hope that Iran musters up the courage and enough of an air force to fly over and attack Israel, because if any of their planes do come back, they will be shot full of holes.
Israel would feast on that as-s.
~~~~~~
DOGGONE- YELLING AT ME MAY MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER BUT YOU ARE STILL A DUNCE< JUST SAYIN….
The Iraq Resolution or the Iraq War Resolution (formally the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 [1], Pub.L. 107-243, 116 Stat. 1498, enacted October 16, 2002, H.J.Res. 114) is a joint resolution (i.e., a law) passed by the United States Congress in October 2002 as Public Law No: 107-243, authorizing the Iraq War.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 26th, 2009
4:00 pm
TnGelding
I believe that most of the problems with education are in the home but I couldn’t begin to tell you how to fix it. If people don’t care enough to see that their kids get an education, what can anybody do? We should keep trying but, like you, I don’t think money will fix it.
Finn McCool
July 26th, 2009
4:02 pm
Nearly 2,000 Show Up for Free Health Care in Virginia
Nearly 2,000 people crowded onto a southwest Virginia fairgrounds Friday and waited hours to receive free dental care, eyeglasses and medical procedures.</i?
Remote Area Medical founder Stan Brock said the daily limit of 1,600 patients for the three-day clinic in Wise County was reached by 5:30 a.m. Friday. Another 200 people were admitted to the treatment area later in the morning, but several hundred more had to be turned away.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1156254.html
getalife
July 26th, 2009
4:06 pm
TnGelding ,
The President sets foreign policy but it was like a class on diplomacy with a very smart teacher.
She said she is out of politics but will probably serve in future administrations.
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
4:07 pm
“And how many states have anything comparable to Hope?”
I don’t know how accurate the answer are, but a discussion of this very question can be found here:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/general-u-s/217537-do-any-other-states-have-something.html
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
4:09 pm
“DOGGONE- YELLING AT ME MAY MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER BUT YOU ARE STILL A DUNCE< JUST SAYIN….”
GET OVER IT.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
4:10 pm
Israel claims their missile defense test was successful today to counter the Iran threat to blow up their nukes.
RW-(the original)
July 26th, 2009
4:53 pm
Obama in Mom Jeans, the musical
The song starts around the one minute mark.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
6:01 pm
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
3:44 pm
Thanks for clarifying that. Congress doesn’t have the guts to declare war, and the administrations don’t want the formality of it; might have to abide by laws and conventions.
“The resolution required Bush to “certify that action against Iraq would not hinder efforts to pursue the al Qaeda terrorist network” that attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001. It also required the Bush administration “to report to Congress on the progress of any war with Iraq every 60 days.”[5]”
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_Against_Iraq_Resolution_of_2002
http://www.c-span.org/resources/pdf/hjres114.pdf
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
6:03 pm
getalife
July 26th, 2009
4:06 pm
I only saw a little bit of it, but was very impressed by what I saw.
josef nix
July 26th, 2009
6:17 pm
TnGelding–why our educational system ranks…
These rankings are predicated on the scores on standardized university admittance examinations (in the US, the SAT and ACT). We score lower because, unlike other country’s systems, we as a rule test ALL our students whereas they test only those who have completed the track leading to university and who do plan to attend. Naturally, their scores would be higher. The same thing is at work here in the US. Some states do not test all their students and those tend to be the higher scoring ones. States such as Georgia which test all of them, tend to have lower mean scores. Years ago when we only tested those going on to college, our mean scores were much higher. When scores on standardized tests before graduation (such as the ITBS in the US) are compared, where all students are tested, the US rankings are not nearly so dismal in comparison.
Secondly, in ethnically homogenous societies with smaller populations and less less socio-economic class distinctions, (Denmark, Costa Rica, Slovenia, etc.), scores are higher.
DoggoneGA
July 26th, 2009
6:53 pm
“Thanks for clarifying that”
I was SO angry when that resolution passed. If it had been in MY power I would have tried every Senator and Representative who voted Yes for treason. Apart from the fact that I *knew* Bush would abuse that power, I absolutely could NOT believe how easily Congress gave up their Consititutional power to declare war.
Midori
July 26th, 2009
7:27 pm
I see Simple Sarah has passed the gubernatorial torch.
Bye Sarah!!
Don’t let the door hit ya!!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:05 pm
Terrific, the White Sux are the patsies for the Game of the Weak.
ew
@@
July 26th, 2009
8:08 pm
Any fly-fisher(people) on here? I have a question.
@@
July 26th, 2009
8:24 pm
Never mind…I found the answer.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:24 pm
They aren’t fly fishing, @@, that’s all just the excuse guys use to get into the woods.
They are gathered together inside the 54′ Winnebago, A/C turned up to the max, cracking open the cold beers and talking about how the Repugs wanna burn all this to the ground, ew.
Standing in the river, I doubt it.
catlady
July 26th, 2009
8:25 pm
Palin is gone. Let’s ignore her now. Treat her like most are treating the Octomom. Good riddance!
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
8:27 pm
Look for the silver lining:
July 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose, completing the steepest two-week rally for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 2000, as companies beat profit estimates and an increase in home resales signaled an economic recovery may be underway.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601057&sid=aZH0EAJbxH7w
@@
July 26th, 2009
8:29 pm
Well, Andy, I was asking for myself. I’ve always thought I’d like to learn how to fly fish OR…
I could sit around and obsess about some other woman like Midori and catlady.
Very labor intensive…fly fishing, I mean.
Still…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:39 pm
Her first order of business as a private citizen is to speak Aug. 8 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. She also wants to campaign for political candidates from coast to coast, and continue to speak her mind on the social networking site Twitter.
Free speech was a theme of her farewell speech at a crowded picnic in Fairbanks, as the outgoing governor scolded “some seemingly hell bent on tearing down our nation” and warned Americans to “be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free.”
Hot damn! How very refreshing.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:50 pm
@@- It’s like any other hobby, time consuming.
First, you can tie your own flies, which is an art form all of it’s own. Then choosing the right rod and reel combination, line size and hip waders. Find the spot in the drink where you think the fish are most likely gathered, stand back aways from there about 20 or so feet. Start feeding your line out in an overhead back and forth motion until you are hitting the spot on the forward cast, play the fly on the surface of the water for just a few seconds, no strike, pull it back and whip it to the same or a new spot.
Stay away from waterfalls, lest you want to drown.
Or you could drive to Buford and net them in the pond.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
8:58 pm
You truly have to admire this-
Larry Landry, 51, of Fairbanks held up a red, white and blue sign that that read, “Quitting: the new American value.” The other side read: “Thanks for the laughs.”
Landry, a registered independent, said he respected Palin when she ran for governor in 2006, but she changed during last year’s presidential campaign.
“She turned into a vicious vixen,” he said. “She descended into ugly, divisive politics.”
The AP/Obama didn’t catch it and I’m guessing most libs are mouth agape wondering what I’m pointing out, but some angry dude with a sign heckling this woman and, at the same time, whining about “ugly, divisive politics?”
Moonbat.
getalife
July 26th, 2009
9:06 pm
She’s a quitter.
Kamchak
July 26th, 2009
9:06 pm
“…but some angry dude with a sign heckling…”
Didn’t you brag about heckling a baseball player?
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
9:09 pm
Upchuck- Yes, I’m proud that you read my posts and store them in your empty head for future reference, but did I also whine about “ugly, divisive hecklers” while I was heckling?
Kamchak
July 26th, 2009
9:16 pm
Heckling is heckling—-if you need to differentiate your behaviour to make yourself feel better then fine. You are, however, criticizing actions that you have bragged about doing.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
9:22 pm
Upchuck- Did I criticize the due for heckling or whining about hecklers?
Think about it, man.
Kamchak
July 26th, 2009
9:25 pm
Andy—Yep.
@@
July 26th, 2009
9:31 pm
My second attempt is in MODERATION?
Again…a Southern California media site has an article:
The secretary of State seeks to calm Moscow after Vice President Biden’s recent comments that the country is badly damaged economically and its leadership is clinging to the past.
Clinton has been struggling to make her voice heard in foreign policy at a time when a long list of administration luminaries, including Biden, special envoys George J. Mitchell and Richard C. Holbrooke, and Obama’s own aides, are vying for attention.
She described herself as “the chief advisor,” the “chief executor” and the “chief diplomat” but said that ultimately Obama made the foreign policy decisions.
You’d never know it the way things are looking.
Window dressing! The guy is nothing more than window dressing.
“The Mannequin” has no clothes. Our ship is at sea without a captain at the helm.
Dusty
July 26th, 2009
9:37 pm
Hecklers! Hecklers! Who needs ‘em. The Braves played like heroes and beat that other team to a frazzle. I mean, they could not stop hitting homers and anywhere else they could hit one. Kelly Johnson got his “stuff” back and all the rest did GOOD too.
And speaking of GOOD, I went through South Carolina recently and bought some “picked off the tree ripe” peaches near Gaffney, the little town with the great big peach water tank. I haven’t tasted anything that good in a long time. Gold with a little pink middle and sweet and juicy and an absolutely heavenly flavor amd the best thing to ever come off a tree. .Oh, I wish I still had one to drip over my computer. THAT GOOD!!
Who cares about fishy scaly things you have to catch and look ‘em in the eye. Get a pteach!!
Dusty
July 26th, 2009
9:38 pm
Where did that last “t” come from? Hecklers!
@@
July 26th, 2009
9:38 pm
FINALLY!
Thank you, Andy. You described it just like my search did. I was wondering why they didn’t use their reels. Seems like it’s only used for storage when moving from spot to spot.
Using a net’s no challenge. I’d enjoy the challenge. Maybe an annual girl’s trip? Naahhhh, they don’t like anything challenging.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I read an article today where dissidents in Russia are more impressed with Liz Cheney’s perspective on Russia than they are Obama’s.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 26th, 2009
9:43 pm
Upchuck, now check this out, I am a polluter of the environment but I have no problem with polluters because the Earth can withstand anything we do to it, God made it that way.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 26 (Reuters) – A Canadian astronaut aboard the International Space Station said on Sunday it looks like Earth’s ice caps have melted a bit since he was last in orbit 12 years ago.
Now, knowing that I am a polluter, have you ever heard me whine about “melting” ice caps?
For most shuttles, the damage comes from the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs, require at shuttle launch to provide 71.4% of the thrust at lift-off and elevate the shuttle to an altitude of 45km (28 miles).
As a shuttle launches, a “cloud” becomes visible which contains SRB exhaust products, either dissolved or as particles in the water vapour released by the main engines.
Hydrochloric acid formed in this launch cloud leads to acidic deposits in the surrounding area, a phenomenon which may also be observed some distance away if exhausts are carried on prevailing winds.
The scenes of dead fish in Spain could be repeated next to launch sites
John Pike, president of Global Security.org, and an expert on the US space programme says: “The hydrochloric acid can pit the paint on your car if it is too close to the launch site.”
A 1993 Nasa technical manual considered environmental effects of space shuttle launches at Kennedy Space Centre, and stated that some cumulative effects of launches in the nearby area are “reduction in the number of plant species present and reduction in total cover”.
The manual also pointed out that acid deposits from the launch cloud can also impact nearby water lagoons and their wildlife.
Are you following me, my man, or what?
@@
July 26th, 2009
9:44 pm
I guess it was the…
L
A
T
i
m
e
s
that the server didn’t like?
Dusty
July 26th, 2009
9:54 pm
@@.
This “moderation” thing makes no sense at all. There’s no pattern or reasoning to it. You don’t have to use “bad” language or anything objectionable and it fires off. Maybe it has a list of IDs and when each one comes up more than 2 o3 three times then it “moderates”.
Whatever. Bookman should have taken it with him and thrown it in the river. Maybe it could “moderate” some trout and make them all liberal suckers. Nawww….I’ve caught catfish and dogfish but never a sucker. Not even a liberal one.
@@
July 26th, 2009
10:06 pm
Dusty, moderated comments make me all the more determined.
Did you freeze or can those peaches. My husband bought me a gorgeous canner. I grow pink-eye peas in the garden but they lose their distinctive flavor when frozen. Besides, ants love peas and picking ‘em is a pain. With my new canner, (I’m so excited) I can buy them by the bushel and eat them all year long. Their flavor is maintained through canning.
They taste like boiled peanuts. So yummy.
Dusty
July 26th, 2009
10:27 pm
No @@,
I use to do some canning but not much any more. Seems like there is always something else I oughta be doing. I did try some spiced peaches recently, just a jar or two. But everybody pushed them around their plate and left them.. Ended up, I had to eat most of them. (My cooking is not “inspirational”.) We did eat the SC peaches in a hurry. So good! Just wash them and take a delicious bite. That pleased everybody.
Good luck with your new canner. That was a fine gift ( with an eye to some good veggies this winter)..
I love fresh peas. You must be a good gardner. I have a couple of spindly tomato plants. I think they will fall over dead if they ever develop a tomato. Couple of patio tomatoes look pretty good. My specialty seems to be weeds. They can come up through concrete around here.
Well, getting late. I’d better get going so I can get up in the morning. G’nite!
md
July 26th, 2009
10:36 pm
Add gov’t networked healthcare/insurance/whateveryouwannacallit to your financial history (credit report, credit cards) and your shoppers club cards, and this is what you get:
http://aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf
Anyone think we are not yet on this road?
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
10:37 pm
@@
July 26th, 2009
9:31 pm
Wer’ve been adrift for decades. Where have you been? Shh, but don’t tell anybody. You’ll be accused of apologizing for our many sins.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
10:39 pm
@@
July 26th, 2009
9:38 pm
Maybe Liz can replace the lovely Sarah.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
10:44 pm
md
July 26th, 2009
10:36 pm
Creative stuff!
md
July 26th, 2009
10:51 pm
Tn
The scary part is I see half of it already on a daily basis. Its only a matter of time, especially if the aclu is involved.
TnGelding
July 26th, 2009
11:01 pm
md
July 26th, 2009
10:51 pm
Yeah, we can kiss our privacy good bye.
@@
July 26th, 2009
11:02 pm
TnG:
The only time I can recall when we looked so disjointed was when Bill Clinton was indiscriminately bombing everything “on the fly”.
I voted for the guy and was thinking “What the heck!!!”
Outta here.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 26th, 2009
11:13 pm
md
I used to work for a company where I could punch in the phone number on the caller ID and see all the particulars about them. It did have an upside though. They’d call in ranting and raving, thinking they were anonymous. When they got through venting their spleen, I’d very politely thank them for calling, by name. Never failed to change their demeanor.
md
July 26th, 2009
11:37 pm
HD,
Like sitting at this computer and knowing that somebody out there knows everything I see on my monitor. I find it comical that many surf at work with no idea that most of them are being watched. I’ve witnessed many firings where the employees are presented with a mega page report as they are escorted out the door.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
5:11 am
Obama’s Waterloo?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-W035ADw0s&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmichaelmoore%2Ecom%2F&feature=player_embedded
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
6:53 am
Because of the medical center’s location on the South Side of Chicago, a large number of indigent patients, without health insurance, were using the hospital’s emergency room for care. The nonprofit hospital, which in 2007 made more than $100 million in profits, largely because its beds and facilities were used by paying patients and those fully insured, paid Mrs. Obama to oversee the Urban Health Initiative program that identified indigent patients and then steered them to other area medical facilities. In fact, some of those profits came from Canadian citizens who traveled to the U.S. for medical procedures they could not get due to Canada’s restrictive national health care programs.
It wasn’t just Obama’s wife who was involved in creating the program. Senior White House adviser and political strategist, David Axelrod, and his PR firm in Chicago were retained to develop a media campaign to encourage area residents not to use University of Chicago as a medical facility-AmSpec
How about that for hypocrisy?
Normal
July 27th, 2009
7:39 am
Good morning all, Had a good weekend, I hope.
I signed in this morning to tell y’all a little story. remember back when we were talking about the F-22 and the Soldiers in Afganistan? I got POed when I realized that the Marines didn’r have proper gear and all. So, in my frustration, I snapped off a couple of nasty grams to Chamblis and Isakson. Haven’t heard from Isakson yet, but I got a reply from good ol’ Saxby, thanking me for my note about Sotomayor…
Our representatives are really out there listening to the people, don’t cha think? G-d help us all…
Scooter
July 27th, 2009
7:56 am
Yeah Normal I remember.I also remember telling you your words would fall on deaf ears. Was I right for once?
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
7:59 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 27th, 2009
6:53 am
That’s what we need, Michelle’s input on the health care bill.
Patient dumping?
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/uhi/index.html
Normal
July 27th, 2009
8:02 am
Scooter, you da man…My problem is I actually continue to think that our Representatives care about us. I am the walking definition of insanity(don’t go there, Whiner);>)
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
8:04 am
Normal
July 27th, 2009
7:39 am
I don’t even bother with them. I do waste my time and energy with my representative tho, a medical doctor no less.
About waiting here for a doctor’s appointment with a specialist. I think they send you to the emergency room if you’re too sick to wait a few days or a few weeks.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
8:17 am
Good Morning!
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Mrs. Godzilla
July 27th, 2009
8:30 am
Good Mornin’ all. (especially Bud….yep he’s got this one too.)
This blog will become too cumbersome to be fun in a day or two…..
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
8:34 am
“This blog will become too cumbersome to be fun in a day or two…..”
I don’t see it. It’s page delimited, every page has 100 messages on it…it’s not like you’d have to scroll through hundreds and hundreds of messages.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
8:43 am
Gandalf, the White!
(Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
8:17 am
And to think, he’s an improvement over his predecessor.
More Bush deceit?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1202257/Revealed-The-secret-evidence-global-warming-Alaska-Bush-did-want-see.html
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
8:48 am
TnG you really think he’s an improvement? WOW you must really Hate Bush! Barry is the worst we have ever had, worst than Jimmy the peanut farmer!
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
8:49 am
Mrs. Godzilla
July 27th, 2009
8:30 am
Doesn’t seem to be that much interest.
Impeach Obama?
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/72492.html
The more tinigs change…
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/72362.html?storylink=omni_popular
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
8:57 am
Gandalf, the White!
(Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
8:48 am
Hell, he just checked in. Hang around, he’ll clean up Bush’s mess soon enough. It would take Jesus at least 2 years. I don’t remember Jimmy being that bad. He didn’t launch any preemptive strikes or run up trillions of dollars of debt. And before you talk about the misery index, that was the fault of the fed, left over from Nixon’s glorious days. No sex scandals which should have increased his standing in your eyes. And did I mention, a Christian, but I guess not a “real” Christian.
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
9:01 am
I Report,
Did it ever occur to you that some medical facilities are set up to handle indigenous care better than a university hospital? The same service at a university hospital probably costs a multiple of the costs of a facility set up to handle indigents.
So, in effect, Michelle and David Axelrod were trying to reduce the medical fee burden on EVERYONE else by properly channeling the recipients.
Typical Republican: no idea how or where to even start cutting costs. Wouldn’t know “fiscally conservative” if it bit you on the leg.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
9:02 am
Jimmy did lust in his heart, he should have stuck against Iran, but he had disassembled the military by then, and his feeble attempt failed.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
9:07 am
Finn…I think you mean “indigent” care…not indigenous
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
9:07 am
TNGelding,
Jimmy Carter didn’t run up $1.7 TRILLION by giving tax breaks to the rich.
Talk about welfare!!!! Bush was a welfare queen.
Like a HO: flash W a wad of cash and he would start gushing and giving you wahtever you wanted.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Even high estimates for an early draft of the health care plan are “less than the $1.8 trillion cost of the Bush tax cuts.”
Paul Krugman on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 in a column
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jun/24/paul-krugman/bush-tax-cuts-health-care-probably/
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
9:08 am
Thanks Doggone.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 27th, 2009
9:09 am
And did I mention, a Christian, but I guess not a “real” Christian.
Well, if you think being a Muslim is Christian I reckon you ain’t been to church in your life. And not even born in America to boot. It’s no wonder we’re in such trouble. And to think, every one of us redneck Conservatives that dies off gets replaced with a librul. I don’t even like to read the death notices no more. It just gets me down when I think, There goes another good Conservative with Fambly Values. Heck, our own kids are telling us we’re wrong about things. In a few years we’ll be half Mexican and about a third Those People and a fourth Towelheads and maybe about 1% good White Christian Conservatives. It gets me down when I think about how we’re going to be destroyed in a few years and probly loose the whole South to the libruls. I sometimes even hope I don’t live long enough to see my great grandkids. Which will be half-Those People and maybe a little Mexican throwed in.
Have a good day everybody.
Normal
July 27th, 2009
9:17 am
Jimmy did lust in his heart, he should have stuck against Iran, but he had disassembled the military by then, and his feeble attempt failed.
Gandalf, Good Morning! Jimmy did lust in his heart and confessed the sin, and remember we both agreed he helped the Military Family by raising our pay. The hostage rescue failed because of a combination of bad luck and poor planning by the military leaders. Not Jimmy’s fault.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
9:40 am
Gandalf, the White!
(Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
9:02 am
He should have struck Iran? Why? Were any of the hostages being held killed? Maybe he shouldn’t have given the shaw sanction?
Normal
July 27th, 2009
9:17 am
And bad weather.
Redneck Convert (R–and proud of it)
July 27th, 2009
9:09 am
Jimmy was a Muslim, too?
AmVet
July 27th, 2009
9:41 am
Jimmy and Ronnie???
No comparison.
Carter sent a rescue team in to get our people out, and a frickin’ sand storm screwed it up.
Like Ronnie Raygun, those of you have never served have no inkling that any mission like that is damned dangerous and things can and do go wrong. And people, great people, get killed.
At least Carter tried. I admired him for that.
And Ronnie? He turned tail and ran right out of Lebanon when the shiite hit the fan. But he did save us from those marauding Grenadians!
The difference is that one – the Annapolis grad, Carter – was a real military man while the other – Bedtime for Bozo – just played one in the movies.
And thus he is the epitome and hero of these never-served, never-will Republiconned chickenhawks…
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
9:46 am
He opened his Free Market Warrior kiosk last spring, selling such items as “Impeach Obama” bumper stickers and baby bibs that say, “My parents chose life. Thanks Mom and Dad!”
And, of course, the free speech loving liberals are trying to shut him down.
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
10:15 am
Boy Sara bailed on her state didn’t she.
She wants to write a book? She has the rest of her life to write books. I guess the money may not be there later. Well, hopefully the book won’t include tips on keeping yourself and your daughter from getting pregnant since abstinence “just ain’t gonna happen.”
Abstinence education is stupider than prohibition: everyone has sex, not everyone drinks. But in both cases, those who want it are going to get it.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
10:17 am
From USA Today, Sen Sessions. I like the line about the ruling taking private property and giving it to developers (to generate more taxes) a ‘pillar of liberal thought.’ It was the liberals on the Court, after all, that made such rulings possible.
But he does document quite nicely how Judge Sotomayor did not defend her past – she ran from it. So the question is, was she truthful?
USA Today
“Opposing view: A confirmation conversion
Nominee lacks deep convictions needed to resist judicial activism.
By Jeff Sessions
Elections have consequences: President Obama’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, will likely be confirmed.
But supporters of liberal judicial philosophy might find it a Pyrrhic victory. During three days of careful questioning, Judge Sotomayor renounced the pillars of activist thinking.
She rejected the president’s “empathy standard,” abandoned her statements that a judge’s “opinions, sympathies and prejudices” may guide decision-making, dismissed remarks that personal experiences should “affect the facts that judges choose to see,” brushed aside her repeated “wise Latina” comment as “a rhetorical flourish,” and championed judicial restraint.
Judge Sotomayor’s attempt to rebrand her previously stated judicial approach was, as one editorial page opined, “uncomfortably close to disingenuous.”
Why not defend the philosophy she had articulated so carefully over the years?
Because the American people overwhelmingly reject the notion that unelected judges should set policy or allow their social, moral, or political views to influence the outcome of cases. Rather, the public wants and expects restrained courts, tethered to the Constitution, and judges who impartially apply the law to the facts.
In the end, her testimony served as a repudiation of judicial activism.
But pledging “fidelity to the law” and practicing judicial restraint are different things. Which Sotomayor will we get?
At the hearings, which were praised for their substance and respectful tone, we looked closely at the record:
– Her 2006 private property decision permitted the government to take property from one developer and give it to another.
– Her 2008 Ricci decision allowed a city to discriminate against one group of firefighters because of their race. That ruling was recently reversed by the Supreme Court.
– Her 2009 Second Amendment decision would give states the power to ban firearms.
These rulings have three things in common. Each was contrary to the Constitution. Each was decided in a brief opinion, short on analysis. And each was consistent with liberal political thought.
I don’t believe that Judge Sotomayor has the deep-rooted convictions necessary to resist the siren call of judicial activism. She has evoked its mantra too often. As someone who cares deeply about our great heritage of law, I must withhold my consent. “
Ted Kennedy
July 27th, 2009
10:20 am
Ugh…what a weekend. I need a drink to get my day started. Anyone know where that gallon of Mr Boston is?
Paul
July 27th, 2009
10:22 am
Well, well, well. After a few days to coordinate and get the Administration policy straight on whether or not we’ll ‘allow’ Iran to get a nuke (in spite of statements made during the campaign), our SecState had this to say on Sunday:
” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that Iran would not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and reiterated Washington’s commitment to protect close ally Israel from any threat posed by Tehran.
“We are going to do everything we can to prevent you (Iran) from getting a nuclear weapon. Your pursuit is futile,” she told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program, adding that Iran did not have the right to develop a nuclear weapon.”
So, the US decides what it will ‘allow’ another country to do.
The US is committed to do ‘everything’ we can to keep them from getting a nuke. “Every” thing. That means there is not anything we won’t do.
Do you see the implications?
Report/Whine, if I may borrow a line from you: “Is Bush looking pretty good about now?”
Ted Kennedy
July 27th, 2009
10:24 am
Hillary Clinton is a non-Ivy league pain in the rumpus. Pass the vodka and pay her no mind.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
10:30 am
Look at the tiny little house that Gheithner paid 1.6 million for and now can’t sell-
http://www.houlihanlawrence.com/vp/ListingServlet?SITE=HLAWNY&ScreenID=LISTING_DETAIL_P&EXCEEDLIMIT=null&numRecordsToShow=25&totalFound=0&cd_MLS=441162
What a bozo, some financial “genius” this guy is.
I pray for you America.
Scooter
July 27th, 2009
10:32 am
Paul,what is your opinion on how the Iran mess will unfold? I’m lost!
Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
10:32 am
Gates is a jackass and this incident shows you can take a man out of the ghetto but cant take the ghetto out of the man.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
10:34 am
Paul,
Bush has been looking good for a long time.
Thanks for your reasonable comments. They bring some stability to prejudiced political propaganda so often presented here as factual..
Normal
July 27th, 2009
10:41 am
We was “Bushwhacked” for eight years!!!!
G-d, I love to stir the pot, haha.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
10:44 am
Paul
July 27th, 2009
10:17 am
Judicial activism on the Supreme Court? Yeah, like no one would notice. The Ricci case was overturned on another 5-4 decision. Not exactly cut and dried.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
10:45 am
Dear Normal,
You’ve been sitting on the pot long enough. Time to move on.
Scooter
July 27th, 2009
10:46 am
You will be hearing somthing soon Normal! ARRRRG
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
10:48 am
Paul
July 27th, 2009
10:22 am
Bush was paralyzed. He looks good right now, far from the decision making process. The coin-flipping days are over.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
10:48 am
“Judicial activism on the Supreme Court? Yeah, like no one would notice. The Ricci case was overturned on another 5-4 decision. Not exactly cut and dried.”
AND they introduced an element into the judgement that was not in the precedent used by the justices, of which Sotomayor was only one, that affirmed the lower court decision.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
10:51 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 27th, 2009
10:30 am
Location, location, location!
Did you notice the estimated taxes?
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
10:52 am
Is it Soda-my-ear or Soda-my-oar? If Jay’s out does that mean no more threats? He’s really on a Job Interview! Just sayin’!
Normal
July 27th, 2009
10:55 am
But Dusty, I love you…
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
10:59 am
TnG,
You were addressing Paul but I can’t help but notice your blind comment that Bush was paralyzed.
Bush revived this country after 9/11 and moved it forward. He took every step he thought would provide protection for us from future attacks. He had enough foresight to see that the MidEast was headed for a total involvement in terrorism.
Bush can take credit for diminishing much of the threat of terrorism. It is not totally gone, just diminished. Now Obama is following the plans of Bush, something he said he would never do.
Bush was honest and effective in our defense. If you do not want to protect or fight for your country, then you do not understand the policies of Bush.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
11:00 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 27th, 2009
10:30 am
Pray all you want, but America is in good hands:
U.S. new home sales rise sharply in June
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new single-family homes in the United States rose more than expected in June, while the inventory of homes for sale fell to a more than 11-year low, government data showed on Monday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090727/bs_nm/us_usa_economy_newhomes_3
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
11:01 am
Normal,
Fickle lover!!
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
11:08 am
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
10:59 am
Welcome to the fray.
I meant he was paralyzed on what he could do with Iran, and in fact did nothing but include them in his axis of evil. Bush implemented Obama’s plan in Iraq and now Obama is trying to correct the mistake of neglecting of Afghanistan.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0304/p01s03-wosc.html
Look for some breaking news on UBL at any minute.
Dave R.
July 27th, 2009
11:10 am
Gelding, you need to read a bit more into that figure.
“That was 11 percent above the upwardly revised May rate of 346,000, but 21.3 percent below the June 2008 estimate.
Sales prices fell however, suggesting builders have been cutting prices to clear inventory. The median sales price fell to 206,200 from 219,000 a month earlier. And the median length of time homes were on the market was a record 11.8 months.”
It was up from an ESTIMATE of new home sales. That doesn’t mean any recovery is in place. And prices were DOWN more than 6%. We assuredly aren’t in good hands.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 27th, 2009
11:14 am
Well, I see somebody called the little old lady that decides how the stock market does and told her to sell out. The market is down even tho new home sales went up 11%. We need a new little old lady. Or maybe she heard about how this Obama is going to spend us into bankruptcy and decided to get out while the getting’s good.
Glad to see Sister Dusty is back. While she was gone things were just too peaceful around here. Bookman didn’t even kick anybody off of the blog and things were so peaceful he decided to take a week off and go fishing. Even the Whiner was peaceable. Now she’s getting into it with Normal and it won’t be long till she’s at it with somebody else.
Have a good day everybody.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
11:15 am
You know, if enough of you libs whined about, I’m sure the AJC blog moderater would put up a fresh thread, just sayin…
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:16 am
Paul –
Iran is a signatory of the NPT, so actually YES, we and the other signators have a right to say that they aren’t allowed to develop nukes.
and, yes Bush is looking great – in the rear-view mirror. that’s the best view of him EVER.
md
July 27th, 2009
11:24 am
” The hostage rescue failed because of a combination of bad luck and poor planning by the military leaders. Not Jimmy’s fault.”
Sorry, but this is flawed logic.
Jimbo was the CIC, responsible for appointing the “military leaders” and therefore responsible for their actions. Same with any manager, they are held accountable for those they manage – dispense of the weak link or suffer the consequences.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
11:24 am
TnG,
Bush implemented Obama’s plan??Did you really write that?
Obama was implementing his plans to get elected and said whatever his audience wanted to hear while Bush was calling Iran eactly what has proven to be true this day. Iran is a theocrtic non-democratic country building nuclear bombs and calling it something else. It is also suppressing it’s freedom seeking citizens. What has Obama done? Nothing but impressing them with butterfly diplomacy.
Our troops in Afghanistan who have never left must appreciate your total rejection of them. We have never withdrawn all our fighting forces from Afghanistan. They have been working quietly and not advertising their moves. What would you have them do? Tell Osama exactly where and what to expect? You do know that Afghanistan has it’s OWN GOVERNMENT not controlled by the Taliban? You do know that Iraq has it’s OWN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, don’t you?
You surely can overlook a LOT. What makes you so blind?
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:25 am
Dave –
“It was up from an ESTIMATE of new home sales. That doesn’t mean any recovery is in place. And prices were DOWN more than 6%. We assuredly aren’t in good hands.”
every time the monthly numbers are released, they are a preliminary estimate and are revised one way or the other the following month. however, even if prices were down 6%, down 6% is still better than nothing – ask any builder. clearing inventory – that’s the name of the game right now.
or bulldozers. but I think most builders would agree that selling houses at a discount beats bulldozing.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:27 am
Scooter 10:32
I wish I had a crystal ball.
It will be destabilizing. Not just for us, not just for Israel. For Iraq. For Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Syria.
Russia doesn’t see them as a threat (a view I find interesting, given their experiences with terrorism and the tension in the former Republics).
It’s a long way from detonating a device to constructing a weapon. A very long way. But the fundamentalist regime in Iran seems determined. Will they use it as an item to get respect or deter adversaries (altho in the last thirty years the only ones they’ve come to blows with have been the Iraqis)? I have my doubts if they’ll be all that ‘live and let live.’ Just last week Ahmadinejad wanted to appoint a top advisor but the ruling cleric told him to pick someone else. Seems a year ago the guy said “Iran is a friend to all countries – even Israel.” When a comment like that gets you booted from a gov’t job…
There are just too many ways this could go. But three separate signals last week on America’s intent does not help us. Seems the Administration is going the verbal warning route, leaving it up to the Iranians to decide just how we’ll follow through if they proceed. How they view us is key –
TNGelding
So, what’s your opinion of the Eminent Domain case? Allowing local gov’ts to take homes and low income business so a developer can bring in more taxes?
Dusty,
Sometimes, ‘facts’ are in the eyes of the beholder!
Doggone GA
[[AND they introduced an element into the judgement that was not in the precedent used by the justices, of which Sotomayor was only one, that affirmed the lower court decision.]]
Wasn’t a big element of the Court’s decision that fear of a lawsuit is not adequate to cite disparate impact? Also, didn’t Ricci, et al, bring up extenuating factors that Sotomayor ignored that the Court considered?
Regardless of the answers or opinions to the above, a concern now is, does Judge Sotomayor have the caliber of legal mind necessary for the Court? Of course, Chief Justice Warren elicited the same concerns -
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:30 am
USinUK
[[the other signators have a right to say that they aren’t allowed to develop nukes.]]
Consequences?
I’ve a feeling that’s what Iran’s considering – what’s the risk with this Administration? They already know the risk posed by nearly every other country – nil.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
11:30 am
“Wasn’t a big element of the Court’s decision that fear of a lawsuit is not adequate to cite disparate impact?”
No. The Supreme Court said they would have to prove they would LOSE the lawsuit.
catlady
July 27th, 2009
11:30 am
I think Professor Gates was NOT going to be told what to do by some high school graduate making $35,000 per year. That he was white merely fed into the Prof’s stereotypical thinking.
We DO have cops who are prejudiced black/white or white/black. We also have quite a few folks, black and white, who have NO intention of doing what they are told by a person in authority.
Re: John Prine. I like “Sam Stone” awfully well–”while his kids ran around wearing other people’s clothes”.
catlady
July 27th, 2009
11:34 am
I like to scroll up from the bottom and read a person’s comments before I see who wrote them. Much of the time I can identify the writer. Dusty, you are the easiest. (Hopefully no man has ever said that to you or someone you love)
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:36 am
Paul -
“I’ve a feeling that’s what Iran’s considering – what’s the risk with this Administration? They already know the risk posed by nearly every other country – nil.”
actually, didn’t China recently come out against Iranian nukes, as well?? fact is, oil prices will rise again – can Iran afford to alienate all its buyers? I think a military strike would be the worst possible solution for any country, but especially the US. jaw-jaw is always better than war war (if that’s good enough for Churchill, that’s good enough for me)
Normal
July 27th, 2009
11:36 am
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:27 am
Scooter 10:32
Russia doesn’t see them as a threat (a view I find interesting, given their experiences with terrorism and the tension in the former Republics).
I think Russia thinks of Iran as economic competition and gives that view because they would like nothing else than to see Iran eliminated
from the oil playing field. As always, Russia looks out after Russia…
catlady
July 27th, 2009
11:37 am
That last comment was NOT tied directly to Dusty, BTW.
From Sam Stone: “climbing walls while sitting in a chair.”
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
11:41 am
“can Iran afford to alienate all its buyers?”
Best guess: yes, they can. Because if demand for oil continues to rise, there will be someone else along soon to buy it instead.
Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
11:42 am
EXPAT You are thinking rationally (well, as rationally as you do
) and assume that Iranians do too! They don’t! They want to see the West fall!
Kamchak
July 27th, 2009
11:43 am
“There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes
And Jesus Christ died for nuthin’ I suppose.”
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:43 am
DoggoneGA
Good clarification.
The city threw out the test results because they were afraid of a lawsuit.
The Court said they could take that path only if they could show there was a strong basis in ‘evidence’ they’d be liable.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-1428.ZO.html
Future city – any city – actions will be interesting to watch, no matter the level of pressure local activists bring to bear, as happened in this case. From the concurring opinion:
” As initially described by the dissent, see post, at 2–12, the process by which the City reached the decision not to accept the test results was open, honest, serious, and deliberative. But even the District Court admitted that “a jury could rationally infer that city officials worked behind the scenes to sabotage the promotional examinations because they knew that, were the exams certified, the Mayor would incur the wrath of [Rev. Boise] Kimber and other influential leaders of New Haven’s African-American community.” 554 F. Supp. 2d 142, 162 (Conn. 2006), summarily aff’d, 530 F. 3d 87 (CA2 2008) (per curiam).
This admission finds ample support in the record. Reverend Boise Kimber, to whom the District Court referred, is a politically powerful New Haven pastor and a self-professed “ ‘kingmaker.’ ” App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 07–1428, p. 906a; see also id., at 909a. On one occasion, “[i]n front of TV cameras, he threatened a race riot during the murder trial of the black man arrested for killing white Yalie Christian Prince. He continues to call whites racist if they question his actions.” “
Normal
July 27th, 2009
11:43 am
Dusty, you said,
You do know that Afghanistan has it’s OWN GOVERNMENT not controlled by the Taliban? You do know that Iraq has it’s OWN DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT, don’t you?
Part of that problem is Afganistan’s Government can’t or won’t help the outlaying populas, the local governments are mostly corrupt and operate on the bribe. The reason the Taliban has been able to florish there
is because they offer law that works, even if it is barbaric. A drowning man will grasp any straw…
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:43 am
doggone –
“Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.”
they’re not teenagers.
they’re not trying to build nukes out of pique because mom said they couldn’t have the car this weekend.
“Because if demand for oil continues to rise, there will be someone else along soon to buy it instead.”
even though China and India have a growing population of car owners, I think that India would definitely respect a trade embargo (due to their proximity). and I think China would if Russia did.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
11:46 am
We should drive them into the stone age by using nukes against them. I don’t like them very much anyway!
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:46 am
Hi GtG –
“EXPAT You are thinking rationally (well, as rationally as you do ) and assume that Iranians do too! They don’t! They want to see the West fall!”
please. Iran has an extremely westernized population, an extremely young population – they’re not ignorant peasants who blame the west for all their ills.
md
July 27th, 2009
11:46 am
” jaw-jaw is always better than war war (if that’s good enough for Churchill, that’s good enough for me)”
I think Poland circa ww2 would have a different opinion on how well all the backdoor jaw-jaw worked.
Normal
July 27th, 2009
11:46 am
DUSTY, forgot to finish. I’m gettin’ old, I guess. Yes Iraq has it’s government, but that won’t be enough to save it when we leave, but we have to leave and let it happen.
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:48 am
md –
“I think Poland circa ww2 would have a different opinion on how well all the backdoor jaw-jaw worked.”
and I think you’re conflating 2 unrelated issues. invasion of another country’s sovereignty /= breaking a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
11:48 am
catlady,
It is a compliment to be easily identified by a liberal. That means I stay true to what I believe and have no politically correct views. They are just my own.
Paul,
You said “Facts are sometimes in the eye of the beholder.”
No, Paul, the interpretation of the facts is in the eye of the beholder. The facts stay the same.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:49 am
USinUK
Iran – I was referring to actions, not jawboning.
Scenarios gamed show no good outcomes and a lot of unintended consequences. But if the Administration finds that preferable…
maybe I will buy a hybrid, after all…
Normal
Now there’s an interesting theory. Get the ball rolling, stand back, watch someone else stop the ball.
DoggoneGA
[[Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.” I think their original intent WAS peaceful nuclear power plants…so they could sell more of their oil by not having to use some of it at home.]]
What’s the basis (in statements by Iran’s leaders?) for that? Didn’t Pres Obama, SecState Clinton, even before their current jobs, make their statements based on Iran’s actions and statements of intent? That, plus IAEA findings?
You don’t plan a program, build hardened facilities, import foreign assistance, buy materials, install and get working gazillions of centrifuges within a few months of someone saying “we really don’t want you to have a nuke.”
md
July 27th, 2009
11:50 am
“Personally, I think we are DRIVING them to create a nuclear weapon by stating they “can’t have one.””
Personally, I think their program would still be a secret if they hadn’t got caught. And furthermore, would probably be much further along.
md
July 27th, 2009
11:54 am
“and I think you’re conflating 2 unrelated issues. invasion of another country’s sovereignty /= breaking a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.”
I believe your post mentions “military strike”, which would be an “invasion of another country’s sovereignty”.
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
11:56 am
md –
“I believe your post mentions “military strike”, which would be an “invasion of another country’s sovereignty”.”
I referred to the US striking Iran. not Iran striking another country.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
11:57 am
Dave R.
July 27th, 2009
11:10 am
I read the fine print. But the trend is up. Inventory is coming down, even with all the bargain foreclosures on the market. I still don’t understand why someone would pay 3 times what it cost to build a home. But they did, and now we’re suffering the consequences.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
11:58 am
Nasty Pelosi is a San Franfreako skank-
Pelosi Vows Passage of Health-Care Overhaul
But I like her because she is destroying the democrat party.
An enemy of my enemies is a friend, er, uh, a friend of my enemies is an enemy, um, whatever.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
11:59 am
“The Court said they could take that path only if they could show there was a strong basis in ‘evidence’ they’d be liable”
You left out a step. The city negated the results, because under the law, the disparate results would be considered proof of the bias of the test…hence their fear of a minority based lawsuit.
The Supreme Court has put them in the place of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.” Personally, I’m hoping the minorities DO sue…and WIN.
md
July 27th, 2009
11:59 am
“I referred to the US striking Iran. not Iran striking another country.”
Now why would the US strike Iran if Iran was not a threat at striking another country? Its not about Iran having nuclear weapons, its about Iran using nuclear weapons.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
12:00 pm
“they’re not teenagers.
they’re not trying to build nukes out of pique because mom said they couldn’t have the car this weekend”
Who said they were? What they ARE is a proud and ancient people, with different views on where pride should take them.
USinUK
July 27th, 2009
12:01 pm
md –
“Now why would the US strike Iran if Iran was not a threat at striking another country? Its not about Iran having nuclear weapons, its about Iran using nuclear weapons.”
actually, it’s about Iran HAVING nuclear weapons and breaking the NPT.
okay, my fine feathered folkses … I’m heading out to meet a friend for drinks and din – have a good evening!!!
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:06 pm
What I’m finding interesting is that the military components are beginning to act independent of the politics in both Pakistan and Iran. Pakistan’s, Zardari seems more than happy to let them. For the first time Pakistan’s ISI was invited to India’s negotiating table.
Netanyahu weighed in after Hillary’s “nuclear umbrella” comment. Iran is so riddled by internal conflict that they can’t find time or consensus on foreign policy. They’re lookin’ very weak and vulnerable right now. The IRGC is making their move — missile threats against Israel.
U.S. defense, intelligence and political officials will be holding a series of meetings in Israel this week focusing on Iran. An odd combo. Psychological?….or is something in the works?
Gunfight at the O.K., you asked for it, corral. It’s “High Noon” or “Tombstone”?
High Noon — my brother’s all-time favorite. Tombstone — RW’s.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
12:07 pm
Dear Normal,
I see you have no faith in the building of a democracy. Have you forgotten our own history? Were we one complete nation without upstarts, tribes, loyalists, etc. after the Revolutionary War? We worked on it a long time and still do. We made some mistakes but perfection is impossible. Iraq is in the early stages. Afghanistan is less farther along with tougher problems.
I do not believe that human beings ever want a barbaric government. You see I haven’t lost the belief that people forever desire freedom from oppression. I’d give you a line or two from the Star Spangled Banner but truly, I believe we have a great country because we are FREE. You’ve heard all that before and fought for it, but it is still worth remembering..( No one should be afraid to be patriotic!)
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
12:08 pm
Redneck Convert (R–and proud of it)
July 27th, 2009
11:14 am
The day is young. Let’s see how the markets close. I would say down, but who knows?
md
July 27th, 2009
11:24 am
It was a flawed mission, but the weather sealed it:
http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?collection=257
(Scroll down to the last entry, Opeation Eagle Claw.)
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
12:12 pm
EXPAT: HAD an extremely westernized civilization. Now they are theocratically controlled by the Ayatollahs. My neighbor is part of that generation of westernized Iranians that left in the late 70’s. He tells me all about it. They all need to rise up and revolt or face the consequences of thermal nuclear destruction.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
12:14 pm
I love desert combat! It’s the best, well, if you have air superiority anywho…
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
12:17 pm
“My neighbor is part of that generation of westernized Iranians that left in the late 70’s”
And that qualifies him to tell you what Iran is like NOW? Hate to tell you, and him, but it’s been 30 years since the late 70’s. A lot can change in 30 years. And having a “theocratically” controlled government is not mutually exclusive with haveing a Westernized society.
Pat
July 27th, 2009
12:17 pm
I’m enjoying seeing that the usual yahoos can windbag ad nauseum about Obama, liberals, criminal blacks and the standard selection of grievances with no impetus other than … a fish.
This could be fun for you, Jay. Every day, just put a photo of some random object online, and invite your naysaying chorus to pontificate. A real time-saver for you!
Rather than speculating how Gates might have behaved had the arresting officer been black (and guess what, one of them was), more productive would be to ask how the cops would have reacted had the homeowner been white. Imagine, if you will, the following picture …
Officers in Johns Creek respond to a suspected break-in in one of the burb’s wealthy subdivisions, armed only with the info that the perp is a white dude. On arrival, they see an older white man, with greying hair and a cane, come to the door. They demand to see his I.D.
Irritated caucasian grandpa smarts off to them, but dutifully shuffles back and produces what they request. The officer still seems skeptical, and insists the homeowner come outside –
Gramps says “Why? This is my house.”
Argument ensues, older guy raises his voice in anger, and officer, not getting the amount of deference and obsequious groveling he believes his due, feels his manhood threatened and slaps on the cuffs, poste haste, in front of a growing crowd. The “suspect” is publicly humilated in front of his neighbors, driven downtown, gets his mugshot and tossed in the cooler. He makes bail, and is released.
It is then discovered that the “suspect”, turns out to be a well-known author and professor at an Ivy League university, and a close personal friend of many extremely influential and powerful people. The charges are quietly dropped, but as furor mounts over the arrest, the police department closes ranks and continues to insist the officers were in the right.
Ya think? No. Truth? This BS charge and arrest would NEVER have happened.
In said senario setup, officer would’ve confirmed the white older homeowner’s identification, apologized along these lines: “I’m sorry to interrupt your evening, sir, but we had a report of a break-in, so we had to check it out. I apologize for any inconvenience.”
Annoyed grandpa mumbles acceptance of apology, probably shuffles back to his dinner, book,
TV show, no escalation, no raised voices, no argument. If cops aren’t bright and throw their weight around and an arrest ensues … City and police officials would’ve realized they are screwed. They’d quickly see they’ve rattled the cage of someone with the contacts to create a PR nightmare for them, and a likely lawsuit. I’d venture angry homeowner gets a letter from the department with another apology, explanation that they’re especially sensitive to rising crime in the area, hope he understands and will join with his neighbors in helping police keep his neighborhood safe.
You can bet they wouldn’t be all over the media, trying to justify themselves. They’d be desperate to shut this up and make it go away, less said, the better.
I’m pissed at the prez too, for apologizing to the police after pressure from the right-wing nut media. Though “stupid” probably WAS a poor choice of words. “Arrogant” and “incompetent” would’ve been more accurate.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
12:19 pm
I think you confuse Iraq with Iran:
Afghanistan:
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FJ27Ag02.html
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
12:21 pm
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
11:24 am
I think you confuse Iraq with Iran:
Afghanistan:
http://atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/FJ27Ag02.html
md
July 27th, 2009
12:23 pm
“actually, it’s about Iran HAVING nuclear weapons and breaking the NPT.”
Wrong, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion if the world wasn’t worried about them USING them.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
12:25 pm
Slightly off topic but what topic?
What happened to the real RedNeck Convert? The current one is a big stuffy and doesn’t make good jokes. Maybe an understudy or something? Hit in the head by a golfball? Maybe there is a treatment for parodies and he got it! Ah the wonders of science! (Or maybe he married catlady! Now that would be a match made in heaven.)
Normal
July 27th, 2009
12:30 pm
Dusty,
Think of this, The difference in time and weaponry between 1776 and 2009 is great, don’t you think? If Iraq was only facing flintlocks, I’d give them a 50/50 chance. The main thing here, and the biggest thing here, is religion. The shia and Sunni are holding grudges that go back to the beginning of time and they won’t stop holding those grudges until the proper amount of murders and meyham have been paid. No Government or army will be able to stop it, either, because they are afterall, sunni and shia also. It has to happen, it is ordained.
I agree with you that no one wants a barbaric government. Most people, like us just want to be left alone and live our lives to the best of our abilities, pay our sou to Caesar, and try to save the rest, but the point is that no one in the whole of the middle east understands what “freedom” is. There has never been an instant, as far as I can remember, that each country hasn’t had a king. They have nothing to compare.
I’m glad you hold our way of life in such high esteem, but remember that we are the only country in the history of man to have this kind of life. We know it’s a good life and we want no other, but we can’t force it on others, they have to want it for themselves and we have to be a constant living example of how good our kind of life is. That is our challenge.
I think you might be just as big a peace-nik as I am…
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
12:33 pm
Paul
July 27th, 2009
11:27 am
All of the Supreme Court cases are beyond my comprehension. I just find the 5-4 decisions perplexing.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
12:33 pm
“Rather than speculating how Gates might have behaved had the arresting officer been black (and guess what, one of them was), ”
No other officers were involved until AFTER Crowley left the house. Up until that time, he was the only officer Gates saw. Just to keep the discussion honest.
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:34 pm
Speaking as one?
July 27, 2009 0923 GMT
Israel’s defense minister Ehud Barak said July 27 that Israel is taking “no option” off the table regarding Iran’s nuclear program, Israel National News reported. Barak was speaking to reporters with visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who said the U.S. government’s attempt to engage Iran was “not an open-ended offer” and that the United States expects a response from Iran about its nuclear program by September.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
12:36 pm
“All of the Supreme Court cases are beyond my comprehension. I just find the 5-4 decisions perplexing.”
You should try reading the written opinions sometime. It can be VERY illuminating to read the dissenting opinions. It was in Bush vs Gore. I read them all, on both sides of the decision.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
12:37 pm
No confusion, TnG
Our troops are in the process of leaving Iraq and are fighting extensively in Afghanistan to give support.. In the meantime, Obama and his Secretaries are playing footsie with Iran while playing poker with Israel and Russia.
You, in the meantime, approve any move by a Democrat. Maybe you are a bit confused about the meaing of budgets, trillions. and debt. Obama certainly does not seem to understand them. Neither does Geitner. Two lambs directing the wolves of dependence.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
12:42 pm
DoggoneGA 11:59
[[You left out a step. The city negated the results, because under the law, the disparate results would be considered proof of the bias of the test…hence their fear of a minority based lawsuit.]]
That’s what I thought, based upon what we hear so often. But it appears what the Court said wasn’t something new, but a restatement of what was supposed to have been:
” When an employer in a disparate-treatment case under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 claims that an employment decision, such as the refusal to promote, was based on a legitimate reason, two questions—one objective and one subjective—must be decided. The first, objective question is whether the reason given by the employer is one that is legitimate under Title VII. See St. Mary’s Honor Center v. Hicks, 509 U. S. 502, 506–507 (1993) . If the reason provided by the employer is not legitimate on its face, the employer is liable. Id., at 509. The second, subjective question concerns the employer’s intent. If an employer offers a facially legitimate reason for its decision but it turns out that this explanation was just a pretext for discrimination, the employer is again liable. See id., at 510–512.”
[[Personally, I’m hoping the minorities DO sue…and WIN.]]
Why? Sue for what? Can you imagine the results if that attitude was brought into an academic setting, particularly one where the number of minority/nonminority students is evenly split?
Pat
Except the officer never insisted the homeowner go outside. He said if the homeowner had any questions other than the one he kept repeating, which was answered twice previously, he’d be outside and would speak with him there.
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:43 pm
Normal:
Please don’t discount the Grand Ayatollah ali Al-Sistani’s influence in Iraq. Sunnis and Shias have through his edicts worked together. From day one he’s been instrumental in the successes within Iraq. He’s Persian and sees Khomeini as illegitimate. The only mistake he made, in my mind, was negotiating with Sadr.
How influential is Sadr now? Not very.
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:47 pm
he’d be outside and would speak with him there.
Paul:
CAN’T YOU SEE!!?!! GATES WAS SET UP!!!!!
(ISH)
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:49 pm
Cambridge police to release tapes in Gates arrest
Paul
July 27th, 2009
12:50 pm
I like the kid in the frame –
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/cartoons.aspx
Dusty
The June 24 (from the link above) strikes me as the kind of fact many don’t want to grapple with. Just easier to say ‘they’re uninsured.’ ‘Course now, Pres Obama’s speaking of Health INSURANCE Reform, so looks like that 1,000 pages is gonna need an addendum -
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:53 pm
Good grief! This site behaves like a sucker fish.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
12:53 pm
Dear Normal,
I am a peacenik until it comes to defending our country. I think Bush had the foresight to see what might come out of the Middle East. You do not agree with his appraisal and his efforts at defending us. None of our presidents are perfect.(Who is?) But I could understand the efforts Bush made.
We also differ on freedom. You think it is an acquired trait. I think it is an essence born in the human personality. Many Europeans and the UK have Kings and Queen but they are figureheads. Even though I do not like their configuration of medical care and the resulting 50% tax rate that usually goes with it, I consider them free.
It is always nice to post with you. Your kind heart is hard to hide!
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
12:54 pm
OMG
Rwanda has 95% healthcare coverage!
post-genocide Rwanda making us look like idiots!
We gonter get us sum heth car wuna dees daise!
Dr. Watson
July 27th, 2009
12:55 pm
What great planning. Bookman’s on vacation, Wooten is semi-retired. All this before having l’il Kyle “Right” Wingfield and Cindy Tucker (NEVER gonna happen) blogging.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
12:59 pm
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
12:37 pm
I’ve been critical of Obama and think he made a mistake by increasing the stakes in Afghanistan. But unlike Iraq, at least a case can be made for it. But as I’ve said before, I ain’t got no quarrel with no Taliban. They need to get Osama and get out. But it looks like now it’ll take years to totally withdraw, and even longer if the decision is made to truly stabilize the country.
It wasn’t me that disrespected the troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere. It was Bush. He withdrew support and redirected it to Iraq, using the men to whom he was entrusted as bait to lure Jihadists that would otherwise be home making babies.
How does it differ:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iGt57UEU8-TJxH57Xn7wfmP1jV_g
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/index_campaign.php
Paul
July 27th, 2009
12:59 pm
DoggoneGA
Sorry, my 12:50 was for you.
@@ 12:34
[[srael’s defense minister Ehud Barak said July 27 that Israel is taking “no option” off the table regarding Iran’s nuclear program,]]
Same thing Pres Obama and SecState Clinton said.
Oh, and Pres Bush, too?
DoggoneGA 12:33
[[No other officers were involved until AFTER Crowley left the house. Up until that time, he was the only officer Gates saw. Just to keep the discussion honest.]]
Ummm, not exactly. Go to the bottom of the report, see what Officer Figueroa had to say:
http://www.amnation.com/vfr/Police%20report%20on%20Gates%20arrest.PDF
He was a witness inside the house
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
1:01 pm
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:43 pm
Sadr is just laying low, as all the smart ones have been from the beginning. Wait until all U.S. troops are gone.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
1:03 pm
Doggone, you really are a hoot! Yes it does let them tell me what it’s like now you silly old cooter you! THEY have family over there, that THEY talk to on a regular basis. THIER family isn’t muslim, so THEY have been persecuted. YOU obvoiously haven’t left your computer in months, so I doubt you even know your neighbors. IRAN is an evil place, full of evil people. We can’t afford to let them gain access to Thermo Nuclear weapons. Doggone, I wish you were well, not dog, but just gone!
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
1:08 pm
“Doggone, I wish you were well, not dog, but just gone”
Don’t hold your breath.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
1:09 pm
EXPAT: Britian’s done it, France has done it, Germany has done it, Russsia has too. What the big deal about invading? It’s an extension of the political process.
Normal
July 27th, 2009
1:19 pm
@@
July 27th, 2009
12:43 pm
@@, I hadn’t considered that and I hope you are right. And I agree about Sadr, thank you.
Dusty; You have a big heart too.
And remember that the European and English Kings and Queens weren’t always figureheads…
TnGelding:
If Sadr wants to be Iraq’s Khomeini, that is exactly what he’s doing…laying low and saving ammo. I hope what @@ suggests is right, or it’s going to get ugly real fast. We will have gone from a known devil(Saddam),whom we could have controlled, to an unknown devil who we may never be able to control.
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
1:22 pm
TnG,
ALL of our troops were NEVER withdrawn from Afghanistan. They were decreased. Then more troops were withdrawn from Iraq as it was stabilized. They were sent to Afghanistan. Did you really not know that or were you just guessing?
And Bush using “our troops as bait to lure jihadist that would be otherwise at home making babies”. you said about Afghanistan.. That is about the wildest thought I have seen posted in a long time.. That and your eager establishment that you have no quarrel with the Taliban.
I am leaving for a while. Maybe Osama will sent you a nice card of appreciation. He has no quarrel with the Taliban either.
You .
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
1:33 pm
Normal, before I leave,
The UN and the USA did not control Sadaam for ten years after the first Bush won a quick war. Why do you think a free but struggling Iraq might not have a better chance of ruling with justice? That dictators are easier to work with than a free country? I hope you are not influenced by your dislike of George W. Bush but it does appear that way sometimes.
There once was a time when we KNEW that dictators were evil as they have shown us time after time. When did that change?
Bye….
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
1:35 pm
“There once was a time when we KNEW that dictators were evil as they have shown us time after time. When did that change?”
When we started making deals with them to maintain “stability.”
Paul
July 27th, 2009
1:43 pm
DoggoneGA
[[When we started making deals with them to maintain “stability.”]]
When have we, or any other country, not done so?
mm
July 27th, 2009
1:44 pm
I really can’t figure out why you wingnuts get on this blog. Do you really think you are going to convert someone over to the GOP?
Here’s a reality check for you. America voted you and your party out of power for a reason. And how does you party react? They move further to the right, being more stubborn and more obstructionist.
Good luck in the 2010 midterms. You certainly are going to need it, especially after using the health of Americans as a political stunt.
Palin 2012. (Cue Vincent Price’s laugh from the song “Thriller”).
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
1:47 pm
“When have we, or any other country, not done so?”
Oh sure, it’s always happened…but you can’t really convince those “morally superior” types of that. But we DID get less inclined to get in wars against them, and start propping them up instead…when we could do it in the name of “fighting communism.” As long as they were left-leaning dictators and not right-leaning, they were less in danger of attack and more in “danger” of support. Though the “danger” was born more by their populace than by the dictator himself. (ever notice that dictators are almost always male?)
Paul
July 27th, 2009
1:49 pm
mm
[[And how does you party react? They move further to the right, being more stubborn ]]
Like Obama in Afghanistan?
Like Obama and indefinite detention?
Like Obama and wiretaps?
Like Obama and secret energy meetings?
Shall I continue?
Paul
July 27th, 2009
1:51 pm
DoggoneGA
My point is simply that nations will deal with some pretty unsavory characters if it advances their interests.
Always have, always will.
As far as male/female: it’s the nature of the power structure. In cases where the female comes to the head, they’ve generally been the equal, or surpassed, their male counterparts for toughness.
Witness our current SecState -
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
1:53 pm
mm, we know all you suffer, after all “Liberalism is a mental disorder”. We do feel sorry for you and hope you will seek treatment, but like all mentally ill people, we doubt that you shall. Until you realize your illness and commit to doing something about it, nothing much we can do. Point our your flawed logic does little good, but it teaches us patience.
david wayne osedach
July 27th, 2009
1:55 pm
Salt water or fresh? How about both? Good luck!
GreenJeans
July 27th, 2009
1:59 pm
Jay’s off to the river leaving only disjointed streams of thought to wade through in here.
OK, here’s mine, about everyone’s favorite: Former Governor Sarah Palin.
Imagine my surprise last night in the grocery check-out line to see a scandal-sheet story detailing an alleged affair between Ms. Palin and the First Dude’s former business partner and naming it as the reason for her abrupt resignation. Sources to the pub said that although the affair is supposedly over, the threat of embarassing revelation was enough to solidify her decision.
Now the fun part. Knowing Ms. Palin’s immediate-response TwitBlitz to any media slight, perceived or otherwise, who’s with me to sit and watch the fireworks this week?
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
2:08 pm
“Now the fun part. Knowing Ms. Palin’s immediate-response TwitBlitz to any media slight”
Maybe you should twit her to let her know about, because really – if she’s taking the time to read every newspaper and online news site to find “bad” news about herself, she won’t have time for anything else. We couldn’t be THAT lucky.
getalife
July 27th, 2009
2:09 pm
She’s a quitter and a cheater.
Need a new thread AJC.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
2:12 pm
them tabloids! BEST NEW SOURCE, FOR A [DUMBASS]! Jeez!
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
2:13 pm
“them tabloids! BEST NEW SOURCE, FOR A [DUMBASS]! Jeez! ”
I see that you know Ms. Palin very well.
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
2:13 pm
Doggone you’re the TWIT!
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
2:14 pm
Dusty
July 27th, 2009
1:22 pm
Either you don’t read very well or I don’t write very well. Bush used the troops to lure the Jihadists into Iraq:
“The sad reality is that Iraq is already the epicenter for anti-Western terrorism.Iraq is the only place in the world where prospective jihadists can engage in live-fire exercises with the U.S. military and hone their skills in battle. It is not accidental that techniques pioneered in Iraq, like “improvised explosive devices” (IEDs), have been exported to other battlefields, like Afghanistan.”
“There seems to be a fundamental misconception that there is a finite number of potential terrorists in the world and that the use of Iraq as “bait” will lure them for destruction at the hands of U.S. forces.”
http://www.cfr.org/publication/12383/mr_president_this_war_is_over.html
(And there were many elements that made up the “surge” other than additional troops.)
“And there’s the rub. Many of these fighters in Iraq have signed up precisely because they want the chance to kill themselves, along with US-led coalition troops, and/or sectarian rivals. Indeed, the suicide bombing–or in Islamic parlance, the “martyrdom operation”–is the signature act of Islamic radicals across the world, from Baghdad to Bali, and Morocco to Manhattan. By and large then, we are not talking about rational people, but suicidal-homicidal fanatics in search of a theatre where they can exercise their already radical impulses.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/745vhonu.asp
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
2:14 pm
getalife,
Jay’s out job hunting (gone fishin) you TWIT!
Gandalf, the White! (Mufti of Gwinnesia!)
July 27th, 2009
2:15 pm
Doggone, I know you! hehe
!
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 27th, 2009
2:17 pm
A little rhetorical question aimed at no one in particular.
If you took the 100 most important cases (by whomever’s criteria) decided by the Supreme Court since the beginning of the Republic, how many were 5-4 decisions?
I don’t know the answer to that but what was decided by one vote say 150 or so years ago we would now take as the prevailing attitude of the time. It might have more likely reflected a 50-50 split among the population then. No position or idea is without substantional opposition anytime.
In Revolutionary times about 1/3 of the people wanted to break away, about 1/3 wanted to remain loyal, and the other 1/3 didn’t care and just wanted to be left alone. As a former poster here used to say, the winners write the history books and the opposing view gets forgotten.
Anyhow I was just thinking how a different vote here and there down through the generations and things might have been quite different.
King of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:18 pm
TnG, good points, so you are for the war on islam?
mm
July 27th, 2009
2:21 pm
Paul,
“Like Obama in Afghanistan?” What’s wrong with that? We’d be out of there if Bush had not moved most of our troops to Iraq.
“Like Obama and indefinite detention?” Gitmo will close.
“Like Obama and wiretaps?” Since it’s a secretive program, how do you know what has changed and what has not?
“Like Obama and secret energy meetings?” Energy meetings? I know Obama had some pharma CEO’s over at the WH, and did not want to release the names. But he did release the names, just not the companies they worked for. Even a moron can google their names and find out which companies they work for.
Gandalf, glad to see you have patience. You’re gonna need it.
Jake
July 27th, 2009
2:21 pm
What’s wrong with out current health care? People that are in small groups pay more than people in big groups? Big deal. Illegal aliens are forced to get there care at emergency rooms, which are more expensive than primary care physicians? who cares, they’re here illegally to begin with and shouldn’t get anything they don’t pay for. People who don’t work can’t afford health insurance? Get a job, work a little, and maybe your health will improve.
Obama just wants to let the old conservatives die off and replace them with young, Democrat-voting formerly illegal aliens.
King of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:24 pm
See if we nuke Mecca and Medina, then plow the Blue Mosque, we kill Islam. It’s easy.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
2:24 pm
King of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:18 pm
I’m against war, period. It would have been a good thing if the “shot heard ’round the world” had never been fired. There’s almost always a better way. And Islam is not our enemy.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:25 pm
Jake, nothing wrong with our health care!It s the best in the world!
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:27 pm
TnG war is what separates us from the animals! It’s the one thing humans do well. Embrace it and learn to love it. With Barry in office it might be coming to a street near you soon!
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:28 pm
TnG Islam most certainly is our enemy silly! That’s why islamofacist terrorist kill Americans every single day, don’t be blind. Islam is evil, end of story.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
2:34 pm
TnGelding[[
Either you don’t read very well or I don’t write very well. Bush used the troops to lure the Jihadists into Iraq:]]
Something many don’t want to address is this: if Iraq had never happened, where would all the jihadists recruits have gone? Answer: Pak/Afg.
When VP Biden, as Senator Biden, was talking about invading Sudan, OBL put forth that jihadists would flood the area.
In other words, they’d go where we go.
mm
[[“Like Obama in Afghanistan?” What’s wrong with that? We’d be out of there if Bush had not moved most of our troops to Iraq.]]
See remarks above. It’s not about numbers, it’s about objectives and strategy. Focusing on numbers was part of our downfall in Vietnam.
[[“Like Obama and indefinite detention?” Gitmo will close.]]
I said nothing of Gitmo. I’m speaking of Pres Obama’s willingness to hold suspects indefinitely, without trial.
[[“Like Obama and wiretaps?” Since it’s a secretive program, how do you know what has changed and what has not? ]]
Because the cases are being litigated and the Obama Administration has, in several instances (and to the consternation of the Left) taken a harder stance than even the Bush Administration.
[[“Like Obama and secret energy meetings?” Energy meetings? I know Obama had some pharma CEO’s over at the WH, and did not want to release the names. But he did release the names, just not the companies they worked for. Even a moron can google their names and find out which companies they work for.]]
Coal executives. And others. In advance of cap n trade proposals. You know, the legislation that didn’t have carbon credits available for auction because //the Administration had already GIVEN them away in consideration of political support!//
Like I said, in so many ways…. Bush III.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
2:36 pm
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:25 pm
Best in the world? Not everyone agrees:
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:28 pm
They’re killing U.S. soldiers because they were sacrificial pawns to the war gods.
catlady
July 27th, 2009
2:37 pm
Dusty: I would use the adjective “predictable”. But certainly, you can count on you. Stake a position and hold fast. A good kind of person to have around when times are tough.
As for me, I would not use “liberal”. I can argue both sides, whether I agree or not. I would call myself an “eclectic free-thinker.” Socially pretty liberal; economically pretty conservative.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
2:38 pm
Paul
July 27th, 2009
2:34 pm
Some might have, but I would argue most would have stayed at home.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 27th, 2009
2:40 pm
Better than Cuba or Canada anyhoo…not bad at all,
TnG what of them folks in WTC towers? The were sacraficed too…NEVER FORGET!
Paul
July 27th, 2009
2:41 pm
mm
Just go to google.com and type Pres Obama indefinite detention and check the results. Or go here:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=obama+indefinite+detention&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&fp=MyO-rnw0Pu0
Is this something the left websites are loathe to discuss it terms other than criticism? I can understand why –
Then go back to Google and type Obama support wiretaps and you’ll get
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&safe=off&q=obama+support+wiretaps&aq=f&oq=&aqi=&fp=MyO-rnw0Pu0
with headlines such as “Obama wiretapping stand enrages many supporters” (NY Times) or “Obama goes beyond Bush in support of illegal wiretaps”
Then go to Google and type… oh, I suppose you get the point.
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
2:42 pm
GAndalf said: war is what separates us from the animals!
If you consider ants part of the animal kingdom, I’ve seen some pretty impressive wars between black and brown ants in my yard as a kid. Pretty wild battle too. Must have been thousands of ants.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
2:42 pm
“Something many don’t want to address is this: if Iraq had never happened, where would all the jihadists recruits have gone? Answer: Pak/Afg”
yep…and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE…instead of splitting our resources and attacking a country that had nothing to do with them UNTIL we were stupid enough to draw them in that direction.
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
2:43 pm
“seen some pretty impressive wars between black and brown ants in my yard ”
You ought to see the chimpanzee “wars” they show on Animal Planet now and then.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
2:43 pm
TnGelding
I don’t know why. Sure, we enraged many Iraqis who just wanted to fight against the Americans, but many, many in Iraq were foreign true believers. They went where the infidels were.
It’ll be interesting to see if the same happens in Afg. If it doesn’t, many can make the point that by now AQ has been severely, severely disrupted with not nearly the capability it had five or six years ago.
Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
2:47 pm
Once again Midori arrives late to the party.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
2:51 pm
DoggoneGA 2:42
I posited this scenario some many months back in response to those who saw Afg as a slam-dunk if only we’d not invaded Iraq.
We build up in Afg. AQ uses Pak as safe haven. American casualties mount. Americans mount covert raids into Pak (why not flood the area with Predators and UAVs like we are now? Because when we went to war we had only a COUPLE available for missions. Remember what SecDef Rumsfeld said about going to war with the army you have?). Covert raids not enough – conventional forces build up along border, then stage incursions into Pak. Pak gov’t protests. US assures no permanent bases. Americans escalate operations, establish base camps on Pak side of border in areas outside Pak gov’t control. Pak civilians protest, Musharaff attempts to placate. Military stages a coup, radicals within Intel Services take control, demand Americans leave and respect Pak sovereignty. Americans refuse. Pakistanis, unable to confront America conventionally, detonate a nuke on American camp on Pakistani soil.
Farfetched? Or just as plausible as thinking “if only we hadn’t gone into Iraq, we’d have had all these forces we could have used in Afg and Pak!”
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
3:01 pm
“Farfetched?”
I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals. ANY scenario is POSSIBLE, though most are, at best, unlikely. The bottom line is that Afghanistan was where the “enemy” WAS and Iraq had NOTHING to do with them or with 911. We should not have attacked Iraq, period.
Here’s a hypthetical for you: why didn’t we attack Sudan instead of Iraq? Or Somalia, or if you prefer to stick to the Middle East, how about Libya? You know the answer as well as I do: because they had NOTHING TO DO with 911. And neither did Iraq.
We should have left Iraq alone and concentrated on the country we KNEW supported the 911 attackers: Afghanistan.
Turd Ferguson
July 27th, 2009
3:04 pm
The attack on Afghanistan and Iraq was proper.
Greg Mendel
July 27th, 2009
3:15 pm
Afghanistan has never been a slam-dunk for anybody. Not the Brits, not the Soviets, and it won’t be for us. Paul’s scenario isn’t far-fetched.
By the way, does anybody remember why the Soviets invaded Afghanistan? Their Afghan puppet government was in danger of being overthrown. By whom? By Afghans who didn’t like the puppet government’s attempts to educate women and its other liberal policies. Basically, the same kind of religious zealots who comprised Saddam Hussein’s political enemies.
It’s a complicated neck of the woods, and made more complicated by not bothering to devote some study to its language, culture and history before trying to turn it (and the rest of the Middle East) into New Hampshire.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
3:19 pm
DoggoneGA
[[“Farfetched?” I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals. ]]
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!! But don’t you see? Your original post that started this at 2:42 was a hypothetical assuming some kind of advantageous outcome!
Your second paragraph – I already said, if we’d never invaded Iraq. Afg was where they were, Pak is where they went, and when we went to Iraq, many of them went there. So?
As far as Sudan: you are aware VP Biden’s all in favor of invading Sudan, aren’t you? And we are conducting ops in Somalia, too?
[[We should have left Iraq alone and concentrated on the country we KNEW supported the 911 attackers: Afghanistan.]]
And what would have happened, hmmmm? I know you dislike hypotheticals, but do you posit an outcome that’s wonderful and rosy and has all our forces home now? Rather than the one I suggested? If so, why?
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
3:22 pm
” But don’t you see? Your original post that started this at 2:42 was a hypothetical assuming some kind of advantageous outcome!”
Ok, let me put it this way: We should not have invaded Iraq. Period.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
3:27 pm
Doggone/GA 3:22
The hypothetical was the presumed outcome of your 2:42 “and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE…”
not to mention the ‘why’ as the situation morphed, as it has…
out for a few -
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
3:28 pm
“and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE”
Stating a FACT is not postulating a hypothetical. I made no predictions about any possible outcome. I simply stated the fact: the forces in Iraq are forces that ARE NOT
Paul
July 27th, 2009
3:29 pm
Doggone/GA
Or, let me put it this way: if “Ok, let me put it this way: We should not have invaded Iraq. Period” why do we assume the situation in Afg would be any different than it is now, if not worse (as I posited) or, given we wouldn’t have had the change in strategy/surge model of Gen Petraeus in Iraq, that the likes of him would ever have risen to the top and we (hypothetically speaking) might not be in a worse position there now than we are?!!?
Later -
Doggone/GA
July 27th, 2009
3:30 pm
Sorry, computer acting weird.
“and we would have been able to concentrate ALL of our resources on fighting them THERE”
Stating a FACT is not postulating a hypothetical. I made no predictions about any possible outcome. I simply stated the fact: the forces in Iraq are forces that ARE NOT available to be in Afghanistan.
And since Iraq had nothing to do with 911, there was…and IS…no valid reason for us to be there. That’s not a hypthetical either…it’s a FACT.
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
4:08 pm
Good article:
the massive Republican tax cuts of the 1920s (from 73% down to 25%) led directly to the Roaring ’20s stock market bubble, temporary boom, and then the crash and Republican Great Depression of 1929.
Rates on the very rich went back up into the 70-90% range from the 1930s to the 1980s. As a result, the economy grew steadily; for the first time in the history of our nation we went 50 years without a crash or major bank failure; and working people’s wages increased enough to produce the strongest middle class this nation has ever seen.
Then came Reaganomics.
Reagan cut top marginal rates on millionaires and billionaires from 74% down to 38% and there was an immediate surge in the markets – followed by the worst crash since the Great Depression and the failure of virtually the entire nation’s savings and loan banking system.
http://www.truthout.org/072509Z
md
July 27th, 2009
4:08 pm
“Here’s a reality check for you. America voted you and your party out of power for a reason.”
Another reality check – because we voted against one, doesn’t necessarily equate to voting for the other. Personally, I and many like me have been voting the lessor of 2 evils for quite a while now. And as long as the dems keep the likes of Pelosi and Reed at the helm, the next vote against their evils won’t be too difficult. Barry at least tries sometimes to straddle the middle, but those 2 buffoons sure don’t.
Midori
July 27th, 2009
4:12 pm
Once again Midori arrives late to the party.
what are you talking about, Goober?
Inquiring minds want to know…..
BTW, @@ — Crowley lied on that police report: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/27/gates.arrest/
Hi, Paul!!
md
July 27th, 2009
4:14 pm
Lets not forget CarterClintonomics.
Without the tinkering of Fannie and Freddie and the relaxing of the ratios/documents to get mortgages, the current bubble would more than likely have never happened, as there would be no defaults on the mortgages and the derivatives would still be worth something. Not to mention the sharp increase in home selling would have never happened.
electrician
July 27th, 2009
4:39 pm
Md..thats right ..if you cant afford it , dont buy it. 80/20,instant second mortage..not very smart.
DoggoneGA
July 27th, 2009
5:00 pm
“why do we assume the situation in Afg would be any different than it is now”
We don’t, I don’t. I’ve stated my opinion: that the forces tied up in Iraq are NOT AVAILABLE for Afghanistan. Would they have made a difference? Who knows? But we DO know they CAN’T make a difference in Afghanistan, because they can’t be in two places at once.
electrician
July 27th, 2009
5:00 pm
Midori@4;12 do you really think that this incident is significant?..let it go
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
5:10 pm
Obama slammed as ‘racist’ at Jerusalem rally
I told ya.
@@
July 27th, 2009
5:18 pm
Midori:
Let me be perfectly clear here…
I’ve never said Gates was right or wrong. I’ve never said Crowley was right or wrong. All I’ve ever said was that Obama talks too much. It’s a curse.
“Gates is a friend of mine”
“I don’t know the details of what happened” except that…
“the Cambridge police acted stupidly???”
If he had simply said “I don’t know the details of the case so it would be inappropriate for me to comment” I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
I’m just not as into the race thing as you and the leftists are.
@@
July 27th, 2009
5:36 pm
Iran’s gotta be feeling pretty squeezed out by now.
The U.S. government has lifted a ban on exporting information technology products and aviation industry goods to Syria, Syrian Ambassador to the United States Imad Mustafa said July 27 on Syrian national television. Mustafa added that U.S. President Barack Obama is considering lifting more bans as his administration is expected to do a line-by-line re-evaluation of existing economic sanctions on Syria in order to improve relations between Damascus and Washington. Mustafa’s announcement came a day after U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell’s visit to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
While at the same time, there’s a big POW WOW going on in Israel.
Then there’s Russia…
@@
July 27th, 2009
5:41 pm
Midori:
This (from your link) doesn’t surprise me in the least.
Speaking to CNN by phone, Murphy said she was trying to clear Whalen’s name after she’s come under attack by bloggers and in chat rooms, accused of racial profiling when she first called police.
She said Whalen is “devastated” by such characterizations because she is sensitive about such issues because of her own complexion. Whalen worked down the street and was on her lunch break when she called police.
“She just wants to clear her name. She doesn’t want to create more controversy,” Murphy said. “She falls outside the plain lines of race, and I think she wanted people to know that.”
Leftists attacking a civic-minded citizen before they had all the facts.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
5:53 pm
Hello, Midori! Been busy? You’ve been rather scarce –
Doggone/GA
Most of the “if we hadn’t been in Iraq we’d have had more in Afg” comments I read have as an underlying or implicit assumption things would now be going along just swimmingly. I understand your point about Iraq – but do you hold a position as to whether or not things would be worse, the same, or better, in Afg if Iraq had not had happened?
If one can not make a case either way, then Iraq as it relates to the situation in Afg is really irrelevant, is it not? So we’d have had more forces available – would they have been used, or would they merely have stretched the rotations? If they had been used, but used not to the best advantage (as in Iraq) numbers wouldn’t have mattered.
@@
Good with Syria. If we’re lucky, we may see some lunatic extremists in Lebanon get their knees cut out from under them.
electrician
July 27th, 2009
5:56 pm
midori…we are waiting
DoggoneGA
July 27th, 2009
6:00 pm
“I understand your point about Iraq – but do you hold a position as to whether or not things would be worse, the same, or better, in Afg if Iraq had not had happened?”
My point is that if Iraq had not happened, things in Afghanistan MIGHT be different. Whether different is better or worse, we’ll never know. But we gave up the potential for a cleaner, faster difference if Afghanistan BECAUSE we sent troops on a wild-goose chase to Iraq instead.
And if Iraq hadn’t happened, then we wouldn’t be bogged down IN Iraq.
@@
July 27th, 2009
6:02 pm
Paul:
Since you brought it up:
The Americans and Saudis are growing impatient with Syria’s growing list of demands, but Damascus has made some tangible moves in these negotiations. The Syrian government has long been sharing intelligence with the United States and Saudi Arabia on al Qaeda in Iraq and the surrounding region. And to the detriment of Syria’s relationship with Iran, the Syrians have already been laying the groundwork to corner Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The rift between Hezbollah and the Assad regime is something I’ve been watching for a year and a half. I’m lookin’ for instant gratification. The piecemeal give and take is exasperating.
Friedman sees Hezbollah as far more dangerous than Al Qaeda ever hoped to be.
md
July 27th, 2009
6:06 pm
” Despite their denials, influential Democratic Sens. Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd were told from the start they were getting VIP mortgage discounts from one of the nation’s largest lenders, the official who handled their loans has told Congress in secret testimony.”
“Both senators were VIP borrowers in the program known as “friends” of Angelo. Angelo Mozilo was chief executive of Countrywide, which played a big part in the foreclosure crisis triggered by defaults on subprime loans.”
“Feinberg also told House investigators that Countrywide counted both of Dodd’s’ homes as primary residences.”
“Other names that have surfaced as “friends” of Mozilo include James Johnson, a former head of Fannie Mae who later stepped down as an adviser to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and Franklin Raines, who also headed Fannie Mae.”
Oh the tangled web we weave………….
Midori
July 27th, 2009
6:10 pm
electrician,
what are you waiting “for”? and just what should I “let go”?
I didn’t know I “had” it.
Yes Paul – i’ve been very busy.
my AC went out and the repairmen are here now.
Midori
July 27th, 2009
6:12 pm
electrician:
Is it my birth certificate you’re waiting for?
@@
July 27th, 2009
6:23 pm
Case in point:
Colombia shares Israel’s concerns over the possible presence of Hezbollah in Latin America, and is investigating the case in conjunction with international organizations, El Universal reported July 27, citing Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos in a radio interview with Caracol. Santos, who made the remarks following a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said Colombian intelligence services are responsible for the investigations.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
6:33 pm
Doggone/GA
Actually, I agree with much of what you’ve written. Surprised? I’d said years ago Iraq was a speed bump in this entire anti-jihadist venture. I was simply interested if you saw a positive outcome in Afg sans Iraq.
@@
Anyone who thinks Hezbollah isn’t dangerous, dangerous, dangerous hasn’t been paying attention. I gather we’ve some here who think they should have a voice at the table because they are ‘democratically chosen.’ Nonsense.
Hey, try this out: “The Americans and Saudis are growing impatient with Syria’s growing list of demands” as “The House and Senate are growing impatient with Obama’s growing list of demands”
Syrians have a good understanding – strike while the iron’s hot, get the momentum going. Just hope Assad doesn’t get bumped.
Midori
Good luck. I replaced both units a bit ago. Didn’t go with the super-high SEER units, either. Payback wasn’t there. They can get mighty expensive compared to a 13 or 14.
electrician
July 27th, 2009
6:33 pm
midori..let go of the racial thing, if they are wrong, he will get a check. good luck with the AC guys..its hot outside.
Paul
July 27th, 2009
6:56 pm
OMG, check out the headline and pics on drudgereport.com
Priceless! LOL!
@@
July 27th, 2009
6:58 pm
Paul:
The newly elected March 14 coalition is having a difficult time getting it’s government up and running in Lebanon. Lots of interference from both Syria and Hezbollah.
Maybe lifting the sanctions in Syria was our way of getting them to ease up.
But now Nasrallah is heating things up with Israel.
“And any force from the enemy’s army that steps on Lebanese land, will be destroyed, and that is a fact.”
I can’t see Israel going after Hezbollah in Lebanon right now. I think they’re looking to drain the tidal pool.
I like this fishin’ stuff.
DoggoneGA
July 27th, 2009
7:06 pm
“I was simply interested if you saw a positive outcome in Afg sans Iraq.”
I think we’re more likely to get a postive outcome than were the Russians…because we HAVE made it clear that we are not there to “conquer” them. But I think the outcome might have been faster, maybe even considerably faster, if we’d kept our resource there and not squandered them in Iraq.
RW-(the original)
July 27th, 2009
7:15 pm
Paul,
It wasn’t really all that cut and dried a separation. Boogie to Baghdad wasn’t a term that came out of nowhere or even from the Bush administration
@@
July 27th, 2009
7:19 pm
eewww
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/07/27/article-0-05DAE8B2000005DC-509_468×689.jpg
eww…eewww…eeewwwwwww
Scooter
July 27th, 2009
7:34 pm
Dang @@, I was fixin to eat! Guess I’ll have another beer now.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 27th, 2009
7:36 pm
Well, I see from the ads they got this new reality show on TV that stars plus-size women. I guess plus size means the same thing as fat.
Anyhow, since Sister Dusty is so smart I reckon she’s got a new career on that show if she wants it. Most of you women don’t need to bother to apply. You might could be smart, but that don’t mean you’re a good fit, if you know what I mean.
Have a good night everybody.
@@
July 27th, 2009
7:41 pm
Sorry Scooter.
Aawwwhhhhh — scroll down to catch ‘em all.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1201765/Look-laurels-Bob-Geldof-come-real–Boomtown-rats.html
I have no idea why I’m looking at this kinda stuff.
Scooter
July 27th, 2009
7:56 pm
I would rather eat that rat! ewwwwwwwwww
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
8:15 pm
Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Friday floated the idea of bypassing the committee and taking the bill directly to the House floor but later apologized to the Blue Dogs for the comments.
Gettin trampled, are ye?
hehehehe
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
8:21 pm
National Single Cougars Convention
Single cougars from all over America will converge on the Silicon Valley, the ONLY major metropolitan area in America with a surplus of single men, many of whom are young, educated, attractive, and prosperous, but lacking in experience with women.
http://www.motherjones.com/riff/2009/07/call-wild-cougars-palo-alto-ca
Paul
July 27th, 2009
8:46 pm
Finn
If only I was single, young, educated, attractive, and prosperous….
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
9:09 pm
Finn McFool- If you’d quit reading Mother Jones, you wouldn’t have to worry about these things.
crackmeup
July 27th, 2009
9:12 pm
Cynthia Tucker’s last seven articles have obtained 2 comments. THAT”S IT. Man is she a winner for the AJC or what. SHE is SAD to say the least!!!!!!!!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 27th, 2009
9:15 pm
Mother Jones will geek you out like the White House Press Corp, you’ll be indistinguishable from all the other fawning sycophant schoolgirls.
Finn McCool
July 27th, 2009
9:21 pm
If you hear the Republican attributing their health care facts to the Lewen Group then you should know it’s a consulting firm/think tank owned by United Healthcare.
Looks like they keep pulling that name out of the hat as the source of their facts.
So, in effect, Republicans are voting with the insurance companies and against the American people.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
9:32 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 27th, 2009
8:15 pm
Thank goodness for the Blue Dogs. More power to them.
md
July 27th, 2009
9:41 pm
Must be time for the Blue Dogs and the moderate repubs to leave their respective parties and form their own party to represent what the polls show to be a centrist country, instead of electing 2 parties that tend to spaeak for the fringes.
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
10:18 pm
Hoyer Op/Ed:
“Failure to reform health care might be a boon for some members of Congress, but it would be a disaster for middle-class families, for the 47 million uninsured Americans, and for small businesses across America.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts839
TnGelding
July 27th, 2009
10:45 pm
JAMA articles report the effects of positive behaviors on the heart
The July 22/29, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published two reports that contribute to the growing evidence in support of adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors to help protect the heart.
In one article, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School report that men who had a greater adherence to 6 lifestyle factors, including maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, engaging in regular exercise, consuming alcohol in moderation, consuming breakfast cereals, and consuming fruit and vegetables, had a lower risk of developing heart failure.
http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2009/0728_JAMA-Articles-Report-the-Effects-of-Positive-Behaviors-on-the-Heart.htm?source=eNewsLetter2009Wk31-1&key=Article&l=0#article
niremetal
July 27th, 2009
11:10 pm
Until then…
RTW
July 27th, 2009
11:28 pm
I’m sure that the beer that Obama will be serving is not a pale ale.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
4:00 am
CFTC report blames speculators for oil price swings: report
(Reuters) – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is planning to issue a report next month that suggests that wild swings in oil prices were significantly driven by speculators, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Tuesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090728/bs_nm/us_cftc_oil_1
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
4:06 am
U.S. turns off Havana news ticker that angered Cuba
HAVANA (Reuters) – The United States has turned off a news ticker at its diplomatic mission in Havana that long had irritated the Cuban government, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, in another sign of efforts to improve relations with Cuba.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090727/pl_nm/us_cuba_usa_2
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
4:17 am
Gone fishing, indeed!
$20m holiday home at Blue Heron Farm suits Barack Obama to a tee
“Mr Obama and the First Family are planning to spend their summer break on a $20 million retreat on the wealthy playground island off Cape Cod and even seem undeterred that the property is owned by a Republican.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article6729772.ece
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
5:20 am
That’s because the Atlanta Renewal Community has invested just $7.3 million in services — while spending a nearly equal amount on administration — for a program set to expire at year’s end when the remaining $30 million in unused cash will have to be returned to the federal government.
hmmmm, Atlanta Renewal Community, or Atlanta Community Renewal, er, ACORN.
Now let’s make them justify 7.3 million for administrative costs.
Yeah, like the AJC has the courage for that.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
6:57 am
Rather than re-thinking any of his key proposals in the face of this growing public disapproval, Obama’s answer was to try to ram a health care bill through Congress, as well as a global warming bill, before the August recess — even if no one had the time to even speed-read what’s in the legislation.
Suicide is, uh, painless, it brings on many changes, hahaha.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:13 am
After nearly 8 years, let’s talk:
Britain and US prepared to open talks with the Taliban
“A concerted effort to start unprecedented talks between Taliban and British and American envoys was outlined yesterday in a significant change in tactics designed to bring about a breakthrough in the attritional, eight-year conflict in Afghanistan.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/27/britain-us-talks-taliban-afghanistan
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
7:13 am
“$20m holiday home at Blue Heron Farm suits Barack Obama to a tee”
I’m trying to figure out what the value of the home has to do with anything.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
7:25 am
Midori is just swirling round and round in the toilet of her life.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:26 am
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
7:13 am
Well, it kinda indicates he ain’t slumming. Let’s hope he realizes how far he has come and strives to deserve and respect the many opportunities the presidency allows him.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:28 am
End of an era?
“At the highest levels of the Pentagon, plans are under way to reduce the role of warplanes, and rely more heavily on remotely piloted craft.”
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/302402
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:33 am
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
7:25 am
And with that monicker, you’re in there with her! Getting kinda crowded, eh?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:40 am
To the member that bought some Ford stock last year: I got you to $7 as promised and it will go to $14 eventually. But I’d guess at this point it would see #3.50 first. Sure glad you bought it instead of GM.
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
7:46 am
IRYW – Don’t despair! The Health Insurance (formerly Care) bill can not possibly get voted on this week. Candidate Obama promised we would have 5 days to review proposed legislation. Part of his transparency pledge? Right?
BTW, when will Gitmo close and the detainees be released?
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
7:46 am
“Well, it kinda indicates he ain’t slumming. Let’s hope he realizes how far he has come and strives to deserve and respect the many opportunities the presidency allows him”
Well, I’ve had nowhere near the success he has had…but I’ve stayed in multi-million dollar holiday destinations. I don’t recall that getting me ANY “respect”
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
7:50 am
ah, ha, ha, I’m on the political cutting edge-
The future is not foreordained. I saw a recent report indicating that if the economy continues to fizzle, Hillary Clinton might challenge Obozo in a primary.-AmSpec
Remember, you heard it here first.
“Obama is now seen as politically liberal by 76%. That’s up six points from a month ago, 11 points since he was elected, and the highest total to date,” reports Rasmussen. “Forty-eight percent (48%) now seem him as Very Liberal, up 20 points since he was elected.”
The most liberal congressman in the US Senate before the election was held, people are just now figuring it out?
It just goes to show you, people voted for this klown based on their hearts and not their heads. Or was it the tingle up their legs?
Mac
July 28th, 2009
8:11 am
You woulda thunk the AJC would plan better and not leave their opinion page a ghost town for at least a whole week. Geez.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
8:27 am
Birth Certificate or Certificate of Live Birth, or as Barry called it Certification of Live Birth. All the same? Look it up folks. He’s a liar. He’s a muslim.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:27 am
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
7:46 am
Mine was poorly worded. I meant for him to respect, i.e., not do a Clinton. Do you know who was in the group that approached him about running for president? I can only remember Chris Dodd.
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
8:27 am
Mac – Not exactly so. In the print version, Thomas Sowell rips Obama a new one over his Gates incident comments last week. I don’t see a link on AJC.com. See http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/07/28/a_post-racial_president
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
8:33 am
IRYW @ 7:30 – “The future is not foreordained. I saw a recent report indicating that if the economy continues to fizzle, Hillary Clinton might challenge Obozo in a primary.-AmSpec”
Now that would be a lot of fun to watch. If Hillary runs against the POTUS, you suppose he would fire her as SoS? Or maybe just apologize for whatever he did to upset her?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:33 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 28th, 2009
7:50 am
Hillary runs only if he decides not to.
We voted for this klown because of the clown that preceeded him.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:35 am
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
8:27 am
And Krugman goes after the courageous Blue Dogs on health care.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
8:36 am
“if the economy continues to fizzle”
considering that the economy is slowly coming back to life, I think the Clinton cheerleaders should probably rethink the chicken-counting strategy …
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
8:36 am
TnG –
“We voted for this klown because of the clown that preceeded him”
and don’t forget the 3-ring circus that ran against him
Paul
July 28th, 2009
8:37 am
Report/Whine, @@ and anyone else interested -
this on the heels of the article from the other day about attempts to limit artificial intelligence – there are a lot of cross-purpose objectives going on.
“Will drones push fighter pilots out of the sky?”
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/302402
Given when we invaded Afg we had but a couple Predators available and now we have entirely new drones on station, this is really quite remarkable.
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
8:40 am
TnG – And Tom Price explains the ‘public’ health insurance option.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
8:40 am
TnGelding 7:28
I just backed up a page and saw you posted the same link – it’s an interesting article, isn’t it?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:41 am
Link to Krugman’s column:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/opinion/columnists/paul-krugman-do-blue-dogs-want-to-bring-obama-down-223850.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
Mrs. Godzilla
July 28th, 2009
8:41 am
Have y’all seen this by E.J. Dionne:
“Isn’t it time to dismantle the metal detectors, send the guards at the doors away and allow Americans to exercise their Second Amendment rights by being free to carry their firearms into the nation’s Capitol building?
I’ve been studying the deep thoughts of senators who regularly express their loyalty to the National Rifle Association and have decided they should practice what they preach. They tell us that the best defense against crime is an armed citizenry and that laws restricting guns do nothing to stop violence. If they believe that, why don’t they live by it?
Why would freedom-loving lawmakers want to hide behind guards and metal detectors? Shouldn’t NRA members be outraged that Second Amendment rights mean nothing in the seat of our democracy?
Congress seems to think that gun restrictions are for wimps. It voted earlier this year to allow people to bring their weapons into national parks, and pro-gun legislators have pushed for the right to carry in taverns, colleges and workplaces. Shouldn’t Congress set an example in its own workplace? ”
MMMMMMMM…..
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:43 am
Yeah, the times they are achangin’. No problem, someone else might have missed it.
Mrs. Godzilla
July 28th, 2009
8:46 am
ahh… the “Blue Cross” Democrats…..
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:47 am
Mrs. Godzilla
July 28th, 2009
8:41 am
Good point. Might eliminate the need for term limits, too. More than a few would probably opt for early retirement.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
8:47 am
Health-insurance premiums for families have risen 119 percent since 1999, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a Menlo Park, California-based policy-research firm. Inflation has risen 28.5 percent over that period, according to the Labor Department.
Premium costs are projected to rise another 9 percent next year, an increase that 42 percent of employers plan to pass on to their workers, according to a report last month by PricewaterhouseCoopers. That’s likely to further squeeze millions of Americans who find themselves in high-deductible insurance plans as wages stagnate because of the recession.
Earnings per hour climbed by a 0.7 percent pace on average over the last three months, the Labor Department said earlier this month, the smallest gain since the agency began keeping records in 1964. Meanwhile, the share of insured workers with at least a $1,000 deductible has almost doubled since 2006 to 18 percent, according to Kaiser.
Wal-Mart Weighs In
For companies, the cost of health care “appears to be borne by the employees in the form of forgone wage increases and by consumers in the form of higher prices,” according to an October 2007 research paper by economists Victor Fuchs and John Shoven of Stanford University.
Some companies say the rising costs are also hurting them.
“Health reform could not be more critical,” Mike Duke, president of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the nation’s largest private employer, said in a letter last month to Obama. “Reforming health care is necessary not just to improve the health of all Americans, but also to remove the burden that is crushing America’s businesses.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFRY..TvUM2M
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
8:49 am
Paul,
Here’s more on intelligence from Craig Ferguson:
http://open.salon.com/blog/knightwriter/2009/07/27/craig_ferguson_is_my_new_hero_2
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
8:54 am
Paul,
Regarding the drones. 60 minutes did a segment on them a few weeks back. They had Leslie stahl standing on the ground with a drone above her head and she couldn’t make it out.
Pretty impressive technology. They were showing tapes of actual drone attacks on known terrorists: one guy was driving along in his car and the next second the car was a bunch of little pieces.
In one tape they showed a group who had just finished an attack on US soldiers. They followed them a little ways and then just sent them to meet thir virgins.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
8:55 am
TnGelding
Krugman – the devil’s in the details, as they say. I think the public wants reforms, but not at any cost. That’s where, I think, the President’s lack of firm direction and the House’s penchant for playing Santa are primarily responsible for the debacle. The Blue Dogs just pointed this out.
Then again, it’s always easier to point the finger at someone else and ignore the four fingers pointing back at oneself.
I faulted the Administration and Congress for both not doing a more methodical review, taking what worked, discarding what doesn’t, in this whole endeavor. We’ve focused a lot on “Canada, England, socialist, oh no!!” and ignored examples closer to home. Massachusetts is a mixed bag. But Kathleen Parker cites Utah – and Pres Obama’s appointment of its governor as China ambassador – as a model of what could have been.
Reforming Reform the Utah Way
http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/park090726.htm
Remember, this is the governor of a conservative state, large LDS population, wide support. So does the ’socialist health care’ response fit? I think not. He’s also the governor who’s in favor of full civil unions for gay couples – and the populace support him still. Interesting governor, interesting state.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:57 am
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
8:47 am
You’d think the Chamber of Commerce would be lobbying for reform.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
9:00 am
Good morning Finneus –
“Regarding the drones. 60 minutes did a segment on them a few weeks back. They had Leslie stahl standing on the ground with a drone above her head and she couldn’t make it out.”
now, that’s just creepy.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
9:03 am
TnG –
“You’d think the Chamber of Commerce would be lobbying for reform”
funny you should say that …
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_090728.htm
they are backing the Senate version of the bill
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:04 am
Finn
Craig Ferguson’s great. New American citizen, too! And, he does his routine without much of a script, I understand. Just goes out with a general idea and takes it from there.
the drones – they’re causing an institutional shift in our Defense establishment (Army’s developing them too, and, they’re using recon drones, some the size that fit in backpacks – but the Army doesn’t pay their guys a 20 grand bonus.. just have to keep needling that point…). But the best is the uncertainty, the fear, the absolute stress it causes for the enemy. You’re trudging along a mountain path, lugging your weapons, far from American patrols. You’re shielded by terrain. You’re heading in for an ambush… then you see the guys in front of you vaporize. And you can’t hear for a long, long time….
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
9:05 am
Paul
July 28th, 2009
8:55 am
Interesting. I hadn’t heard of Utah’s reform. We certainly need to make sure it gets done right. I’m really not concerned about the projected higher costs because there almost has to be offsetting savings. Hillary’s plan was much better thought out than anything being considered now.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:12 am
TnGelding, Finn
“The service (Air Force) also is training officers who aren’t pilots to fly UAVs and is looking at allowing non-officers to fly some of them.”
Those are two game-changing institutional shifts for the Air Force. The first – dragging their feet on shifting to UAVs, is, IMHO, one of the things that lead SecDef Gates to fire the AF Secretary and Chief of Staff. The second, non-officers in pilot positions, has been fought tooth and nail for 50 years.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:15 am
TnGelding 9:05
I’ve said before, and I wonder how many Americans feel the same way – reform is needed, but the Administration and Congress are blowing it. An opportunity like this doesn’t come along often. I just wonder how many people will be so ticked that they couldn’t deliver on an issue so important (and they can’t blame Republicans for the failed effort) that Dems will suffer in the next elections. We’ll see.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
9:16 am
Here is the 60 minutes segment on the drones. It wasn’t lesley stahl (but it was a blonde, so I was at least in the ballpark!)
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5004882n&tag=cbsnewsMainColumnArea.2
This will lower American casualties!
@@
July 28th, 2009
9:19 am
Paul:
It’s been said that Obama sought an appointment for Utah’s governor to avoid any discussion of Utah’s healthcare initiative.
As far as the drones go…call me old fashioned…but I’m not getting on a commercial flight without a pilot up front.
There’s a program on T.V. about new weaponry — hosted by a retired marine (Gunny?). I was watching it the other night — everything’s geared towards GPS location. Gunnie(?) says to the launching crew (?)…..”Let’s go kill somethin’.”
Is it ^^^ obvious how little I know about the terminology used?
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
9:21 am
“Do you know who was in the group that approached him about running for president?”
No, I don’t know actually.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:25 am
Here’s a CNN interview with Officer Crowley’s coworkers. Listen to the African American, female officer – “Gates threw up a smoke screen” and “I won’t vote for Pres Obama again.” Wow.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2009/07/26/nr.comrade.in.arms.cnn
Finn
A blonde correspondent? You sure that wasn’t Fox? Thanks for the link.
@@
I’ve heard the same about Pres Obama’s apppointment of the Utah gov. But I wonder – the guy seems to be a practical, moderate Republican. But with experience as only a governor (you can bet that in the future the ‘experience’ factor will come into play again – from those who want to ignore Pres Obama’s experience to those who say his performance illustrates what happens…). But, why accept the appt as ambassador? It gives him foreign policy cred on station with a major power. Doesn’t take him out of 2012 at all – except in the groundwork of campaign organization, perhaps –
“Let’s go kill something” – yeah, those guys are different!
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
9:30 am
Paul –
“they couldn’t deliver on an issue so important (and they can’t blame Republicans for the failed effort)”
you’re kidding, right. the DeMint “this is going to be Obama’s Waterloo” comment is going to haunt him if this goes down. The Dems will attack the GOP with everything they have – especially since they compromised with them from the get-go.
I’ve already seen GOP sound bite after sound bite talking about how this is going to help the party – NOTHING about what it will do to the country.
and you think they’re going to walk away untarnished???
keep dreaming. the Dems’ infighting hasn’t helped them, but at least they have reached across the aisle and TRIED to work with the GOP.
Midori
July 28th, 2009
9:31 am
Paul,
what is the point of the black female officer’s opinion?
Midori
July 28th, 2009
9:32 am
p.s. Paul,
exactly WHAT is she supposed to say? she’s pretty much surrounded, you know.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:36 am
Finn
That was a great 60 Minutes segment. Thanks!
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
9:38 am
Seems Jacko’s personal doctor administered a Killer to The Thriller!
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
9:39 am
A Democratic Senate aide said the co-op plan is still “very much at the fore of what’s being considered as a viable alternative to the public option.”
A cooperative is basically a not-for-profit patient-run insurance organization. Instead of executives running it, you’d have people who are themselves enrolled. There would be relatively little overhead compared with a private insurance company—no profit means less advertising and no commissions or underwriting—and every patient would have a say in how it’s run. Many such cooperatives already exist. Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound near Seattle and HealthPartners in Minnesota are two of the most successful examples.
http://www.slate.com/id/2222744/
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:42 am
U.S. Air Force envisions drone that makes attack decisions by itself
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135945/U.S._Air_Force_envisions_drone_that_makes_attack_decisions_by_itself?source=CTWNLE_nlt_dailyam_2009-07-28
@@
July 28th, 2009
9:42 am
Mrs. Beauchaine recalls approaching the food table at an Independence Day picnic: “I told the girl, ‘I’m going to have a hot dog. If I’m dead in the morning, I’ll never know.’” In the morning she was back at Berkshire Medical Center.
The government spends an estimated $12 billion a year on “potentially preventable” readmissions for Medicare patients, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent congressional agency. U.S. leaders are trying to reduce such costs as they wrangle this week over how to retool the country’s health-care system. Though private insurers also pay for readmissions, these charges are especially prevalent among the elderly covered by Medicare.
“Medicare has been paying for quantity and not for quality,” says Barry Straube, Medicare’s chief medical officer. “The goal is to not pay for things that shouldn’t happen.”
From mandating parents get on board with education to mandating that old folks change their habits. Ain’t-ah gonna happen.
I don’t even like cars that tell me to fasten my seat belt. I wear a seat belt but only because I had to pay $150.00 for getting caught NOT wearing one.
Are we gonna tell the Mrs. Beauchaines that they have what European healthcare calls “a duty to die”?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124873545269485081.html#mod=rss_Politics_And_Policy
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
9:42 am
All this team non-sense. Too many cooks spoil the soup. There may not be an I in Team but their certainly is a ME.
@@
July 28th, 2009
9:44 am
Uh oh! From the 4th paragraph on are my words. Everything prior to that come from the link.
Lazy me.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
9:44 am
Midori
She said officers wouldn’t back up one of their own who hadn’t acted properly.
I think if she hadn’t wanted to say what she said she wouldn’t have gone with the group in the first place. But maybe she would have. She didn’t strike me as the type of person who would be intimidated into not speaking her mind.
@@
July 28th, 2009
9:47 am
s
put it where it belongs.
Geez!
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
9:47 am
I wonder if Jay fishes with grenades?
getalife
July 28th, 2009
9:48 am
Baucus leaves America behind: Senate Finance Committee is dropping the “public option” from their bill.
Told ya lobbyists would win.
They always do in the corrupt Senate.
Hope it fails.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
9:52 am
So, screw the american people, take care of the insurance companies first?
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
9:57 am
@@ (and others) –
unless you live in a country with socialized medicine and know what it’s like firsthand, then, really sit down and let the grown-ups talk.
I live in the UK and have had good experiences with the healthcare here. more imporantly, my MIL (75) who has had chronic illnesses for the last 30 years has had amazing care, including house calls, weekly doctor visits when needed, and free hospitalization when she had pneumonia. She’s now facing extensive surgey and do you know what her bill will be??? £0.
My SIL had 2 high-risk pregnancies – do you know what her medical bills were after both deliveries? £0. She also received home health visits to check on her health and that of her girls.
so, enough with the lies and obfuscation – we’re not trying to week out the old and infirm in countries with not-for-profit healthcare. we’re actually providing excellent care and, in fact, provide better care for every dollar spent than the US.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
9:58 am
Finn,
“take care of the insurance companies first?”
You are so insensitive. They have so many fees involved in the playing of golf. If you don’t keep the insurance folks and other corporate executives swimming in cash, the golf industry and game as we know it could suffer so. Where would all the golf pros work?
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
9:58 am
dangit … weeK should be weeD
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
10:00 am
Bosch!!!! how ya feelin, buddy??? I saw that you got through your tests on Friday – have you gotten your results?? we were thinking about you and sending you good thoughts
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
10:04 am
USinUK,
I appear to be fine – but Paul will probably tell you otherwise.
All the tests are coming back okay, so hopefully with some medicine and laying off the hot sauce for a while, I’ll be okay.
Thanks for the good wishes.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
10:04 am
“There may not be an I in Team but their certainly is a ME.”
Spelling isn’t your stong point, is it?
Disgusted
July 28th, 2009
10:04 am
So, screw the american people, take care of the insurance companies first?
Yup. Looks like the unions that negotiated for better benefits and sacrificed higher raises are going to take it up the old you-know-what. Their members are going to get socked with a big-time tax on their Cadillac plans. Wouldn’t want to be a Democrat seeking union support after this thing surfaces.
And businesses big and small will not be penalized heavily for not offering health care plans. Expect a lot of businesses to dump their current group plans and pay the piddling amount of penalty to the government.
The insurance lobby also wins by crushing the public plan–cooperatives will be the alternative.
The Republicans don’t have to do anything to win. The Blue Dogs and the compromising regular Democrats have done it for them. Republicans can point to this abortion as the failure it is, all the while benefiting from it.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
10:05 am
I hope Crowley cuffs Gates again on Thursday.
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:10 am
Seems Thursday is beer night at the Whitehouse.
Gates will have one of the following…Old English 800, Colt 45 or Schlitz Malt Liquour.
Crowley will have Guinness Stout or Sam Adams.
Obama will be served Crow.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
10:12 am
Bosch –
“All the tests are coming back okay, so hopefully with some medicine and laying off the hot sauce for a while, I’ll be okay.”
excellent news … although, I’m sure you’re more than a bit frustrated after all the tests … but, like you said – you were terrified it was the c-word and it turns out that it isn’t. anything after that is gravy and totally deal-able!!!
huzzah!!!
Midori
July 28th, 2009
10:14 am
yeah, right Paul.
BTW — She better had said that, if she knows what’s good for her.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:15 am
Once again Midori arrives late.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
10:16 am
Midori
Given she wasn’t the only African America officer interviewed: my expectation is that if Officer Crowley really was a rogue cop who acted in a racist manner (Prof Gates’s characterization) then other officers, white as well as African American, would be only too happy to hang him out to dry. Not come to his defense.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
10:17 am
DigDoggone why aren’t you gone yet: Think isn’t one of your strong points is it?
Just sayin’ (you [dumbass])!
Paul
July 28th, 2009
10:17 am
UsinUk
Bosch is fine!
Physically, that is…. mentally, however….
oh, Hi Bosch! Welcome back!!!
Midori
July 28th, 2009
10:18 am
hi Boschie!!!
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
10:19 am
“Just sayin’ (you [dumbass])!”
Your elegant, eloquence surpasses all understanding.
Midori
July 28th, 2009
10:19 am
and once again, a Turd is just a Turd.
Midori
July 28th, 2009
10:20 am
Paul,
I’m not saying the guy is “racist”, per se.
Just that he’s s legend in his own mind.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
10:21 am
Hi ya’ Paul! Better living through pharmaceuticals.
Hi Midori!
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
10:22 am
Oh digdogdone: HAve you this Bumper sticker yet:
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
10:23 am
Glad you noticed Digdogdone! I try to be all of that and more…. Get your sticker yet?
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:23 am
“Just that he’s s legend in his own mind.” That certainly fits this jackass gates to a tee!
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
10:24 am
Paul (your 10:17) – HA!
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:25 am
Disgusted
July 28th, 2009
10:04 am
I think it’s good that there is some differences of opinion. If they can work it out, the resulting bill should be improved. It’ll be interesting to see if Obama vetoes anything that doesn’t meet his objectives.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
10:26 am
“Digdogdone!”
Spelling doesn’t seem to be your stong point either.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:28 am
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
10:05 am
Maybe he’ll arrest Obama too, for impersonating a U.S. citizen.
From yesterday: The vitims of 09/11 weren’t sacrificed. They were murdered.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:31 am
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:10 am
Hope they don’t get drunk and brawl on the WH lawn. Maybe they should invite more potential litigants to the party?
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:42 am
ObamaCare…
But page by page, the bills reveal a web of restrictions, fines, and mandates that would radically change your health-care coverage.
If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your company’s Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests — you may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under the rules proposed in the two bills that herald a health-care revolution.
In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and highly subsidized coverage — including a lot of benefits people would never pay for with their own money — but deliver it through a highly restrictive, HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can’t have. It’s a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.
For the remainder of this debacle…
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107408/5-freedoms-you-would-lose-in-health-care-reform.html?mod=insurance-health
Obama/Dems are penalizing those that have achieved something in their lives for the sake of the lazy and the BUMS!
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:50 am
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
10:42 am
Totally unacceptable and it won’t get passed, but I would beg to differ with your last sentence.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
10:53 am
Hey Bosch
[[Better living through pharmaceuticals.]]
Don’t forget the natural, organic route – distillates of corn, wheat, potatoes… a little modified grape juice… some barley and other grains with a bit of yeast added…
I thought hot sauce was supposed to be GOOD for you? Kill off all the bad flora and fauna and all that -
Midori
I do hope this episode will cause people to think before they speak, be open to the idea that each situation is new and not a repeat of the past, and that change is possible, regardless of one’s experiences.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:56 am
Worst is over?
NEW YORK (AP) — A widely watched index shows home prices posted their first monthly increase since the summer of 2006, indicating prices are finally stabilizing.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/H/HOME_PRICES?SITE=GACAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-07-28-09-54-18
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
10:59 am
TnG -
“Hope they don’t get drunk and brawl on the WH lawn. Maybe they should invite more potential litigants to the party?”
if you haven’t seen today’s Luckovich, it’s priceless …
Paul –
“Don’t forget the natural, organic route – distillates of corn, wheat, potatoes… a little modified grape juice… some barley and other grains with a bit of yeast added…”
now, that’s my kind of holistic medicine!
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:01 am
USinUK:
unless you live in a country with socialized medicine and know what it’s like firsthand, then, really sit down and let the grown-ups talk.
If I believed everything I read on this site, I’d believe you live in the U.K. and know of what you speak, Ms. Groaner Upper. It’s far more likely that the “place” where you reside is a figment of your imagination — not mine.
My former minister (whom I adore) is a british citizen with an unreliable ticker and a previous bout with prostrate cancer. He resides here in the states 9 months out of the year and 3 months in the U.K.. He’s in his late sixties.
When it comes to everday ailments, he’s O.K. with the U.K.’s healthcare. When it comes to critical care, he opts for the good ol’ U.S.A. although he considers the price tag a shocker. He’s learning his way around it though.
When it comes to illness among the aged, the brits do refer to it as “a duty to die”. It’s the reason for their push towards legalized euthanasia.
Consequentialists similarly think there is no intrinsic value in a human life; the only value lies in the quality of the life that is being lived. That’s why Lady Warnock thinks that if people have lost their faculties, they should forfeit their existence to benefit others whose lives are – in her eyes – worth more.
This is indeed the path to barbarism. But Lady Warnock is by no means alone in holding these views. They are mainstream among our secular, anti-religious elites – and alarmingly, nowhere more so than in the medical profession.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1059166/MELANIE-PHILLIPS-Now-intellectuals-think-old-frail-duty-die-path-barbarism.html#ixzz0MZmNiTVd
Do I support living wills? Absolutely but only if the individual is lucid when they’re executed.
I do not, however, support government assisted death for profit.
Dignitas under investigation for ‘profiteering’ from assisted suicide patients
The Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas that has helped close to 1,000 people kill themselves is under investigation amid fears it may be profiteering from its vulnerable patients.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4160472/Dignitas-under-investigation-for-profiteering-from-assisted-suicide-patients.html
The founder of the group is reported to have become a millionaire by helping at least 870 terminally ill people – an estimated 100 of whom were British – die. It is said to have taken as much as £61,000 from one woman, 10 times its usual fee.
Today I’m a teacher here in the U.S. who is on summer break. Tomorrow I’m gonna be a proctologist/brain surgeon in the U.K.
My services will cost you £0.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
11:05 am
No more than 156 degrees at distillation fusel alcohol is bad
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
11:07 am
It leads to dumb hillbilly republicans
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:08 am
@@ –
“I’d believe you live in the U.K. and know of what you speak, Ms. Groaner Upper. It’s far more likely that the “place” where you reside is a figment of your imagination — not mine”
right. cuz I have nothing better to do. I believe those who make that kind of assertion are usually guilty of the crime, themselves – or, as the saying goes “he who smelt it dealt it”.
“Tomorrow I’m gonna be a proctologist/brain surgeon in the U.K.”
well, considering some of your past posts, I believe proctologist is at least in the right neighborhood.
as far as the right to die, yes. we’re trying to kill off the old and infirm. sadly, though, with global warming, there are no ice floes on which to push them off, out to sea.
or, it could be because we don’t think that people should be prosecuted just for helping people get to a foreign country where they can die with some dignity. I’ve seen people die from cancer – there’s no dignity there. none at all.
(but then, I could be making that up, too).
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
11:09 am
@@,
You are a parapro who is on summer break.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
11:13 am
This is funny http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/28/william-shatner-makes-pal_n_246034.html
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:16 am
@@ – and as for your minister –
“When it comes to everday ailments, he’s O.K. with the U.K.’s healthcare. When it comes to critical care, he opts for the good ol’ U.S.A. although he considers the price tag a shocker. He’s learning his way around it though.”
considering people can’t afford to be seen by a doctor for everyday ailments, THAT is the problem in the US. ask any ER staffer how many patients they see now for “primary” care rather than urgent care (or urgent care that didn’t have to be urgent if they could have afforded a regular doctor)
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
11:18 am
TN- Going back to an earlier subject, not only do I know Bruno is going to run, I know what her kampaign slogan will be-
I told you so.
But it will be all for naught, Palin will rule her.
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:21 am
Bosch:
Technically (were I in the public school system) you’d be right. Since I’m the only teacher in the classroom and since I’m solely responsible for the progress of my students, the parents and my director of education classify my position as that of a teacher (among one of their best) according to them.
And you are…..?
USinUK:
I’ve seen people die from cancer – there’s no dignity there. none at all.
and I’ve seen people here in the U.S. who beat their prognosis of terminal cancer through the miracles of modern medicine here in the U.S.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
11:22 am
Chicago Sees Coldest July In 67 Years, Average Temperature Only 68.9 Degrees
eewwww, I mean, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:26 am
@@ –
“and I’ve seen people here in the U.S. who beat their prognosis of terminal cancer through the miracles of modern medicine here in the U.S”
wow. modern medicine? like, you don’t use maggots and burning sage to beat diseases, anymore??? ooooooo …
my mother died of lung cancer right there in Marietta, darlin … so, please take your assumptions and place them ever-so-gently where the sun don’t shine.
if someone decides they’ve had enough of the pain, that’s their decision and their morals and their god to deal with – not yours. they should have the legal right to say to a doctor “thank you for all your help, but I’d like to check out, now”
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
11:27 am
“The reality is, the Russians are where they are,” Biden said, in comments published Saturday. “They have a shrinking population base, they have a withering economy, they have a banking sector and structure that is not likely to be able to withstand the next 15 years, they’re in a situation where the world is changing before them and they’re clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable.”
The Kremlin sent a bristling response questioning whether the president or the vice president was shaping U.S. foreign policy goals, and Clinton tried to smooth things over by calling Russia a “great power” in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” But the damage was done.
No, no, don’t get excited y’all, Obozo still wants to surrender.
It’s all cool.
Dave R.
July 28th, 2009
11:30 am
Shatner’s DA BOMB!
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:30 am
USinUK:
The biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs here in the U.S. is the fact that E.R.s are overwhelmed with those who come in for the most minor of ailments — people who don’t hesitate because it costs them nothing and people who are lacking in common sense like the Mrs. Beauchaines of the world.
Let me know when and how OUR preferred government can mandate common sense.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
11:31 am
@@,
“And you are?” Well, I guess since you can be a teacher, then so am I!
Gotta love private schools! You don’t even have to go to college and can call yourself a teacher.
Kind of like being a Baptist minister – one day you can be a homeless drug addict on the street, and the next day – “Hey! I’m a preacher now – praise the Lord!”
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:33 am
USinUK:
This blog’s prickly cucumber who’s lost his cool?
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
11:34 am
“ask any ER staffer how many patients they see now for “primary” care rather than urgent care ”
“the fact that E.R.s are overwhelmed with those who come in for the most minor of ailments”
@@ – in case you just didn’t notice, you’re making USinUK’S case stronger…by more or less repeating the SAME information.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:35 am
Once again here are your lost freedoms with ObamaCare…
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107408/5-freedoms-you-would-lose-in-health-care-reform.html?mod=insurance-health
Read it and weep.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:36 am
Gee, I hope the illegals keep getting their free ObamaCare for which they are entitled.
Kamchak
July 28th, 2009
11:38 am
Bosch
The Blues won the World Futbol Challenge in the final without having to risk Terry, Drogba, Anelka or Lampard. Life is good.
On a somber note—-The U.S. lost The Gold Cup 5-0 to the Mexicans.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:38 am
@@ –
“The biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs here in the U.S. is the fact that E.R.s are overwhelmed with those who come in for the most minor of ailments”
no, the biggest contributor to rising healthcare costs is prescription drugs and technology:
http://www.kaiseredu.org/topics_im.asp?imID=1&parentID=61&id=358
“Spending on prescription drugs and new medical technologies has been cited as the primary contributor to the increase in overall health spending. Some analysts state that the availability of more expensive, state-of-the-art drugs and technological services fuels health care spending not only because the development costs of these products must be recouped by industry but also because they generate consumer demand for more intense, costly services even if they are not necessarily cost-effective”
so, the next time you see one of the umpteen commercials telling you to ask your doctor for AstroZenicaBuProfinItol, know that your healthcare costs just went up …
“Let me know when and how OUR preferred government can mandate common sense.”
oh, that we could.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:39 am
We need Obama to investigate these “Excess profits” that were first revealed in a startling expose’ by The HildaBeast.
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:40 am
Bosch:
Gotta love private schools! You don’t even have to go to college and can call yourself a teacher.
I do have a college degree in a field that is of great value in my chosen profession.
I could work in the public schools where special ed is more or less warehousing for babysitters with teaching degrees.
When one of our students is mainstreamed into the public school after our efforts in early intervention, it’s those teachers with degrees who want to know how we got them to their advanced levels in learning.
Now, I will discuss, no further, my students or their education. Why? Because they (my students) have, in the past, been the object of leftist ridicule here.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:41 am
Perhaps Bono could meet with Obama and advise him on foreign policy, ObamaCare, banking guidelines etc…
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
11:43 am
how’s this for a band name Will E Legal and the Anchor babies
getalife
July 28th, 2009
11:43 am
Man, that new Firefox is fast.
I told my reps. to vote no on more corporate welfare and to get their corrupt greedy hands off my medical insurance.
You just can’t trust them.
md
July 28th, 2009
11:44 am
“the Dems’ infighting hasn’t helped them, but at least they have reached across the aisle and TRIED to work with the GOP”
Thats funny. Hey gop, want to come over and vote for “our” bill, we will be able to tell America its bibartisan if you do. What, you have ideas too, no, you have to vote for our bill, we won, we are the ones that will write it, now be patriotic and vote for our bill.
Working together in Congress for a better America – yea right.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:47 am
Im surprised the Dems dont trot out Tom Daschle so we might be enlightened by his expertise.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
11:48 am
“What, you have ideas too, no, you have to vote for our bill, we won, we are the ones that will write it, now be patriotic and vote for our bill.”
Quoted directly from the Republicans playbook.
md
July 28th, 2009
11:48 am
“what is the point of the black female officer’s opinion?”
Maybe the fact that she was willing to give her opinion after she herself looked at the facts.
No way was she “told what to say” as she volunteered the fact that she voted for Barry and would not do so again. If she was told to say anything remotely close to that, she would have had Al, Jesse and the whole gang on the spot asap.
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:48 am
Doggone:
I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.
USinUK:
It’s the advances in technology that make our healthcare superior. The drugs? On that we can agree. Far too many of them are unnecessary and have unintended consequences that remain to be seen. Anti-depressants, in my opinion, are not only dangerous, but unjustifiably prescribed.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
11:51 am
“I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.”
You would prefer that they just wander around, sick as dogs, and infecting lots of other people? People do still get really neat diseases like the black plague you know. My preference would be for them to be treated, so *I* don’t catch it too.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
11:54 am
in the long run prevention is cheaper than treatment
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:54 am
“It’s the advances in technology that make our healthcare superior”
yeah. we don’t have them fancy-schmancy things like sonogram and mris here in the UK … for our CAT scans, we use real cats!!!
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:56 am
““I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.””
hooray!!! no more ER treatment for stay-at-home-moms!! we now have the new threshold where people qualify for treatment – if they’re of age, they have to contribute tax revenue!!
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:57 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 28th, 2009
11:18 am
As I said much earlier, I just hope we don’t look back and think what might have been. The kid could still pull it off.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
11:57 am
ObamaCare will be run just as efficiently as the DMV.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
11:58 am
“in the long run prevention is cheaper than treatment”
Sure it is, but if you don’t have insurance and can afford to pay for regular preventative care…then you only see the Doctor when you are sick and it’s acute enough that you think you NEED a Doctor.
Isn’t that the whole point of the “health care debate”?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:59 am
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:21 am
Is it the miracle of modern medicine or miracle of prayer?
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
12:00 pm
Sorry! Typing in a hurry! “can afford to pay for regular preventative care” should be:
CAN’T afford to pay for regular preventative care
getalife
July 28th, 2009
12:00 pm
13-6. gop lose on SC vote.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
12:00 pm
Yes,doggone my point exactly
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
12:02 pm
Some people prefer to drive SUV’s and hoopdys with 25 inch rims then pay for their childrens healthcare.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
12:05 pm
They can afford it, they just refuse to purchase. Healthcare for themselves and children takes a back seat to $200 tennis shoes, PS3, Blu-Ray, X-box, Maxed out credit cards, Financed Rooms to Go furniture, hoopdyes, 25 inch rims, grills and all this other non-sense.
These idiots want womb to tomb govt involvement and think its a good thing.
RW-(the original)
July 28th, 2009
12:06 pm
Ah yes, the black female officer in a town with a black mayor, in a state with a black governor, in a country with a black president, felt pressure to take whitey’s side.
Sorry, but I ain’t buying that one.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
12:07 pm
Turd go flush your racist self
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
12:10 pm
@@
July 28th, 2009
11:33 am
Death and dying will bring that out.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
11:38 am
Advertising drugs should be banned. Our overuse is a national disgrace.
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
12:15 pm
“Advertising drugs should be banned. Our overuse is a national disgrace”
I agree with your last sentence, but not with your first. It doesn’t matter how much a drug is advertised, it still takes a Doctor to prescribe it. If they are being overused (overprescribed) then look to the name at the bottom of the prescription…not to the TV set.
@@
July 28th, 2009
12:24 pm
Doggone:
Would I prefer they wander around sick? NO! but I would prefer they pay something — a nominal fee at the very least. Many of Europe’s socialized programs are requiring it to discourage abuse.
USinUK:
You do have technology. It’s use is, however, restricted and not widely available due to budget constraints.
OH LOOK!!! It’s Sven Larson from Sveeeeden with “Tales from the Darkside of Socialized Medicine.”
Lessons from Sweden’s universal health system: tales from the health-care crypt
I’m gonna take him at his word.
In October 2003 Mrs. A., who lives in Malmo, Sweden, gave birth to a baby boy. (1) She was signed out from the hospital six hours after delivering the baby. There are not enough beds, so delivering a baby “without complications” is an outpatient procedure. Budget cuts have eliminated beds and medical staff.
The next day Mr. and Mrs. A. noticed that their baby was weak and did not want to eat. As is common in Sweden, they did not call a doctor. Instead they called the tax-paid “TeleMedicine” service. Nobody advised them to go see a doctor right away.
The following day their baby died of pneumonia.
In May 2006 another couple lost their three-year-old son to the budget-starved medical system. (2) When Mr. and Mrs. B.’s son suffered from diarrhea and had been vomiting for almost two days, they took him to the emergency room at the nearby university hospital. A doctor ordered a supply of intravenous fluids, and the boy was sent on to the pediatric clinic to have them administered. When he arrived, the nurses had no time for him. Mr. and Mrs. B. repeatedly called on the medical staff to ask why nobody was coming to give their son the intravenous fluids he so desperately needed.
Every time they got the same answer: nobody has time. They have too many patients and too little staff.
Six hours later the three-year-old boy died of heart failure.
That’s just the “little ones”. It goes on to tell horror stories about adults.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
12:25 pm
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
12:05 pm
Certainly true of some, but not all. Is that a good reason for the gov’t to mandate it?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
12:30 pm
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
12:15 pm
After I hit submit I thought of: and don’t allow free samples or sales calls to doctors. But patients go in asking for the drug after they’ve seen it advertised. And it’s a lot easier and quicker for a doctor to write a prescription than to take the time to prescribe a lengthy lifestyle change.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:31 pm
Barry! He’s Scary!
Now that’s a bumper sticker! Almost as good as:
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Why do you liberals hate America?
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
12:31 pm
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
12:07 pm
Truth hurts does it?
Curious Observer
July 28th, 2009
12:32 pm
It’s the advances in technology that make our healthcare superior.
Oh yes, like the PET scan I had six months ago and for which the company billed my insurer $10,000–I kid you not! $10,000 for five hours pre- and post- with the scanner and a doctor’s review of the results. Who can afford that kind of technology?
And the prescription drug coverage? I recently had occasion to refill a monthly prescription of what the insurance company calls a Tier III drug to treat diabetes–Acta, if you must know. Normally, my share would have been $37. But this time, I was charged the full cost of $173 because my refill came exactly one day before the insurer said it could be refilled. The pharmacist didn’t care, and it was a fait accompliby the time I picked the refill up. And we want to call government-provided insurance nanny care? An insurer dictated what would be covered and even the period of time during which I could refill a prescription.
The current system is broken beyond repair. Almost anything would be better than what we now have.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:32 pm
The Government should take over the drug companies and use the profits to balance the budget and subsidize the UAW.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
12:33 pm
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:31 pm
Sorry, I’m not biting today. Maybe later.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
12:33 pm
@@ wrote: @@
July 28th, 2009
11:48 am
Doggone:
I often wonder how many of those who abuse the ERs are even contributing any tax revenue at all.
@@, think about it. If those people abusing ERs are employees – illegal immigrants or otherwise – the fact that their employer is not paying for their medical coverage is contributing to the employers bottom line.
So, the uninsured is contributing to the progress of capitalism because they cost less to employ. So, the employer is getting off without having to pay the medical care costs for the individual: we, the rest of the working population, the rest of society, are paying for that care!
You want to blame the problems on the illegals and those employed without insurance? They’re the tool that allows the employer to shift his/her costs onto the rest of us.
md
July 28th, 2009
12:35 pm
“The current system is broken beyond repair. Almost anything would be better than what we now have.”
Replacing a bad system with a bad system leaves one with a bad sytem.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:35 pm
that PET scan wasa not needed then. You can’t afford it, neither can we. Get rid of Technology in health care. DRs need to guess more. That is the real answer, oh and tort reform. By tort reform I mean get all Stalin on all lawyers. Kill every single one, especially the politicians and teachers. Then start fresh. Worked in Russia!
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:36 pm
TnG, it’s lunch time brother!
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
12:36 pm
My Brother from another mother!
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
12:37 pm
@@, any country in the world can buy any piece of medical equipment or drug used here.
We sell weapons to other countries, hello! You don’t think we would also sell them health care equipment? Maybe they don’t have the cash to buy the equipment? Guess what! Other countries employ Visa and MasterCard too.
Myopic is the word.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
12:42 pm
Fortunately for you turd stupidity doesn’t.
not everyone riding around on 25’s is on welfare, your assumptions show your hand.
Many hard working people of all races cannot afford health care.
md
July 28th, 2009
12:47 pm
Anybody have kids in college?
If you do, you get to fill out FAFSA to qualify for assistance (grants,etc). Good ole gov’t run program. Problem is, it only considers income, with no mention of expenses.
You make 50,000 a year, your contribution to the program is 10,000, and help is based on that number.
You make 50,000 a year and have medical debts of 500,000, and your contribution is 10,000.
Don’t make the mistake to think for a minute that gov’t is the answer to healthcare. There ARE better solutions.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
12:48 pm
LOL…nice try FrankLee. Your world of denial shows yours.
It all starts with govt give aways like providing breakfast at the schools. Let the parents give the kids breakfast but OH NO…womb to tomb…
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
12:58 pm
Turd you make no sense
Doggone/GA
July 28th, 2009
1:01 pm
“And it’s a lot easier and quicker for a doctor to write a prescription than to take the time to prescribe a lengthy lifestyle change.”
Sure it is…but that is STILL the Doctors’ fault, not the TV’s
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:02 pm
md, why would a student loan program base its distribution on how much you spend a month?
What if I make $50,000 a year and have the highest speed cable bill, and credit card payments of $5,000 per month, and I have to have the nicest car in the world so I owe $2,000 a month on that. In other words, I like to live beyond my means.
See, that makes no sense whatsoever.
@@
July 28th, 2009
1:03 pm
Curious:
I’ve run into the same problem with an early refill. I took the initiative by asking the pharmacist why he didn’t verify with the insurance company prior to filling? Once done, I had no intention of paying the increased price. I told the pharmacist to give me a partial refill until I could straighten it out with my insurance company. Done!
Did you not see the deadline date? Do you not have the option for 90 day scripts — a lot of money to be saved in those. If you’re not willing to fight to protect your money, you must be a liberal lacking in common sense.
Finn:
If it’s mandated that business offer insurance then the employer will quidkly be adding to the unemployed or raising the cost of his product on the unemployed consumer. As much as you guys would prefer it not be, business is entitled to employ or not employ in the interest of employing, at the very least, some.
It’s not that other countries can’t get the equipment, it’s that their dwindling resources restrict the use of it.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
1:03 pm
md,
Oh FAFSA!!! I keep forgetting to do that. Thanks for the remind.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:03 pm
and md, if you have the public option you wont have people with $500,000 worth of medical debt.
@@
July 28th, 2009
1:04 pm
I misspelled a word.
Kewl!
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:06 pm
@@,
Other countries have dwindling resources?
Are you smoking dope today? Can you share with the rest of us?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
1:12 pm
‘It’s not that other countries can’t get the equipment, it’s that their dwindling resources restrict the use of it.’
yeah,cause the pound is taking such a beating against the dollar. NOT!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 28th, 2009
1:19 pm
Well, I reckon I might as well come right out and be honest. Since the rest of the people that don’t like this guvmint health care won’t do it.
The reason I’m against it is I got my health care and I don’t want to pay for anybody else’s health care. If I do that my taxes and costs will go up. If people want health care and don’t have it they can go out and find a job that pays for health care like I did.
Another reason is I don’t like alot of the people that would get health care on the cheap with this Obama plan. Now I wouldn’t mind maybe paying for a ticket to watch right after a Dr. tells Whiner You’re going to feel a little pressure now. That’s Dr.-speak for This is going to feel like I’m running a hot poker up your rear end and the pain will be unbearable, but heck, I won’t feel nothing and I got to earn my pay. And the same thing would go for being there the minute the Dr. tells Sister Dusty she’s just plain old fat and needs to loose about 150 pounds.
The last reason I don’t want this Obama care is I don’t want to wait long in a Dr.’s waiting room. If this plan passes the waiting room will be busting at the seams with Those People and a whole bunch of folks that wouldn’t be there otherwise. I could be made to wait for hours.
Anyhow, that’s the whole truth and I reckon I can sleep good tonight after being so honest. Have a good p.m. everybody.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
1:22 pm
WOMB TO TOMB…the Democrats Mantra!!
Midori
July 28th, 2009
1:27 pm
Frank,
I thought it was just me.
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
1:36 pm
@@ –
oh, you didn’t just go there with infant mortality, did you??? REEEEELLLYYYYY???
so, A baby died in Sweden and therefore socialized medicine is “teh sux”???
darlin, Sweden’s infant morality rate is 3.2 per thousand and their mortality for children under 5 is 4.0 per thousand. The US is 6.3 and 7.8, respectively.
the UK’s infant mortality is 4.8 and 6.0
Canada is 4.8 and 5.9
if that’s socialized medicine, sign me up.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
1:38 pm
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
1:22 pm
WOMB TO TOMB…with such aplomb!
If we can’t take care of the children and elderly, what are our family values?
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:39 pm
“The last reason I don’t want this Obama care is I don’t want to wait long in a Dr.’s waiting room.”
That’s another thing that chaps me. If ANYONE here has a doctor who sets an appointment with you and can see you within 15 minutes of that appointment on a consistent basis, please tell me who it is so I can switch to that doctor.
I always take a book cause it could be that day again where I’m sitting there 45 minutes before getting seen. I’ve actually told them I had to leave after waiting an hour one time.
I get there on time, why can’t I be seen on time? Overbooking perhaps? Poor resource management?
If I have an appointment to get my haircut and have to wait around for 30 minutes after I got there on time, I can speak loudly by witholding my tip. Maybe I will see how far witholding my copay will get me? Jail time?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
1:40 pm
Midori,I feel I’m in good company
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
1:44 pm
“If we can’t take care of the children and elderly, what are our family values?”
don’t you know … the new and improved family value: I got mine. (see: John Gault)
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
1:47 pm
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:39 pm
I’ve had them reschedule me and left on more than one ocassion. I also call sometimes before leaving from home to make sure they are running on schedule. They do have emergencies sometimes that have to be handled immediately. It’s not the wait so much, as their total unconcern.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
1:50 pm
christian values:
1) the meek shall inherit the earth
2) do unto others as you would have them do unto you
3) turn the other cheek
Sorry, christian values do not belong in America (unless you are totally kidding yourself) so why should we expect “family” values? Or how about just “moral” values?
Pphfffft. that stuff’s for wimps and girlie men.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
1:54 pm
The parents and kids cant take care of the children and elderly. For those who have problems the we should take care of them, however, I suspect many that state they have financial issues are bluffing and would rather live beyond their means, keep up with the jones’ than be honest about things.
They would rather finance a house they KNOW they cant afford, lease the Beamer, purchase living room suites, purchase 25″ rims, purchase season tickets, go out and blow money just to see and be seen THAN live within their means.
Kinda funny how suddenly after years of pay increases they find themselves with debt that will take 15 year to pay. THEN WE ALL HAVE to pitch in and help…I dont wanna be on a team such as that. NO THANKS!
USinUK
July 28th, 2009
1:56 pm
TnG –
you’re approaching your visit to the doctor’s office all wrong … you need to look at it as an opportunity to catch up on your reading while wearing a paper robe with your backside hanging out.
once you accept that, the doctor’s office isn’t so bad.
md
July 28th, 2009
1:59 pm
Finn,
I’m guessing you are not a small business owner. If you were, you would know that banks do not loan to small businesses without personal guarantees. In doing so, FAFSA penalizes every small business owner in this country. Its bad enough as it is trying to keep ones head above water as a small business, but uncle sugar just keeps stacking the deck against.
Personal spending -sure, but why penalize business owners when all they are trying to do is make payroll without laying people off and making a decent living. It sure doesn’t affect the FAFSA’s of the employees.
Scooter
July 28th, 2009
2:01 pm
If the HC bill passes, Will it be manditory for me to purchase it? Anyone please!
md
July 28th, 2009
2:02 pm
“md, why would a student loan program base its distribution on how much you spend a month?”
Why give people food stamps when they have a seperate pile that they pay with “their” money consisting of alcohol, cigarettes, snuff, etc?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:05 pm
Personally I don’t have any debt that I can’t pay for.
I have a good career a reasonable mortgage.So it’s no skin off my back to help a little(good for my karma),but I could see how a person living beyond their means might not want to.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:05 pm
Turd, the people you are most accurately describing have no idea about finances. They don’t understand how to determine at what point they are “living beyond their means.”
Think about the ads and the sales pitch.
Salesman: “You are paying $900 in rent on an apartment? Well for no money down you can OWN the house and your monthly payment will actually go DOWN to $750″
or this:
Salesman: “I see you like the Mercedes S500…how much do you want your monthly payments to be? $300? Sure, we can do that, step into my office.”
One side has the information and the calculator……the other side sees a deal that will immediately move them up while maybe lowering their current expenses.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:07 pm
If the HC bill passes, Will it be manditory for me to purchase it? Anyone please.
No,scooter you are not
md
July 28th, 2009
2:08 pm
Scooter,
I you have none now, the answer is yes. Even those that do not want insurance will be required to get it.
Side note, it will also cover any and all here illegally. What a great carrot that will be. Come have and have your baby on US soil and we will not only grant it citizenship, but we will also throw in free insurance for the whole family.
Reagans amnesty compounded the problem as this will do also.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:08 pm
Scoot…eventually it will be mandatory by default as Govt will run free enterprise out of business.
Anytime anyone is rushing others to make a decision like Obama to Congress, Dems to Dems/Reps then you can bet there is a fly in the slaw.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:10 pm
sorry,
No scooter you are not going to be required to purchase it.
md
July 28th, 2009
2:11 pm
So Finn is proposing we not hold the uneducated responsible. Thats great considering most already opted out of a free education system. Lets see how stupid we can all get and maybe uncle sugar will take care us us all.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:12 pm
Bottom line of all these shenanigans is…
“Don’t talk of dust and roses
Or should we powder our noses?
Don’t live for last year’s capers
Give me steel, give me steel, give me pulsars unreal
He’ll build a glass asylum
With just a hint of mayhem
He’ll build a better whirlpool
We’ll be living from sin, then we can really begin
Please savior, saviour, show us
Hear me, I’m graphically yours
Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you
We want you Big Brother, Big Brother
I know you think you’re awful square
But you made everyone and you’ve been every where
Lord, I’d take an overdose if you knew what’s going down
Someone to claim us, someone to follow
Someone to shame us, some brave Apollo
Someone to fool us, someone like you
We want you Big Brother”
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:13 pm
md, I didn’t realize you were talking about small business owners, I thought you were saying FAFSA should reward one for having more debt.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:13 pm
WE WANT YOU OBAMA…OBAMA…
Sad!
md
July 28th, 2009
2:15 pm
Scooter,
“House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns said in a letter yesterday that the health care bill now before Congress would require “some administrative and a small number of benefits-related adjustments” to some plans under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. Those changes would be necessary to make sure all FEHBP plans meet the government’s standards of a “qualified health benefits plan,” Towns said in his letter to Ranking Republican Darrell Issa.
The health care bill, HR 3200, would require all citizens to have a minimum level of insurance coverage through a qualified health benefits plan or other form of coverage. Issa asked Towns on July 17 whether federal employees and their dependents enrolled under FEHBP would be in compliance with that requirement.”
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:17 pm
If government healthcare is good enough to run private insurance out off business so be it.
free market at work.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:19 pm
We are all good people, there is no wrong or right, no one should be allowed to make personal choices, everythings cool…yea…thats the way to go.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:20 pm
Hey turd maybe you could get shatner to read that for you
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:20 pm
ITS ALL GOOT!!
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:20 pm
md, you are missing my point on the uneducated. I’m not saying they should be rewarded.
But you can’t fault someone for trying to make their situation better off
OR!!! Is that bad in your mind? hmmm, people trying to put themselves in a better situation…hmmm, where have we heard that before….someone was whining earlier about some FAFSA thing….hmmm
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:21 pm
LOL…nice try Frankee…public vs private industry. Try again.
GOP is gone
July 28th, 2009
2:22 pm
How about this fact, 10 % of healthcare dollars were spent on obesity related diseases last year. Now that is a truely subjective problem. Just don’t be such a glutton already, and move your big butt a little more.
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
2:24 pm
“If government healthcare is good enough to run private insurance out off business so be it.
free market at work.”
You consider a government run system that us subsidized by taxpayers and is not required to make a profit, or even break even, to be ‘free market at work’? The intention is to drive private insurance companies out of business. I fully expect many employers will drop plans for workers not covered by collective bargaining agreements, forcing them to the government plan, because it will cost them less than what they now pay. Free market?
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:25 pm
md, you want to hold the uneducated accountable. That’s fine.
But you don’t say anything about holding the scam artist and the deceptive salesman accountable. They should get off easy? They were just doing a job?
The person who had the most information, the one who knew it was a deceptive practice all along….well, maybe they went to the right school? The same school you went to? Or, maybe this guy is your neighbor? Or maybe the scam artist’s son is an alter boy in the same church your son’s in?
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:26 pm
PS Frankee…it would be hilarious to hear Shatner do his twist on it!! I will give ya that one.
On Bended Knees
July 28th, 2009
2:27 pm
PSALM 2009 – 2012
FIRST BOOK OF DEMOCRAT
OBAMA IS A SHEPHERD,
I SHALL NOT WANT.
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE STILL FACTORIES.
HE RESTORETH MY FAITH IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
HE GUIDETH ME IN THE PATH OF UNEMPLOYMENT.
YEA, THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE BREAD LINE,
I SHALL NOT GO HUNGRY.
OBAMA HAS ANOINTED MY INCOME WITH TAXES,
MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME,
SURELY, POVERTY AND HARD LIVING WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
AND I WILL LIVE FOREVER IN A RENTED HOME.
BUT I AM GLAD I AM AN AMERICAN,
I AM GLAD THAT I AM FREE.
BUT I WISH I WAS A DOG
AND OBAMA WAS A TREE.
RW-(the original)
July 28th, 2009
2:28 pm
5 freedoms you’d lose in health care reform
If you read the fine print in the Congressional plans, you’ll find that a lot of cherished aspects of the current system would disappear.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
2:32 pm
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:05 pm
Madison Avenue rules!
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:34 pm
NICE RW…I posted the same from yahoo this morning…just surprised to see it referenced by CNN.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
2:36 pm
PRINCETON, NJ — Americans view themselves as more knowledgeable than members of Congress regarding the current debate over healthcare reform. Nearly half (48%) say they personally have a good understanding of the issues involved, while only 27% say so about members of Congress.
Now if the question involved raising taxes, then no one could touch Congress.
They be the tax and spend experts.
md
July 28th, 2009
2:36 pm
Finn,
I hold all parties to the fiasco accountable. I give none of them a pass. Wall St, Main St, Democrats, Republicans, etc, etc. I just get so tired of listening to folks here tell me how the ones that knew they couldn’t afford a home should get a pass. Thats bs.
And if you support the democratic party, then you support the enabling of those that choose to not help themselves. (And there is a big difference between those that can’t and those that choose not to).
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
2:41 pm
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
2:25 pm
You’re right, it’s not the well-intentioned gov’t programs that are bad. It’s the scam artists that abuse them and the users that misuse them. Too many of us just don’t have any integrity. We’ve got to find a way to instill that into our young people.
RW-(the original)
July 28th, 2009
2:28 pm
The fine print? Who even reads the large print?
Attn: Congress, it’s the complexity, stupid!
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:44 pm
Any bets on how many pages this thread will be by the time Jay gets back?
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
2:46 pm
Circle back to the fish. Begin.
Take it Up the Backside
July 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
You Obama supporters, be honest now. Read the following and tell me how you would have reacted:
If George W. Bush had made a joke at the expense of the Special Olympics, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given Gordon Brown a set of inexpensive and incorrectly formatted DVDs, when Gordon Brown had given him a thoughtful and historically significant gift, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had given the Queen of England an iPod containing videos of his speeches, would you have thought this embarrassingly narcissistic and tacky?
If George W. Bush had bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent “Austrian language,” would you have brushed it off as a minor slip?
If George W. Bush had filled his cabinet and circle of advisers with people who cannot seem to keep current on their income taxes, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had been so Spanish illiterate as to refer to “Cinco de Cuatro” in front of the Mexican ambassador when it was the fourth of May (Cuatro de Mayo), and continued to flub it when he tried again, would you have winced in embarrassment?
If George W. Bush had miss-spelled the word advice would you have hammered him for it for years like Dan Quayle and potatoe as “proof” of what a dunce he is?
If George W. Bush had burned 9,000 gallons of jet fuel to go plant a single tree on “Earth Day”, would you have concluded he’s a hypocrite?
If George W. Bush’s administration had okayed Air Force One flying low over millions of people followed by a jet fighter in downtown Manhattan causing widespread panic, would you have wondered whether they actually “get” what happened on 9-11?
If George W. Bush had been the first President to need a teleprompter installed to be able to get through a press conference, would you have laughed and said this is more proof of how inept he is on his own and is really controlled by smarter men behind the scenes?
If George W. Bush had failed to send relief aid to flood victims throughout the Midwest with more people killed or made homeless than in New Orleans , would you want it made into a major ongoing political issue with claims of racism and incompetence?
If George W. Bush had ordered the firing of the CEO of a major corporation, even though he had no constitutional authority to do so, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had proposed to double the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again 10 times within years, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had reduced your retirement plan’s holdings of GM stock by 90% and given the unions a majority stake in GM, would you have approved?
If George W. Bush had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to take Laura Bush to a play in NYC, would you have approved?
So, tell me again, what is it about Obama that makes him so brilliant and impressive? Can’t think of anything? Don’t worry. He’s done all the above in just 5 months — so be patient you’ve still got three years and seven months to come up with an answer…
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
2:48 pm
A couple of random thoughts:
I actually remember the Doctor coming to the house when I was a kid. Gave me a shot for something or other. (Remember I was sick but not what it was). Said Doctor recently retired and is in his 80’s. If you want to hear somebody cussing a blue streak you should ask him about insurance companies and hospital administrators.
I also remember in later years the same Doctor giving me samples that had been given to him so I wouldn’t have to pay for a prescription.
I know people who see drug ads on TV and immediately begin to experience symptoms. (Granted only a couple but still).
My little local hospital here (for profit) has a new CAT Scan machine. You can bet your sweet bippy that they are going to do enough CAT Scans each month to make the payments. And they don’t do serious emergency trauma here, those people are transported or life flighted elsewhere as needed.
If hospitals are such money losers why are people lined up trying to get certification to build new ones?
Does it really matter if my treatment is refused or postponed by a government decision or an insurance company decision?
What happens if you have insurance but through illness or injury you hit your lifetime coverage limit (I know people who have)? What you going to do then? All your careful planning is out the window then.
A writer over on the Wooten blog suggested no major procedures for people over 60 unless they pay for them themselves. Wonder if he realizes that is still productive working age according to the Social Security Administration?
The Health Care system needs to be straightened out and if Congress and the President blow it on this, it’ll be 2 or 3 decades before it can be tackled again. So take some time and get it right.
I tend to ramble at times but that’s just me.
md
July 28th, 2009
2:53 pm
For those here that have employer sponsored health care plans, you may want to really read this bill. As a small business owner myself, I will do the math and if it makes sense to quit paying for a plan and pay a penalty instead, I will do so. How many employees in companies now work solely on their benifit plans? How many will be out of a job if it is cheaper to ditch it all and hand it over to uncle sugar? One finance guy making a payment vs an entire dept administering a plan.
Unintended consequences tend to do more damage than the original plan ever does.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
2:53 pm
If this latest ObamaCare debacle is so wonderful why do we have NO ONE Congressional Representative clamoring to be the first to take advantage of it.
Why are they and Obama not shouting from the rooftops about being the FIRST to sign-up? Why are the Congress Reps not ditching their current plans they approved for themselves?
They know better and are relying on you Sheeple to get snookered.
I wanna hear Pelosi, Reid, Obama-Junior Jesus taking advantage of this GREAT GOVT PROGRAM thats for THE PEOPLE. Are they also not THE PEOPLE?
Scooter
July 28th, 2009
2:55 pm
Thanks for answering my question everyone.
RW-(the original)
July 28th, 2009
2:56 pm
Does it really matter if my treatment is refused or postponed by a government decision or an insurance company decision?
Hillbilly Deluxe,
You have methods of fighting the insurance company decisions as well as the ability to switch providers, but once it’s the government’s decision you’re stuck with it.
electrician
July 28th, 2009
2:58 pm
wow1 702 COMMENTS…WHO NEEDS JAY
Scooter
July 28th, 2009
3:00 pm
md,I don’t have coverage now. So I take it that I will be forced to pay for it. I can always go to the VA for help. Would that exempt me from the HC bill?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
3:00 pm
Because Turd they already have a great plan that we pay for.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
3:05 pm
md
July 28th, 2009
2:36 pm
But how do you change that mindset?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
2:44 pm
I’m surprised it hasn’t crashed and burned already.
Take it Up the Backside
July 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
No, I wouldn’t and I don’t He was too young and inexperienced to start out running. He’s still on training wheels. At this point all we can do is give him more time. But none of the stuff you mentioned is catastrophic. And some things attributed to him were out of his control or he didn’t do. And some just aren’t factual. But you made a good point.
electrician
July 28th, 2009
3:06 pm
honeslty, this thing has a life of its own,..THANK YOU ..MY FELLOW AMERICANS … FOR HAVING AN OPINION
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
3:07 pm
Take it Up the Backside
July 28th, 2009
2:47 pm
And if you’re counting, it’s only 3 years 5 months and 23 days.
md
July 28th, 2009
3:09 pm
“Does it really matter if my treatment is refused or postponed by a government decision or an insurance company decision?”
I remember the old days when one’s opinion about the gov’t would be “keep your grubby nose out of my business”.
Today, open invitation by many to butt their nose in. Pitiful.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
3:10 pm
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
3:00 pm
UH…YEA!! and your point?
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
3:10 pm
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
3:00 pm
UH…YEA!! and your point?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
2:48 pm
Thanks for the input. I remember when doctors were the last ones to get paid. That’s how the insurance companies became so entrenched.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
Barry!
He’s Scary!
Disgusted
July 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
Does anyone, other than those currently without health insurance or else very under-insured, expect to benefit from whatever reforms pass through Congress? Not being snarky here–just curious about opinions.
electrician
July 28th, 2009
3:17 pm
WISH i COULD JUMP IN BUT i’M AT WORK AND BIG BROTHER IS WATCHIN, KEEP IT ROLLIN
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
3:17 pm
Disgusted
July 28th, 2009
3:13 pm
No, my thinking is we’re going to have to give up something to cover those without. Which I really don’t mind, but it shouldn’t be necessary if done “right”.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
3:26 pm
If you have insurance through your employer, you have no realistic chance of changing providers, especially in today’s job market. As for fighting insurance company decisions, you better have plenty of time, money, and patience. And if you try to change companies at that point you’ve got a pre-existing condition to contend with.
Somebody mentioned the Utah plan. Can anybody shed a little light on that for those of us who aren’t familiar with it?
Scooter
July 28th, 2009
3:29 pm
Disgusted @ 3:13, Even after all I’ve read about this subject, I am having a hard time forming an opinion and Idon’t have coverage.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
3:30 pm
Hillbilly,
What happens in Utah with your 3 smokin’ hot wives, stays in Utah with your 3 smokin’ hot wives.
That’s the Utah plan!
Paul
July 28th, 2009
3:34 pm
Hillbilly Deluxe
This column sets out the basics and how Utah’s approach to problem-solving differs from what we see in Washington.
Reforming (Healthcare) Reform the Utah Way
http://www.postwritersgroup.com/archives/park090726.htm
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
3:35 pm
TnG @3:17
I agree with you. Unfortunately, the politicians don’t care about getting this “right”. None of them, not the Dems or Repubs, give a rat’s @ss about our health care. It’s all about power and control. I don’t trust any of them to craft a fair plan. There is no valid reason to try to jam this through in such a rush.
md
July 28th, 2009
3:36 pm
“But how do you change that mindset?”
For one, no unconditional hand outs. For example – If one dropped out of school, s/he should be required to choose to re-enroll in exchange for assistance.
Food stamps – ok, do litter detail along the highway, etc. Something, anything.
Once uncle sugar starts giving money, help with no strings attached, it becomes a lifestyle choice. I have seen and heard folks on gov’t assistance refer to their monthly check as a “paycheck”. Why bother to choose to work when others can make that choice and work for both of us.
There is nothing wrong with a hand up, but hand outs should be earned. But if the democratic party actually helped people better their circumstances and people realized that they can do without uncle sugar, then the dems would loose votes. Certainly don’t want that to happen.
md
July 28th, 2009
3:40 pm
“md,I don’t have coverage now. So I take it that I will be forced to pay for it. I can always go to the VA for help. Would that exempt me from the HC bill?”
As I understand it, you will have to get it through the exchange unless you can access a gov’t plan through the VA. Either way, you will be forced to get it through one or the other.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
3:42 pm
Hillbilly writes: “What happens if you have insurance but through illness or injury you hit your lifetime coverage limit (I know people who have)? What you going to do then? All your careful planning is out the window then.”
Now that is the kicker! That is what keeps us that “know” up at night. Anyone on here could have a wreck on the way home and within days be hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt and financially ruined – not just me but my wife and kid!
I have a great job, no copay, great benefits – heck, $25 gets you a new set of spectacles. But all it takes is one glance at the radio knob or one sneeze at the wrong time…and, if the insurance limits are hit, you start paying out of pocket — your life is completely ruined.
People in Canada and France don’t go bankrupt beacuse of health care bills! On your way home count the number of dumbazz drivers who are putting your future in jeapardy by tailgating, driving slow in the left lane, switching back and forth in lanes.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
3:43 pm
md,
In the world of social welfare programs, there are no “unconditional” handouts. Sorry, learn more about the system if you are going to criticize.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
3:45 pm
Thanks Paul. I’ll read that.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
3:46 pm
Pennsylvania, I gree with everything but the last sentence.
I say you have to start somewhere…we can always change it again later. We just need to get the ball rolling.
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
3:49 pm
Maybe you are correct. After all, we are going to have at least 5 days to review the bill. Right?
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
3:52 pm
Who needs 5 days…why even read the darn thing.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
3:53 pm
md writes: There is nothing wrong with a hand up, but hand outs should be earned
I suppose you take advantage of no tax breaks in your small business? You don’t take any of the small business welfare offerings? That’s what it is, md, it’s corporate welfare.
The whole american system is built on a system of welfare for corporations and businesses. What do you think farm subsidies are? What are bank bailouts? Capitalism isn’t alive here. We’ve been in a socialist state since Reagan was elected.
Md, could you run your business succesfully without the government hand-outs? the tax breaks? the loopholes? the subsidies? If you can, then how do you feel about your competitors who need the handouts and are taking full advantage of them?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
3:54 pm
The government does not need to be called upon to provide folks with insurance. That is just plain stoopid. First, we need to get rid of this mess called Medicare and Medicaid ’cause it is just taxpayer- funded insurance for old folks. Then, we need to get rid of this FEMA backed flood insurance ’cause people should know better than to live where it floods. Then, we need to get rid of the VA hospitals and such ’cause they mess up more wounded soldiers than they fix and private insurers could do a lot better with them. Then, we need to shut down all them doctors and stuff that are paid for with the tax payer’s money that are right there in D.C. almost in the same offices as the congressmen are in ’cause they only take care of congressmen and they do it at no charge to the congressmen. They send the bills to the tax payers. “Course, this is just the beginning of the problems with government provided insurance. I mean, what do we need government insuring us against terrorist attacks for anyway. I’ve never been attacked but the government wants me to pay for the insurance even when I don’t want it. This is just plain silly to be required to pay for all these different insurance programs that I don’t use but other folks do use. It just ain’t right, either.
Turd Ferguson
July 28th, 2009
3:54 pm
You think the reading the bill will be fun just wait until you see the flowchart. Looks like some mis-mash drawn by a 6th grader.
md
July 28th, 2009
3:54 pm
“In the world of social welfare programs, there are no “unconditional” handouts. Sorry, learn more about the system if you are going to criticize.”
Maybe near you, but I witnessed it first hand on many occasions. There are many that play the system, happens everyday. Ask yourself why there is so much fraud in medicare and medicaid. I’ve learned plenty – first hand.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
4:02 pm
md,
“I’ve learned plenty – first hand”
So have I. There are no unconditional handouts in the social welfare program. Sure there is abuse, there is abuse in any system.
It’s just easier to blame the people on social welfare programs because it makes you feel somewhat superior to them – they are an easy target. Where’s all the outrage for other programs where there is abuse and fraud? They get handouts and you don’t, so somehow that makes you better, and it’s harder to criticize individuals who get government handouts through corporate loopholes. It’s the same thing, but the social taboos associated and labeled by the poor or disabled who need assistance somehow make them easier to blame for any of the financial problems in our country.
Just remember, in a capitalistic society, there will always be poor people. It’s just that simple.
I’ve asked this question many times on this blog with no one being able to answer it:
Name one social welfare program where people get money just because they don’t want to work.
Actually, that’s a statement.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
4:03 pm
Paul:
Read the piece about the Utah plan. I’d love to see Gov. Sonny propose doing something like that here in Georgia, of course I’d hate to be swinging from a rope until that happened. The details would need to be argued over and worked out but at least it’d be a start.
I listened to the Obama speech and he did an incredibly poor selling job for his plan. After watching all that I still don’t understand how it would work for me. I’m very leary (sp?) of his plan but I don’t think what we have now works either.
I’ve often seen you ask if we were starting from scratch what should we have. For me, I don’t have the answer to that but I know I wouldn’t want it to be the system we have now.
Kamchak
July 28th, 2009
4:04 pm
Bosch
http://www.soccerway.com/news/2009/July/28/injured-ribery-likely-to-miss-season-start/
Good news/bad news/fair news—Ribery is staying at Bayern Munich/he has injuries/they’re not that bad
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
4:08 pm
Kamchak,
Oh YEAH!! Bayern Munich is one of my fav clubs. I read your post earlier – congrats to the Blues! And yeah, that sucked about the Golden Cup. Mexico – pssshaw!
Kamchak
July 28th, 2009
4:25 pm
Bosch
The gold cup matches were basically played by the “B” team—the big game is coming up in August. A WC qualifier against Mexico at El Azteca stadium in Mexico City—high altitude and bad air in a hostile environment. I understand that you play. Do you have a preference in the brand of boot you wear?
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
4:26 pm
Maybe this is the solution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8OIl9t9hjk&feature=related
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 28th, 2009
4:36 pm
FrankLee
But if you killed all the poor, how would you know who the last poor person and the first middle class person were?
Swami Dave
July 28th, 2009
4:43 pm
Instead of creating another entitlement based on questionable promises of how it would be financed, I propose another alternative to the plan proponents on this thread.
My alternative would be for the government to initiate all of the promised cost-savings, eliminations of fraud / waste / abuse, and glowingly optimistic economic projections of growth and revenues NOW and as the alleged revenues are realized, earmark any money that materializes to a help-you-pay-your-health-care fund.
Any of the mythical money that is allegedly going “to pay” for the new boondoggle and produce anything approximating the promised “revenue-neutrality” could be targeted toward this little pet project.
If the economic forecasts are wrong (which they are), the taxpayers would not be on the hook to bailout another socialist debacle.
If the alleged cost savings to be realized by elimination of fraud / waste / abuse do indeed not materialize (as most would rationally expect), taxpayers and those currently paying for their health care / health insurance will not have those costs transferred onto them.
If the promised “competition” provided by government as an payor does not offer the decrease in costs (but actually leads to higher costs and fewer choices), the taxpayers will not have a growing pool of dependents stampeding to an option that they (the taxpayers, not those benefiting from the coverage) are having to fund.
Net-Net: -IF- this doomed plan actually beats the historical odds for socialist scams and experiences some success, its funding will come from its own success; not on the backs of taxpayers. -IF- it fails as do all tax-and-spend redistributionist schemes, then it will not be the taxpayers left to again pay the bill for never-ending benefits that individuals should provide for themselves.
Now, that’s a “compromise” that I’d expect liberals could agree (unless they already know the plan is a sham doomed to failure and, like Speaker-PE, Leade-RE, and Prez-BO, are simply hoping to ram through a scam as quickly as possible for political reasons).
-SD
Pennsylvanian
July 28th, 2009
4:46 pm
“But if you killed all the poor, how would you know who the last poor person and the first middle class person were?”
Not a problem. The middle class would then be the new poor. Start over.
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
4:55 pm
well lets just start with uninsured
Paul
July 28th, 2009
5:15 pm
Hillybilly Deluxe
[[I listened to the Obama speech and he did an incredibly poor selling job for his plan. After watching all that I still don’t understand how it would work for me. I’m very leary (sp?) of his plan but I don’t think what we have now works either.]]
I said before the speech I thought Pres Obama needed to get down to the common level – watch some recordings of Pres Clinton, he was a master at it. Obama didn’t and, I think, many Americans were put off further. “I elected this guy to fix health care and he punts to Pelosi & company and the come up with 1,000 pages in a few days and no one can tell me what it means to me?!!?”
talk about frustration -
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
5:22 pm
Paul,
Very valid point. Every analysis of the plan I’ve read uses really vague words like “might” and “could” and such. I want to read the real deal without all the lawyerese and it to tell me what it “will” mean.
The thing is no one knows what this will evolve into, but when the system we have is so flawed, it can’t suck more.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
5:27 pm
Kamchak,
“Do you have a preference in the brand of boot you wear?”
Nah. I’m not that particular. I haven’t played serious soccer in a long time (which even then it wasn’t “serious”), I was lucky to get whatever I could find. My son is all about the boots though. I didn’t even know there were different kinds for a long time (different ones depending on the field) until he “explained” this to me. I always tell him that it isn’t the boots that make the player. Now, I just borrow my sons old ones because they are broken in.
Bosch
July 28th, 2009
5:29 pm
Paul,
Not lawyerese – but plainer language. I’m a simpleton.
Paul
July 28th, 2009
5:30 pm
Bosch
[[The thing is no one knows what this will evolve into, but when the system we have is so flawed, it can’t suck more.]]
Pessimist – knows that things are really, really bad and are about as bad as it can get
Optimist – knows that no matter how bad things seem, they can ALWAYS get worse!
Pogo
July 28th, 2009
5:30 pm
Obama did a poor job because he has no plan. Obama has to rely on Pelosi (boy, that must instill a lot of confidence in his heart), Reid, Rangle and Dodd. Obama’s plan is pretty much just saying “it has to be done”. “Crap on the details”. That is this man’s problem. His ego is such that he thinks that if he declares an edict, then it must be right and it must be done. After all, the media has told him so because he is the first black president and as such, he must be wise. More to the fact of the matter, this man is proving to be a “babe in the woods”. And all of those that support him are like people that buy a new car and find out that consumer reports says that the car is full of problems after they buy it. They will still defend their choice because gosh darnit, they made that choice and they are too embarassed to say different. This guy and his White House staff are faulty merchandise. Pelosi, Reid and Rangle will flush him like yesterdays waste whenever it goes bad for him but they will still be there. They don’t have to take the blame because they know that their constituents will continue to elect them not matter what. These people have made a career out shifting blame.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
5:30 pm
I told you they would fight for their careers-
Because sometimes, they just don’t see you. It’s one of the most frustrating verities of African-American life. Sometimes you simply know: They are looking your way but seeing their fears, their preconceptions, their stereotypes, that other black guy who did them wrong – everything except the one and only you.-Leonard Pitts
Or he might have “saw” someone who was yelling at him and talking about his mother.
What would Mr. Pitts do without his little racism boogeymen?
Have to grow up?
DoggoneGA
July 28th, 2009
5:39 pm
“well lets just start with uninsured”
We could always follow Shakespeares advice: “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”
Scooter
July 28th, 2009
5:48 pm
Doggone, I like your idea best. There has to be as many lawyers as uninsured. By the time they can get all of them, I have Obamacare and will be safe!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 28th, 2009
5:50 pm
Well, I’m with this Dave R. Just round up all the savings from cutting the waste first. Then figure out how much you got and work up a health plan that costs the same thing. I figure they might could cobble together 600 bucks or so, the way they see things. Just send everybody a aspirin and tell them not to swallow it all at once. Have a good night everybody.
Kamchak
July 28th, 2009
5:51 pm
Bosch
I didn’t know there were that many either until Eurosport sent me a catalogue. I’ve never played but I wear futsal boots as leisure shoes mainly because no one else is wearing anything like them and I have yet to see anyone else wear Umbro.
Dan Dawg
July 28th, 2009
5:53 pm
The rainbow trout is a propaganda photo, just like his editorials. He may have it now, but someone else caught it. We all know a liberal would not work to catch a fish if they can take it from someone who did work for it.
DoggoneGA
July 28th, 2009
5:54 pm
“Just round up all the savings from cutting the waste first”
And since the insurance industry hasn’t done that already, how do you propose it BE done without some kind of government regulation? And if it’s going to take government “interference” – well, might as well go whole hog and reform the whole system. Funny, isn’t it? That’s what they’re trying to do NOW.
DoggoneGA
July 28th, 2009
5:57 pm
“We all know a liberal ”
I’ve known for a long time…but it’s being brought home to me with great emphasis…but there are some truly UGLY people in this world.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
6:25 pm
I like that idea of cuttin’ out waste and fraud and stuff and usin’ that money to help the citizens too. I especially like it that they cut those worthless F-22 aeroplanes. Nothin’ but flyin’ money pits. They need to do a lot more of that kind of cuttin’, like aircraft carriers that we don’t need to go along with the planes that we don’t need. Besides, if we ever need any of that stuff, we should just borrow it from our friends and lenders of first and last resort, the Chinamen. We’ll just promise to return them when we’re through with them and in as good a shape as they were when we borrowed them. Maybe even with a fresh coat of lead-based paint just to make ‘em look all spiffy.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
6:36 pm
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 42% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 39% would opt for their Democratic opponent.
heh
@@
July 28th, 2009
6:40 pm
Since we’re stuck in this thread until the 3rd, I’m can come and go as I please to follow up. No one here to call it a catfight.
For Ms. Groaner Upper in the (cough) U.K.
@@ -
oh, you didn’t just go there with infant mortality, did you???
I did!!!…but only in the one instance. A three-year old is not considered an infant.
You’re on shaky ground with those numbers, poseur.
Behind the Baby Count
All things are not equal. Your knowledge is below average.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
6:55 pm
In Colorado, 14 people have fallen ill from hamburger meat tainted with antibiotic-resistent salmonella, the Boulder newspaper Daily Camera reports. (Note that antibiotic-resistant salmonella is distinct from MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, increasingly associated with industrial meat production, that kills 20,000 Americans each year–more than AIDS.)
Those folks shore don’t need to be waistin’ their money on health inshorance since that stuff is resistent to anti biotics anyway. Besides, they shoulda knowed better then to eat bad meat. I always smell mine first before I even waste the coal to cook it on.
Bud Wiser
July 28th, 2009
6:58 pm
Obama and the Democrats proposed health ‘care’ adjustments, in my opinion, draw a very dark similarity in style and substance as far as the bleak outlook for senior citizens to Adolph Hitler and the Nazis approach to dealing with the Jews.
And the really sick funny part of it is that AARP and most of the Jews in this country voted for him.
And sicker still is the belief of the black and minorities in this person to the point that one must assume they have no parents over the age of 55, are not that old themselves, or that “it don’t apply to us cause we gots Obama”.
You can’t legislate smart from stupid, and the Obamaniacs are, quite simply, a collection of stupid racist morons.
jt
July 28th, 2009
7:04 pm
Sweet potatos are distintly AMERICAN.
Sweet potatoes are native to the tropical parts of South America, and were domesticated there at least 5000 years ago.
They grow well in many farming conditions and have few natural enemies; pesticides are rarely needed. Sweet potatoes are grown on a variety of soils, but well-drained light and medium textured soils with a pH range of 4.5-7.0 are more favourable for the plant (Woolfe, 1992; Ahn, 1993). They can be grown in poor soils with little fertilizer. However, sweet potatoes are very sensitive to aluminium toxicity and will die about 6 weeks after planting if lime is not applied at planting in this type of soil (Woolfe, 1992). Because they are sown by vine cuttings rather than seeds, sweet potatoes are relatively easy to plant. Because the rapidly growing vines shade out weeds, little weeding is needed, and farmers can devote time to other crops. In the tropics the crop can be maintained in the ground and harvested as needed for market or home consumption. In temperate regions sweet potatoes are most often grown on larger farms and are harvested before frosts set in.
Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fiber content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato.(NCSPC)
Although it is sometimes called a yam, the sweet potato is not in the Yam family, nor is it closely related to the common potato.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
7:06 pm
md
July 28th, 2009
3:36 pm
Good suggestions. Also if you smoke, don’t expect free health care.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:09 pm
American conservatism = the doctrine of denial
Without denial there is no hope.
But some people make a doctrine of it. American conservatism could be described as a movement of denialogues, people whose ideology is based on disavowing physical realities. This applies to their views on evolution, climate change, foreign affairs and fiscal policy. The Vietnam war would have been won, were it not for the pinko chickens at home. Saddam Hussein was in league with al-Qaida. Everyone has an equal chance of becoming CEO. Universal healthcare is a communist plot. Segregation wasn’t that bad. As one of George Bush’s aides said: “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/27/teenage-pregnancy-syphilis-bush-obama
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
7:15 pm
I done went and hurt myself on the job reel bad ta other day and the doc give me a special pain pill to help me make it through the months of soap oprys at home. So, enyway, I called in the perscription and they said that ifin I was in that much pain then I should make it a rush order. Course I told em right away that this perscription was for me and if rush wanted some he could buy em with some of that money he has. It took me months of cashin in my youngins food stamps to buy those special pills and I shore aint givin em to that druggie. I am thinkin bout givin up the television now since my neighbors done moved and took their dish with them and I don’t have no digital con verter box. I heer that the quitter from Alaska, that perty girl named Sarah, is talkin bout doin radio so that will give me five shows in a row maybe to watch. That’s Sarah and Huckebe and Hannety and Rush. They are my heros cause they always tell me the truth and that is what makes them the best persons in the whole world. They not at all like those other people. Those aleens and such.
jt
July 28th, 2009
7:16 pm
The Mystery of the Sweet Potato
The islands of Polynesia have long been a source of mystery and speculation for armchair scientists1. The origin of the Easter Island statues, the abandonment of the so-called ‘Mystery Islands’ and the ultimate origins of the Polynesian people are some of the more well-known. However, perhaps the greatest mystery of them all is that of the sweet potato.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1984421
jt
July 28th, 2009
7:22 pm
I really don’t know what I expected but I was kinda dissapointed in the worlds largest sweet potato.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=biggest+sweet+potato&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.worldamazingrecords.com%2F2008%2F12%2F249-pounds-worlds-biggest-sweet-potato.html
md
July 28th, 2009
7:26 pm
“I suppose you take advantage of no tax breaks in your small business? You don’t take any of the small business welfare offerings? That’s what it is, md, it’s corporate welfare.”
Actually Finn, I do. And those tax breaks allow me to hire or keep people employed. Is allowing an employee to keep their job considered welfare? Is having enough profit to grow the company and hire more people welfare?
If it was just me and I was taking breaks out the wahzoo, then you may have a point. Otherwise, its income and expenses and the more income the better for everybody, or have you not noticed unemployment at 10+%. Take away the tax breaks/welfare and how high is unemployment then?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
7:38 pm
So this md person at least admits to taking money from tax payers by takin’ all them business tax credits and stuff. Probly has money stashed in one of them swedeish banks two to keep from payin any taxes at all. Just feedin off the trough with the rest of us. Probly likes to lissen to Sarah and Hannety and Rush and Huckebe as much as I do. Well scoot over and quit hoggin that trough. There is plenty to go around. I heerd the Chinamen done loaned us some more.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:40 pm
Yeah, md, it says you can’t manage your business. It says you need welfare to run your company – you can’t compete without the guvmint giving you a hand out.
close your doors. you have no business running a business.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:41 pm
Bush did not invent sex education without the sex. Clinton’s last budget set aside $80m for abstinence teaching. But by 2005 Bush had raised this to $170m, and engineered a new standard of mendacity and manipulation. A congressional report in 2004 explained that programmes receiving this money were “not allowed to teach their participants any methods to reduce the risk of pregnancy other than abstaining until marriage. They are allowed to mention contraceptives only to describe their failure rates.” The report found that over 80% of the teaching materials “contain false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health”. They suggested, for example, that condoms do nothing to prevent the spread of STDs, that 41% of sexually active girls and 50% of homosexual boys are infected by HIV, and – marvellously – that touching another person’s genitals “can result in pregnancy”.
unbelievable…simply amazing
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/27/teenage-pregnancy-syphilis-bush-obama
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:44 pm
md, everyone is for smaller government, nobody likes to pay taxes.
The difference is that no one wants the services “they” use and rely on to be cut. You want to cut out the welfare for individuals? I say we cut out the welfare for you- you and your great company which can’t stand on it’s own two legs.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:47 pm
I got to get me a small business like md…so I can blog all day while collecting welfare from the federal government!
lovely
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
7:49 pm
I always knowed that their was somethin starange about that Bush fella. He is probly related to that fella down in Jonesboro, where that @@ lives.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:52 pm
Barack Obama’s new budget aims to change all this, by investing in “evidence-based” education programmes. The conservatives have gone ballistic: evidence is the enemy. They still insist that American children should be deprived of sex education, lied to about contraception and maintained in a state of medieval ignorance. If their own children end up with syphilis or unwanted babies, that, it seems, is a price they will pay for preserving their beliefs. The denialogues are now loudly insisting that STDs and pregnancies have risen because Bush’s programme didn’t go far enough. The further it went, the worse these problems got.
yeah, I’m trying to hit 30 pages before Jay gets back.
still, this is sick.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:54 pm
md, maybe if we stop propping up failing businesses we can funnel that money into companies and sectors of the economy that actually work?
@@
July 28th, 2009
8:13 pm
Steenker:
You and some other leftist on this blog seem to be drawn to people with an affinity towards beastiality.
You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree, Bow Wow.
Weirdo!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 28th, 2009
8:14 pm
You mean you can’t get in a Fambly Way by touching somebody’s you-know-what?
And quit throwing up that guy that did You Know What with a dog to @@. She can’t help it if he’s her neighbor down there in Clayton County.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
8:18 pm
All I done was point out that there was some fella that lived down @@’s way that was like Bush. @@ went and added on this sicko perverted stuff all by hisself. You is one more sick puppy, @@.
md
July 28th, 2009
8:22 pm
Boy Finn, you sure do a lot of assuming. Thats not healthy, maybe Obamacare can cure that for you. Guess what my boy, I still pay plenty of taxes and take away those breaks and guess what, I’m still in business but people I employee would sure be out of luck. Probably people like you.
And for the record, I have no problem paying taxes for services. I do however have a problem paying for my services and then also having to pay for your services. How about we agree to pay for our own services, unless you are a moocher, that should work, right.
And how about the taxes we already pay for the services called education. If one chooses to opt out of that taxpayer boondoggle and wallows in mediocrity, you want to pay for his services, cause I don’t. Problem is, you want to help them anyway, but you want to do it with other peoples money.
Let’s make a deal. I pay for me and you pay for you, and if either of us wants to help those that choose not to pull their own weight, we may do so. But do it with your dime, not mine. I may choose to help someone actually trying. vs those that CHOOSE not to.
Everything we do is a CHOICE.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
8:32 pm
And jest cause I is a southpaw dont mean you gots to go and insult me by callin me a leftie, @@. There jest aint no need to go and turn on your own kind. I is loyal to the cause and I proves it every time I git on the road in my pickup with the two confederated flags flappin in the breaze. I never hardly ever misses Hannety cuz he’s the most truthful person to ever be put on radio and when the quitter lays off the twitter and starts blowin her own whistle on the radio, I’ll be listenin to her too. Sarah is my hero. Any one that can shoot off her mouth as good as she shoots a gun caint be all too bad. Even if she is a quitter. And there just aint no better party then the party that takes a likin to lincolns log and cabins and such. That’s the toe tappin, wife cheatin, divorcin, three-timin, Republicans that we have all got to know so very well and that’s what we love about em. They’s just one of us Someone you can sit down and down a Bud or a Pabst or a jug of your finest aged Boones Farm with.
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
8:35 pm
wow, Jon Stewart nailed Bill kristol last night.
OUCH!
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-27-2009/bill-kristol
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
8:39 pm
You tell em, md. I jest knowed you was one of us. We jest need to git the govment offin our backs and then we will all be all right cause we will all be doin what we want when we want. I never did like havin people ask me what I was brewin or ifin I had permission for killin my supper just cause it was on someone else’s land. I was jest trackin it and that was where I caught up with it. And I shore dont need to be payin for some other youngins to be goin to some fancy smancy school. I never had no need for em neither, jest like you.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
8:57 pm
FrankLeeDarling
July 28th, 2009
4:55 pm
The very basis of insurance tells you most of them won’t have expenses they can’t cover, but most of us that can afford it don’t want to take that chance. Health insurance doesn’t equal health care, and in the worst case scenario means you don’t get care. And the uninsured can get care at the ER if they don’t have a family doctor.
I’ve suggested before that we make it easier to qualify for Medicaid and give everyone else Medicare. These systems at least work reasonably well. Since you need Medigap insurance to cover what Medicare doesn’t pay, the insurance companies could fight over that. The deductibles and co-pays could be increased for those that could afford it, and that is most of us. That extra expense could be covered by Medigap if desired. The payroll tax would have to be increased and the entire amount could be transferred to the employees over a period of years as could the Social Security portion. That would get the expense off of business and make us more competetive in the global market place. The increase in taxes should be much less than the employer and employee are currently paying under the plans made available by the companies.
But the bottom line is we have to stop making ourselves sick with poor lifestyle choices. We’ve got to get back to the basics of good nutrition, exercise and rest.
We’ve got to do a better job of educating our children about sex, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, drugs, driving, sun screen and any other harmful activity to be curtailed or avoided so they won’t make the bad choices so many of us did.
And yes, we have to examine how we die in the good old USA. A time to live, a time to die. Death with dignity should be our goal when it’s our time.
The current plans being considered are just too complicated and have too many mandates and restrictions, and should not be passed. The current trend is for more and more of the expense be paid by the insured. When it gets high enough, maybe we’ll start making better decisions on when and if to seek care.
md
July 28th, 2009
9:05 pm
Tn, you have too many here that don’t want to hear about choices – poor ones that is.
Poor lifestyle choices increase medical costs for us all. But many here like the idea of someone else paying for their bad choices.
Not making enough money because they decided school was no fun, easier to complain and make excuses and then pay for those choices with other peoples money.
Choices.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
9:13 pm
Let’s recap-
Bushie ran as a squish moderate and nearly lost the election to a total candy a* liberal.
Obozo kampaigned as a Conservative and won the election against a squish moderate.
Obozo governs as a total candy a* liberal and his poll numbers are plummeting.
Anybody else see a trend here?
And do you still wonder why the total candy a* liberals whine about Sarah?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
9:16 pm
Paul
July 28th, 2009
5:15 pm
That’s the way it should work. The president should just propose broad guidelines and leave it up to Congress to write the bills. They have thousands on staff for that. Pelosi and Reid should have been replaced at the beginning of this session of Congress. Therein lies the problem. That and there are just too many special interest groups to satisfy.
I’m not sure Obama is willing to be completely honest with us on what he’s seeking. Too many folks aren’t going to be pleased. That’s probably why he can’t sell it.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
9:18 pm
md
July 28th, 2009
9:05 pm
Like I asked earlier today, and it might have been answered, I haven’t gone all the way through yet, how do you change that mindset?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
9:25 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 28th, 2009
9:13 pm
How did Bush govern?
And how did Sarah govern? Alaska continued to be the biggest net recipient of federal dollars and the oil companies saw their taxes increased so the good citizens could be rewarded with even more largesse. By 2012 she’ll be a footnote in history.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
9:29 pm
Speaking of poor choicea:
Study: Tanning beds as deadly as arsenic
LONDON (AP) – International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. For years, scientists have described tanning beds and ultraviolet radiation as “probable carcinogens.” A new analysis of about 20 studies concludes the risk of skin cancer jumps by 75 percent when people start using tanning beds before age 30. Experts also found that all types of ultraviolet radiation caused worrying mutations in mice, proof the radiation is carcinogenic. Previously, only one type of ultraviolet radiation was thought to be lethal.
http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_MED_TANNING_BEDS_CANCER?SITE=GACAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-07-28-21-20-05
RW-(the original)
July 28th, 2009
9:30 pm
We’ve got a long ways to go in this free for all, but for sheer comedic genius it’s gonna be tough to beat the sweet potato rant.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
9:31 pm
Um, if you happen to be a connoisseur of the game of baseball and appreciate the high points of the game, you would do well by tuning into the White Sux- Twins right now, there are some remarkable things in the making.
Me, I’m praying that I was not specific to jinx anything.
Come on, M, mmmphhbbbt
Go!
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
9:38 pm
I wonder if ole Saxby uses a tanning bed. Dont he look like one of those fellers that uses one with those white circles right around the eyes and tanned everywhere else. He look like a good canidate for sperimenting with radiation on.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
9:40 pm
I like taters specially sweet ones. Thems my favorites. I like em best with some greens and some peas and corn bread and buttermilk.
TGT
July 28th, 2009
9:41 pm
I don’t know if this has been brought up yet or not (I’m not about to pan nearly 800 comments!), but here are 10 questions for supporters of Obamacare. Have fun!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
9:44 pm
Damn!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
9:45 pm
Double damn!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 28th, 2009
9:47 pm
A perfect game followed by 17 up and 17 down.
Dats pretty good.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
10:04 pm
Sarah should not have quitted on us like she done did. Now we gotta wait for her to start talkin on the radio.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:29 pm
We Don’t Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
10:04 pm
Is that before or after she writes her book?
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:42 pm
Pogo
July 28th, 2009
5:30 pm
Please don’t include Rangle with Pelosi and Reid. He’s at least a notch or two above them, but certainly not perfect.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
10:47 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 28th, 2009
6:36 pm
…and one person is obsessed with polls!
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:02 pm
Finn McCool
July 28th, 2009
7:47 pm
Don’t be so harsh. It’s just the way things are done now. We need more people to show the dedication and willingness to work hard to start a business. I knew from an early age I didn’t want to deal with the red tape, not to mention the personnel problems. We simply must make it easier and cheaper to start and run a business so we can compete in the global economy. And health insurance mandates do just the opposite.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:09 pm
md
July 28th, 2009
8:22 pm
But too many of us, for whatever reason, aren’t in a state of mind to make the right choices. And by helping those that need help, we are also supporting the many small business owners, and large ones as well.
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:13 pm
We Don’t Need No Steenking Government
July 28th, 2009
10:04 pm
Very entertaining stuff! Sleep well, but get that blank-eating grin off of your face!
TnGelding
July 28th, 2009
11:20 pm
Looks like everyone checked out. Tomorrow is another day. Night all.
“Democrats Say House May Miss Deadline on Health Care”
“It doesn’t look like it to me,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel said in an interview. “I really hoped that we could have gotten a bill out of here by now,” he said, adding that he has a “heavy political heart.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=am77.VJg3JqU
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
5:17 am
This is the liberal democrats goal with your money, summed up succinctly-
“We are going to look for the most expedient way to spend the money,” said Peggy Harper, chair of the board overseeing the city’s $53 million Renewal Community. “The goal of the board is to not send any money back.”-Urinal
They don’t even care anymore.
Bosch
July 29th, 2009
5:39 am
Good morning Andy. I’m waiting on my insurance company to call back – a tree fell through my house about an hour ago. You wake up early! It takes a giant oak falling through my bedroom to get me up this early!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
6:17 am
Bosch- I do more before 7 a.m. than most people do all day, or something like that.
Sorry about the oak.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
6:51 am
Well, I do more before 5 am then most folks do before 4 am and it is all cuz most folks is asleep whilst I am out hunting for breakfast. Squirrel, anyone.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
6:51 am
This has been demonstrated in the real world with capital gains taxes in recent decades. Since the 1960s, capital gains taxes have been cut 3 times and raised 3 times. Every time they have been cut, capital gains revenues have actually increased. Every time they have been raised, capital gains revenues have fallen.-AmSpec
So where do the liberals take us now? Less revenue, that’s where!
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
6:58 am
Let me see if I gots this new amspec[ial] math strait now. Ifin the govment taxes me fer 10 parcent of my take home, they git about two legs worth off that squirrel I cooked up this morning but ifin they taxes me at zero parcent, they gits the whole danged squirrel. Hell, I’d ruther pay the ten parcent.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
7:12 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
5:17 am
Republican local governments take and spend the borrowed funds, too. It’s become the way in the USA. That’s why so much power has been relinquished to Congress and the executive branch. They control the purse strings. It started with the feds taking over the National Guard.
I didn’t know this:
Title 10 of the US Code states:
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 16 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
National Defense Act of 1916
This act abandoned the idea of an expandable Regular Army and firmly established the traditional concept of the citizens’ army as the keystone of the United States defense forces. It established the concept of merging the National Guard, the Army Reserve, and the Regular Army into the Army of the United States in time of war. The act further expanded the National Guard’s role, and guaranteed the State militias’ status as the Army’s primary reserve force. The law mandated use of the term “National Guard” for that force, and the President was given authority, in case of war or national emergency, to mobilize the National Guard for the duration of the emergency. The number of yearly drills increased from 24 to 48 and annual training from five to 15 days. Drill pay was authorized for the first time.
The Montgomery Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1987
provides that a governor cannot withhold consent with regard to active duty outside the United States because of any objection to the location, purpose, type, or schedule of such duty. This law was challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1990 in Perpich v. Department of Defense.[15]) [14]
The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 Pub.L. 109-364
Federal law was changed in section 1076 so that the Governor of a state is no longer the sole commander in chief of their state’s National Guard during emergencies within the state. The President of the United States will now be able to take total control of a state’s National Guard units without the governor’s consent.[16] In a letter to Congress all 50 governors opposed the increase in power of the president over the National Guard.[17]
The National Defense Authorization Act 2008 Pub.L. 110-181
Repeals provisions in section 1076 in Pub.L. 109-364 but still enables the President to call up the National Guard of the United States for active federal military service during Congressionally sanctioned national emergency or war. Places the National Guard Bureau directly under the Department of Defense as a joint activity. Promoted the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from a three-star to a four-star general.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Guard_of_the_United_States
Bud Wiser
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
John Conyers, D-MI, says yesterday ‘i don’t has to read no steeniking bill”(whining about people asking whether nor not legislators are actually READING bill 3200.
No, morons like him and all the others don’t want to be bothered with the fine details of a bill that will tax millions, change the entire health infrastructure of the nation, affecting millions more for years to come (if they are allowed to live that long).
Conyers doesn’t need to worry. He gots Obama. He gots all the 94%ers that reelect him like the good little slaves they are. The mindless toadstools that comprise the Democrat electorarte gots no worrys at all.
“Ole man riva, keep on rollin…”
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
TN- The discussion now turns to the differences between Republicans, like Bushie, and Conservatives, like Sarah Palin.
When did I say anything about the Nation Guard?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
Hot dang. One of them thar tea party fellers wants to terrorize his elected feller by bringin back lynchins. The good ole days is back. What we needs now is to catch us some witches too cuz they can put a spell on you.
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
More hypocrisy from the right….well what are we to expect I guess!
Paul Stanley, Tennessee State Senator, Quits After Affair With 22-Year-Old Intern
He also spoke out against funding for Planned Parenthood because he said unmarried people should not have sex.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/28/paul-stanley-tennessee-st_n_246641.html
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
7:25 am
Poor Sarah. She is a twitterin quitter and a mighty fine republican conservative. She is one of us.
Bud Wiser
July 29th, 2009
7:27 am
Maybe he really didn’t have sex, you know, like Bill Clinton, on “what the definition of is, is…”
Come back when you grow a brain.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
7:28 am
I wonder ifin that Stanley feller from Tennassee remembered to abstain cuz ifin he did not then he is gonna have to take keer of that youngen since she cant have no aborting. May be she is a witch and she done put a spell on him too. Maybe he ought to be thinkin bout becomin a mormon.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
7:31 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
6:51 am
And why is that?
“Economic effects. Past capital gain tax rate cuts have increased revenue to the federal government in the first two calendar years after the cuts, yet lost revenue thereafter.”
http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2004/1004/essentials/p36.htm
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
7:32 am
We Don’t Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
6:58 am
You said it much better than I could have.
Bosch
July 29th, 2009
7:40 am
Andy,
At least I won’t have to buy firewood this winter. When life gives you lemons…….
Mrs. Godzilla
July 29th, 2009
7:49 am
Bosch!
A tree! I had that happen to my car while I was in it a few years ago.
Don’t take the insurance companies first offer!
For your perusal:
Fear Of A Black President: Conservative Media Drumming Up Racial Fear
here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyj1DSEQuy0&fmt=22
Sounds like some of the righties here….sad ain’t it?
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
7:52 am
Bud Wiser
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
His committee has a staff that takes care of the details and keep him and the rest of the committee abreast of what is in the bills. His attitude tho, is appalling.
http://www.c-span.org/questions/weekly35.asp
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=51610&print=on
(Like I’ve been saying, it’s too complicated!)
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:01 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
You didn’t, I introduced that topic to show how the feds have taken over control of everything. And then stumbled across what I thought was some very interesting stuff about the guard I didn’t know.
Are you saying Bush wasn’t a conservative and Palin isn’t a Republican? Well, I had sworn off Bush-bashing, but she couldn’t do any worse than he did. After all, she eats so she hunts. If you want to call shooting fish in a barrel hunting.
http://www.grizzlybay.org/SarahPalinInfoPage.htm
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:04 am
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
7:19 am
Wasn’t he married? At least he had the decency to resign.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:07 am
Bud Wiser
July 29th, 2009
7:27 am
Clinton didn’t have SEXUAL RELATIONS:
Main Entry: sexual relations
Function: noun plural
Date: 1909
: sexual intercourse
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 29th, 2009
8:11 am
Well, I’m against this making Congress people read the bills before voting on them. The reason is because it favors the pinheads that read good. If we had that only the people that went to colledge and studied would be able to be in Congress. It would be the same thing as saying godly Republicans ain’t welcome. We all see what happens when people get too educated. Most of them turn out to spout garbage about human or civil rights and they want the rest of us to go along.
Just look at the pinhead we got as President now. I bet he never hardly partied at all when he was going to colledge. He come out of Harvard with stars in his eyes. Now it was diffrent when My President took office. He never talked like no book and sometimes he got all mixed up when he talked, like when he talked about baby Drs. giving their love to the mothers. But his heart was in the right place. And I bet he never read any of the bills he signed. He probly just had some pinheads tell him what was in them. That’s the kind of President we need right now. And that’s the kind of people we need in Congress.
That’s my opinion and it’s very true. Have a good day everybody.
@@
July 29th, 2009
8:13 am
Stanley (a politician) who sets himself up for extortion?
How……? Let me count the ways.
Gale
July 29th, 2009
8:13 am
orry about the tree, Bosch. I have an oak in my back yard and I hope to move before it does.
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
8:14 am
Republiconned, look closely at this guy.
He is your worst nightmare. And the reason you are going to get annihilated at the polls for a third consecutive time a year from November.
He’s young, black, a West Point Grad (brilliant), a decorated combat veteran (ewwww) and he’s gay.
While you conservaclowns insist on trotting out yesteryear’s bible-thumping flat earthers, clueless reactionaries and never-served, never-will chickenhawks, you are getting left further and further and further behind in this nation. From sea to shining sea.
Enjoy you destiny, dodos…
http://www.actblue.com/page/vv_woods
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
8:17 am
I like shootin fish in a barrel cuz it is more challenging then findin things that them republican conservatives have gone and done wrong like sayin one thang and doin the oppsite and that sorta stuff. When I wuz younger folks here in georgia thought I was reel smart cause I even thought that shootin fish in a barrel was more challengin way back then almost ten years ago. That is why I did not bother finishin high school. Three years in that nineth grade did not make me one bit smarter.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
8:18 am
TN- If you want the condensed version, the current leaders of the Republican party are too stupid to realize that Conservatives will not support big government, big spending, squish moderates, like them for instance.
They want to replace us with illegal aliens, hahahahaha.
Sarah don’t.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
8:22 am
Bosch –
dude. you are in a major spiraling vortex of suck right now. hopefully, the tree is the last of it!! but, as you say, you’ll have a nice amount of “fahr” wood for the winter, so always a silver lining!
Bud –
“Maybe he really didn’t have sex, you know, like Bill Clinton, on “what the definition of is, is…””
um. evidently, you haven’t read the story. there are pictures. there is video. and it isn’t of their vacation snaps. nice try, though.
Whiner –
last but not least … gummint spending isn’t a Dem or GOP issue — unfortunately, ALL governments are set up as a “use it or lose it” when it comes to budgeting. cost savings aren’t rewarded, they’re punished with budget cuts the following year.
Normal
July 29th, 2009
8:22 am
Bosch, From a tiny acorn, a mighty oak tree falls…Remember you just had some very good news about your health, so what’s modified tree house in the grand scheme of things…No one was hurt, and that’s what insurance is for. Keep smilin’, Bro…just sayin’ (sorry @@)
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:24 am
We Don’t Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
8:17 am
Well, I really couldn’t get past the 9th grade, and still don’t fully understand exactly why. Of course I got a little more education later, but that joke hit home.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:26 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
8:18 am
Looks like a new party is in order.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
8:28 am
TnG –
“Looks like a new party is in order.”
the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
8:30 am
last but not least … gummint spending isn’t a Dem or GOP issue — unfortunately, ALL governments are set up as a “use it or lose it” when it comes to budgeting. cost savings aren’t rewarded, they’re punished with budget cuts the following year.
The US Constitution “sets up” the government and I failed to notice the articles that enumerated the “use or lose it” clause.
Idiocy like this is the reason we will shortly no longer be a superpower.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
8:33 am
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
8:14 am
Send a donation, now!
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
8:36 am
Whiner –
“The US Constitution “sets up” the government and I failed to notice the articles that enumerated the “use or lose it” clause. Idiocy like this is the reason we will shortly no longer be a superpower”
hey – I’m against use it/lose it, too (hey-hey, we agree on something)
I’m just saying that, even under the GOP, the same thing was going on in agencies all over the country at the state level as well as the national level. and it isn’t limited to the US, either -
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
8:39 am
Well, TnG, my pappy made it all the way through the fifth grade back in the depressing days and still managed to pick a few bags of cotton before sundown and he went on to be a mighty fine superviser for the city where I growed up. He was a mighty fine pappy too. So, a good edication aint all got from books and a good person shore aint made from jest book learnin. Take this feller, Phil Gramm for xample. He had all kinds of book lernin from that dawg trainin school and he turned out to be a real mean and nasty critter, like an old doberman that was abused his hole life.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
8:39 am
Monday, the City of Cambridge released the 911 and arrest tapes from the incident in which Gates was arrested by white police officer James Crowley. It is no wonder that Gates has begun to back down from his allegations of racism. The tapes show no such motivation, and they confirm that Gates was being disorderly, which he had denied.
The tapes reveal a couple of crucial points. 1) the woman who reported the possible break-in at Gates’ home never mentioned black males at all. 2) Gates was in fact shouting, despite his claim that this was impossible.
I remember a time long ago, in the unwise days of my youth, when myself and several of my associates were out “road loading,” um, that being driving around aimlessly on country roads throwing empty beer cans out the window. Sure enough, we happened upon the law. The gentleman explained that if he saw us again that night, we were all going to jail. One of my compadres in the back seat noisily demanded a clarification, as he had been drinking much more heavily than the rest of us. The cops reached into the backseat and snatched our hero out through the open car window. When we saw him again the next day, he was sporting several nice bruises about his head and upper torso.
And to think, he was just as white as the pure driven snow.
Ain’t that a b*, he couldn’t call anybody a racist.
jt
July 29th, 2009
8:39 am
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
8:14 am
“Republiconned, look closely at this guy.
He is your worst nightmare. And the reason you are going to get annihilated at the polls for a third consecutive time a year from November.”
The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County. The last REAL man to come out of there was Sir Ronald W. Reagen. God bless his soul.
And you know it.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
8:54 am
Ronald Reagun started out all righty in californa makin western movies. He was a reel merican hero. Then he went and got all weerd and started having his way with a chimpanzee and that jest werent right. We done gone and evolved past that kind of behavior or at leest I thought we had until I heerd about that feller down in Jonesboro. Jest goes to show that some change is good and that we dont need to be doin the kinda thangs that they used to do way back in the days before we was taught the new ways with that trainin film called deliverance no more.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
9:05 am
Next year’s elections are going to produce a political earthquake. That is because we currently suffer the most left-wing government in our nation’s history. After just 6 months in office, the flower children that rule Washington in overwhelming numbers are already smashing through all records regarding federal taxes, spending, deficits, and debt. Obama and his ultra-left Democrats adopted a so-called stimulus bill raising spending a trillion dollars that never had a prayer of actually creating jobs and promoting long-term economic growth, because it was based entirely on old-fashioned, brain dead, proven to fail, Keynesian economics. Though we would have to double federal taxes to finance the entitlement promises we have already made, the ruling Washington Democrats completely ignore that and focus instead on adopting yet another entitlement — national health insurance — that would be the biggest of all.
Driving their whole stinking party off the cliff.
Yay!
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
9:09 am
The GOP leads the generic Congressional Ballot by 3%, while only 18% rate the Democrat-controlled Congress as good or excellent.
Aahhh, yes, the 18 percenters.
eewww
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
9:10 am
“The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County”
I’m sure the fine folks of Boeing appreciate that.
Not to mention, I think you had better get off the intertubes if you think that anything coming out of CA is so awful (not everything intertube-related came from WA, after all)
Me, I’m mighty partial to the lovely fermented grape products of Napa
Then, let’s not overlook the movies and teevee shows you watch.
And, of course, there’s Robert Frost, Joe DiMaggio, Justice Warren, Francis Ford Coppola, John Fogerty, Pauline Kael, Dorothea Lange (my photography hero), Rita Moreno, Alice Waters (one of my top 5 culinary heros) and Thornton Wilder. Frankly, I’ll take any of them over Reagan, but that’s just me. YMMV.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
9:12 am
“The fetus, given the opportunity to develop properly before birth, and given the essential early socializing experiences and sufficient nourishing food during the crucial early years after birth, will ultimately develop into a human being,” John P. Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in “Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions.”
So basically all we gots to do now is figger how to give them republican conservatives the opportunity and they will be all right cept for the older ones since they cant get younger no matter how much they pay fer their health care. After all, that skin stretching and other high technology stuff and tannin beds dont really make a person younger. It is what the edicated ones call a facade. I learned it as puttin on airs myself.
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:18 am
I stand corrected.
The last good POLITICIAN that came out of California.
Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.
Ronald Reagan
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
Ronald Reagan
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:19 am
One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it.
Ronald Reagan
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:19 am
Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.
Ronald Reagan
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
9:24 am
jt – you’re confusing speechwriters with actual thought.
Doggone/GA
July 29th, 2009
9:24 am
“you’re confusing speechwriters with actual thought”
He’s also confusing words with actions. Reagan seems to have just fine being part of the government AND participating in criminal activities.
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:25 am
I did not have sex with that woman.
William J. Clinton
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:28 am
It was a BIG rabbit.
Jimmy Carter
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
9:30 am
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
8:28 am
Well, at least the true conservatives have principles, something the GOP abandoned long ago.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
9:35 am
and I hope you GA republicans are feeling the love:
Ohio Senator George Voinovich says that the GOP is “being taken over by southerners,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
In an interview with with the paper, Voinovich said shrinking demographics and southern senators are alienating his conservative constituents. He cites Republican Senators Jim DeMint and Tom Coburn as the GOP’s biggest problem.
“We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It’s the southerners. They get on TV and go ‘errrr, errrrr.’ People hear them and say, ‘These people, they’re southerners. The party’s being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?’,” Voinovich said.
get it through your heads … they want your vote but they sure as HELL don’t want YOU.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
9:36 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
8:30 am
We’ll remain a super power, but the wealthy are going to have to start investing more in America and less in Ponzi schemes. Wonder how many more Madoffs are out there?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
9:36 am
I used to like Reagun back when he was a hollywood wild west actor. When he got elected though he was supposed to stop makin believe and start dealin with real world stuff. He had to go and give them bad evil folks in them foreen countries all kinds of germs and deadly gases and stuff and then he even give them iran terriers US aeroplanes and stuff. That was when I finally understood that Reagun was still thinkin that he was still makin pretend movies even though he was really hurtin a whole lot of people. He is dead now though so he cant never be punished for being such a stoopid man here on earth. He is in the devils hand now and that is where he will stay.
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:42 am
TnGelding- you asked.
Wonder how many more Madoffs are out there?
There are 100 senators and app. 435 representatives.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
9:42 am
TnG –
“Wonder how many more Madoffs are out there”
don’t forget Stanford –
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aRkc6QnSiujg
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
9:46 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
8:39 am
But he could have and should have filed a complaint.
But did Gates’ action warrant being arrested?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
9:52 am
It is a good thang that we gots us some conservative democrats in Washington cause ifin we did not have them then the conservative republicans would probly still be sittin around sayin no instead of offerin to help.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
9:55 am
jt
July 29th, 2009
8:39 am
Well, he did sell us out to the Japanese. But hey, he was properly rewarded with a $2 million speaking fee. It would have been a bargain for them at $2 billion. And then there’s that little matter of the increase in Social Security taxes from such a principled actor. Not to mention the promise of smaller government.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/92066
@@
July 29th, 2009
9:55 am
Breakfast with Dave
by David A. Rosenberg
MARKET THOUGHTS
Admittedly, I have a difficult time understanding the market and economy, but when I read that consumer confidence (I’m more inclined to place my confidence in the people) was down in July in spite of everything government has done, I’m thinking…..hmmmmmm.
Regardless of what we’re being told, the “stimulating conversation” coming out of Washington does not appear to be working.
It’s a long article (puzzle) that pulls in a lot of pieces. Worth a read.
A personal note….we decided to go for the “cash for clunkers” stimulus since our daughter is going away to school and needs a car that’s under warranty. We’re standing there with the cash in hand but they insist on financing? How many of those car loans are gonna go into default? Not ours! We were told we could pay it off in three months. It will be paid off but I resent the fact that our cash wasn’t acceptable under the program. It’s cash and carry in our household.
md
July 29th, 2009
9:56 am
” that the GOP is “being taken over by southerners,”
Considering the South is being taken over by northerners, sounds like a big circle to me.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
10:01 am
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
9:05 am
You failed to attribute that quote, but it was nothing but wishful thinking. The jobs will come, the economy will grow, Wall Street will soar and Democrats will rule. But it would be nice if we could replace them with Libertarians. The GOP might pick up a few seats in 2010, however.
Oh, and health care reform and cap and trade will be long forgotten. Obama will tinker with current regulations.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
10:01 am
Perdue is a yankee! Who woulda ever thought that. But if this md says so then it must be true. I aint no Yankee though. I was borned and raised and edicated right here in georgia. This is where I has lived my whole life.
@@
July 29th, 2009
10:10 am
Put a cork in it Steenker. I’m not even southern but your schtick is getting old, tired and redundant.
Schtick it where the sun don’t shine!
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
10:11 am
@@ –
confidence – meh. that can be boiled down to 1 word: employment. now that new filings are decreasing, confidence will begin to rebound.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
10:13 am
Among conditions that White House aides say Obama will outline later Wednesday: insurers would be required to set annual caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses, fully cover routine tests to help prevent illness, and renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full.
Insurers also would be barred from refusing coverage because of pre-existing conditions, scaling back insurance for people who fall very ill, charging more for services based on gender, and placing caps on coverage. And, they wouldn’t be able to deny children family coverage through age 26.
Why this here stuff is jest stoopid in so meny ways. First off it is jest more govment that we dont want or need. and finally how can we expect inshorance companies to even stay here with all them tough rules. They will all jest up and move to India unless we at least promise their executives that they will never have to pay any taxes or do any jail time for whatever they might have done or ever will do. It is only right. We cant jest keep on runnin off fine inshorance companies like AIG.
Kamchak
July 29th, 2009
10:14 am
We Don’t Need No Steenking Government
Keep doing what you do—if Scarlett’s upset, you must be doing something right.
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
10:17 am
Here’s a petition from Sen Schumer, Durbin, and Leahy asking for a public health care option:
http://citizensforapublicoption.com/
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
10:18 am
That @@ person is weerd too. He must be one of them conservative republicans that likes lincolns log and cabins too like that toe tapper feller. And, I guess I dont have to do what this @@ wants me to do since this @@ aint no boss at the ajc. So, you can keep yore sick sthick or whatever you call yore thang to yore self or them other fellers down thar in Jonesboro.
.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
10:23 am
I am jest glad that we aint birthin no two headed youngens here in the US. First off, the conservative republicans would not let them jest get aborted and second off they would insist that the mommy take care of it even ifin she aint got no money or insurance and ifin it ever died then they would charge the mommy with murder and probly let the pappy off scot free since it was never his legs that got spreaded in the first place.
md
July 29th, 2009
10:26 am
” now that new filings are decreasing,”
Numbers don’t always tell the whole story:
“the number of discouraged workers nationwide has more than doubled in the past year. This trend won’t be reflected in the widely publicized unemployment rate, as discouraged workers aren’t included among the unemployed”
Very large segment of workers quit looking all together. Their confidence surely isn’t on the rise.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
10:29 am
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:18 am
“Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?”
–Ronald Reagan, campaign speech, 1980 (Why, indeed.)
‘Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. Was too strong.’
- Ronald Reagan (Died to soon to witness it.)
‘Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.’ – Ronald Reagan (Even his book bombed.)
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
10:30 am
jt
July 29th, 2009
9:42 am
Touche!
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
10:31 am
md –
“Very large segment of workers quit looking all together. Their confidence surely isn’t on the rise.”
NEW FILINGS. NEW. As in those who have JUST been laid off.
NEW filings have fallen by 100K/week and the 4 week moving average has fallen by about 60K/week.
those numbers don’t have anything to do with the ILO unemployment number.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
10:32 am
Very large segment of workers quit looking all together. Their confidence surely isn’t on the rise.
It is so on the rise. They are more and more confident with each passing day that there are no jobs out there for them.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
10:33 am
md
July 29th, 2009
10:26 am
We have plenty of jobs, just the wrong people filling them.
@@
July 29th, 2009
10:36 am
USinUK:
You didn’t read the article, did you? Just like you conveniently ignore what’s “behind the baby count” (infant mortality rates).
Steenker:
The object of your obsession (Mr. Edwin Robles) is a recently relocated hispanic. Are you willing to say it’s a cultural thing? If not….move on. He’s not a southerner in your “typical sense” or lack thereof.
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
10:37 am
Man I wish I was a cop today! I would go arrest a minority perp and get me a free trip to the white house to drink with Barry and the minority perp member I arrested. Maybe after a couple beers I can demonstrate some of them there enhanced interrogation techniques for Barry on the criminal.
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
deegee
July 29th, 2009
10:45 am
Whiner, suppose you and your buddies had nothing to drink that night and were on your way home from work. The cop stopped you because you looked like a carload of kids that were drinking and throwing beer cans out the window. Your friend asked the cop for an explanation and got snatched out of the window and beaten up. Now, how would you feel?
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
10:46 am
Gubermint will take care of yous…Don’t worry! Barry, Barry Allelujah!
Isn’t a government based on the cults of Barry and Global Warming a theocracy?
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
10:51 am
TnG Gates was disrespecting a Police Officer. He was creating a public nuisance, and last but not least, the race baiter is an idiot. He deserved it, I wish he would have resisted! That would have been sweet!
One
Big
A$$
Mistake
America
The policeman did nothing wrong EXCEPT accept Barry’s phone call and invitation to have a beer. I would have hung up on him after telling him not to call stupid no mo.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
10:53 am
Your friend asked the cop for an explanation and got snatched out of the window and beaten up. Now, how would you feel?
Not stupid like my friend would.
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
10:55 am
“The last good thing to come out of California was grown in Humbolt County. The last REAL man to come out of there was Sir Ronald W. Reagen. God bless his soul.”
jt,
Wow, that may be a first in all of AJC blogging.
An absolute brilliant observation followed immediately by such an absolutely abysmal one.
But hey! One out of two ain’t terrible (by Republican standards!)…
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
10:55 am
@@ –
“You didn’t read the article, did you? Just like you conveniently ignore what’s “behind the baby count” (infant mortality rates).”
last thing first – you’re saying that we have double the mortality rate than countries in europe because they don’t count babies smaller than 12″ … that is, in technical parlance, a STRETCH.
first thing second – yes, I read the article. and, again, confidence will begin to rebound when people stop being pummeled with every Thursday’s weekly new unemployment filings over 500K. they’re finally under 600K after 6 months and have been dropping fairly steadily over the last 5 weeks (last week being a hiccup, but still below the forecast).
I think the most important item in the article is the “new normal” – and that’s what all economists are trying to muddle through right now. consumer spending accounts for 70% of US GDP, so if the current cycle that we find ourselves in (called the paradox of thrift) continues, what will the new standard of GDP be? previously, “standard” GDP was 3% – should we now expect it to be 2%? and will that be permanent? or is it just that the rebound from the recession will look more like an extended hockey stick?? and, falling out from that, what will the new standard unemployment number be? previously, standard or equilibrium unemployment was around 3.5-ish%. will it now be 6-7% if consumer spending stays low?
again, that’s why I say, “consumer confidence – meh”. it’s a snapshot USUALLY driven by gas prices — you can chart out average pump prices vs. the Univ of Michigan confidence and they are inversely related to each other. (and, yes, for giggles and to prove a point to my boss, I did that one day). right now, it’s being driven by the relentless news about unemployment. that will change and confidence will pick up again.
Curious Observer
July 29th, 2009
10:57 am
Scarlett. What a great name for the conservative queen of Clayton County!
md
July 29th, 2009
10:57 am
“confidence – meh. that can be boiled down to 1 word: employment. now that new filings are decreasing, confidence will begin to rebound.”
I believe you are the one that linked employment to confidence, and just because NEW filings are down, it doesn’t necessarily equate to rebounding confidence. One must look at the entire picture, not just NEW filings.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
11:02 am
barry Obozo “bailed out” the kampaign that will soon eat him, hahaha-
No political race in sight, but Hillary Clinton’s camp is election-ready
eewwww, not Bruno again.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
11:02 am
The object of your obsession (Mr. Edwin Robles) is a recently relocated hispanic. Are you willing to say it’s a cultural thing? If not….move on. He’s not a southerner in your “typical sense” or lack thereof.
Yuk. @@ even knows the guy’s name. So, he aint no southerner and neither are you from what you say. That means neither one of you knows the culture here in the south. Go home, Yankee.
Kamchak
July 29th, 2009
11:05 am
“Scarlett. What a great name for the drama queen of Clayton County!”
I fixed your typo for you.
jt
July 29th, 2009
11:11 am
TnGelding -
That hurt.
He did grow gubmint, under a democrat congress. His last two years in office did not count. I don’t think that he was completely aware.
AmVet-
The second comment was AFTER the Humbolt County.
getalife
July 29th, 2009
11:15 am
She is not running Andy.
After 8 years of globetrotting the world, she will take a break.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:16 am
md –
“One must look at the entire picture, not just NEW filings.”
I agree with you that the entire picture is important – however … just like the equity markets and the housing market have shown us, people start to see a glimmer of hope when we are no longer careening down the cliff face. now that new unemployment numbers are receding, the fear of being laid off also recedes, improving confidence.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
11:21 am
jt
July 29th, 2009
11:11 am
Yeah, I think he might have been a much better president if he had been 10 years younger.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
11:24 am
I was havin read to me where some folks is gettin hospital work done to them and their inshorance companies are bailin on em and leavin em holdin the bag for bills that might be $100,000 or $800,000 or jest about anything else and these folks might be in their 40s or 70s even and some of them might have a house that is part paid for and others might be livin with their youngens or out on their own in an apartment or a tent. Jest all sorts of folks. So, I got to thinkin what if a 65 year old that is livin off maybe a thousand dollars a month and spendin every penny of that on food and rent and such gits saddled with a $300,000 hospital bill that aint covered by inshorance for whatever reason they dreamed up to not cover their bet that went the wrong way. Well, ifin this person could do without somethin and scrape together say $300 per month to pay toward this bill and ifin this person lived another 20 years then this person could have payed off $72,000 of that $300,000 that was owed before dying. Then, who will git stuck with the rest of the bill. Maybe the conservative republicans can figger a way to pass a bill that makes yore relatives responsible for yore bills when you die. That would make the folks that they is beholdin to might happy, I reckon. So, then I got to figgerin that maybe this person should jest be forced to give the whole $1000 per month to the hospital to pay off that debt and then in 20 years that person would have paid $240,000 of the $300,000 and then the relatives would only git stuck with $60,000 unless they start tacking on a subprime interest rate or somethin. Then, I suppose we might as well just all accept our fates as the indentured class. Hospitals and doctors and inshorance companies and such will own us all for our entire lives. Sounds sorta like one of them socialist life styles cept that it will be the big businesses that we be beholdin to forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. At least it aint called communism or socialism so that makes it better.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
11:25 am
getalife
July 29th, 2009
11:15 am
What about the next opening on the court? I’d like to see her challenge Obama, but she’s much too loyal to the party to do that.
md
July 29th, 2009
11:31 am
“now that new unemployment numbers are receding, the fear of being laid off also recedes, improving confidence.”
Maybe historically, but we are in unchartered waters. Many of the 80+% still employed are working in very lean environments knowing their turn may be just around the corner. Housing appears to be a false flag, as historically, people move in the summer while school is out. Large segments of the housing market still in limbo, and fall and winter have always been down months. How many builders across the country hanging on by a thread and waiting for round 2 of layoffs with the fall/winter numbers? Commercial real estate also at the bottom with many up against the wall not paying their mortgages. Commercial historically fails with a lag time behind residential, and businesses continue to close their doors leading to even less income for landlords.
I’d love to be wrong, but historically, the other shoe hasn’t even fallen yet.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:32 am
TnG –
“What about the next opening on the court?”
ha. here’s the choice: being an international broker working with world leaders (which will lead to HUGE speaking fees and book deals later on ) and being 1 of 9 and not in charge.
hrmmm … tough decision.
Curious Observer
July 29th, 2009
11:33 am
So, I got to thinkin what if a 65 year old that is livin off maybe a thousand dollars a month and spendin every penny of that on food and rent and such gits saddled with a $300,000 hospital bill that aint covered by inshorance for whatever reason . . .
(cough) bankruptcy (cough)–with apologizes to our conservative friends.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
11:36 am
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:32 am
I don’t see her staying at State for more than the first term. What about Obama on the court and her as president?
md
July 29th, 2009
11:36 am
What about the next opening on the court?”
She knows where the money in her and Bill’s account came from. I bet she’s chomping at the bit to not have sex with someone and joining the very lucrative speaking circuit. Then she can write a juicy book on how she got even with Bill.
jt
July 29th, 2009
11:38 am
The fastest way to build consumer confidence is to let that consumer know that less wealth will be seized from his or her by our benevolent goverment.
The federal withholding, state taxes, permits, fees, worker’s comp, etc…… and NOW some insurance scam gets to be a drag on motivation, confidence, and innovation.
When times were flush, goverment grew exponentionally. Now that it is tight, the federal goverment should shut up and get out of the way. And lay off 40% of its workforce.
If not, we are talking a 10 year malaise. Or a lost decade. Or maybe the great depression redux.
I believe November 2010 will prove the wisdom of the great American silent majority.
Libertarians will finally break double digits, which will cause the R&D party to behave. somewhat.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
11:39 am
According to all them believers in free markets and things, the only thing we done wrong was to git in the way by throwin good money after bad. They knows that in a free market things jest go up and down naturally and we jest go along for the ride. Some rides the crest and makes out like bandits and some fall in the trough and die and that is the law of nature at work. So what we needed to do was jest let businesses fail that was gonna fail like all of the banks and the auto makers and all of them that support them and that way we coulda already bottomed out at about 25 percent unemployment and been on the road to recovery and everyone would been better for it.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:41 am
md –
can I just say … yippeee!!! another econo-geek!!
“Maybe historically, but we are in unchartered waters. Many of the 80+% still employed are working in very lean environments knowing their turn may be just around the corner. Housing appears to be a false flag, as historically, people move in the summer while school is out.”
well, the thing about forecasts is that they factor those things in, so when you read that home sales are better than expected, part of those expectations include normal activity.
“How many builders across the country hanging on by a thread and waiting for round 2 of layoffs with the fall/winter numbers? Commercial real estate also at the bottom with many up against the wall not paying their mortgages. Commercial historically fails with a lag time behind residential, and businesses continue to close their doors leading to even less income for landlords.”
well, that’s why everyone is following what’s going on with new home sales (which exceeded expectations this month).
as far as commercial real estate, I agree that’s the next shoe – but I can tell you this from first-hand experience – investors aren’t being caught with their pants around their ankles on this the way they were with residential.
me, I’m still voting for bulldozers to solve the inventory problem.
md
July 29th, 2009
11:42 am
“Libertarians will finally break double digits, which will cause the R&D party to behave. somewhat.”
The problem with this premise is Libertarians tend to take votes away from the gop, and not the dems. Dems like gov’t, libs do not. So, the dems benefit and the rest of us suffer the consequences of bigger gov’t.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:43 am
TnG –
“What about Obama on the court and her as president?”
and that’s #1 on the “never gonna happen” hit parade.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
11:43 am
(cough) bankruptcy (cough)–with apologizes to our conservative friends.
That is clearly the logical step to take. And, if enough people take that step, what sort of lesson do people learn from that and implement themselves. Would that naturally drive people away from even trying to own anything of value since they know that they could lose it all in bankruptcy court due to one big hospital bill. Do big businesses look then to get even more changes made to the laws such as not allowing medical bills to be removed due to a bankruptcy, etc.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
11:45 am
“(cough) bankruptcy (cough)–with apologizes to our conservative friends”
well, yes, that WOULD have been the option prior to the 2005 Bankruptcy bill …
sadly, no more.
md
July 29th, 2009
11:50 am
“well, the thing about forecasts is that they factor those things in, so when you read that home sales are better than expected, part of those expectations include normal activity.”
And considering those forecasts are based on already lower numbers, then its a wash. 10% of nothing is still nothing.
“as far as commercial real estate, I agree that’s the next shoe – but I can tell you this from first-hand experience – investors aren’t being caught with their pants around their ankles on this the way they were with residential.”
There are in my area, as the banks refuse to help. Too many banks with tarp money factored in to the equation. Why help the investors when uncle sugar has deep pockets of our money.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
11:55 am
al-Gitmo: Bruno has spent her entire career scheming and plotting, you think she’s retired now that there is a nice fat plump little target like Obozo on the firing range?
hahahaha, yeah, ok.
Billy is probably gnawing on his restraints as we speak.
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
11:55 am
The fastest way to build consumer confidence is to let that consumer know that…corporations will be held accountable to the rule of law.
And that white collar criminals by the thousands will not be allowed to walk off with you money and mine. But will serve time for their piracy and gangster capitalism.
But it ain’t gonna happen boys and girls. Too many lobbyists, too many monied masters that own the politicians and WAY too many dupes who are either too thick to understand or two immoral to care..
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
12:00 pm
md –
“And considering those forecasts are based on already lower numbers, then its a wash. 10% of nothing is still nothing.”
as Ava Gabor would say, had she been an economist, “movement, daahling” … it’s the steepness of the decline/the trend of whether the decline is speeding up or slowing down. even though the year-on-year numbers are negative, most numbers have been less negative than preceding months – and, in fact, the S&P/Case Schiller house price index showed its first month of growth in 3 years. you can look at it as 10% better than crap, but most people look at it as a sign that the market is turning.
as far as commercial – i’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. I mean institutional investors that held CMBS but have since liquidated their holdings.
jt
July 29th, 2009
12:01 pm
md- you commented.
“The problem with this premise is Libertarians tend to take votes away from the gop, and not the dems. Dems like gov’t, libs do not. So, the dems benefit and the rest of us suffer the consequences of bigger gov’t.”
jt replies- as opposed to Republicans.??? Before Obama came along, Bush, with his REPUBLICAN congress broke all goverment spending records. And grew it too. Astronomically.
The less of two evils is still evil.
At least the democrats have more truth in advertising.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
12:01 pm
whiner –
“you think she’s retired now that there is a nice fat plump little target like Obozo on the firing range?”
you guys love to say that the left is obsessed with St. Sarah of the Tundra, but let me tell you, it’s NOTHING compared to the fever dreams you guys have about Hillary.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
12:02 pm
This has got to be the dumbest chief executive to ever hit the White House, hands down, somewhere Dhimmi Carter breathes a sigh of relief. Herbert Hoover smiles from beyond.
If Axelrod or Emanual don’t tell Obozo that the knife is fixing to be stuck in his back, he will just keep playing with the toys in his rubber room, totally unaware.
What a prime target of opportunity.
And who knows, they may all soon be conspiring against their little tard.
Either way, it ain’t gonna be pretty.
eewww
getalife
July 29th, 2009
12:08 pm
Too bad the cons did not stab w in the back when he destroyed our country.
Andy shilled for him.
Ew.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
12:11 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
12:02 pm
…and Bush exhales. How soon we forget.
md
July 29th, 2009
12:13 pm
“jt replies- as opposed to Republicans.??? Before Obama came along, Bush, with his REPUBLICAN congress broke all goverment spending records. And grew it too. Astronomically.”
Historically, Reps are fiscally conservative, as are Blue Dog dems, and Bush was , well Bush.
If you go back in history, Obama was one of very few dems to ever campaign on tax cuts/freeze.
And don’t look now, but Barry and his all dem congress is blowing away any spending done by the Bush crowd. Even the Blue dogs can see that.
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
12:16 pm
“And that white collar criminals by the thousands will not be allowed to walk off with you money and mine. But will serve time for their piracy and gangster capitalism.”
No way man, corporate welfare is the new new thing (at least new since the last bailout of S&Ls back in 1991)
Crime does pay!
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
12:16 pm
md
July 29th, 2009
12:13 pm
The deficit would have been over a trillion dollars without the stimulus spending. Bush was handed a surplus.
USinUK
July 29th, 2009
12:16 pm
heading home … have a lovely evening!!!
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
12:19 pm
“Historically, Reps are fiscally conservative, as are Blue Dog dems, and Bush was , well Bush.”
Yes, md, the GOP was, but only until Eisenhower.
And after that they made a 180 degree turn, absolutely exploding the size, scope, cost and interference of government.
Staggering corporate welfare mixed with the morality police eventually sunk them to the point they are at now – hemorrhaging and virtually irrlevant…
Kamchak
July 29th, 2009
12:22 pm
AmVet @11:55
Agreed wholeheartedly–though I do believe that lobbyists do play a role by giving those with no voice access to our elected officials. Unfortunately lobbyists are working for corporations like GE, Altria, Ratheon etc. who have very large voices. The only silver bullet I see is campaign finance reform. Alas, those laws must be written by the very people that need to be regulated.
md
July 29th, 2009
12:22 pm
Tn,
I’m am not and will not defend Bush, he spent too much.
Having said that, just because it was done in the past doesn’t make it ok now. We need a gov’t that will cut up the credit cards and balance the budget, not one that just continues to raise the credit limit.
I Report :-) You Whine :-(
July 29th, 2009
12:34 pm
You can’t forget that democrats are some low, power hungry mf’s, when they see Obozo dragging down their whole filthy house of cards, loyalty is going to extinct.
I can’t wait to see this coming debacle.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 29th, 2009
12:50 pm
Well, I see this Obama keeps going down and down in the polls. I sure wish we had somebody that could run against him. Sarah, much as I love her, couldn’t get elected Class Treasurer right now. And nobody down here is going to vote for a heathen Mormon like Romney. Everybody down here would vote for the Rev. Huckabee but nobody else in the whole country would. And then the man that might could of been our best hope left his fambly and state and went off to Argentina to be with his mistress. And if old Newt decided to run they’d be bringing up them divorce papers he served on his wife that was in the hospitle with cancer and then later was sleeping with a woman while he was married and trying to get Clinton impeached over that intern.
So there’s the problem. Right there we got the White House just about wide open and ready for us to take but we got nobody that can take it. Heck, I might have to open the Redneck Convert for President campaign again just to give us a chance. I know I could get more votes than any of the “name” Republicans that might decide to run. Have a good p.m. everybody.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
1:01 pm
md
July 29th, 2009
12:22 pm
Stay tuned. It will happen next year. The spending cuts will be hard to swallow for many.
Doggone/GA
July 29th, 2009
1:01 pm
“I know I could get more votes than any of the “name” Republicans that might decide to run”
Hey, what the heck. Jimmy Carter did it!
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
1:02 pm
I Report
You Whine 
July 29th, 2009
12:34 pm
Don’t get too wound up.
md
July 29th, 2009
1:10 pm
“WASHINGTON (AP) — The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday added the Postal Service to its list of high-risk federal agencies in need of change.
The post office has been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase in the price of stamps in May, and cuts in staff.
“There are serious and significant structural financial challenges currently facing the Postal Service,” the GAO said.”
Postal service, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, public education………………..and now the buffoons want to add healthcare on top of programs they already have problems with.
Is it just me, or does anybody else see a problem with this picture.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:18 pm
We could run Bob Dull and wipe Obozo out.
mm
July 29th, 2009
1:30 pm
Whiner,
As usual, in your dreams. The party that’s crashing is the one you support. You know, the one that doesn’t care about the health of Americans. The one that doesn’t care about the environment. The one that tried to block help for the unemployed. The one that tried to cut funds for education. The one that brought California to it’s knees. I could do this all day.
i’m still waiting on the “revolution”.
md
July 29th, 2009
1:34 pm
“The one that brought California to it’s knees”
May want to study up on that one a little more so as to not look so silly.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:35 pm
mmoron- When you liberals were nothing but obscure diaper filling moonbats splashing around in the fever swamps, making Mount Whine out of every Bush molehill, you could lie to the American people what smart and wonderful people you were.
But now that you have been flushed out into the open and forced to act like adults, the American people are saying eewww, what dummies.
Back to the fever swamps with you.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:39 pm
Bruno sees the opening, “she” has more kampaign staff and money on hand then do all the rest of the democrat Senators combined.
Is she a dummy too?
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
1:40 pm
Guess What?
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
1:42 pm
NYC is sending us thier Homeless! Just like New Orleans did! Damn, why can’t they go to Seatle! COST OF LIVIN’ IN A LIBERAL CITY I RECKON!
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:45 pm
Those are the chief findings of the latest NPR poll of 850 registered voters conducted nationwide Wednesday through Sunday by a bipartisan team. The pollsters found 53 percent approving of the president’s handling of his job, while 42 percent disapproved — the narrowest gap of the Obama presidency to date. Most of the approving group said they approved strongly, and an even greater majority of the disapproving group said they disapproved strongly.-National Pinko Radio
If you’ve lost NPR, you’ve lost the moonbats, ahahahahaha.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:46 pm
Hey, what happened to the closer?
N ational P inko R adio
mm
July 29th, 2009
1:52 pm
Whiner,
Wrong again. The only people complaining are the republicans and their dimwit uneducated supporters, and they don’t act like Americans. The only Dem supporters I’ve seen complaining are the ones that are mad because the dems have not shoved healthcare straight up the GOP @sses.
md,
I don’t expect a wingnut to own up to a mistake. It’s bad enough the GOP destroyed our economy, but their tax cuts have crippled our state and local governments as well. But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.
md
July 29th, 2009
2:00 pm
“I don’t expect a wingnut to own up to a mistake. It’s bad enough the GOP destroyed our economy, but their tax cuts have crippled our state and local governments as well. But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.”
Put up or shut up. Post facts please. Show is all the the underlying facts of your assertions. Google is your friend. Per California, do you always read just the cover of the book? You sound like a good little parrott, towing the party line.
And do you always use the term “wingnut” for anybody that doesn’t agree with what you think? Thats so juvenile.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
2:03 pm
By the way, it shore was nice of the Bushwhacker 2001 to look out fer the consumers with that Bankruptcy law stuff that he signed off on. Ifin you learn anything from a conservative republican it should be to never turn yore back on one of them. 2005 Bankruptcy Law Changes Causing Subprime Loan Scandal
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
2:08 pm
I heer that republican gubernator out in californa is showing everyone what for. He don pulled the plug on helpin them poor youngens in his state that cant take keer of themselves even though they has done popped out of their mommies and should be able to by now. And that is jest fer starters. Ifin I was him, I would go ahead and open all the jail cells up too and send all the police and farmen home since they is jest too spensive to upkeep. Then, they could git rid of their real teachers too like we done here in georgia.
Normal
July 29th, 2009
2:35 pm
A bit of history trivia here…Y’all know where the term “Lobbyist” came from. U. S. Grant, when he was the President, used to like to sit in a hotel lobby and relax(can’t remember the name of the hotel), but people would come up to him and push their special interest and became known as lobbyists. Strange that one of the most corrupt administrations in our history would start what has become a bane on our government…did I mention Grant was a Republican?
Normal
July 29th, 2009
2:38 pm
The Willard Hotel…
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
2:40 pm
Arizona lawmakers, desperate for cash, are considering selling the House and Senate buildings, then leasing them back over several years before assuming ownership again. Dozens of other state buildings may also be sold off and leased back as the state grapples with a huge budget deficit. Under the complex financial arrangement, state government services would continue without interruption while the state picks up a cash infusion estimated at $735 million. For investors, the deal means long-term lease payments from a stable source.
The state’s budget shortfall is projected at around $3.4 billion.
If they would jest try to live within their means they would not be so bad off.
md
July 29th, 2009
2:48 pm
“But you’ll never see REAL news on Fox News so you wouldn’t understand.””
This is also where you are wrong. Unlike yourself, I prefer to watch all the channels so as to make the best decision possible as to what to believe and what not to believe. One can not make an informed decision leaving out variables. You do yourself an injustice by only watching those channels you agree with. Sitting in your chair nodding your head in agreement is hardly the way to keep an open mind.
mm
July 29th, 2009
2:56 pm
Wow, your very own Tom Price will be introducing a health care reform bill tomorrow.
“According to the summary, the bill aims to make health care accessible to all Americans by creating tax incentives for consumers to purchase insurance on the individual market, encouraging states to assist consumers with pre-existing conditions, and promoting the employer-based insurance system that is popular with many Americans.”
“Instead of focusing on regulating private insurers, the plan would in fact give them more freedom to work across state lines.”
So lets see, another TAX CUT by a republican. This one will cut government revenues and give the money to insuance companies. Wow, an annual $1000 dollar tax cut to pay for an $800 a month insurance premium. And deregulating the insurances companies.
No telling what else is in this POS bill. Is there nothing a wingnut thinks a tax cut won’t cure?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
2:57 pm
We all knows that dinosaurs roamed the earth a thousand years or so ago. and whatever Hannety says has to be the gospel truth cause he would never let his outwardly bigoted and jest plane mean and nasty thoughts toward Obama influence his journalistic integrety and the same goes for Huckebe and for Rush and one day maybe even for Sarah ifin she ever gits a time slot on the radio or on fox, the only channel for truth in the news channel. Every other channel is jest piled knee deep in them other people that dont know the truth bout nothin.
Kamchak
July 29th, 2009
3:05 pm
Normal
Yes, lobbyist have a bad rep, but I believe they can serve those with no access to elected officials. When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals free speech was when lobbyists began to run this country.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
3:07 pm
Is there nothing a wingnut thinks a tax cut won’t cure?
Nope. Why, they claim to not even need Viagra ifin they git a big enough tax cut. And, even better, they claim that the effects never wear off for them. Their swelled heads jest stay that way permanently or until they catch wind of another tax that they did not git rid of.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
3:12 pm
I wants to know why cant we jest elect businesses to govment and cut out the middle man. Exxon could be the ’senator’ for texas, georgia power for georgia and so on. That way everyone saves. The big businesses would not need lobbyists no more and they would not need to give money to themselves to run campains since they would all ready be the govment. They could even git rid of elections since they would not serve no porpoise no more. Come to think of it, we don’t need no steenking govment.
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
3:17 pm
Kamchak, yes the issue of lobbyists is a touchy one.
In theory they serve a good purpose. But in reality they are out of control and have undue power (via boatloads of dirty money and influence peddling).
The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750!
The lobbying boom has been caused by three factors, experts say: rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and wide acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure their share of federal benefits.
“There’s unlimited business out there for us,” said Robert L. Livingston, a Republican former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and now president of a thriving six-year-old lobbying firm. “Companies need lobbying help.”
Lobbying firms can’t hire people fast enough. Starting salaries have risen to about $300,000 a year for the best-connected aides eager to “move downtown” from Capitol Hill or the Bush administration. Once considered a distasteful post-government vocation, big-bucks lobbying is luring nearly half of all lawmakers who return to the private sector when they leave Congress, according to a forthcoming study by Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.
But the worst aspect is that this nation is now a government of the General Motors, by the General Dynamics and for the General Electrics…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/21/AR2005062101632.html
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
3:18 pm
md wrote: The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday added the Postal Service to its list of high-risk federal agencies in need of change.
The post office has been struggling with a sharp decline in mail volume as people and businesses switch to e-mail both for personal contact and bill paying. The agency is facing a nearly $7 billion potential loss this fiscal year despite a 2-cent increase in the price of stamps in May, and cuts in staff.
The GAO should be applauded here – this is a prime opportunity to cut a dying beast. They should cut the number of delivery days to 4 and consolidate facilities. I am just flabergasted when I see spaning new usps facilies springing up all the time.
Maybe they could switch the Passport photo/application process to the police stations or fire stations.
The only thng I use mail for is Netflix and packages I don’t need right away…and some bills.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:30 pm
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:18 pm
You wish! Form a true conservative party.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:32 pm
md
July 29th, 2009
1:34 pm
A president and a governor, what else do you need? Oh, I forgot, they don’t do that “vision thing.”
@@
July 29th, 2009
3:33 pm
I find it interesting that USinUK(cough) measures infant mortality in inches.
If a baby is born breathing and then dies within 24 to 48 hours, they’re not counted as mortals in many European countries. They’re mythical in U.K.’s world. Americans will always count babies as worthwhile — some of us will anyway.
On the economy? You’re entitled to all the confidence you can muster but not many Americans are sharing in it.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:34 pm
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:35 pm
Hell, the first inning isn’t even over yet. Our rookie could end up MVP.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:37 pm
Gandalf of Gwinnesia
July 29th, 2009
1:42 pm
Welcome South Brother!
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:41 pm
mm
July 29th, 2009
1:52 pm
As much as government revenues have dropped, I’m thinking there is an increase in noncompliance. Wonder how many “businesses” are behind on forwarding their payroll deductions to the IRS and can’t get loans to make payroll?
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:42 pm
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
July 29th, 2009
1:45 pm
Polls for trolls! Irrelevant.
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
3:46 pm
TnGelding at 3:30,
A true conservative-based party would likely have NONE of these modern day Republiconned in it. As soon as they heard there’s no Jesus in government, they’d say no thanks…
And Bob Dole? At least he was a GOPer with some freaking guts! One of the last of the Republicans who was not yellow to the core ala Bush, Cheney, Saxby ad nauseum…
As for besting the mulatto, how could he do it when RINO McCain, 9/11 Rudy, Flip flopping Lurch, Flat-earth Sam, Large & Lazy Fred, Huckleberry, Duncan “Nuke ‘em” Hunter and Tom “Who?” Tancredo couldn’t?
A laughable and sorry lot.
But gawd, last year was a lot of fun! Watching those buffoons implode on the national stage and the ensuing teeth gnashing by the idiotic talking heads and their faithful followers was and still is, outstanding entertainment…
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
3:47 pm
md
July 29th, 2009
2:48 pm
I’ve found the difference to be in what “news” they emphasize. Of course the talk shows are totally biased.
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
3:48 pm
Wow This talk about The Family is some really sicko whackjob nutcase preverted stuff. These folks say they operate like the mafia and that they want the world to be run by folks like Osama bin Laden and Hitler and some feller named Inhofe from Oklahoma is one of them. Yuk.
md
July 29th, 2009
3:51 pm
tn,
“A president and a governor, what else do you need? Oh, I forgot, they don’t do that “vision thing.””
May want to include the rest of the gov’t. CA has been traditionally democratic for many years. But for many here, its much easier to ignore the involvement of both parties in order to push forth an agenda. The gop was the head of the snake, but there were many others (read dems) that made up the body.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
4:06 pm
mm
July 29th, 2009
2:56 pm
Take a look at the direct subsidies for Medicare Part C if you want to get really riled up.
“Medicare Advantage plans wrap physician and hospital services in one, often with vision and drug coverage. Unlike traditional Medicare, the government doesn’t pay physicians and hospitals directly but instead pays insurers to manage care. Currently, though, a patient in these plans costs the government an average of 14% more than if he or she stayed in traditional Medicare.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123905667327594685.html
(When an increase is a cut. Can’t find any actual dollar figures.)
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
4:12 pm
Finn McCool
July 29th, 2009
3:18 pm
Passport service is available elsewhere now. If you do use the USPS, be sure and take your own photo!
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
@@
July 29th, 2009
4:14 pm
AmVet:
Just to prove how much I care….pick any one of your posts and I’ll continue to run it while you’re on vacation. I can change the wording just a tad so’s nobody’ll know you’re gone.
I’ll be your proxy poster. The post you choose cannot, however, be directed an any particular blogger. One of your many generics will do.
GreenJeans
July 29th, 2009
4:14 pm
Ten pages, and Tokyo Rose bleating on every one of ‘em.
getalife
July 29th, 2009
4:17 pm
Dowd praises Hillary and bashes Sarah:
” The woman who was prematurely counted in is out. And the woman who was prematurely counted out is in.
Goodbye, Sarah. Hello, Hillary.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/opinion/29dowd.html
AmVet
July 29th, 2009
4:17 pm
Was that a cow baying in a distant pasture at 4:14?
If it is injured someone probably needs to shoot the old girl and put her out of her obvious misery!
Dusty
July 29th, 2009
4:21 pm
This blog is amazing. I mean there are people here who neither, eat, sleep or ….well…depart from this place. What a life! 100% of the time blogging! A mind shriveling approach to finality!
The most realistic plain spoken and irritating (to some) blogger here is “I report (You whine)” He is so factual, his posts hit liberals right on their weak wanderings which irritates them no end. The truth hurts so he uses it!
The most boring blogger is the copycat RedNeck with an ID he calls “We don’t need no steenking gov’t”. He spouts what northerners think is Southern conversation. Just skip over his trash. Don’t waste your time on waste..
I commend @@ for her knowledge of national and international affairs. She tries to bring some rational info to the mudslinging here. She is one California girl I say welcome to southern status anytime. She’s a winner (and can even “can” peaches and peas!)
Then there is Bosch, an original with a fresh approach. Sorry about his oak tree. My son went through that recently, only a pine tree hit his home. And pine not even good for firewood!
So carry on…the good, the bad, the ugly! Bookman shall return! Journalists never die. They just fish away. (But he will be proud of his long lost liberal loonies whose only home is this blog.)
@@
July 29th, 2009
4:22 pm
…and here I was trying to be nice.
Thppbbtttt.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
4:26 pm
md
July 29th, 2009
3:51 pm
Yeah, I’m aware of the Democrats controlling the legislature. Did the decline start with Reagan? I’m thinking and hoping y’all will come back stronger and better. I was surprised that Arnold was elected.
http://gov.ca.gov/about/arnold
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
July 29th, 2009
4:32 pm
Well, you can tell Sister Dusty I ain’t We Don’t Need No Steenking Govt. Don’t know who that guy is, but looks like he writes pretty good–just too often. Otherwise, Sister Dusty has hurt me real deep and I don’t think I’ll be including her in my prayers at the trailer tonight. Have a good night everybody.
TnGelding
July 29th, 2009
4:34 pm
Dusty
July 29th, 2009
4:21 pm
Does the term “multi-tasking” mean anything to you?
“House Democrats reach healthcare deal”
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives reached a deal on Wednesday with a group of fiscal conservatives in their own party on healthcare legislation in a significant step forward for the bill.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090729/pl_nm/us_usa_healthcare_17
Curious Observer
July 29th, 2009
4:36 pm
I commend @@ for her knowledge of national and international affairs.
Two Scarletts–one for Clayton and one for DeKalb. Any volunteers to assume the roles for Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett?
@@
July 29th, 2009
4:50 pm
Curious:
I’m probably among a handful of people who has neither watched, nor read Gone With the Wind.
Would you like to enlighten me?
Aside from being the main character (or so I’ve heard) she was….?
We Don't Need No Steenking Government
July 29th, 2009
4:50 pm
I is hear on a two-folded mission. I wants to see what number comes after 999 cause it is the invert of 666 and so it has special meaning to us Billy Grayham southerners. Then, I likes to jest spread the werd. Finally, I likes to show folks like Dusty and @@ that they aint the only comedy show in town although they are perty funny. It is that Gonedeaf the White or whatever he calls hisself that is most boring though. Dusty is jest plane wrong. He’s probly not even southern like that @@ aint.
Kamchak
July 29th, 2009
4:55 pm
“Aside from being the main character (or so I’ve heard) she was…?”
…a drama queen.
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 29th, 2009
4:57 pm
Kamchak writes When the Supreme Court ruled that money equals free speech was when lobbyists began to run this country.
You got a point there.
AmVet mentioned Bob Dole.
I’d recommend his book, “One Soldier’s Story”. There is very little political content in it, it’s mainly about his upbringing and his struggles to overcome his war wounds. He talks about how he and two fellow patients, Phil Hart and Daniel Inouye went on to serve in the Senate. He said that even though they had opposing political views there was always a bond between them.
Those guys were made of stern stuff.
@@
July 29th, 2009
4:59 pm
Kamchak:
In what way? Can you give me specifics.
You and Curious are the ones that keep bringing her up. Now I’m interested.
Bruno
July 29th, 2009
5:01 pm
Shouts out to Gale, Gandalf and USinUK from the former W2W blog. Have any of you heard from Mara?? I sure miss chatting with her.
I am tempted to join in the ObamaCare discussion, but I’m not sure my blood pressure can take it. Now that the Free Lunch crowd is in control, everything that has made the USA the greatest country on Earth is being systematically dismantled. 2010 can’t come soon enough for me…
I will say this, however: “Health”, “Health Care”, and “Health Insurance” are three distinct entities, none of which depends on the other. To wit, “Health” comes from within, and is generally a reflection of our lifestyles, and not the amount of “Health Care” ( i.e. drugs and surgery) one receives. As for “Health Insurance”, the biggest improvement we could make to our current “Health Care” delivery system would be the elimination of the third-party payor system altogether. If that happened, 99% of the fraud and waste would be eliminated overnight once consumers were back in control of their own spending.
The bottom line is that the only legitimate purpose for ANY type of “insurance” is to protect people from rare, catastrophic events. Once you start including routine expenses, such as routine doctors visits, it is no longer insurance.
For those of you here who don’t know me, I have been a health care provider for the past 23+ years and have also taken the Actuarial Exams. In addition, I am one of the “Uninsured Americans”–by choice. From what I have read, part of ObamaCare calls for the direct seizure of money from the bank accounts of those who choose not to participate in the scam known as “Health Insurance”. Heil Obama!
Hillbilly Deluxe
July 29th, 2009
5:04 pm
@@
I’ve both read Gone With The Wind and seen the movie. I’d recommend the book over the movie. It’s a pretty good story but it’s fiction. People forget that. There’s tons of historical inaccuracies in it. Taken as a story it’s pretty good. Scarlett was the main character in the book but I found her younger sister Caroline to be far more interesting. (Her role was cut way down in the movie, to barely being there.) I also found the music in the movie to be way overblown but that may have been the movie making style of the time.
And by the way the famous line in the book and movie are different. The movie, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. The book, “My dear, I don’t give a damn”.
@@
July 29th, 2009
5:09 pm
Is it true the blue dogs have surrendered to the non-profit cooperatives? It’s what…$100.00 a year buys up to $3,000 in healthcare. Can I assume that $300.00 a year buys up to $9,000.00 in healthcare…
and so on?
Dusty
July 29th, 2009
5:16 pm
Dear @@,
I’m sorry you have not read Gone With the WInd. It is one exciting book. Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1937. It had taken her ten years to write it. Over 30 million copies have been sold at last count. Anyway, Scarlett was one beautiful, hardheaded determined Southern plantation “belle’ of Irish heritage who was never dull in any way. When Civil War hard times hit, she just fought harder for what she wanted. She succeeded in some ways and lost in others. The movie was as good as the book with Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh at their best. Classic entertainment.
Dusty
July 29th, 2009
5:23 pm
HillBilly Deluxe,
I did not see your review until after I had posted mine. That was a book and movie I really enjoyed. Haven’t come across anything as entertaining as GWTW in a long time.
@@
July 29th, 2009
5:26 pm
Hillbilly:
The book I can do. I have yet to go to watch a two-hour movie all the way through. Either I can’t sit still long enough or I fall asleep. My husband told me that GWTW was four hours!!??!!
Was Caroline a drama queen too?