Some of the Israeli settlers are moving into their new homes as part of the disengagement. In Haaretz and other papers, some settlers have commented/complained about the size of the new homes, provided without cost to the settlers as their permanent homes are being built.
Ninety square meters to us sounds small since most of us don't use the metric system, but it is the US equivalent of a little over 968 square feet. Now what kind of a home can you get for that square footage?
There are no available floor plans as to the exact homes the settlers will be moving into, however, here is a floorplan for a modular home that is at 960 square feet. It will give you an idea of what type of "horrid" conditions the settlers will be forced to live in until their homes are built.
Floor Plan
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Day 5 into the Curse and Sharon is fine...
Since the pulsa denura, a halakhic curse that a group of outlawed radical Kahane Khai placed on Israelis Sharon has made the news here in the states, figured I'd first update you that it hasn't worked yet. Supposedly if it doesn't work within 30 days the twenty people that participated in the curse will die.
So, for your enlightenment, some history of this curse. They claim it worked when Rabin died, of course he was murdered by an extremist of this type, obviously he took matters into his own hands when it appeared the curse alone wasn't going to work. This might stem from Kabbalistic mysticism, yes the religion Madonna was in to that swept the US for a brief period of time.
There appears to be some argument within the Jewish faith as to does this curse really exist or was it taken from an excommunication ceremony and changed into this to make it seem scarier and of course get more headlines. Make enough headlines over there where there are enough extremists like the one who killed Rabin and someone might get the idea into his head to try to kill Sharon. Interestingly to me inciting someone to kill someone you would think would be against the law. Or at a minimum "terroristish" wouldn't you say? No reports of any of these 20 people arrested though, and the press knows who some of them are.
I am not a fan of Sharon by a long shot, but he doesn't deserve to die, nor should some fruitloopy extremists be encouraged to take him out believing they are doing "Gods Work". While I dont have personal experience with God? I tend to think that wouldn't be something he'd approve of.
update: It should have read either Day 5 or 25 more days left on the curse.
So, for your enlightenment, some history of this curse. They claim it worked when Rabin died, of course he was murdered by an extremist of this type, obviously he took matters into his own hands when it appeared the curse alone wasn't going to work. This might stem from Kabbalistic mysticism, yes the religion Madonna was in to that swept the US for a brief period of time.
There appears to be some argument within the Jewish faith as to does this curse really exist or was it taken from an excommunication ceremony and changed into this to make it seem scarier and of course get more headlines. Make enough headlines over there where there are enough extremists like the one who killed Rabin and someone might get the idea into his head to try to kill Sharon. Interestingly to me inciting someone to kill someone you would think would be against the law. Or at a minimum "terroristish" wouldn't you say? No reports of any of these 20 people arrested though, and the press knows who some of them are.
I am not a fan of Sharon by a long shot, but he doesn't deserve to die, nor should some fruitloopy extremists be encouraged to take him out believing they are doing "Gods Work". While I dont have personal experience with God? I tend to think that wouldn't be something he'd approve of.
update: It should have read either Day 5 or 25 more days left on the curse.
Planet or Kuiper object?
Technically Pluto is probably not a planet either, yet 2003UB313 that was sited first over 2 years ago is now making the headlines again.
When Pluto was discovered in 1930, it was thought to be about the same size as Earth, but astronomers have now learned that it is only 1,413 miles (2,274 kilometers) wide -- smaller than Earth's moon.
Then, in 1992, astronomers discovered the first Kuiper Belt object, and since then have found hundreds of chunks of rock and ice beyond Neptune, including about 70 that share orbits similar to Pluto's. Ceres was called a planet in 1801 and a year later demoted, now we know it is an asteroid not a planet.
However tradition dies hard, so there is a great deal of discussion in the scentific world with the traditionalists still claiming Pluto is a planet with a number disagreeing stating Pluto is nothing more than a large ice ball.
In 2001 a large object the size of Pluto was spotted in the Kuiper Belt, 2001 KX76. Given the huge numbers of objects believed in the Kuiper Belt, including about 70 that share orbits similar to Pluto's, with the increased technology I expect more new "planets" to be found.
Will they really be planets? Guess that depends on who you talk to.
When Pluto was discovered in 1930, it was thought to be about the same size as Earth, but astronomers have now learned that it is only 1,413 miles (2,274 kilometers) wide -- smaller than Earth's moon.
Then, in 1992, astronomers discovered the first Kuiper Belt object, and since then have found hundreds of chunks of rock and ice beyond Neptune, including about 70 that share orbits similar to Pluto's. Ceres was called a planet in 1801 and a year later demoted, now we know it is an asteroid not a planet.
However tradition dies hard, so there is a great deal of discussion in the scentific world with the traditionalists still claiming Pluto is a planet with a number disagreeing stating Pluto is nothing more than a large ice ball.
In 2001 a large object the size of Pluto was spotted in the Kuiper Belt, 2001 KX76. Given the huge numbers of objects believed in the Kuiper Belt, including about 70 that share orbits similar to Pluto's, with the increased technology I expect more new "planets" to be found.
Will they really be planets? Guess that depends on who you talk to.
Mubarak's idea of democracy....
Well, he finally is going to have an opponent rather than running against himself, for the first time in 2 years, however think Egypt needs to work on the freedom of speech/protesting part just a bit.
On Saturday, several hundred men and women were gathering to begin their march toward Cairo's main square when men in plainclothes descended on them, swinging billy clubs and assaulting the demonstrators.
Burly government supporters surrounded activists sprawled on the pavement, kicking them in the head and ribs and tearing at their clothes. Others lifted protesters in the air by the arms and legs, hauling them off to police trucks. One elderly man wandered in a daze, his head bleeding.
On Saturday, several hundred men and women were gathering to begin their march toward Cairo's main square when men in plainclothes descended on them, swinging billy clubs and assaulting the demonstrators.
Burly government supporters surrounded activists sprawled on the pavement, kicking them in the head and ribs and tearing at their clothes. Others lifted protesters in the air by the arms and legs, hauling them off to police trucks. One elderly man wandered in a daze, his head bleeding.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Because I just love a challenge...
Things might be quiet here today because I have decide to attempt to create my own CSS stylesheet for Liberal Common Sense. As usual it is alot more work than I anticipated but I haven't pulled my hair out yet. Well, not all of it anyway....
My big moment of happiness was learning how to make a background partly opaque, of course once it's published it's not behaving but I'm working on it. So, if you see a new look here over this weekend? You know I pulled it off.
:-)
Wish me luck...if I don't come back soon? Send help.....
My big moment of happiness was learning how to make a background partly opaque, of course once it's published it's not behaving but I'm working on it. So, if you see a new look here over this weekend? You know I pulled it off.
:-)
Wish me luck...if I don't come back soon? Send help.....
Friday, July 29, 2005
Um, Excuse me Mr. DeFede?
If you have been following the story from Miami you'll know a former city commissioner arraigned four days ago on corruption charges shot himself in the lobby of The Miami Herald building Wednesday after asking to see a columnist. He later died, according to the Herald. The Herald said Arthur E. Teele Jr., a Republican, shot himself in the mouth shortly after 6 p.m. He shot himself after asking a security guard if he could see columnist Jim DeFede, the newspaper said.
It came out later that Jim DeFede had illegally taped the phone conversation. The Herald fired him on Wednesday because he tape-recorded a phone conversation with Teele without his knowledge, which is illegal in Florida. Publisher Jesus Díaz, Jr. said that The Herald had no choice but to dismiss DeFede because his conduct was potentially a felony crime and unethical.
This next part to me was really inappropriate.
DeFede issued a prepared statement: "In a tense situation I made a mistake," he said. "The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it. I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers. Unfortunately, The Herald decided on the death penalty instead."
Um, Excuse me Mr. DeFede? You were fired, not killed, Teele is the one who died.....
It came out later that Jim DeFede had illegally taped the phone conversation. The Herald fired him on Wednesday because he tape-recorded a phone conversation with Teele without his knowledge, which is illegal in Florida. Publisher Jesus Díaz, Jr. said that The Herald had no choice but to dismiss DeFede because his conduct was potentially a felony crime and unethical.
This next part to me was really inappropriate.
DeFede issued a prepared statement: "In a tense situation I made a mistake," he said. "The Miami Herald executives only learned about it because I came to them and admitted it. I told them I was willing to accept a suspension and apologize both to the newsroom and our readers. Unfortunately, The Herald decided on the death penalty instead."
Um, Excuse me Mr. DeFede? You were fired, not killed, Teele is the one who died.....
Edward Kennedy says something nice about Bill Frist
Yes, really, I am not making this up. I would hope CNN wouldn't either, but in this world of Republican and Democratic squabbles, here is probably one of the few nice things Kennedy has ever said about Frist:
Said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts: "As a physician, Sen. Frist has a moral calling to save lives and alleviate suffering. He honors his Hippocratic Oath today by recognizing the unique healing power of embryonic stem cells."
And Harry was happy too:
"It is a decision that will bring hope to millions of Americans," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "I know there's still a long ways to go with the legislation, but a large step has been taken by the majority leader today ... and I admire the majority leader for doing it."
There, a nice warm fuzzy moment in politics brought to you by? CNN
:-)
Said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts: "As a physician, Sen. Frist has a moral calling to save lives and alleviate suffering. He honors his Hippocratic Oath today by recognizing the unique healing power of embryonic stem cells."
And Harry was happy too:
"It is a decision that will bring hope to millions of Americans," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada. "I know there's still a long ways to go with the legislation, but a large step has been taken by the majority leader today ... and I admire the majority leader for doing it."
There, a nice warm fuzzy moment in politics brought to you by? CNN
:-)
Forcing democracy on those who do not want it
Afghanistan still has a long way to go, probably in some ways farther than Iraq. In Iraq while no one could say Saddam Hussein was an ideal leader, women had more rights because it fit his agenda. In Afghanistan however, the Taliban ruled and women were much more under control. So while women in both Iraq and Afghanistan fight for more rights, in Iraq it is to keep what they had with the chance of some improvement; in Afghanistan it is to fight for what they did not have.
How do you force a democracy on people who cannot seem to get beyond the way things used to be? You have to hope that women like the above Washington Post article describes do not give up. That they continue despite the death threats, the burning of their homes, the attempts on their lives to stand up and demand to be included.
We have to hope that these women will somehow inspire those who are too fearful to even attempt to vote will see that it is possible. We often toss around terms like patriots and heros often in our lives, but to me? These women are true patriots.
How do you force a democracy on people who cannot seem to get beyond the way things used to be? You have to hope that women like the above Washington Post article describes do not give up. That they continue despite the death threats, the burning of their homes, the attempts on their lives to stand up and demand to be included.
We have to hope that these women will somehow inspire those who are too fearful to even attempt to vote will see that it is possible. We often toss around terms like patriots and heros often in our lives, but to me? These women are true patriots.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
If first you don't succeed?
Try, try again, and this time use Martin Luther King....
After the last protests did not end up with the desired result of making it to Gush Katif, the anti-disengagement protestors have planned yet another march. The real goal isn't necessarily to make it to Gush Katif which the Israeli Goverment has stated it will prevent at all costs so that it does not make the actual disengagement more difficult with additional people. What the pro-settlers bunch is attempting is to wear down the Israeli police force so that by the time the disengagement happens they are less effective with the hope they can somehow stall the Government.
While more of the actual settlers have decided it is better to take the government offer now rather than wait and loose 30% of the huge payment they will receive for leaving the Gaza, most of the anti-disengagement supporters that didn't live in the settlements anyway are continuing on with their plans of disrupting it.
Earlier they tried to somehow link the removing of settlers from land that Israel agreed to vacate to the Holocaust, now they are trying to link their "struggle" with Martin Luther King. Kind of a very huge leap there, especially since King supported all religions living together.
What they are doing is the opposite of what Dr. King would have supported, making this brother against brother.
As an update...Ariel Sharon is still alive and doing fine despite the pulsa denura, a halakhic curse placed on him by one of the more "extreme" pro-settler's group. Given the participants believe that Sharon will die in the coming 30 days, or else all those who took part in the ceremony would die, if I were them? I'd be starting to make some final plans.
After the last protests did not end up with the desired result of making it to Gush Katif, the anti-disengagement protestors have planned yet another march. The real goal isn't necessarily to make it to Gush Katif which the Israeli Goverment has stated it will prevent at all costs so that it does not make the actual disengagement more difficult with additional people. What the pro-settlers bunch is attempting is to wear down the Israeli police force so that by the time the disengagement happens they are less effective with the hope they can somehow stall the Government.
While more of the actual settlers have decided it is better to take the government offer now rather than wait and loose 30% of the huge payment they will receive for leaving the Gaza, most of the anti-disengagement supporters that didn't live in the settlements anyway are continuing on with their plans of disrupting it.
Earlier they tried to somehow link the removing of settlers from land that Israel agreed to vacate to the Holocaust, now they are trying to link their "struggle" with Martin Luther King. Kind of a very huge leap there, especially since King supported all religions living together.
What they are doing is the opposite of what Dr. King would have supported, making this brother against brother.
As an update...Ariel Sharon is still alive and doing fine despite the pulsa denura, a halakhic curse placed on him by one of the more "extreme" pro-settler's group. Given the participants believe that Sharon will die in the coming 30 days, or else all those who took part in the ceremony would die, if I were them? I'd be starting to make some final plans.
Some good posts/discussion....
I read I'm just waiting for the robot invasion every day, yet for those of you who have not made it a part of your daily must read blogs? Make sure you stop by today, there are some very good posts and discussion going on over there.
Also don't forget to visit Distance and Watch Blog, where I co-blog.
There are some new names on my blogroll too I recommend, History Mike's Musings among them.
:-)
As a P.S., welcome to some of the newest commentors to Liberal Common Sense, I hope you enjoy participating here as much as I enjoy reading your comments.
Also don't forget to visit Distance and Watch Blog, where I co-blog.
There are some new names on my blogroll too I recommend, History Mike's Musings among them.
:-)
As a P.S., welcome to some of the newest commentors to Liberal Common Sense, I hope you enjoy participating here as much as I enjoy reading your comments.
STOP the Presses! Urgent headline from CNN
Roberts documents reveal a conservative
Yes, that is the headline from CNN. Surprised at that? I most certainly was, after all I fully expected him to be a Liberal.
:-)
Yes, that is the headline from CNN. Surprised at that? I most certainly was, after all I fully expected him to be a Liberal.
:-)
I owe, I owe, or maybe I don't...
I'm not going to rip on all debt collectors, I know a few and they are just doing their job to collect money that is really owed that some of us don't cooperate on at times.
That said, the above linked Washington Post article about the new type of debt collector that buys old debt that is not even sueable anymore and harrasses people I take issue with. If they want to buy the lists and follow the law that's fine. I've had personal experience with one of these silly companies who decided someone with a name close to ours was living at our house and was calling and sending bills for some company we had never heard of. Complaints regarding bill collection issues has risen from 13,950 in 2000 to 58,687 last year. Complaints about third-party debt collectors accounted for close to one in six of all FTC complaints last year, up from 9.5 percent in 2000.
Some important advice buried in the article is NEVER give your checking or credit card information to these people over the phone. Sure it may be easier to just agree to make a payment over the phone and get them off your back but there has been huge increase in complaints over unauthorized payments. May take some more work to send off a money order but it will give you the peace of mind of knowing they do not have access to your account numbers. (I will add as a semi unrelated topic here never ever ever order from from Zooba book club they will try to bill you until the day you die)
Another thing worth pointing out is "zombie debt," those unpaid bills that are so old the statute of limitations in which a creditor can sue to recover the debt has expired. It's not illegal to try to collect this debt. However, federal rules make it illegal to sue or even threaten to sue to collect it.
The article contains more information and a few debt "horror" stories.
Of course this relates to the deeper issue of the growing amount of consumer debt, since companies that are forced to write off bad debt do pass that along as price increases. If there was not so much bad debt out there than companies would not exist to purchase these old debts. It's obvious they are making profits on it else they would not exist.
So, if you are a debtor or a collector? Play nice and follow the rules.
:-)
That said, the above linked Washington Post article about the new type of debt collector that buys old debt that is not even sueable anymore and harrasses people I take issue with. If they want to buy the lists and follow the law that's fine. I've had personal experience with one of these silly companies who decided someone with a name close to ours was living at our house and was calling and sending bills for some company we had never heard of. Complaints regarding bill collection issues has risen from 13,950 in 2000 to 58,687 last year. Complaints about third-party debt collectors accounted for close to one in six of all FTC complaints last year, up from 9.5 percent in 2000.
Some important advice buried in the article is NEVER give your checking or credit card information to these people over the phone. Sure it may be easier to just agree to make a payment over the phone and get them off your back but there has been huge increase in complaints over unauthorized payments. May take some more work to send off a money order but it will give you the peace of mind of knowing they do not have access to your account numbers. (I will add as a semi unrelated topic here never ever ever order from from Zooba book club they will try to bill you until the day you die)
Another thing worth pointing out is "zombie debt," those unpaid bills that are so old the statute of limitations in which a creditor can sue to recover the debt has expired. It's not illegal to try to collect this debt. However, federal rules make it illegal to sue or even threaten to sue to collect it.
The article contains more information and a few debt "horror" stories.
Of course this relates to the deeper issue of the growing amount of consumer debt, since companies that are forced to write off bad debt do pass that along as price increases. If there was not so much bad debt out there than companies would not exist to purchase these old debts. It's obvious they are making profits on it else they would not exist.
So, if you are a debtor or a collector? Play nice and follow the rules.
:-)
What kind of Rocker are you?
Curtsey to Xpatriated Texan at Ridin' Herd on the Blogosphere
| You Are a Freedom Rocker! |
 You're stuck in the 70s - for better or worse Crazy hair, pot soaked clothes, and tons of groupies Your kind showed the world how to rock Is that freedom rock?... Well turn it up man! |
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Terror strikes Toledo....
Supposedly it was a "very poor hoax" yet it was believable enough to call the bomb squad, evacuate the nearby Court of Appeals (which closed for the rest of the day as some type of precaution) and keep people back over 300 feet for almost two hours.
A bus broke down and called for a replacement, when the replacement arrived three devices with wires coming from them were found on the bus.
TARTA has video tape so Police will be going thru the tapes to see if they can determine who placed the fake devices on the bus.
Bright side? If you were a Court of Appeals employee you got the afternoon off, and the Bomb Squad got to make a practice run. It was a slow news day so it got alot of coverage from the local media.
A bus broke down and called for a replacement, when the replacement arrived three devices with wires coming from them were found on the bus.
TARTA has video tape so Police will be going thru the tapes to see if they can determine who placed the fake devices on the bus.
Bright side? If you were a Court of Appeals employee you got the afternoon off, and the Bomb Squad got to make a practice run. It was a slow news day so it got alot of coverage from the local media.
Israel says NO to US
In a move I didn't think I would ever see, today's Haaretz reports that Israel is not willing to follow the US demands concerning security-related exports. In return the US has refused to lift sanctions against Israel until their demands are met. It appears if you read the article as reported by Haaretz that Israel agreed to the initial demands but the US demands were increased, to include a written apology. (Evidently both the Israeli government and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz refused to write "I promise to good and not sell anymore weapons to that bad China").
Mofaz, who was about to leave for Washington for talks on the matter, canceled the trip following the increased U.S. demands.
Many Israelis are stating that they do not feel Israel should apologize or agree to the first set of terms let alone the new ones that the US has announced. I can see the US point, Israel should not be selling or trying to make a profit from military technology that the US gave or assisted them to create.
In other news from Israel that show Sharon is not having an easy time of it, a group of extreme-rightists said Tuesday that they had held a ceremony to place a pulsa denura, a halakhic curse, on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in order to bring about his death.
Twenty people supposedly took part in the ceremony, held last Thursday in the small town of Rosh Pina. The participants believe that Sharon will die in the coming 30 days, or else all those who took part in the ceremony would die.
These extremists belive that the same type of curse was the reason for the death of minister Yitzhak Rabin.
What will happen next? Who will fold, Israel or the US? Will Sharon die in 30 days or will the twenty or so people who placed the curse die?
Mofaz, who was about to leave for Washington for talks on the matter, canceled the trip following the increased U.S. demands.
Many Israelis are stating that they do not feel Israel should apologize or agree to the first set of terms let alone the new ones that the US has announced. I can see the US point, Israel should not be selling or trying to make a profit from military technology that the US gave or assisted them to create.
In other news from Israel that show Sharon is not having an easy time of it, a group of extreme-rightists said Tuesday that they had held a ceremony to place a pulsa denura, a halakhic curse, on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in order to bring about his death.
Twenty people supposedly took part in the ceremony, held last Thursday in the small town of Rosh Pina. The participants believe that Sharon will die in the coming 30 days, or else all those who took part in the ceremony would die.
These extremists belive that the same type of curse was the reason for the death of minister Yitzhak Rabin.
What will happen next? Who will fold, Israel or the US? Will Sharon die in 30 days or will the twenty or so people who placed the curse die?
Why I don't hate Walmart
After reading first at Skippy the Bush Kangaroo then over at Kos the story about the Pensacola Walmart refusing to sell the local newpaper anymore because of an unfavorable article written, I started thinking. Especially after seeing them layin down the anti-Walmart line at Kos.
First off most of the claims made about Walmart are taken out of context. Without even getting into that let's really look at the real issue of why people can't make a living wage anymore and will even go to work at Walmart. The two tier wage system that Unions created out of their own greed.
First I'll use an example close to home since it involves my own family. My two older children work for Sam's Club, which is part of the Walmart group. My son used to work at Foodtown, it was union. He earned 5.25 an hour and paid the same union dues as everyone else. Yet all workers who had been there several years earned a higher wage, some over double his. Why? They negotiated a lower starting wage for new workers instead of cuts in benefits. He would have never made it to the same hourly rate they earned. Krogers, another local union store is exactly the same. New workers will never earn anywhere close to what the others do. Just retail you say? Caused somehow by that evil Walmart?
Not quite. Let's look at the UAW, they have the same two tier system. New workers will earn an average starting wage of $16.50 where the average wage for workers before this was $24.00 an hour. The highest wage for a new employee is $18.50, for before tier workers? $36.00 an hour. New employees also have to pay more for their health benefits than the "older" workers. At the Delphi plant, new workers will pay between $1,000-2,000 for an annual health care deduction, older workers? No annual deductible. New workers will also pay a higher co-pay for prescription drug coverage. In addition to agreeing to have all these new workers not only earn less but pay more for health care, some UAW members got up to $5,000 signing bonuses and more vacation time to agree to basically screwing over the "new guys".
It's not just the UAW or retail, teacher's unions, police, city workers, the list goes on and on. The two tier wage package is happening more often every year. Which means your chances if you are looking for a new job or your children's chances of earning this "living wage" are reduced, not because of Walmart but because Unions member were willing to sell out their supposed "brothers" so that they were not affected.
So, as I shop at Walmart the next time, remembering that all of their employees earn the same starting wage, where benefits cost the same, where merit wages exist so that you are really rewarded for good work rather than just showing up, where they have a yearly bonus and a stock option program, I'll know at least my money is being spent where the idea of equal pay for an equal job is still being followed. If you want to pay 2.00 more for the exact same item at Target and think that is somehow getting into the workers pockets? Ask a Target employee what their starting wage is and how great their benefits are.
First off most of the claims made about Walmart are taken out of context. Without even getting into that let's really look at the real issue of why people can't make a living wage anymore and will even go to work at Walmart. The two tier wage system that Unions created out of their own greed.
First I'll use an example close to home since it involves my own family. My two older children work for Sam's Club, which is part of the Walmart group. My son used to work at Foodtown, it was union. He earned 5.25 an hour and paid the same union dues as everyone else. Yet all workers who had been there several years earned a higher wage, some over double his. Why? They negotiated a lower starting wage for new workers instead of cuts in benefits. He would have never made it to the same hourly rate they earned. Krogers, another local union store is exactly the same. New workers will never earn anywhere close to what the others do. Just retail you say? Caused somehow by that evil Walmart?
Not quite. Let's look at the UAW, they have the same two tier system. New workers will earn an average starting wage of $16.50 where the average wage for workers before this was $24.00 an hour. The highest wage for a new employee is $18.50, for before tier workers? $36.00 an hour. New employees also have to pay more for their health benefits than the "older" workers. At the Delphi plant, new workers will pay between $1,000-2,000 for an annual health care deduction, older workers? No annual deductible. New workers will also pay a higher co-pay for prescription drug coverage. In addition to agreeing to have all these new workers not only earn less but pay more for health care, some UAW members got up to $5,000 signing bonuses and more vacation time to agree to basically screwing over the "new guys".
It's not just the UAW or retail, teacher's unions, police, city workers, the list goes on and on. The two tier wage package is happening more often every year. Which means your chances if you are looking for a new job or your children's chances of earning this "living wage" are reduced, not because of Walmart but because Unions member were willing to sell out their supposed "brothers" so that they were not affected.
So, as I shop at Walmart the next time, remembering that all of their employees earn the same starting wage, where benefits cost the same, where merit wages exist so that you are really rewarded for good work rather than just showing up, where they have a yearly bonus and a stock option program, I'll know at least my money is being spent where the idea of equal pay for an equal job is still being followed. If you want to pay 2.00 more for the exact same item at Target and think that is somehow getting into the workers pockets? Ask a Target employee what their starting wage is and how great their benefits are.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Discovery might have lost tiles
NASA is examining video tape of the launch because it was discovered that a section of heat tile and some insulation may have come off of the Discovery. While this is something that has happened on previous launches after the Columbia disaster they are looking at this.
NASA managers said they would take several days to make a full judgment of any damage to the shuttle and decide how to deal with it.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is seeing more of the impact of launch on the shuttle than ever before, thanks to its most elaborate array of cameras and other imaging in history. "I fully expected we would see things that we hadn't seen in the past," said Shannon.
NASA trained more than 110 cameras on Discovery as it rumbled toward orbit. That's roughly 30 more than during the last shuttle launch - Columbia's 2003 mission that killed all seven astronauts and grounded the fleet until now.
The new cameras are meant to provide better views of damage to the shuttle's exterior from falling insulation, ice created by supercold fuel, or other materials. "Along with cameras on the ground, and in and on the shuttle itself, this imaging system will provide an unprecedented look at shuttle liftoff and atmospheric flight," said Bob Page, who is supervising NASA's camera team.
The above linked article from excite news gives more details, and it sounds like NASA is even more advanced as far as trying to whatever is possible to prevent any future disasters. Maybe because I remember watching the early space missions and will never forget watching Neil Armstrong take those first steps on the moon that this has been an interest for me.
(speaking of the Apollo missions, a cool site)
NASA managers said they would take several days to make a full judgment of any damage to the shuttle and decide how to deal with it.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is seeing more of the impact of launch on the shuttle than ever before, thanks to its most elaborate array of cameras and other imaging in history. "I fully expected we would see things that we hadn't seen in the past," said Shannon.
NASA trained more than 110 cameras on Discovery as it rumbled toward orbit. That's roughly 30 more than during the last shuttle launch - Columbia's 2003 mission that killed all seven astronauts and grounded the fleet until now.
The new cameras are meant to provide better views of damage to the shuttle's exterior from falling insulation, ice created by supercold fuel, or other materials. "Along with cameras on the ground, and in and on the shuttle itself, this imaging system will provide an unprecedented look at shuttle liftoff and atmospheric flight," said Bob Page, who is supervising NASA's camera team.
The above linked article from excite news gives more details, and it sounds like NASA is even more advanced as far as trying to whatever is possible to prevent any future disasters. Maybe because I remember watching the early space missions and will never forget watching Neil Armstrong take those first steps on the moon that this has been an interest for me.
(speaking of the Apollo missions, a cool site)
Help Pirabu....
Thanks to Me4President, I saw this, so please visit the above link and take a few moments to act, I suggest phone calls since they work better than email.
This concerns an 11 year old boy who needs medical treatment/surgery and our Government is stalling on the granting of his visa. It's not a request for financial aid, everything has been set up all that needs to be done is to get him here in the states.
Visit Jazz's site to read more.
Please post about this so it gets out there, Senator Clinton's staff is working on it, I've had personal experience with them so I know they will continue to find a way to get him here, but the more of us that address this the easier it is for things to happen.
This concerns an 11 year old boy who needs medical treatment/surgery and our Government is stalling on the granting of his visa. It's not a request for financial aid, everything has been set up all that needs to be done is to get him here in the states.
Visit Jazz's site to read more.
Please post about this so it gets out there, Senator Clinton's staff is working on it, I've had personal experience with them so I know they will continue to find a way to get him here, but the more of us that address this the easier it is for things to happen.
Even Drug dealers say no sometimes...
With a curtsey to Jonathan at Crush Liberalism (He really doesn't want to crush us all), comes this story.
I went to the New York Post to verify what he had reported via Matt Drudge, article linked above in title. Seems that Osama Bin Laden had a rather nifty idea to kill alot of Americans, poison their cocaine.
The article claims that sources said the feds were told that bin Laden personally met with leaders of a Colombian drug cartel in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of tons of cocaine, saying that he was willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to finance the deal.
The drug cartel according to these same sources, turned down the request. Not because they want to help fight terrorism, but because they realized Americans dying from using poisoned cocaine might just hurt their future business profits as well as make our government not very happy with them.
Given there have been repeated claims that al Qaeda is involved in some aspects of the poppy trade in Afghanistan and the financing and facilitation of heroin-trafficking activities, it kind of adds to belief that Drugs kill.
I went to the New York Post to verify what he had reported via Matt Drudge, article linked above in title. Seems that Osama Bin Laden had a rather nifty idea to kill alot of Americans, poison their cocaine.
The article claims that sources said the feds were told that bin Laden personally met with leaders of a Colombian drug cartel in 2002 to negotiate the purchase of tons of cocaine, saying that he was willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to finance the deal.
The drug cartel according to these same sources, turned down the request. Not because they want to help fight terrorism, but because they realized Americans dying from using poisoned cocaine might just hurt their future business profits as well as make our government not very happy with them.
Given there have been repeated claims that al Qaeda is involved in some aspects of the poppy trade in Afghanistan and the financing and facilitation of heroin-trafficking activities, it kind of adds to belief that Drugs kill.
In honor of being an adorable little rodent....
I've gone from number 11,000 and something to 4952, in a pretty short time on the TTLB ecosystem.
While being no where close to skippy's million visitors I broke 5,000 visitors today and am close to breaking 7,000 page views.
So to celebrate? Some pretty happy hamsters....who say thank you...
Adorable little rodents, just like me...
:-)
While being no where close to skippy's million visitors I broke 5,000 visitors today and am close to breaking 7,000 page views.
So to celebrate? Some pretty happy hamsters....who say thank you...
Adorable little rodents, just like me...
:-)
Reaching for the stars.....
or...brrrr it's cold in here....
The above link is one of my favorite places to go when I want to gaze at some very awesome pictures.
Like this one:
The Boomerang Nebula is one of the Universe's peculiar places. Astronomers revealed that it is the coldest place in the Universe found so far. With a temperature of -272C, it is only 1 degree warmer than absolute zero (the lowest limit for all temperatures). Even the -270C background glow from the Big Bang is warmer than this nebula. It is the only object found so far that has a temperature lower than the background radiation.
The above link is one of my favorite places to go when I want to gaze at some very awesome pictures.
Like this one:
The Boomerang Nebula is one of the Universe's peculiar places. Astronomers revealed that it is the coldest place in the Universe found so far. With a temperature of -272C, it is only 1 degree warmer than absolute zero (the lowest limit for all temperatures). Even the -270C background glow from the Big Bang is warmer than this nebula. It is the only object found so far that has a temperature lower than the background radiation.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Some creative license perhaps?
From July 13:
The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq, said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.
From Sunday:
The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists, said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified.
Supposedly this was due to an "error". Yep, I would say it was an error. Perhaps the military should learn from our own media and not rely on those "anonymous sources". Especially since some of us believe most of them are made up. I know this has to be right, though because I had an undentified source tell me....
:-)
The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the children and all of Iraq, said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists.
From Sunday:
The terrorists are attacking the infrastructure, the ISF and all of Iraq. They are enemies of humanity without religion or any sort of ethics. They have attacked my community today and I will now take the fight to the terrorists, said one Iraqi man who preferred not to be identified.
Supposedly this was due to an "error". Yep, I would say it was an error. Perhaps the military should learn from our own media and not rely on those "anonymous sources". Especially since some of us believe most of them are made up. I know this has to be right, though because I had an undentified source tell me....
:-)
Toledo Mayor's Race information...
On the sidebar I have added the links to the websites for some of the Toledo Mayoral primary candidates. At this point it is not all of the candidates, but I'm still looking for the others. If you are one of those candidates not listed or know a website I missed? Please email me and I'll be happy to add it to the list.
:-)
:-)
Things not so bright and cheery Downtown
Interesting when all of the Toledo Mayoral Candidates have talked about making Downtown Toledo more successful then this article comes out.
Seems some of the business owners that agreed to paying a higher assessment don't feel they were given correct information. More threats to leave downtown, which already has a high vacancy rate for office space.
Some information from the article:
The "special improvement district," which was approved by a 12-0 City Council vote in January, has been a goal of Downtown Toledo Inc. since the creation of the downtown master plan in 2002. Its assessment fees, based on street frontage and building value, are expected to generate about $550,000 annually for the next five years.
State law requires property owners representing 60 percent of the front-footage in the district to sign a petition supporting the district. DTI had signed on 63 percent by the end of last year - including the properties belonging to Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Toledo Edison, KeyBank, Sky Bank, and the Spitzer Building.
Although the businesses within the district are not required to pay assessments until next year, DTI sent a letter in January to all business owners who supported the district asking for an early payment equal to half their annual fees in order to "move forward."
To date, only 19 of the district's 108 owners have chipped in, an amount totaling just $42,718.
The city has received 20 letters saying the assessments are unfair, with some business owners threatening to leave should the tax go through.
Gary Wahl, chief executive officer of the Roulet Co. on Madison Avenue, is vehemently opposed to the district. "We are already paying taxes. It's a double tax," he said. "If this stands, we're just going to close and move out of Toledo."
John Shousher, a partner with Adam Huron Partners LLC, owns an Adams Street building currently housing the Magic Wok restaurant. He said the roughly $2,000 a year in assessments being passed on to his tenants will make it difficult to attract new ones.
His tenant, Bill Baroudi, also sent a letter to the city, complaining that the unexpected cost would hurt his chances of survival during the "critical first year of business."
As a corner property, Mr. Shousher will get assessed for frontage on both Adams and Huron. Other owners complained that alleys were assessed as frontage, which they say was not expected.
Allan Schall, president of Toledo-based Modern Enterprises Inc., which owns two buildings on St. Clair Street across from Fifth Third Field, said he originally signed over his support for the district - but now he's changed his mind.
"When it was presented to me, my understanding and expectation of what this would cost me was different than what it turned out to be. Several times more," Mr. Schall said. "It could have been my fault in misunderstanding, it could have been miscommunication, but if I knew when I signed the petition that the costs were going to be this high, I wouldn't have signed it."
The city's assessment equalization board will meet for the first time at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers tomorrow.
Hopefully they will get some answers at tomorrow's meeting, I'll update when I hear more. To me thought, it doesn't make sense if you want businesses to stay or to move downtown to not make sure they have all the information, and that their complaints have not been addressed.
I wonder what Mr. Wilkowski's take on this is, since he feels the way to get people to move downtown is to offer tax credits for those who decide to reside downtown.
UPDATE: Found the answers to my own questions, Wilkowski's Plan for Downtown
Seems some of the business owners that agreed to paying a higher assessment don't feel they were given correct information. More threats to leave downtown, which already has a high vacancy rate for office space.
Some information from the article:
The "special improvement district," which was approved by a 12-0 City Council vote in January, has been a goal of Downtown Toledo Inc. since the creation of the downtown master plan in 2002. Its assessment fees, based on street frontage and building value, are expected to generate about $550,000 annually for the next five years.
State law requires property owners representing 60 percent of the front-footage in the district to sign a petition supporting the district. DTI had signed on 63 percent by the end of last year - including the properties belonging to Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, Toledo Edison, KeyBank, Sky Bank, and the Spitzer Building.
Although the businesses within the district are not required to pay assessments until next year, DTI sent a letter in January to all business owners who supported the district asking for an early payment equal to half their annual fees in order to "move forward."
To date, only 19 of the district's 108 owners have chipped in, an amount totaling just $42,718.
The city has received 20 letters saying the assessments are unfair, with some business owners threatening to leave should the tax go through.
Gary Wahl, chief executive officer of the Roulet Co. on Madison Avenue, is vehemently opposed to the district. "We are already paying taxes. It's a double tax," he said. "If this stands, we're just going to close and move out of Toledo."
John Shousher, a partner with Adam Huron Partners LLC, owns an Adams Street building currently housing the Magic Wok restaurant. He said the roughly $2,000 a year in assessments being passed on to his tenants will make it difficult to attract new ones.
His tenant, Bill Baroudi, also sent a letter to the city, complaining that the unexpected cost would hurt his chances of survival during the "critical first year of business."
As a corner property, Mr. Shousher will get assessed for frontage on both Adams and Huron. Other owners complained that alleys were assessed as frontage, which they say was not expected.
Allan Schall, president of Toledo-based Modern Enterprises Inc., which owns two buildings on St. Clair Street across from Fifth Third Field, said he originally signed over his support for the district - but now he's changed his mind.
"When it was presented to me, my understanding and expectation of what this would cost me was different than what it turned out to be. Several times more," Mr. Schall said. "It could have been my fault in misunderstanding, it could have been miscommunication, but if I knew when I signed the petition that the costs were going to be this high, I wouldn't have signed it."
The city's assessment equalization board will meet for the first time at 10:30 a.m. in council chambers tomorrow.
Hopefully they will get some answers at tomorrow's meeting, I'll update when I hear more. To me thought, it doesn't make sense if you want businesses to stay or to move downtown to not make sure they have all the information, and that their complaints have not been addressed.
I wonder what Mr. Wilkowski's take on this is, since he feels the way to get people to move downtown is to offer tax credits for those who decide to reside downtown.
UPDATE: Found the answers to my own questions, Wilkowski's Plan for Downtown
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Starbucks, motorcycles, Jesus and a Rabbi
I started to read the New York Times article because I was interested in how a Rabbi came to be involved with Evangelical Christians, that's not a usual working relationship.
Then I started reading some of the descriptions of the Family Christian Center in Munster, now I see why so many of you are being evangelicals, those who want entertainment rather than religion especially. For me I can't imagine sitting there listening to Father Mike sipping on a latte from Starbucks in the pews. The rest of the article linked above goes into more details about Rabbi Eckstein if you are interested.
Some quotes from the article that struck me when it came to this Church compared to mine:
Outside the huge Family Christian Center stands a life-size model of the Last Supper. Inside, members can partake of coffee and dessert near a modern-day icon: the round, green-and-white logo of Starbucks.
At the Family Christian Center, more than 6,000 people attend two services each Sunday. Hundreds of drinks are sold, and it's common to see members sipping lattes and mochas during service. Even Pastor Steve Munsey sometimes holds a cup while preaching.
.....and a pulpit that boasts a theatrical replica of biblical Jerusalem complete with Golgotha's hill and, in the words of Pastor Munsey, ''a very lifelike cave depicting the tomb where Jesus was lain.''
''I support Israel in every way possible,'' Munsey said. ''For example, I make it a point to buy my clothes from Jews.'' Since he was wearing jeans and a battered sports jacket, it was hard to assess the monetary value of this contribution. Munsey was dressed informally because he planned to ride his customized Harley motorcycle onto the pulpit. The bike is named the Passion, and it has a crown of thorns painted across it.
The auditorium of the Family Christian Center was packed for the second service. Munster is largely white, but the church markets itself aggressively in nearby Gary, which is predominantly black. Like Pastor Munsey, the minister of music is white, but the choir is mostly black, and it started things off with a rousing rendition of ''God Bless America,'' while giant screens projected scenes of American troops in Iraq. Allen, the associate pastor, estimates that roughly 60 percent of the members of the Family Christian Center are Republicans. ''A lot of the African-Americans came as Democrats, but some of them are turning Republican, too,'' he told me.
As he passed me, he leaned down and whispered: ''I have a passion for healing. We have one of the highest rates of cancer healings in the nation in this church.''
Munsey is a shaggy-haired man of 50, and he is a showman. This morning, along with his Harley ride, he offered a warranty on tithing. ''If God doesn't pay you back, with increase, in 90 days, then I'll refund the money myself,'' he promised.
Gee starbucks and a money back guarantee? Think someone should tell the Pope we need to get McDonalds?
:-)
Then I started reading some of the descriptions of the Family Christian Center in Munster, now I see why so many of you are being evangelicals, those who want entertainment rather than religion especially. For me I can't imagine sitting there listening to Father Mike sipping on a latte from Starbucks in the pews. The rest of the article linked above goes into more details about Rabbi Eckstein if you are interested.
Some quotes from the article that struck me when it came to this Church compared to mine:
Outside the huge Family Christian Center stands a life-size model of the Last Supper. Inside, members can partake of coffee and dessert near a modern-day icon: the round, green-and-white logo of Starbucks.
At the Family Christian Center, more than 6,000 people attend two services each Sunday. Hundreds of drinks are sold, and it's common to see members sipping lattes and mochas during service. Even Pastor Steve Munsey sometimes holds a cup while preaching.
.....and a pulpit that boasts a theatrical replica of biblical Jerusalem complete with Golgotha's hill and, in the words of Pastor Munsey, ''a very lifelike cave depicting the tomb where Jesus was lain.''
''I support Israel in every way possible,'' Munsey said. ''For example, I make it a point to buy my clothes from Jews.'' Since he was wearing jeans and a battered sports jacket, it was hard to assess the monetary value of this contribution. Munsey was dressed informally because he planned to ride his customized Harley motorcycle onto the pulpit. The bike is named the Passion, and it has a crown of thorns painted across it.
The auditorium of the Family Christian Center was packed for the second service. Munster is largely white, but the church markets itself aggressively in nearby Gary, which is predominantly black. Like Pastor Munsey, the minister of music is white, but the choir is mostly black, and it started things off with a rousing rendition of ''God Bless America,'' while giant screens projected scenes of American troops in Iraq. Allen, the associate pastor, estimates that roughly 60 percent of the members of the Family Christian Center are Republicans. ''A lot of the African-Americans came as Democrats, but some of them are turning Republican, too,'' he told me.
As he passed me, he leaned down and whispered: ''I have a passion for healing. We have one of the highest rates of cancer healings in the nation in this church.''
Munsey is a shaggy-haired man of 50, and he is a showman. This morning, along with his Harley ride, he offered a warranty on tithing. ''If God doesn't pay you back, with increase, in 90 days, then I'll refund the money myself,'' he promised.
Gee starbucks and a money back guarantee? Think someone should tell the Pope we need to get McDonalds?
:-)
Khalid Jarrar is free!
I just checked his blog and saw the following post:
I am in Amman, just arrived few hours ago.will tell you more later inshalla....me*
:-)
I am in Amman, just arrived few hours ago.will tell you more later inshalla....me*
:-)
Al-Qaida: Wrong answers to real problems
I found this article this afternoon while doing my usual online newspaper reading. Yes it is at Aljazeera, and it is a very good article I recommend reading. Some selected parapgraphs to tempt you into reading the full article:
Al-Qaida, it must be said, is no pioneer in this field. For although it founds its ideology on religious references and speaks a language overwhelmed by religious symbols, al-Qaida falls largely within the modern tradition of revolutionary anarchists - from the Jacobins and the Bolsheviks down to latter-day Marxist guerrillas like the Baadr-Meinhoff Gang.
Al-Qaida is also a revival of the radical currents that surfaced in Islamic history from time to time only to be defeated by moderate mainstream Islam led by the Ulama (scholars). In particular, they appear to be a continuation of Kharijite thought with its dualistic puritanical conception of the world and the community of Muslims and of Gnostic underground
organisations like the Assassins and Qaramita, who sought to disrupt the stability of Muslim societies through acts of terrorism. Al-Qaida would be best seen as a mixture of these political and ideological strands.
Apart from the ideological justifications it takes recourse to, one would, indeed, be hard put to find much that distinguishes it from Latin American anarchist groups. Their acts share the same destructive ferocity, the same absurdity. The difference is that where one finds its ideological legitimacy in Marxism, the other seeks it in the Islamic religion.
The terrible irony is that Muslims currently find themselves helplessly trapped between two fundamentalisms, between Bush's hammer and Bin Laden's anvil, hostages to an extreme right wing American administration, aggressively seeking to impose its expansionist and hegemonic will over the region at gunpoint, and to a cluster of violent, wild fringe groups, lacking in political experience or sound religious understanding.
The two share a shallow, myopic, dualistic conception of the world populated by 'us' and 'them' in Bush's language, 'believers' and 'non-believers' in Bin Laden's. Al-Zarqawi and his fellows then brandish the sword of excommunication (takfir) against the Muslim body itself in an endless orgy of maiming and mutilation.
Soumayya Ghannoushi is a researcher in the history of ideas at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London.
Al-Qaida, it must be said, is no pioneer in this field. For although it founds its ideology on religious references and speaks a language overwhelmed by religious symbols, al-Qaida falls largely within the modern tradition of revolutionary anarchists - from the Jacobins and the Bolsheviks down to latter-day Marxist guerrillas like the Baadr-Meinhoff Gang.
Al-Qaida is also a revival of the radical currents that surfaced in Islamic history from time to time only to be defeated by moderate mainstream Islam led by the Ulama (scholars). In particular, they appear to be a continuation of Kharijite thought with its dualistic puritanical conception of the world and the community of Muslims and of Gnostic underground
organisations like the Assassins and Qaramita, who sought to disrupt the stability of Muslim societies through acts of terrorism. Al-Qaida would be best seen as a mixture of these political and ideological strands.
Apart from the ideological justifications it takes recourse to, one would, indeed, be hard put to find much that distinguishes it from Latin American anarchist groups. Their acts share the same destructive ferocity, the same absurdity. The difference is that where one finds its ideological legitimacy in Marxism, the other seeks it in the Islamic religion.
The terrible irony is that Muslims currently find themselves helplessly trapped between two fundamentalisms, between Bush's hammer and Bin Laden's anvil, hostages to an extreme right wing American administration, aggressively seeking to impose its expansionist and hegemonic will over the region at gunpoint, and to a cluster of violent, wild fringe groups, lacking in political experience or sound religious understanding.
The two share a shallow, myopic, dualistic conception of the world populated by 'us' and 'them' in Bush's language, 'believers' and 'non-believers' in Bin Laden's. Al-Zarqawi and his fellows then brandish the sword of excommunication (takfir) against the Muslim body itself in an endless orgy of maiming and mutilation.
Soumayya Ghannoushi is a researcher in the history of ideas at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Silliest reason to not support John Roberts
Tonight I heard one of the silliest reasons yet not to support John Roberts for the Supreme Court. There will be too many *gasp* Catholics on the bench. So I did what I always do, started doing some research on this "Catholic invasion" of the Supreme Court.
Let's start with the current make up of the Supreme Court as far as religion:
William H. Rehnquist - Lutheran
Stephen G. Breyer - Jewish
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Jewish
Anthony M. Kennedy - Catholic
Sandra Day O'Connor - Episcopalian
Antonin Scalia - Catholic
David H. Souter - Episcopalian
John Paul Stevens - Protestant
Clarence Thomas - Catholic
Replacing Sandra Day O'Connor with John Roberts means there will be one Episcopalian, four Catholics, two Jews, one Lutheran and one Protestant. If you look at the stats on the site linked that is not that far off of the make up of the varying americans and their religious beliefs. Except one could say we have a disproportional number of Jews on the Supreme Court (1.8% of the population versus 22% on the Supreme Court).
I haven't heard anyone complaining we need to get one of those Jews to retire so that we can restore religious balance to the Supreme Court. Let's hope when Rehnquist retires President Bush does not dare suggest another Jew or another Catholic. Let's focus on religions that have never had a Supreme Court Justice: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Mormons, Pentecostals, Muslims, Eastern Orthodox; get out there and complain because you have never had a Supreme Court Justice. Atheists and Agnostics? Don't complain, you've had one, David Davis who did not list any church or religion.
As for the Episcopalian imbalance? Well history tells us you guys have had your share of Supreme Court Justices. Thirty-three Justices have been Episcopalian, compared to us Catholics who have only had ten, eleven if we count John Roberts. You have had the largest share of Supreme Court Justices, so no complaints from you.
Let's stop worrying about does this person have the qualifications to be a Supreme Court Justice and focus on what really matters, religion. We didn't want to admit it, but that is exactly why we are doing this. We Catholics are going to take over the Supreme Court, then the whole United States. Yep, in a few years all of you will be practicing your rosaries if we have anything to say about it.
:-)
Let's start with the current make up of the Supreme Court as far as religion:
William H. Rehnquist - Lutheran
Stephen G. Breyer - Jewish
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Jewish
Anthony M. Kennedy - Catholic
Sandra Day O'Connor - Episcopalian
Antonin Scalia - Catholic
David H. Souter - Episcopalian
John Paul Stevens - Protestant
Clarence Thomas - Catholic
Replacing Sandra Day O'Connor with John Roberts means there will be one Episcopalian, four Catholics, two Jews, one Lutheran and one Protestant. If you look at the stats on the site linked that is not that far off of the make up of the varying americans and their religious beliefs. Except one could say we have a disproportional number of Jews on the Supreme Court (1.8% of the population versus 22% on the Supreme Court).
I haven't heard anyone complaining we need to get one of those Jews to retire so that we can restore religious balance to the Supreme Court. Let's hope when Rehnquist retires President Bush does not dare suggest another Jew or another Catholic. Let's focus on religions that have never had a Supreme Court Justice: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Mormons, Pentecostals, Muslims, Eastern Orthodox; get out there and complain because you have never had a Supreme Court Justice. Atheists and Agnostics? Don't complain, you've had one, David Davis who did not list any church or religion.
As for the Episcopalian imbalance? Well history tells us you guys have had your share of Supreme Court Justices. Thirty-three Justices have been Episcopalian, compared to us Catholics who have only had ten, eleven if we count John Roberts. You have had the largest share of Supreme Court Justices, so no complaints from you.
Let's stop worrying about does this person have the qualifications to be a Supreme Court Justice and focus on what really matters, religion. We didn't want to admit it, but that is exactly why we are doing this. We Catholics are going to take over the Supreme Court, then the whole United States. Yep, in a few years all of you will be practicing your rosaries if we have anything to say about it.
:-)
Friday, July 22, 2005
Following up on Leonard Clark situation.
Thanks to NPR station KJZZ's Rene Gutel, an update on Leonard Clark is listed on the above link. Her previous story, the update and the release from CENTCOM can be found there. Rene was one of the first reporters to cover this story and I'm glad she provided the update. There has not been alot of media attention about this since the inital reports of his detention.
If you read the press release it states what he was charged with:
Article 92 (Failure to obey order), 11 specifications; by releasing classified information regarding unit soldiers and convoys being attacked or hit by an improvised explosive devices on various dates, discussing troop movements on various dates, releasing Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures and Rules of Engagement used by the unit on various dates, in violation of a lawful general order prohibiting the release of such information.
Article 134 (Reckless endangerment), 2 specifications; by releasing specific information, on various dates regarding Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures and Rules of Engagement used by his unit and encouraging its widespread publication, such that the enemy forces could foreseeably access the information, such that with that information it was likely that the enemy forces could cause death or serious bodily harm to U.S. forces engaged in the same or similar mission.
It also states he was found guilty and did not appeal. His sentence/punishment was reduction to Private First Class (E-3), forfeiture of $820 per month for two months, 45 days restriction, and 45 days of extra duty. Both the restriction and extra duty were suspended for five months.
The blog was not mentioned as part of the press release. According to Rene, there was also an email sent by Leonard Clark that states he will not be writing about Iraq or the war while he is in Iraq. All previous posts on his blog, including recent ones linking KJZZ's first report and the one article from Arizona Republic have been removed.
For those wondering about Khalid Jarrar, the Iraqi blogger who has been arrested in Iraq, last information is that he is still being held. No charges have yet been filed. His brother has stated they are expecting more information soon.
If you read the press release it states what he was charged with:
Article 92 (Failure to obey order), 11 specifications; by releasing classified information regarding unit soldiers and convoys being attacked or hit by an improvised explosive devices on various dates, discussing troop movements on various dates, releasing Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures and Rules of Engagement used by the unit on various dates, in violation of a lawful general order prohibiting the release of such information.
Article 134 (Reckless endangerment), 2 specifications; by releasing specific information, on various dates regarding Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures and Rules of Engagement used by his unit and encouraging its widespread publication, such that the enemy forces could foreseeably access the information, such that with that information it was likely that the enemy forces could cause death or serious bodily harm to U.S. forces engaged in the same or similar mission.
It also states he was found guilty and did not appeal. His sentence/punishment was reduction to Private First Class (E-3), forfeiture of $820 per month for two months, 45 days restriction, and 45 days of extra duty. Both the restriction and extra duty were suspended for five months.
The blog was not mentioned as part of the press release. According to Rene, there was also an email sent by Leonard Clark that states he will not be writing about Iraq or the war while he is in Iraq. All previous posts on his blog, including recent ones linking KJZZ's first report and the one article from Arizona Republic have been removed.
For those wondering about Khalid Jarrar, the Iraqi blogger who has been arrested in Iraq, last information is that he is still being held. No charges have yet been filed. His brother has stated they are expecting more information soon.
A ewwww you have to be kidding me product.
Most of my regular readers know I have five children, I write about my youngest, Aubrey from time to time.
Today being Friday, rather than the cat pictures, I'm going to write about something I can't believe is actually out there:
Looks like Jelly beans doesn't it? Okay so I bought her some because she is a Harry Potter fan and asked me when we were at the grocery store if she could have them.
Then she's in the car on the way home starting to eat them, she said she got one that tasted like soap and hoped she didn't get the vomit flavored one. I thought, pretty funny Aubrey, then....I read the flavors for myself:
Black Pepper, Blueberry, Booger, Buttered Popcorn, Dirt, Earthworm, Ear Wax, Grape, Grass, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Sardine, Sizzling Cinnamon, Soap, Bacon, Rotten Egg, Toasted Marshmallow, Tutti-Fruitti, Very Cherry, & Vomit.
Today being Friday, rather than the cat pictures, I'm going to write about something I can't believe is actually out there:
Looks like Jelly beans doesn't it? Okay so I bought her some because she is a Harry Potter fan and asked me when we were at the grocery store if she could have them.
Then she's in the car on the way home starting to eat them, she said she got one that tasted like soap and hoped she didn't get the vomit flavored one. I thought, pretty funny Aubrey, then....I read the flavors for myself:
Black Pepper, Blueberry, Booger, Buttered Popcorn, Dirt, Earthworm, Ear Wax, Grape, Grass, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Sardine, Sizzling Cinnamon, Soap, Bacon, Rotten Egg, Toasted Marshmallow, Tutti-Fruitti, Very Cherry, & Vomit.
Thankfully there is a color code chart so we were able to determine which ones were the really horrid flavors, and my ex-husband owes me....he has no idea how close he came to being given the Sardine, Vomit and Rotten Egg ones. I told her I didn't think he'd think it was funny.....
So? Take my advice, beware of Harry Potter fans offering jelly beans....
:-)
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Any Democrat donkey can kick down a barn
but it takes a Republican carpenter to build one
Wow, now that was almost funny (and remember I'm not a democrat). Who created such words of wit and wisdom? Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett decided to go on the attack because Ohio Senator Marc Dann has been relentless in demanding information about the Ohio Bureau of Workman's Compensation Bureau scandal.
Bob Bennett found one thing in Marc Dann's 15 year history as an attorney, a reprimand in 2004 for for handling a legal matter without adequate preparation. According to Bob, “I’m glad Sen. Dann admits his own hypocrisy on this issue. Here’s a guy who’s been running around for weeks lecturing Republicans about ethics in state government, and his own ethical misconduct is finally catching up with him.”
That one thing somehow means that Dann is not qualified to talk about ethics in Ohio. Did he pull a Bob Taft and try to play games or blame it on someone else? Did he try to pull a Karyn McConnell Hancock and ask for "professional courtesy"? No, he owned up to the error like an adult took steps to make sure it didn't happen again and moved on.
Senator Marc Dann's response to Bob Bennett?
“I call on Bob Bennett, Bob Taft, Jim Petro, Betty Montgomery, and Ken Blackwell to do the same thing. Admit that they made mistakes by creating a pay-to-play system with investments at the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, take aggressive steps to restore the integrity of the funds, and make meaningful changes to prevent corruption in the future.”
“This is not about partisan politics or campaign-like attacks. It should be about getting to the truth so that we can develop an appropriate policy to end the pay-to-play system that Bob Bennett and his colleagues created, and restore the confidence of the people of Ohio in our government.”
Had it not been for Marc Dann most of the information we know now about the whole Noe coin deal and the resulting other financial irregularities might have stayed hidden. Granted he is not my favorite Ohio Democrat (Frank still holds that title) and Senator Dann never did respond to emails when this first started, but he is at this point one of the two Democrats I would actually endorse.
Marc Dann has joined the world of blogging, Coins for Change is linked above and on my blogroll. If you want indepth information on the Workman's Comp issue? That is the place to stay updated.
I still think you guys should use the slogan "Just say NOE to Republicans"
:-)
Oh, and Mr. Bennett? The next time you decide to accuse someone of being known for filing frivolous law suits and try to make it appear that's what the reprimand was about? Newsflash for you, Marc Dann's reprimand by the Bar is a public record and that wasn't very accurate of you.....
Wow, now that was almost funny (and remember I'm not a democrat). Who created such words of wit and wisdom? Ohio Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett decided to go on the attack because Ohio Senator Marc Dann has been relentless in demanding information about the Ohio Bureau of Workman's Compensation Bureau scandal.
Bob Bennett found one thing in Marc Dann's 15 year history as an attorney, a reprimand in 2004 for for handling a legal matter without adequate preparation. According to Bob, “I’m glad Sen. Dann admits his own hypocrisy on this issue. Here’s a guy who’s been running around for weeks lecturing Republicans about ethics in state government, and his own ethical misconduct is finally catching up with him.”
That one thing somehow means that Dann is not qualified to talk about ethics in Ohio. Did he pull a Bob Taft and try to play games or blame it on someone else? Did he try to pull a Karyn McConnell Hancock and ask for "professional courtesy"? No, he owned up to the error like an adult took steps to make sure it didn't happen again and moved on.
Senator Marc Dann's response to Bob Bennett?
“I call on Bob Bennett, Bob Taft, Jim Petro, Betty Montgomery, and Ken Blackwell to do the same thing. Admit that they made mistakes by creating a pay-to-play system with investments at the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, take aggressive steps to restore the integrity of the funds, and make meaningful changes to prevent corruption in the future.”
“This is not about partisan politics or campaign-like attacks. It should be about getting to the truth so that we can develop an appropriate policy to end the pay-to-play system that Bob Bennett and his colleagues created, and restore the confidence of the people of Ohio in our government.”
Had it not been for Marc Dann most of the information we know now about the whole Noe coin deal and the resulting other financial irregularities might have stayed hidden. Granted he is not my favorite Ohio Democrat (Frank still holds that title) and Senator Dann never did respond to emails when this first started, but he is at this point one of the two Democrats I would actually endorse.
Marc Dann has joined the world of blogging, Coins for Change is linked above and on my blogroll. If you want indepth information on the Workman's Comp issue? That is the place to stay updated.
I still think you guys should use the slogan "Just say NOE to Republicans"
:-)
Oh, and Mr. Bennett? The next time you decide to accuse someone of being known for filing frivolous law suits and try to make it appear that's what the reprimand was about? Newsflash for you, Marc Dann's reprimand by the Bar is a public record and that wasn't very accurate of you.....
Grand theft auto update...
If you haven't been over to I'm just waiting for the Robot Invasion today, make sure you stop by, and while there? Read SGN's post on Meditations on the ESRB Response to Rockstar Games.
Meow, or should I say Hissssss
Alas, once again I come out on the opposite side of the main big "Liberal" blogs. I of course was not involved in the phone call of the top 50 to work on the "plan" against John Roberts confirmation to the Supreme Court.
This article points out some very important things about the blogosphere though, that for some, it's not about individual points of view it's promoting an across the board agenda.
The lightning-quick attacks came after 50 top liberal bloggers held a 45-minute conference call Tuesday night. "On the left, we've always talked about the need to have an echo chamber," says John Aravosis, a Washington lawyer and gay rights activist who writes at Americablog.com. "We believe the right has a whole media network, from talk radio to Fox News to Matt Drudge. The left doesn't have that because the left doesn't play well with others."
The conference call was arranged by BlogPAC, a political action committee that got some of its members on the phone with Sen. Ted Kennedy on the day that Sandra Day O'Connor announced she was leaving the court. The group has also held calls with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and the liberal organizations involved in the nomination battle, including MoveOn, Alliance for Justice, NARAL and People for the American Way.
Kennedy "reached out to them directly to convey the impact that this decision will have on hundreds of millions of Americans, whose last line of defense for their freedoms and liberties is the Supreme Court," says Laura Capps, the senator's spokeswoman.
It's realistic to point out that some of these top 50 bloggers earn their living from advertising and donations on their blogs. Going rate for an ad on Americablog is $270.00 a week, a good bargain compared to Kos's $750.00 a week rate. I'll admit it was blogs like Kos and Americablog that made me want to have my own blog. I felt as if there were quite a few of us not being heard, that all of us are not some collective of extreme points of view. My concern is that not only do some of these bloggers who make their living from these blogs lose a certain amount of objectivity when earnings conflicts with opinion (take the whole scenario on Kos surrounding the soft porn ad for Return to Gilligan's Island bruha) but now these larger blogs are being sought out as a political action tye group rather than individual blogs. They endanger our status, which is why several of them do not even call themselves "blogs" anymore but have chosen "ezines". Regulation could be forced upon all of us because they have basically become their own PAC.
I end this with my favorite quote from the article:
But Aravosis sees no prospect of his blogging colleagues sticking to a set of talking points. "It's like herding cats," he says. "You can get 40 cats in a room, but you can't herd them."
Good point John, this cat? Don't herd.
:-)
So some of us don't play well with others, maybe it's because we don't agree with the way the game is being played.
This article points out some very important things about the blogosphere though, that for some, it's not about individual points of view it's promoting an across the board agenda.
The lightning-quick attacks came after 50 top liberal bloggers held a 45-minute conference call Tuesday night. "On the left, we've always talked about the need to have an echo chamber," says John Aravosis, a Washington lawyer and gay rights activist who writes at Americablog.com. "We believe the right has a whole media network, from talk radio to Fox News to Matt Drudge. The left doesn't have that because the left doesn't play well with others."
The conference call was arranged by BlogPAC, a political action committee that got some of its members on the phone with Sen. Ted Kennedy on the day that Sandra Day O'Connor announced she was leaving the court. The group has also held calls with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) and the liberal organizations involved in the nomination battle, including MoveOn, Alliance for Justice, NARAL and People for the American Way.
Kennedy "reached out to them directly to convey the impact that this decision will have on hundreds of millions of Americans, whose last line of defense for their freedoms and liberties is the Supreme Court," says Laura Capps, the senator's spokeswoman.
It's realistic to point out that some of these top 50 bloggers earn their living from advertising and donations on their blogs. Going rate for an ad on Americablog is $270.00 a week, a good bargain compared to Kos's $750.00 a week rate. I'll admit it was blogs like Kos and Americablog that made me want to have my own blog. I felt as if there were quite a few of us not being heard, that all of us are not some collective of extreme points of view. My concern is that not only do some of these bloggers who make their living from these blogs lose a certain amount of objectivity when earnings conflicts with opinion (take the whole scenario on Kos surrounding the soft porn ad for Return to Gilligan's Island bruha) but now these larger blogs are being sought out as a political action tye group rather than individual blogs. They endanger our status, which is why several of them do not even call themselves "blogs" anymore but have chosen "ezines". Regulation could be forced upon all of us because they have basically become their own PAC.
I end this with my favorite quote from the article:
But Aravosis sees no prospect of his blogging colleagues sticking to a set of talking points. "It's like herding cats," he says. "You can get 40 cats in a room, but you can't herd them."
Good point John, this cat? Don't herd.
:-)
So some of us don't play well with others, maybe it's because we don't agree with the way the game is being played.
Mixed Messages to Iraq
Iraqis would make "a terrible mistake" in adopting any constitution that sharply curbs women's rights, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Wednesday. "[This] is a matter the Department of State and the White House are worrying through with the Iraqi people," he said.
Yet, just last week as reported in the New York Times:
American officers involved in the $11 billion effort to train and equip Iraq's army and police have privately acknowledged that they know of instances in which police commandos have violated detainees' rights, using various forms of physical abuse. One senior officer said American commanders have insisted to Iraqi generals that the abuse plays into the hands of the insurgents and that it should stop. "But in the end, this is an Iraqi war, and the Iraqis will fight it in their own way," the officer said, in a discussion that he agreed to on condition that he not be named.
I agree that reducing womens rights is a mistake, however which is it? We interfere with Iraq or we let them do it their way? If we sit back and know that abuse is happening and don't do anything about it because they have to "fight it in their own way" then disagree with how they are writing their constitution what message are we sending?
It's okay to abuse prisoners even kill them but make sure you write a constitution we here in the US agree with? We'll look the other way to corruption that is creating worse humanitarian conditions than under Saddam but we will speak on removing the requirement for a percentage of women in the National Assembly.
As the rest of the article points out there is now some doubt that the August 15 deadline can be met since the Sunnis have pulled out of working on the drafting of the constitution due to security concerns. If there is no Sunni participation the chances of approval are diminished.
Yet, just last week as reported in the New York Times:
American officers involved in the $11 billion effort to train and equip Iraq's army and police have privately acknowledged that they know of instances in which police commandos have violated detainees' rights, using various forms of physical abuse. One senior officer said American commanders have insisted to Iraqi generals that the abuse plays into the hands of the insurgents and that it should stop. "But in the end, this is an Iraqi war, and the Iraqis will fight it in their own way," the officer said, in a discussion that he agreed to on condition that he not be named.
I agree that reducing womens rights is a mistake, however which is it? We interfere with Iraq or we let them do it their way? If we sit back and know that abuse is happening and don't do anything about it because they have to "fight it in their own way" then disagree with how they are writing their constitution what message are we sending?
It's okay to abuse prisoners even kill them but make sure you write a constitution we here in the US agree with? We'll look the other way to corruption that is creating worse humanitarian conditions than under Saddam but we will speak on removing the requirement for a percentage of women in the National Assembly.
As the rest of the article points out there is now some doubt that the August 15 deadline can be met since the Sunnis have pulled out of working on the drafting of the constitution due to security concerns. If there is no Sunni participation the chances of approval are diminished.
Jack takes the low road, gives Carty the high road
Carty Finkbeiner was crude, rude and ‘stupid,’ Mayor Jack Ford says
So says the headline of the Toledo Journal, in the continuing battle of words, Mayor Jack Ford opts to attack Carty rather than point out what he has done for Toledo.
The article is linked above, it contains several statements from Jack Ford and a response from Carty.
At this point? Carty has not gone to the same level. Is that the Ford plan? Attempt to do articles like this in the hope it will cause a Carty meltdown? If so? Jack? It's not working......
So says the headline of the Toledo Journal, in the continuing battle of words, Mayor Jack Ford opts to attack Carty rather than point out what he has done for Toledo.
The article is linked above, it contains several statements from Jack Ford and a response from Carty.
At this point? Carty has not gone to the same level. Is that the Ford plan? Attempt to do articles like this in the hope it will cause a Carty meltdown? If so? Jack? It's not working......
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
John Roberts and Family Values
Sound silly? Watch the video of how his two young children acted during the President's speech.
They are calling it Nanny 911 for John Roberts, his four year old son had to be taken out of the room, after crawling around on the floor and tried to bite his mom when she tried to get him to stop. As a parent, kids only act like that if they are not used to regular discipline or know respect of parental authority. Let's hope none of the "spare the rod spoil the child" Focus on Family bunch was watching.
Watch video
Update: After browsing around tonight, I'm surprised at the number of Liberal/Democrat blogs and groups that are going all out against John Roberts. Given some of the other more extreme names discussed, you'd think they would be happy that at least Roberts was not one of those. Anyone that expected President Bush to nominate someone that was not a Conservative Republican who didn't support abortion was not being realistic. This is not the one to put millions of dollars into fighting. Unless you want people to think that it wouldn't matter who it was some groups would fight it. The real truth here is all Presidents pick Supreme Court Justices who reflect their party beliefs. Rather than breathe a sigh of relief that President Bush did not pick one of the real extremists out there, this call to action to such a huge degree suprises me. John Kerry's email I got today on this was almost amusing, you would have thought it was Karl Rove that got the nomination.
For an interesting take on this subject not quite the same as mine, check out What it is today:
http://www.newswriter.us/?p=206
They are calling it Nanny 911 for John Roberts, his four year old son had to be taken out of the room, after crawling around on the floor and tried to bite his mom when she tried to get him to stop. As a parent, kids only act like that if they are not used to regular discipline or know respect of parental authority. Let's hope none of the "spare the rod spoil the child" Focus on Family bunch was watching.
Watch video
Update: After browsing around tonight, I'm surprised at the number of Liberal/Democrat blogs and groups that are going all out against John Roberts. Given some of the other more extreme names discussed, you'd think they would be happy that at least Roberts was not one of those. Anyone that expected President Bush to nominate someone that was not a Conservative Republican who didn't support abortion was not being realistic. This is not the one to put millions of dollars into fighting. Unless you want people to think that it wouldn't matter who it was some groups would fight it. The real truth here is all Presidents pick Supreme Court Justices who reflect their party beliefs. Rather than breathe a sigh of relief that President Bush did not pick one of the real extremists out there, this call to action to such a huge degree suprises me. John Kerry's email I got today on this was almost amusing, you would have thought it was Karl Rove that got the nomination.
For an interesting take on this subject not quite the same as mine, check out What it is today:
http://www.newswriter.us/?p=206
Israeli settlers use children, why not New Yorkers too?
This made the Jerusalem Post, but for some reason the New York Times had nothing on it. Or at least not easily findable, I'm not sure if the numbers were exaggerated or the Times felt for some reason it wasn't front page/searchable.
Here's my issue with it. I understand there are Americans that support the Israeli settlers and disagree with disengagement. I have no problem with that. Here is what I think is wrong:
A couple of thousand people jammed a busy midtown Manhattan street Tuesday afternoon for a prayer, song and protest rally against withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Organized largely by the Lubavitch youth organization Tzivos Hashem, the rally brought hundreds of Orthodox children from New York area summer camps to the demonstration, some of them leading the crowd in prayer and declarations of solidarity with the settlers of Gush Katif.
"The land belongs to every Jew who ever lived, and no one has the right to give away even one inch, especially if it puts into danger the lives of other Jews," one young boy declared from the podium.
Reciting psalms in shrill voices, the children were cheered on by teenagers and adults standing across the street on Broadway, just south of Times Square.
What kind of parent uses their child? How realistically do these young children even know enough about the whole situation in the Gaza to even decide they want to protest? If you disagree with something, as an adult, protest! But to use your child in an attempt to get headlines to me is wrong and realistically your ability to be a parent should be questioned. This borders on child abuse from an emotional standpoint. I don't care if it is save the trees, save the whales, save Smokey Bear, don't use children. If you as their parent feel it necessary to include them in your protest be responsible about it.
This is not responsible.
Here's my issue with it. I understand there are Americans that support the Israeli settlers and disagree with disengagement. I have no problem with that. Here is what I think is wrong:
A couple of thousand people jammed a busy midtown Manhattan street Tuesday afternoon for a prayer, song and protest rally against withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Organized largely by the Lubavitch youth organization Tzivos Hashem, the rally brought hundreds of Orthodox children from New York area summer camps to the demonstration, some of them leading the crowd in prayer and declarations of solidarity with the settlers of Gush Katif.
"The land belongs to every Jew who ever lived, and no one has the right to give away even one inch, especially if it puts into danger the lives of other Jews," one young boy declared from the podium.
Reciting psalms in shrill voices, the children were cheered on by teenagers and adults standing across the street on Broadway, just south of Times Square.
What kind of parent uses their child? How realistically do these young children even know enough about the whole situation in the Gaza to even decide they want to protest? If you disagree with something, as an adult, protest! But to use your child in an attempt to get headlines to me is wrong and realistically your ability to be a parent should be questioned. This borders on child abuse from an emotional standpoint. I don't care if it is save the trees, save the whales, save Smokey Bear, don't use children. If you as their parent feel it necessary to include them in your protest be responsible about it.
This is not responsible.
Dylan Thomas...
The past few days events have made me think of this poem from him quite a bit lately. I'm working on a few other articles for later; most of you have probably read this or at least heard some parts of it.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas, 1951 or 1952
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas, 1951 or 1952
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
The Wrath of Aubrey....
I'm hoping President Bush will personally explain to her why he feels it necessary to make another Prime Time speech about his Supreme Court nominee, given this it not something that usually creates a "Prime Time Event".
I know I don't want to be the one to tell her that her second favorite show, Big Brother 6 is going to be delayed....could have been worse though, he could have selected when Rockstar Inxs was on.
Who will it be? Will it be one of the Ediths?
Tune in tonight where rather than Big Brother 6 you will see, who will be happy? The Focus on Family Bunch? The moderate conservatives?
:-)
I'm going to predict Edith Clement, because it's been stated the announced nominee will be with the President and it looks like she's not in New Orleans....
Profile
I know I don't want to be the one to tell her that her second favorite show, Big Brother 6 is going to be delayed....could have been worse though, he could have selected when Rockstar Inxs was on.
Who will it be? Will it be one of the Ediths?
Tune in tonight where rather than Big Brother 6 you will see, who will be happy? The Focus on Family Bunch? The moderate conservatives?
:-)
I'm going to predict Edith Clement, because it's been stated the announced nominee will be with the President and it looks like she's not in New Orleans....
Profile
Disengaged? Hotel...Evicted? Streets....
Yesterday a Haaretz article made this statement:
On his program a week ago, Reno Tsror revealed a stunning figure: In Israel, 20 families a day are evicted from their homes because they have not managed to keep up their mortgage payments. Twenty families are thrown out of their homes into the street every day - minus Sabbaths and holidays, and just plain lazy days - about 100 families a week, about 5,000 a year. Who has heard about this at all, who has wept a tear for them, who has taken an interest in their traumas, who has provided psychologists and caravillas for them?
Today's Jerusalem Post provides details as to what will happen to those settlers who refuse to leave and wait for the military to remove them.
Air conditioning, swimming pools and continental breakfasts await the settlers who will be forcibly evacuated from their Gaza Strip homes, as the government moved forward with plans to reserve 1,000 hotel rooms for the week following the disengagement.
The Jerusalem Post has learned that the Paradise Hotel in Beersheba, the military resort Kfar Hanofesh, the King Shaul Hotel and the Shirat Hayam Hotel in Ashkelon have been selected by the Defense Ministry to house settlers for up to 10 days following the evacuation.
Among those present will be social workers and psychologists to help settlers deal with the trauma of the move and representatives from the Education Ministry to start the process of registering children for the following school year.
SELA officials will be available to help the settlers fill out compensation forms, although the government has said that settlers who wait to be forcibly removed will relinquish 30 percent of their compensation payment. Lastly, housing officials will be present to move the settlers into different temporary housing options.
The government's plan for temporary housing gives the settlers three options: caravans in Ashkelon, mobile homes in small towns across the Negev and apartments in the Negev region. Construction and Housing Ministry Director-General Shmuel Abuav said it was likely that only the apartment option would remain for settlers who waited to the last minute to leave.
If the government sticks to their word, those who wait will lose 30% of what has been estimated at averaging over $300,000 per family. But at least they will have a nice ten day vacation, and not have to pack their things since the government has movers ready to do that for them as well. If they refuse to pack that emergency bag? Don't worry, the hotels are ready to provide them with those personal items as well.
On his program a week ago, Reno Tsror revealed a stunning figure: In Israel, 20 families a day are evicted from their homes because they have not managed to keep up their mortgage payments. Twenty families are thrown out of their homes into the street every day - minus Sabbaths and holidays, and just plain lazy days - about 100 families a week, about 5,000 a year. Who has heard about this at all, who has wept a tear for them, who has taken an interest in their traumas, who has provided psychologists and caravillas for them?
Today's Jerusalem Post provides details as to what will happen to those settlers who refuse to leave and wait for the military to remove them.
Air conditioning, swimming pools and continental breakfasts await the settlers who will be forcibly evacuated from their Gaza Strip homes, as the government moved forward with plans to reserve 1,000 hotel rooms for the week following the disengagement.
The Jerusalem Post has learned that the Paradise Hotel in Beersheba, the military resort Kfar Hanofesh, the King Shaul Hotel and the Shirat Hayam Hotel in Ashkelon have been selected by the Defense Ministry to house settlers for up to 10 days following the evacuation.
Among those present will be social workers and psychologists to help settlers deal with the trauma of the move and representatives from the Education Ministry to start the process of registering children for the following school year.
SELA officials will be available to help the settlers fill out compensation forms, although the government has said that settlers who wait to be forcibly removed will relinquish 30 percent of their compensation payment. Lastly, housing officials will be present to move the settlers into different temporary housing options.
The government's plan for temporary housing gives the settlers three options: caravans in Ashkelon, mobile homes in small towns across the Negev and apartments in the Negev region. Construction and Housing Ministry Director-General Shmuel Abuav said it was likely that only the apartment option would remain for settlers who waited to the last minute to leave.
If the government sticks to their word, those who wait will lose 30% of what has been estimated at averaging over $300,000 per family. But at least they will have a nice ten day vacation, and not have to pack their things since the government has movers ready to do that for them as well. If they refuse to pack that emergency bag? Don't worry, the hotels are ready to provide them with those personal items as well.
The Water tastes like dirt and Dead Zones in Lake Erie
Last week I noticed the water tasting funny. I heard on the news it was because of an algae bloom and the chemicals used to treat it left the after taste. Now supposedly some of us can't taste this but who could not notice their water tastes like dirt? Maybe I'm more sensitive to it but I have gone as far as to buy ice because I can taste it. (As well as getting people in my house to be the first ones to try the water to see if it still tastes funny - hehehe)
Today's Blade confirms it's not over yet, but should be soon. Supposedly it's just us on the West side who are still experiencing it. I dont know, I haven't gotten anyone else to try it yet today. They are starting to rebel at being used as water tasters.....
Now on to the more disturbing news, another dead zone has been found in Lake Erie in nearby Sandusky. It's kind of interesting because just yesterday I was searching fish for Aubrey because she was convinced she had seen a dead shark at Maumee Bay State Park on Sunday. We discovered what she saw was a sturgeon, and read that the return of the sturgeon was felt as proof the lake was getting healthier. Perhaps not with the Dead Zones.
Rather than get all scientific on you a Dead Zone is basically a zone in the lake where the oxygen drops or becomes non-existant. They don't know what causes it for certain. It typically happens in late summer in the basin area near Cleveland.
From the article linked in the title:
In a dead zone, there is so little oxygen along the lake bottom that fish cannot survive. Scientists have monitored the phenomenon in Lake Erie's central basin from Ashtabula to Cleveland for years, but 70 miles west, in the Sandusky sub-basin, the problem has worsened to the point that there is no oxygen at all.
"Anything lower than four parts of oxygen per thousand is problematic," said Stuart Ludsin, lead scientist on the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's Lake Erie project. "Around Sandusky, it's between zero and one parts per thousand in several spots."
Hopefully the multimillion dollar research project by US and Canada will reveal some answers.
Today's Blade confirms it's not over yet, but should be soon. Supposedly it's just us on the West side who are still experiencing it. I dont know, I haven't gotten anyone else to try it yet today. They are starting to rebel at being used as water tasters.....
Now on to the more disturbing news, another dead zone has been found in Lake Erie in nearby Sandusky. It's kind of interesting because just yesterday I was searching fish for Aubrey because she was convinced she had seen a dead shark at Maumee Bay State Park on Sunday. We discovered what she saw was a sturgeon, and read that the return of the sturgeon was felt as proof the lake was getting healthier. Perhaps not with the Dead Zones.
Rather than get all scientific on you a Dead Zone is basically a zone in the lake where the oxygen drops or becomes non-existant. They don't know what causes it for certain. It typically happens in late summer in the basin area near Cleveland.
From the article linked in the title:
In a dead zone, there is so little oxygen along the lake bottom that fish cannot survive. Scientists have monitored the phenomenon in Lake Erie's central basin from Ashtabula to Cleveland for years, but 70 miles west, in the Sandusky sub-basin, the problem has worsened to the point that there is no oxygen at all.
"Anything lower than four parts of oxygen per thousand is problematic," said Stuart Ludsin, lead scientist on the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory's Lake Erie project. "Around Sandusky, it's between zero and one parts per thousand in several spots."
Hopefully the multimillion dollar research project by US and Canada will reveal some answers.
Argg so you want to be a pirate?
How about a Pirate Monkey?
Cute site, and they have Quizzes!!!!
http://piratemonkeysinc.com/
thanks to:
http://etherealgirl.blogspot.com/
Cute site, and they have Quizzes!!!!
http://piratemonkeysinc.com/
thanks to:
http://etherealgirl.blogspot.com/
Daniel....
If you haven't visited him yet at his blog, All The King's Horses, I recommend stopping by. Not just because he is in Iraq but because he is an awesome writer. When Daniel writes his personal experiences he does it in a way that makes you feel like you were there too. Not many people have the ability to do that. I consider myself very lucky as I have found those like him who challenge me to become a better person and a better writer.
Tonight he wrote a comment that stuck with me, I couldn't get it out of my mind so I decided to share it here, to put it into context it was about life and realizing that even when things have have happened that have been less than ideal, had we changed things where we ended up might be so very different; those we love we might not know.
It is that suffering happened - not to what extent - that matters. Like a vapor, suffering fills the space we create for it. Whether it be constant fear for our lives, or coming up five dollars short on the electric bill, suffering can be universally all-consuming, if we allow it.
Tonight he wrote a comment that stuck with me, I couldn't get it out of my mind so I decided to share it here, to put it into context it was about life and realizing that even when things have have happened that have been less than ideal, had we changed things where we ended up might be so very different; those we love we might not know.
It is that suffering happened - not to what extent - that matters. Like a vapor, suffering fills the space we create for it. Whether it be constant fear for our lives, or coming up five dollars short on the electric bill, suffering can be universally all-consuming, if we allow it.
Monday, July 18, 2005
The Numbers game...
It's sometimes very educational to read differing news sources of the same story. Any bias the reporter or the newspaper has sometimes is easy to spot just in the way they report numbers and how they refer to a group being reported about.
Here's an example from today:
Some 30,000 right-wing Israeli protesters, many clad in orange, staged a boisterous rally in southern Israel this evening against the planned withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. But police and soldiers, who were present in only slightly smaller numbers, blocked their route to the coastal territory. (New York Times)
NETIVOT, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli security forces blocked thousands of rightist protesters on Monday from heading toward Gaza's Jewish settlements for a march aimed at impeding Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territory next month. Looking for a showdown with Sharon, settler leaders had vowed to defy an official ban on their protest, which they had expected to attract more than 100,000 people. (Washington Post)
Police are allowing some 30,000 anti-disengagement demonstrators marching from Netivot to enter Kfarm Maimon and spend the night, according to an agreement reached through negotiations between Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi and heads of the Yesha council, which represents the settlers. (Haaretz)
By 8:00 p.m., however, tens thousands of activists had streamed into Netivot and had launched the official demonstration under the banner "Giant march to Gush Katif; helping our heroic brothers." Police estimated that 10,000 people had arrived at the demonstration, while protest leaders put the number at over 50,000. (Jerusalem Post)
In defiance of a police ban, 20,000 protesters gathered in the town of Netivot and started marching toward the Gush Katif bloc of Gaza settlements, 15 miles away. A line of soldiers and police stopped them shortly after they started. (USA Today)
NETIVOT, Israel — Security forces blocked thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters from marching Monday night in protest of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip next month. (Fox news) Yet Fox gives us this interesting "American human interest tidbit":
In Jerusalem, nearly 100 withdrawal opponents waited for buses that never arrived. "It's very frustrating ... you know we're on vacation and we want to do whatever we can to help the country," said New Yorker Sandy Brown, wearing an orange T-shirt.
So what does this all mean? There were alot of protestors and alot of soliders, and?
Never read just one source...
:-)
Here's an example from today:
Some 30,000 right-wing Israeli protesters, many clad in orange, staged a boisterous rally in southern Israel this evening against the planned withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. But police and soldiers, who were present in only slightly smaller numbers, blocked their route to the coastal territory. (New York Times)
NETIVOT, Israel (Reuters) - Israeli security forces blocked thousands of rightist protesters on Monday from heading toward Gaza's Jewish settlements for a march aimed at impeding Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territory next month. Looking for a showdown with Sharon, settler leaders had vowed to defy an official ban on their protest, which they had expected to attract more than 100,000 people. (Washington Post)
Police are allowing some 30,000 anti-disengagement demonstrators marching from Netivot to enter Kfarm Maimon and spend the night, according to an agreement reached through negotiations between Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi and heads of the Yesha council, which represents the settlers. (Haaretz)
By 8:00 p.m., however, tens thousands of activists had streamed into Netivot and had launched the official demonstration under the banner "Giant march to Gush Katif; helping our heroic brothers." Police estimated that 10,000 people had arrived at the demonstration, while protest leaders put the number at over 50,000. (Jerusalem Post)
In defiance of a police ban, 20,000 protesters gathered in the town of Netivot and started marching toward the Gush Katif bloc of Gaza settlements, 15 miles away. A line of soldiers and police stopped them shortly after they started. (USA Today)
NETIVOT, Israel — Security forces blocked thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters from marching Monday night in protest of Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip next month. (Fox news) Yet Fox gives us this interesting "American human interest tidbit":
In Jerusalem, nearly 100 withdrawal opponents waited for buses that never arrived. "It's very frustrating ... you know we're on vacation and we want to do whatever we can to help the country," said New Yorker Sandy Brown, wearing an orange T-shirt.
So what does this all mean? There were alot of protestors and alot of soliders, and?
Never read just one source...
:-)
More probes....
No, this is not some sci-fi post about aliens, but thanks to Steve, the wonderful founder of Distance, this article was brought to my attention.
Seems like my little corner of Ohio is not the only one involved in donations to campaign issues. (Still waiting for the grand jury ruling on the Tom Noe campaign donations to President Bush).
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Prosecutors are investigating a $10,000 check that a Republican political consultant who works for a voting-machine company handed to the director of the Franklin County Board of Elections.
The consultant, Pasquale "Pat" Gallina, visited elections director Matthew Damschroder in early 2004 on the same day that the county was opening bids for voter-registration software, Damschroder said.
"I'm here to give you $10,000," Damschroder recalled Gallina saying. "Who do I make it payable to?"
"Well, you're certainly not going to make it out to me," Damschroder said he told Gallina, who represents Diebold Election Systems. "But I'm sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a donation."
Gallina wrote the check and Damschroder said he mailed it to the county party.
Diebold didn't get the software contract, and Damschroder said he never recommended the company.
But Damschroder said he should not have taken the check.
"The crux of the issue is whether there was an attempt to bribe an official to influence the board," said Michael Colley, a Republican member of the election board.
What makes this even more interesting is there are some claims that Ken Blackwell who is running for governor had some involvement in this.
How did this come to light?
Damschroder told prosecutors of Gallina's visit after his testimony was sought in a civil suit filed by one of Diebold's competitors, Election Systems and Software. ES&S charges that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell improperly favored Diebold in selecting electronic voting machines for use statewide.
Blackwell's spokesperson has denied any improper action, yet I don't think this will be the last time we hear about this. Will be interesting to see what the end result of the civil suit is.
Seems like my little corner of Ohio is not the only one involved in donations to campaign issues. (Still waiting for the grand jury ruling on the Tom Noe campaign donations to President Bush).
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Prosecutors are investigating a $10,000 check that a Republican political consultant who works for a voting-machine company handed to the director of the Franklin County Board of Elections.
The consultant, Pasquale "Pat" Gallina, visited elections director Matthew Damschroder in early 2004 on the same day that the county was opening bids for voter-registration software, Damschroder said.
"I'm here to give you $10,000," Damschroder recalled Gallina saying. "Who do I make it payable to?"
"Well, you're certainly not going to make it out to me," Damschroder said he told Gallina, who represents Diebold Election Systems. "But I'm sure the Franklin County Republican Party would appreciate a donation."
Gallina wrote the check and Damschroder said he mailed it to the county party.
Diebold didn't get the software contract, and Damschroder said he never recommended the company.
But Damschroder said he should not have taken the check.
"The crux of the issue is whether there was an attempt to bribe an official to influence the board," said Michael Colley, a Republican member of the election board.
What makes this even more interesting is there are some claims that Ken Blackwell who is running for governor had some involvement in this.
How did this come to light?
Damschroder told prosecutors of Gallina's visit after his testimony was sought in a civil suit filed by one of Diebold's competitors, Election Systems and Software. ES&S charges that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell improperly favored Diebold in selecting electronic voting machines for use statewide.
Blackwell's spokesperson has denied any improper action, yet I don't think this will be the last time we hear about this. Will be interesting to see what the end result of the civil suit is.
Glass houses and stones.....
I was reading Frank Szollosi's blog tonight, and while I do respect Frank and realize he feels a very strong loyalty to Mayor Jack Ford, at times I wonder about the whole game of politics.
Remember Karyn McConnell Hancock? It's been pretty quiet as far as comments concerning her whole "I am above the law" parking incident. Wouldn't you if you did really care about ethics demand a high standard of ethics from your own "team"?
Now I have not read Frank stating anything about supporting her, however she has been endorsed by the splinter Lucas County Dem organization. I haven't read anything about him not supporting her either. But he did tonight comment on Carty's lack of proper citing from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Here is a man with no shame, he's got no business being in a race for public office." His comment made me start thinking, which is worse? Not citing a source in a speech then immediately taking responsibility for it or demonstrating you have no respect for not only our Police Officers but our laws? Not caring that your irresponsible behavior caused a handicapped woman to have to struggle to get around your illegally parked car or not giving the Cleveland Plain dealer proper credit? Sitting in your car making police officers waste valuable time as you talked on your cellphone and flipped thru a magazine or immediately upon being told of your mistake taking responsibility for it? I think that should be obvious which is worse. Carty made an error in speech writing; it appears it was an honest mistake, sloppy? Yes, and he should be more careful in the future. We can't say the same for Karyn McConnell Hancock. By her own admission she has done this before, the only difference is this time she was caught.
I understand the whole aspect of politics where you ignore the bad behavior of your own group yet make the opposing sides an issue. The problem with that is we see all of it. It's really hard to have alot of faith in the system when it's pretty obvious no one seems to have the courage to call their own out on their unacceptable behavior. I am not trying to pick on Frank in regard to this. There are other City Council members who have not said anything, the Mayor has not said anything with the exception of his first statement that I agreed with that no one is above the law. The Toledo Blade has not made this an issue either. Yes, they reported what happened, but the only calls for resignation I've seen have been in a few Letters to the Editor. Same with the other local media sources, the Toledo Free Press had an op-ed piece by Bob Frantz and there was some television coverage on the initial incident and the release of the police dash cam but now it's all faded away as if we are supposed to just forget about it. I believe George Sarantou did make a statement that Karyn McConnell Hancock's attempt at an apology during a City Council session wasn't appropriate, yet if there was some type of action in City Council demanding she at least step down from president pro tem as well as her chair position, I missed it.
So here is a suggestion to all politicans, if you want us to believe you and have faith in your words, then demand the same behavior from everyone. Even those who are on "your" side.
Also, since he doesn't seem to be getting alot of media coverage, there is an additional candidate for at-large Toledo City Council, John “Mitch” Balonek, he's running as an Independent/Green Party. He's got some interesting ideas and as most of you know, I support the idea of more involvement by Independent candidates. I don't agree with him on some of what he states on Charter Schools, but no candidate can be perfect......
http://www.nwohiogreens.org/elections/
Remember Karyn McConnell Hancock? It's been pretty quiet as far as comments concerning her whole "I am above the law" parking incident. Wouldn't you if you did really care about ethics demand a high standard of ethics from your own "team"?
Now I have not read Frank stating anything about supporting her, however she has been endorsed by the splinter Lucas County Dem organization. I haven't read anything about him not supporting her either. But he did tonight comment on Carty's lack of proper citing from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Here is a man with no shame, he's got no business being in a race for public office." His comment made me start thinking, which is worse? Not citing a source in a speech then immediately taking responsibility for it or demonstrating you have no respect for not only our Police Officers but our laws? Not caring that your irresponsible behavior caused a handicapped woman to have to struggle to get around your illegally parked car or not giving the Cleveland Plain dealer proper credit? Sitting in your car making police officers waste valuable time as you talked on your cellphone and flipped thru a magazine or immediately upon being told of your mistake taking responsibility for it? I think that should be obvious which is worse. Carty made an error in speech writing; it appears it was an honest mistake, sloppy? Yes, and he should be more careful in the future. We can't say the same for Karyn McConnell Hancock. By her own admission she has done this before, the only difference is this time she was caught.
I understand the whole aspect of politics where you ignore the bad behavior of your own group yet make the opposing sides an issue. The problem with that is we see all of it. It's really hard to have alot of faith in the system when it's pretty obvious no one seems to have the courage to call their own out on their unacceptable behavior. I am not trying to pick on Frank in regard to this. There are other City Council members who have not said anything, the Mayor has not said anything with the exception of his first statement that I agreed with that no one is above the law. The Toledo Blade has not made this an issue either. Yes, they reported what happened, but the only calls for resignation I've seen have been in a few Letters to the Editor. Same with the other local media sources, the Toledo Free Press had an op-ed piece by Bob Frantz and there was some television coverage on the initial incident and the release of the police dash cam but now it's all faded away as if we are supposed to just forget about it. I believe George Sarantou did make a statement that Karyn McConnell Hancock's attempt at an apology during a City Council session wasn't appropriate, yet if there was some type of action in City Council demanding she at least step down from president pro tem as well as her chair position, I missed it.
So here is a suggestion to all politicans, if you want us to believe you and have faith in your words, then demand the same behavior from everyone. Even those who are on "your" side.
Also, since he doesn't seem to be getting alot of media coverage, there is an additional candidate for at-large Toledo City Council, John “Mitch” Balonek, he's running as an Independent/Green Party. He's got some interesting ideas and as most of you know, I support the idea of more involvement by Independent candidates. I don't agree with him on some of what he states on Charter Schools, but no candidate can be perfect......
http://www.nwohiogreens.org/elections/
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Help skippy break the million mark...
http://xnerg.blogspot.com/
Skippy the bush kangaroo, is less than 10,000 hits away from getting one million visitors to his blog. Quite an accomplishment since July 13, 2002 when the blog was created.
So stop by and help him out
:-)
Skippy the bush kangaroo, is less than 10,000 hits away from getting one million visitors to his blog. Quite an accomplishment since July 13, 2002 when the blog was created.
So stop by and help him out
:-)
And in the rest of the US?
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist still has not announced his retirement....
More anonymous source information on a White House plan to provide covert support to certain Iraqi candidates and political parties. The White House says they didn't go thru with the plan, sure, I believe them. After all there has been nothing but honesty from this administration....
Rove is still the topic of the day....
Senator John Cornyn is being mentioned as one of the names being considered to replace Justice Day O'Connor....
Another telecast to try to "influence" President Bush and the rest of us has been scheduled. The event, scheduled for Aug. 14 and called Justice Sunday II after a similar telecast in April, will focus on "the court's hostility toward religion and Christianity in particular," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and the principal organizer of the event.
The telecast was organized by some of the most influential conservative Christian supporters of the Bush administration after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement. But its organizers are evidently disregarding White House requests not to inject talk of a culture war into the debate over a Supreme Court nominee.
Hurricane Emily is still a hurricane and might be headed to Mexico or Texas, too early to tell but where ever she ends up? Looks like there will be some major damage.
More anonymous source information on a White House plan to provide covert support to certain Iraqi candidates and political parties. The White House says they didn't go thru with the plan, sure, I believe them. After all there has been nothing but honesty from this administration....
Rove is still the topic of the day....
Senator John Cornyn is being mentioned as one of the names being considered to replace Justice Day O'Connor....
Another telecast to try to "influence" President Bush and the rest of us has been scheduled. The event, scheduled for Aug. 14 and called Justice Sunday II after a similar telecast in April, will focus on "the court's hostility toward religion and Christianity in particular," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council and the principal organizer of the event.
The telecast was organized by some of the most influential conservative Christian supporters of the Bush administration after Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement. But its organizers are evidently disregarding White House requests not to inject talk of a culture war into the debate over a Supreme Court nominee.
Hurricane Emily is still a hurricane and might be headed to Mexico or Texas, too early to tell but where ever she ends up? Looks like there will be some major damage.
And in Toledo.....
The Toledo Blade demonstrates it's okay for Jack Ford to make a comment that we regular Blade readers know would be a huge deal if it would have come from Carty.
Jose Nogueras, holding his daughter Tirzah, walked up to Mayor Ford to wish him luck. In what must be the most innate political move, Mayor Ford reached out to hold the baby.
But as Mr. Nogueras stepped back to snap a picture, the mayor called out: "Hey Carty. Let's hold the baby together. That way no matter who wins, this baby can say the mayor held her."
"You've got to have fun in campaigning," Mayor Ford said after posing with Mr. Finkbeiner. "It can't be all dog eat dog."
Where's the outcry from Rob Ludeman or Keith Wilkowski?
:-)
Mayor Ford later acknowledged other competitors - the best known of whom are Rob Ludeman and Keith Wilkowski - saying: "If somebody else wins, she just has two ex-mayors holding her."
Jose Nogueras, holding his daughter Tirzah, walked up to Mayor Ford to wish him luck. In what must be the most innate political move, Mayor Ford reached out to hold the baby.
But as Mr. Nogueras stepped back to snap a picture, the mayor called out: "Hey Carty. Let's hold the baby together. That way no matter who wins, this baby can say the mayor held her."
"You've got to have fun in campaigning," Mayor Ford said after posing with Mr. Finkbeiner. "It can't be all dog eat dog."
Where's the outcry from Rob Ludeman or Keith Wilkowski?
:-)
Mayor Ford later acknowledged other competitors - the best known of whom are Rob Ludeman and Keith Wilkowski - saying: "If somebody else wins, she just has two ex-mayors holding her."
And in the Gaza....
Things appear to be getting even more out of control.
Police have placed a ban on the upcoming protest march because settler groups would not agree to terms they had set for it to happen.
The march will still be held, and unfortunately it appears violence will errupt.
Despite the ban, the Yesha Council said Sunday night that it expects some 100,000 people to attend tonight's opening rally in the Negev town of Netivot, of whom about 40,000 will then continue to Gush Katif, which they are slated to reach on Wednesday. Some 1,200 buses have been rented to bring the demonstrators to Netivot.
Nevertheless, the ban did not catch the council completely by surprise: In the material it prepared for the marchers, it noted that the police might declare the march illegal. In that case, the instructions said, settler leaders would try to negotiate with the police, but if the negotiations fail, "take into account that there will be mass arrests."The instructions also noted that police might try to stop the march even before it began by preventing the marchers from reaching the starting point of Netivot. "If efforts to circumvent or proceed do not succeed, try to block the road, with the goal of [persuading] the police to let the march continue," the instructions said.
But the anger was not all on the settlers' side: Police were equally furious at disengagement opponents, saying that the behavior of those demonstrating at the Kissufim checkpoint on Saturday night against the closure of Gaza was completely unacceptable. The demonstrators, they charged, attacked soldiers and policemen, called them "Judenraat" and "Nazis," and spraypainted swastikas.
At about 5 A.M., after the demonstrators had been dispersed, police also discovered that the road had been strewn with tire spikes and oil.Police said that if such demonstrations recurred, they would use crowd dispersal equipment such as water cannons to deal with the protesters.
Police have placed a ban on the upcoming protest march because settler groups would not agree to terms they had set for it to happen.
The march will still be held, and unfortunately it appears violence will errupt.
Despite the ban, the Yesha Council said Sunday night that it expects some 100,000 people to attend tonight's opening rally in the Negev town of Netivot, of whom about 40,000 will then continue to Gush Katif, which they are slated to reach on Wednesday. Some 1,200 buses have been rented to bring the demonstrators to Netivot.
Nevertheless, the ban did not catch the council completely by surprise: In the material it prepared for the marchers, it noted that the police might declare the march illegal. In that case, the instructions said, settler leaders would try to negotiate with the police, but if the negotiations fail, "take into account that there will be mass arrests."The instructions also noted that police might try to stop the march even before it began by preventing the marchers from reaching the starting point of Netivot. "If efforts to circumvent or proceed do not succeed, try to block the road, with the goal of [persuading] the police to let the march continue," the instructions said.
But the anger was not all on the settlers' side: Police were equally furious at disengagement opponents, saying that the behavior of those demonstrating at the Kissufim checkpoint on Saturday night against the closure of Gaza was completely unacceptable. The demonstrators, they charged, attacked soldiers and policemen, called them "Judenraat" and "Nazis," and spraypainted swastikas.
At about 5 A.M., after the demonstrators had been dispersed, police also discovered that the road had been strewn with tire spikes and oil.Police said that if such demonstrations recurred, they would use crowd dispersal equipment such as water cannons to deal with the protesters.
Iraqis struggle to survive....
Not only do they have to worry about sucide bombers, lack of electricity and lack of water, but food is also becoming a major issue for many Iraqis.
The United Nations World Food Programme, which monitors the distribution of rations, recently reported "significant countrywide shortfalls in rice, sugar, milk and infant formula".Families in Baghdad have received no sugar or baby milk since January.
Newspapers have also begun reporting that the tea and flour hand-outs contain metal filings and that people have fallen ill after consuming food rations.Officials with the trade ministry, which is in charge of distributing the rations, said the media have created the crisis. But they have refused to release results of the tests for contamination they said they are doing.
Retail agents who sell the food baskets say the ministry is corrupt, a charge supported by Radhi Radhi, the government's anti-corruption chief.Mr Radhi said in a recent interview that trade ministry officials had spread rumours of contaminated food to discredit the current flour supplier and renegotiate the contract. Some agents speculate that ministry employees have added metal filings to cheat on the parcels' weight. The same employees also sell tea and flour on the black market, agents say.
More than half of Iraq's population lives below the poverty line. The median income fell from $255 in 2003 to about $144 in 2004, according to a recent UN survey.
The cost of tea and flour has almost tripled. At food markets, a 35-pound can of vegetable oil, which just a few months ago cost $4 - a little more than an average day's wage - now costs $12.
The United Nations World Food Programme, which monitors the distribution of rations, recently reported "significant countrywide shortfalls in rice, sugar, milk and infant formula".Families in Baghdad have received no sugar or baby milk since January.
Newspapers have also begun reporting that the tea and flour hand-outs contain metal filings and that people have fallen ill after consuming food rations.Officials with the trade ministry, which is in charge of distributing the rations, said the media have created the crisis. But they have refused to release results of the tests for contamination they said they are doing.
Retail agents who sell the food baskets say the ministry is corrupt, a charge supported by Radhi Radhi, the government's anti-corruption chief.Mr Radhi said in a recent interview that trade ministry officials had spread rumours of contaminated food to discredit the current flour supplier and renegotiate the contract. Some agents speculate that ministry employees have added metal filings to cheat on the parcels' weight. The same employees also sell tea and flour on the black market, agents say.
More than half of Iraq's population lives below the poverty line. The median income fell from $255 in 2003 to about $144 in 2004, according to a recent UN survey.
The cost of tea and flour has almost tripled. At food markets, a 35-pound can of vegetable oil, which just a few months ago cost $4 - a little more than an average day's wage - now costs $12.
Iraqi blogger being held in jail
I was reading Baghdad Burning and discovered that Khalid who also has a blog from Iraq has been arrested. His brother Raed another blogger, gives more details:
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
There is some speculation that this has something to do with Khalid's blog but that has not been confirmed. Anyone want to place bets that there will not be the mass media demands as Leonard Clark got for his half a day arrest then release?
http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/
There is some speculation that this has something to do with Khalid's blog but that has not been confirmed. Anyone want to place bets that there will not be the mass media demands as Leonard Clark got for his half a day arrest then release?
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Mountains out of Molehills....
Carty Finkbeiner gets blasted again by the Toledo Blade (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact they support Mayor Jack Ford) and the three other main mayoral candidates in today's Toledo Blade.
His crime? He forgot to include credit for one quote in a speech made on Thursday to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I mean wow, how could he? That is so bad, and even worse? He took responsibilty for not giving them credit and apologized.
I fear what is next, that he doesn't brush after every meal? Or maybe something even darker, like he threw out a glass jar in his trash and didn't recycle it.
How much more of this can we take?
His crime? He forgot to include credit for one quote in a speech made on Thursday to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I mean wow, how could he? That is so bad, and even worse? He took responsibilty for not giving them credit and apologized.
I fear what is next, that he doesn't brush after every meal? Or maybe something even darker, like he threw out a glass jar in his trash and didn't recycle it.
How much more of this can we take?
Reasons behind London Bombings
The New York Times as linked above deals with the feelings/thoughts of some of the British Muslims who knew the four bombers. It then goes on to talk about the Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Some of the statements made we've heard before:
At Beeston's Cross Flats Park, in the center of this now embattled town, Sanjay Dutt and his friends grappled Friday with why their friend Kakey, better known to the world as Shehzad Tanweer, had decided to become a suicide bomber.
"He was sick of it all, all the injustice and the way the world is going about it," Mr. Dutt, 22, said. "Why, for example, don't they ever take a moment of silence for all the Iraqi kids who die?"
"It's a double standard, that's why," answered a friend, who called himself Shahroukh, also 22, wearing a baseball cap and basketball jersey, sitting nearby. "I don't approve of what he did, but I understand it. You get driven to something like this, it doesn't just happen."
They say they are weary of liberal Muslim leaders and British politicians who promise changes. They see them backing policies against the Muslim world in general, from Iraq to the Middle East to Afghanistan, and promising relief from economic distress and discrimination. Still, Britain's Muslims have languished near the bottom of society since their influx here in the 1950's.
What I'll never understand is what is supposed to be the end result of suicide bombings? How does blowing yourself up along with as many people as you can manage to take with you end up making the world a better place for Muslims? It seems it has the opposite effect. Unless they believe if they continue to do this and Muslims are hated and pushed to the point they will all join together and fight back. I realize it's supposed to somehow make the US and England leave Iraq, but again, that doesn't seem to end up being the response to bombings either. All it does is create more hatred against Islam.
Yesterday I was listening to WSPD, Denny was off for the day and Fred took over, normally I really enjoy it when Fred subs for Denny. I ended up turning the station in digust, it was endless misinformation about the Quran, encouraging and supporting even more hatred against Muslims, slamming their religion as a whole, perpetuating myths and the whole we here in the US are so much better than you are type bs. What upset Fred so much that he had his muslim hate fest going on? An islamic lobbying group created a public service ad that basically was trying to send the message that these types of extremists don't represent their religion and they don't support that type of action.
Hating people never solved anything, shouldn't we have learned that?
Some of the statements made we've heard before:
At Beeston's Cross Flats Park, in the center of this now embattled town, Sanjay Dutt and his friends grappled Friday with why their friend Kakey, better known to the world as Shehzad Tanweer, had decided to become a suicide bomber.
"He was sick of it all, all the injustice and the way the world is going about it," Mr. Dutt, 22, said. "Why, for example, don't they ever take a moment of silence for all the Iraqi kids who die?"
"It's a double standard, that's why," answered a friend, who called himself Shahroukh, also 22, wearing a baseball cap and basketball jersey, sitting nearby. "I don't approve of what he did, but I understand it. You get driven to something like this, it doesn't just happen."
They say they are weary of liberal Muslim leaders and British politicians who promise changes. They see them backing policies against the Muslim world in general, from Iraq to the Middle East to Afghanistan, and promising relief from economic distress and discrimination. Still, Britain's Muslims have languished near the bottom of society since their influx here in the 1950's.
What I'll never understand is what is supposed to be the end result of suicide bombings? How does blowing yourself up along with as many people as you can manage to take with you end up making the world a better place for Muslims? It seems it has the opposite effect. Unless they believe if they continue to do this and Muslims are hated and pushed to the point they will all join together and fight back. I realize it's supposed to somehow make the US and England leave Iraq, but again, that doesn't seem to end up being the response to bombings either. All it does is create more hatred against Islam.
Yesterday I was listening to WSPD, Denny was off for the day and Fred took over, normally I really enjoy it when Fred subs for Denny. I ended up turning the station in digust, it was endless misinformation about the Quran, encouraging and supporting even more hatred against Muslims, slamming their religion as a whole, perpetuating myths and the whole we here in the US are so much better than you are type bs. What upset Fred so much that he had his muslim hate fest going on? An islamic lobbying group created a public service ad that basically was trying to send the message that these types of extremists don't represent their religion and they don't support that type of action.
Hating people never solved anything, shouldn't we have learned that?
Friday, July 15, 2005
Israeli Settlers try to invoke memory of holocaust
In the latest news concerning Israeli settlers who are against the disengagement and the recent closing of the Gaza Strip due to security concerns, they have taken to writing their ID numbers on their arms to symbolize what Jews went thru during the Holocaust.
Needless to say this is causing some outrage by Israelis who do not share the belief that what is happening to the settlers is comparable.
According to Haaretz:
Security forces are requiring Gaza settlers to display their ID cards before allowing them into the settlements.The trend began during a Wednesday night protest against the closure, when a woman who lives in Gush Katif refused to show her ID card to security forces at Kissufim crossing. Instead, she showed him her arm, on which she had written her identity number, in a simulation of the Nazi practice of branding numbers on the arms of concentration camp inmates. Security forces checked her identity and let her through the checkpoint.
Since then, several other Gaza settlers have tried the same tactic, although previous comparisons to the Holocaust - including the use of orange Star of David badges - have provoked controversy.
"This is a way of protesting against our being placed into ghettos," said Y., 20, from the Gush Katif settlement of Neveh Dekalim. "They want us to show our ID card - here is our ID card."
The Yesha Council has asked Gaza settlers - whom it called "a population that has been supremely brave over the last five years" - to stop the practice, but said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to close off the Strip was to blame.
Call me unsympathetic but given the fact that the average settler will walk away with over $300,000, not to mention all of the other financial support they received from the US and the Israeli government before the disengagement; I seriously doubt any real worries of being placed into a ghetto.
Under the plan, a couple with two children who have rented a home in a settlement for the past 15 years would receive $230,000. A similar family that owned a home would get about $300,000.
The amount is to be calculated on the basis of family size, property and length of residence in a settlement.
Families who own farmland or businesses or who agree to move to development zones in the Negev desert or the Galilee would receive extra money.
Palestenians who have had their homes destroyed in most cases have gotten nothing. So I'd say over all? The settlers have had a much better time of it, and will continue to do so after this is over, thanks to the US government and US citizens donations. Heck I'd be happy to move for $300,000, too bad there is no disengagement in Ohio.
:-)
Needless to say this is causing some outrage by Israelis who do not share the belief that what is happening to the settlers is comparable.
According to Haaretz:
Security forces are requiring Gaza settlers to display their ID cards before allowing them into the settlements.The trend began during a Wednesday night protest against the closure, when a woman who lives in Gush Katif refused to show her ID card to security forces at Kissufim crossing. Instead, she showed him her arm, on which she had written her identity number, in a simulation of the Nazi practice of branding numbers on the arms of concentration camp inmates. Security forces checked her identity and let her through the checkpoint.
Since then, several other Gaza settlers have tried the same tactic, although previous comparisons to the Holocaust - including the use of orange Star of David badges - have provoked controversy.
"This is a way of protesting against our being placed into ghettos," said Y., 20, from the Gush Katif settlement of Neveh Dekalim. "They want us to show our ID card - here is our ID card."
The Yesha Council has asked Gaza settlers - whom it called "a population that has been supremely brave over the last five years" - to stop the practice, but said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to close off the Strip was to blame.
Call me unsympathetic but given the fact that the average settler will walk away with over $300,000, not to mention all of the other financial support they received from the US and the Israeli government before the disengagement; I seriously doubt any real worries of being placed into a ghetto.
Under the plan, a couple with two children who have rented a home in a settlement for the past 15 years would receive $230,000. A similar family that owned a home would get about $300,000.
The amount is to be calculated on the basis of family size, property and length of residence in a settlement.
Families who own farmland or businesses or who agree to move to development zones in the Negev desert or the Galilee would receive extra money.
Palestenians who have had their homes destroyed in most cases have gotten nothing. So I'd say over all? The settlers have had a much better time of it, and will continue to do so after this is over, thanks to the US government and US citizens donations. Heck I'd be happy to move for $300,000, too bad there is no disengagement in Ohio.
:-)
Gooooodddddd morning blogosphere!!!!
Wake up! Or at least pretend to be awake, I wrote a piece about my opinion on some of the issues concerning Grand Theft Auto over at Watch Blog for those interested.
Following with interest the latest news that the fifth person involved in the London bombings has been arrested in Egypt, and some other stories for later in the day.
:-)
Following with interest the latest news that the fifth person involved in the London bombings has been arrested in Egypt, and some other stories for later in the day.
:-)
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Justices Who Defied Expectations
I found this and thought it was interesting enough to share,
By The Associated Press
Some of the Supreme Court justices who defied expectations of the presidents who appointed them:
_Oliver Wendell Holmes, appointed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, sided with businesses and voted against the president in a case challenging the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt reportedly said of Holmes afterward, "Out of a banana I could carve a firmer backbone."
_Felix Frankfurter, appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, became a strong advocate of judicial restraint, clashing with liberal members who sought an active court role in protecting minorities and monitoring fairness in the political process, such as legislative redistricting.
_Earl Warren, appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, presided as chief justice over a court that assaulted racial segregation, outlawed school prayer and expanded individual rights against arbitrary government searches.
_William Brennan, appointed by Eisenhower in 1956, became the liberal architect of the Warren Court's decisions, and later secured majorities supporting affirmative action and overturning flag-burning laws.
_Harry Blackmun, appointed by Republican Richard Nixon in 1970, became the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that women had a constitutional right to an abortion and later opposed the death penalty.
_John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford in 1975, became a leader of the court's more liberal bloc in pushing a strict line between church and state, greater federal authority over states and protecting abortion rights.
_Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a key swing vote in decisions promoting gay rights, barring prayer at school graduation and outlawing the death penalty for people who committed crimes as juveniles.
_David H. Souter, appointed by Republican George H.W. Bush in 1990, generally sides with the court's more liberal members in promoting abortion rights, upholding affirmative action and limiting use of the death penalty.
By The Associated Press
Some of the Supreme Court justices who defied expectations of the presidents who appointed them:
_Oliver Wendell Holmes, appointed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, sided with businesses and voted against the president in a case challenging the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt reportedly said of Holmes afterward, "Out of a banana I could carve a firmer backbone."
_Felix Frankfurter, appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, became a strong advocate of judicial restraint, clashing with liberal members who sought an active court role in protecting minorities and monitoring fairness in the political process, such as legislative redistricting.
_Earl Warren, appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, presided as chief justice over a court that assaulted racial segregation, outlawed school prayer and expanded individual rights against arbitrary government searches.
_William Brennan, appointed by Eisenhower in 1956, became the liberal architect of the Warren Court's decisions, and later secured majorities supporting affirmative action and overturning flag-burning laws.
_Harry Blackmun, appointed by Republican Richard Nixon in 1970, became the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that women had a constitutional right to an abortion and later opposed the death penalty.
_John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford in 1975, became a leader of the court's more liberal bloc in pushing a strict line between church and state, greater federal authority over states and protecting abortion rights.
_Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a key swing vote in decisions promoting gay rights, barring prayer at school graduation and outlawing the death penalty for people who committed crimes as juveniles.
_David H. Souter, appointed by Republican George H.W. Bush in 1990, generally sides with the court's more liberal members in promoting abortion rights, upholding affirmative action and limiting use of the death penalty.
Polygamy versus Abuse
Re-creating the original that was lost from earlier today.
As I read the news today I saw that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Warren Jeffs and the AG's of Arizona and Utah were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest/capture. He has been charged with performing at least one marriage ceremony where the girl was under the legal age of consent. Birth certificate records also show he has fathered two children by girls under the age of 18.
While I do not think the State or Federal government should interfere in the consenual relationships of adults, Polygamy in most cases is a different issue. First, there is some concern that these adult women are really consenting. Secondly, and the most disturbing part of this is when it involves minors. Children as young as age 11 have been married.
Most of these children and adult women feel as if they have no choice, they are placed in an environment where many have been raised outside of society. A good majority of them do not realize there are other options to them. Thanks to groups like Child Bride Org, some of them escape. Others manage to escape on their own.
What is equally troubling is this statement from the above linked news article.
Ben Bistline, a Colorado City resident who has chronicled the history of the FLDS church, said Jeffs could be hiding at a number of church-owned properties, including a new compound in the central Texas town of Eldorado.
"He'll never turn up voluntarily," he said. "They'll have to catch him."
Others believed any attempt to arrest Jeffs would end in bloodshed.
"His people are going to protect him with their lives," said Pam Black, a former FLDS member. "They love him, and they would give their lives for him."
As I read the news today I saw that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Warren Jeffs and the AG's of Arizona and Utah were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his arrest/capture. He has been charged with performing at least one marriage ceremony where the girl was under the legal age of consent. Birth certificate records also show he has fathered two children by girls under the age of 18.
While I do not think the State or Federal government should interfere in the consenual relationships of adults, Polygamy in most cases is a different issue. First, there is some concern that these adult women are really consenting. Secondly, and the most disturbing part of this is when it involves minors. Children as young as age 11 have been married.
Most of these children and adult women feel as if they have no choice, they are placed in an environment where many have been raised outside of society. A good majority of them do not realize there are other options to them. Thanks to groups like Child Bride Org, some of them escape. Others manage to escape on their own.
What is equally troubling is this statement from the above linked news article.
Ben Bistline, a Colorado City resident who has chronicled the history of the FLDS church, said Jeffs could be hiding at a number of church-owned properties, including a new compound in the central Texas town of Eldorado.
"He'll never turn up voluntarily," he said. "They'll have to catch him."
Others believed any attempt to arrest Jeffs would end in bloodshed.
"His people are going to protect him with their lives," said Pam Black, a former FLDS member. "They love him, and they would give their lives for him."
My fear as expressed here and in comments from earlier is that this could potentially end up being another Waco situation. Also that in some ways Warren Jeffs reminded me of Jim Jones and I hope this situation has a better outcome than both of those.
Me4President commented on the earlier thread that went *poof*:
From watching about this guy on that damned Dr Phil show with me wife, I think you could throw out the polygamy and he would still be scum.
Women as property, boys tossed out to improve odds of multiple wives, and underage girls forced to marry.I would hope that bloodshed could be avoided, but at some point they have to weigh the risks of inaction and letting more people getting sucked in and violence. Besides, if he was a true leader who believed that God was on his side, he would turn himself in and let God protect him.
Brew stated:
I think me hit on the real core of all this - the guys we're talking about here are just scum and the polygamy is probably just a symptom of that scumishness.
I kinda of go off on a tangent when someone tells me they're opposed to same sex marriage because it'll lead to, amongst other things, polygamy. I can't quite figure out why we as a society should really care as Lisa said, about the living arrangements of consenting adults. Even more so if that practice falls under an individuals first amendment rights - which it probably could in saner climes than Jeffs & Co's nutjob "compounds".
See? Tangent!
I seriously hope we don't have another Waco on our hands.
Then me4president stated:
I agree that it is the people and not the polygamy that screw stuff up. Maybe there are some women happy in polygamous relationships. It is not for me. I get in enough trouble with one wife.
I would be killed with multiples.I don't care who marries whom as long as they are both doing so of their own will and of age. If there is love, regardless of the individuals involved, what could be more pro-family?
(There is one extra advantage of being notified by email when comments come, that way if something like that happens? I can recreate them so they don't have to repost them)
:-)
Well that was not fun...
Yes things look strange, I didn't realize by simply getting rid of the whole "want more" code it would basically take out everything - lol
It's not lost just not all the way fixed so...
Now would be a good time to state the following...
We are presently experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by....
:-)
Okay, somewhat back to normal but my piece on Warren Jeffs seems to have not survived. I won't be trying that again soon - lol
It's not lost just not all the way fixed so...
Now would be a good time to state the following...
We are presently experiencing technical difficulties, please stand by....
:-)
Okay, somewhat back to normal but my piece on Warren Jeffs seems to have not survived. I won't be trying that again soon - lol
Slacktivism versus Activism
All hands on keyboards! Act now! Forward this! Sign this! Almost every day I am greeted with this type of email message, and it can be seen on quite a few of the blogs out there these days.
First for those of you asking what exactly is slacktivism?
Activism that seeks projects and causes that require the least amount of effort.
How did all of this begin? In 1995, two students at the University of Northern Colorado circulated by e-mail a petition to rally people to protest government cutbacks in PBS, National Public Radio and the arts. In order to ensure it reached as many people as possible, it included the words, "Forward this to everyone you know." Newsday, February 27, 2001
A recent report from Congress provides this interesting information:
The report, based on a survey of 202 House and Senate offices, found that Congress received 200 million e-mail and postal mail messages in 2004, four times the 50 million total in 1995. During that period, postal mail dropped sharply, from 50 million a decade ago to about 18 million last year.
After the anthrax incident in letters sent to the Capitol shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, emails became even more preferred by Congress as well. Since then, all letters addressed to Congress and government agencies in Washington are required to go through a testing and decontamination process, which delays delivery by a week or more.
This means thanks to the increase in the email forward action type requests in reality what we have created is a situation where the email has become less effective. Congress and the media and other recipients of these forwards know how few seconds were taken to do this. Especially when they get a few hundred of the exact same email to the exact same recipients, subject line? Exactly the same. We are encouraged to email by not only Congress but the Media because it makes it easier for them to ignore us. If you are lucky, your only response is a thank you for writing your thoughts are very important to us, have a nice day, type form email response.
What do we do? Stop contacting them? Or find ways to do so that are still not that difficult and are more effective. Phone calls are more effective than emails; letters are more effective than emails. Emails should be a last resort and then as personal as possible so it is actually….read. With the additional steps necessary for letters, a phone call is your best option, followed by a letter or an email reminding them of the issue you called about and who you spoke to or the message that you left. That gets responses. Which means? Someone listened. When you get a response or action from one of these contacts, thank them. People like to feel appreciated and even if you did not get the desired action, the next time you might.
This is especially important when contacting the media. It’s better to take the time to concentrate on a few sources and get a response than a blanket mass emailing that will most probably end up in the recycle bin. A real life petition with actual human signatures is going to get you more attention than an online one with more signatures. Some of you are going to say that is just common sense, but it is becoming lost in the rush for the immediate response that does not result in an immediate action.
A recent example is the situation with Leonard Clark, who is a soldier in Iraq who is under investigation related to his declaring his Senate candidacy, as well topics written on his blog while in the Military. It was stated on the internet thru blogs that he had been arrested. Some blogs called for a mass emailing of all media. Yet, I discovered thru my time with just a few concentrated media efforts in his area that there was no proof he was under arrest nor was there any stateside media contact that could answer questions on the record. Now we know he is no longer under arrest. It had nothing to do with the email mailings, he was already not under arrest before it even started, but this was hailed by a few as proof of how mass email things work. It did demonstrate that there were people interested in this story, which might make it one the media will follow more closely in the future, but it did not release Leonard Clark.
The next time you see one of these requests? If it is an important issue to you; make the choice to be an activist. Leave the slacktivism for the others.
First for those of you asking what exactly is slacktivism?
Activism that seeks projects and causes that require the least amount of effort.
How did all of this begin? In 1995, two students at the University of Northern Colorado circulated by e-mail a petition to rally people to protest government cutbacks in PBS, National Public Radio and the arts. In order to ensure it reached as many people as possible, it included the words, "Forward this to everyone you know." Newsday, February 27, 2001
A recent report from Congress provides this interesting information:
The report, based on a survey of 202 House and Senate offices, found that Congress received 200 million e-mail and postal mail messages in 2004, four times the 50 million total in 1995. During that period, postal mail dropped sharply, from 50 million a decade ago to about 18 million last year.
After the anthrax incident in letters sent to the Capitol shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, emails became even more preferred by Congress as well. Since then, all letters addressed to Congress and government agencies in Washington are required to go through a testing and decontamination process, which delays delivery by a week or more.
This means thanks to the increase in the email forward action type requests in reality what we have created is a situation where the email has become less effective. Congress and the media and other recipients of these forwards know how few seconds were taken to do this. Especially when they get a few hundred of the exact same email to the exact same recipients, subject line? Exactly the same. We are encouraged to email by not only Congress but the Media because it makes it easier for them to ignore us. If you are lucky, your only response is a thank you for writing your thoughts are very important to us, have a nice day, type form email response.
What do we do? Stop contacting them? Or find ways to do so that are still not that difficult and are more effective. Phone calls are more effective than emails; letters are more effective than emails. Emails should be a last resort and then as personal as possible so it is actually….read. With the additional steps necessary for letters, a phone call is your best option, followed by a letter or an email reminding them of the issue you called about and who you spoke to or the message that you left. That gets responses. Which means? Someone listened. When you get a response or action from one of these contacts, thank them. People like to feel appreciated and even if you did not get the desired action, the next time you might.
This is especially important when contacting the media. It’s better to take the time to concentrate on a few sources and get a response than a blanket mass emailing that will most probably end up in the recycle bin. A real life petition with actual human signatures is going to get you more attention than an online one with more signatures. Some of you are going to say that is just common sense, but it is becoming lost in the rush for the immediate response that does not result in an immediate action.
A recent example is the situation with Leonard Clark, who is a soldier in Iraq who is under investigation related to his declaring his Senate candidacy, as well topics written on his blog while in the Military. It was stated on the internet thru blogs that he had been arrested. Some blogs called for a mass emailing of all media. Yet, I discovered thru my time with just a few concentrated media efforts in his area that there was no proof he was under arrest nor was there any stateside media contact that could answer questions on the record. Now we know he is no longer under arrest. It had nothing to do with the email mailings, he was already not under arrest before it even started, but this was hailed by a few as proof of how mass email things work. It did demonstrate that there were people interested in this story, which might make it one the media will follow more closely in the future, but it did not release Leonard Clark.
The next time you see one of these requests? If it is an important issue to you; make the choice to be an activist. Leave the slacktivism for the others.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Ketchup...
No this is not some secret attempt to bring John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry into being discussed. It's been a hectic day and then I started working on another article for Watch Blog, (not posted yet) so to give myself a break from that, I started thinking as I made myself something to eat.
Who else eats Ketchup on their scrambled eggs? My children freak out when I do, but that's how I enjoy them. Then of course I started to think of where did ketchup come from? Who invented it? Is it really Ketchup or Catsup?
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, those of you who also want to know the history of something I feel life would not be complete without can visit here:
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/sleuth/0799/
I was amazed to discover there was psychological side to ketchup - lol:
If you want to learn the more about a person, look no further than how they pour their ketchup. From dippers and squirters, to sprinklers and smotherers, psychologist Donna Dawson has identified seven "sauciological" types.
Those who dunk into a well of ketchup are methodical and trustworthy. But they may also be control freaks who are afraid of change. Ambitious people splodge their sauce in the middle of their food. Creative types squirt and swirl their sauce in thin lines. But deep down they are impatient and do not tolerate fools or time wasting. Those who dot their ketchup are friendly, but live conservatively and dream of adventure holidays. Smotherers are the life and soul of the party, while artists who draw faces and words on their food have an easy-going approach to life. And gourmets who keep ketchup in a cruet appear charming, but deep down may be snobbish social charmers.
I left you a hint as to which one I am...
:-)
Who else eats Ketchup on their scrambled eggs? My children freak out when I do, but that's how I enjoy them. Then of course I started to think of where did ketchup come from? Who invented it? Is it really Ketchup or Catsup?
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, those of you who also want to know the history of something I feel life would not be complete without can visit here:
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/sleuth/0799/
I was amazed to discover there was psychological side to ketchup - lol:
If you want to learn the more about a person, look no further than how they pour their ketchup. From dippers and squirters, to sprinklers and smotherers, psychologist Donna Dawson has identified seven "sauciological" types.
Those who dunk into a well of ketchup are methodical and trustworthy. But they may also be control freaks who are afraid of change. Ambitious people splodge their sauce in the middle of their food. Creative types squirt and swirl their sauce in thin lines. But deep down they are impatient and do not tolerate fools or time wasting. Those who dot their ketchup are friendly, but live conservatively and dream of adventure holidays. Smotherers are the life and soul of the party, while artists who draw faces and words on their food have an easy-going approach to life. And gourmets who keep ketchup in a cruet appear charming, but deep down may be snobbish social charmers.
I left you a hint as to which one I am...
:-)
