Based upon our responsibilities under the law [shariah] and for the sparing of Iraki blood and for the protection of the reputability of the Iraqi people, and for their unity both in terms of people and in terms of territory, and in preparation for its independence and liberation from the armies of oppression; and in order to put out the fires of fitna which the occupier and his followers wish to keep burning between Iraki brothers, we call upon the beloved Iraki people to measure up to their responsibility and their cognisance of law in sparing bloodshed and preserving peace in Irak, and its stability and independence.
The following is resolved:
1. Ending armed manifestations in Basra governorate and all the other governorates.
2. Ending of attacks and illegal arbitrary detentions.
3. Demand that the government apply the law on general amnesty, and release all prisoners who have not had charges confirmed against them, in particular prisoners belonging to the Sadrist current.
4. We announce that we will repudiate those who carry weapons and target the government and service agencies and institutions, or the offices of political parties.
5. Cooperation with government agencies to bring about security and to charge criminals, according to due process of law.
6. We reassert that the Sadrist movement does not possess heavy weapons.
7. Efforts [meaningful efforts are to be made] for the return to their residential areas of those who were forced out as a result of security incidents.
8. We demand respect for human rights by the government in all of its security activities.
9. Working [meaningful efforts are to be made] towards the realisation of development and service projects in all governorates.
“President Bush delivered the first pitch tonight at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to a resounding chorus of boos. After being announced, Bush was showered by boos as he strode to the mound. Even after delivering the pitch, the jeering did not let up until Bush disappeared from the field.”
******
What’s the matter, King George? You didn’t get your normal by-invitation-only audience?
From the Top Ten Conservative Idiots — Number 6 — Dick Cheney
Two weeks ago, Dick Cheney was informed that the vast majority of Americans disagree with the war in Iraq. His response:
So?
Last week Dick Cheney was informed that the 4,000th U.S. troop had been killed in Iraq. His response:
…we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.
Or in other words, hey, they volunteered, suck it up. Cheney continued, “A lot of men and women sign up because sometimes they will see developments. For example, 9/11 stimulated a lot of folks to volunteer for the military because they wanted to be involved in defending the country.”
It sure did. Take Sgt. Lazaro Arocha, for example, who joined the Marines the day after 9/11.
AROCHA: These terrorists are, you know, attacking our country, you know, especially my city, you know? I was, like, holy smokes, you know, right, right in — you know, right in the Big Apple. I was like, no way, man, that this isn’t the way it’s going to be.
I started hating an enemy I didn’t know, you know, existed, right? I didn’t know who these people were. I didn’t know they had a face. I didn’t know anything. I wanted to, you know, look them in the eye.
But if Sgt. Arocha didn’t know who he was fighting the day he joined the Marines, Dick Cheney would soon spell it out for him.
CHENEY: If we’re successful in Iraq, if we can stand up a good representative government in Iraq, that secures the region so that it never again becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it’s not pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it’s not a safe haven for terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.
And so it was with pride in his heart that Sgt. Arocha got his chance to fight the very people who organized the 9/11 attacks.
AROCHA: I was 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. And we wound up going to Iraq twice. We went into Fallujah in November 2004. And the fighting there was — it was very intense.
(snip)
And, sometimes, these guys that — they’re kids. You know, they’re like 15, 16 years old. And you’re looking at them, like, wow, you know?
You want to try your best not to have to, you know, use, you know, lethal force. You know, if it’s possible, sure, you know? But, if it isn’t, if it comes down to, if it’s going to be him or me, then it’s going to have to be — you know?
He wanted to look into the eyes of the people who attacked his city in 2001, and three years later he was killing 15-year-olds in Iraq.
But hey, he volunteered - right Dick?
Meanwhile Cheney was spelling out exactly who was carrying the biggest load in all of this. Not the soldiers or their families, and certainly not the Iraqi people. Oh no.
“The president carries the biggest burden, obviously,” Cheney said. “He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans.”
The Minnesota Republican has introduced the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act.” The legislation would repeal the national phase-out of conventional incandescent light bulbs.
Bachmann said the government shouldn’t tell people what kinds of light bulbs they can use.
*****
Because gays can’t get married, kids can’t get birth control, and you can’t smoke pot for your cancer symptoms, but BY GOD! Republicans draw the line on limiting personal freedom in which lightbulb you have to use.
To: John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign
We the undersigned taxpayers and citizens of the United States of America, do hereby make claim to be defrauded of a fair election process that appropriately used public funding. To wit, we assert that Senator John McCain has violated the intent and purpose of the public financing system for presidential contestants. We further assert that this constitutes a breach of existing codified law, as well as established ethics.
“Because gays can’t get married, kids can’t get birth control, and you can’t smoke pot for your cancer symptoms, but BY GOD! Republicans draw the line on limiting personal freedom in which lightbulb you have to use.”
———–
Don’t forget about the wonderful regs on how much water your toilet can use. Ah government… What will they think of next?
Be sure to put a brick in your toilet if you have one of those water hog toilets that you only have to flush once.
Cap’n, as a tree hugger for nearly 40 years, I still find a need for incandescents. Have you tried lighting a flourescent bulb on your porch in that 20 degree and lower temperatures? Sure if you have 10 minutes to wait for it to come up to lumens, but if you don’t, take a white cane or tumble down the steps.
Be sure to put a brick in your toilet if you have one of those water hog toilets that you only have to flush once.
Doesn’t everyone have a gallon milk jug in their toilet tank? Actually, on 3rd shift, I find it easier to just use the outside–we’re out of town anyway. And making sure I hit the same rock, the wildlife thanks me for the salt lick.
WTF, the comments on yesterday’s open thread are already closed? Nice work guys.
I was trying to post this regarding the discussion of sharing heaven with the devotees of wingnuttia.
HA! JR and Clark! I was watching the movie “Latter Days” last night. About a gay Mormon boy. The older woman who rescued him said “your church doesnt like alcohol or homosexuals. I cant imagine heaven without both!”
heheheheheh. Or as Billy Joel said “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun, and only the good die young.”
Ok, on my way to the Quinter sale barn for lunch and livestock. The lady who runs the sale barn cafe makes the BEST chocolate pie in the world. No kidding.
Gee, do ya think that has anything to do with the ethanol builder going bankrupt? (see business section)
Most of the farmers I know say the cost of inputs for the next crop is so high the record grain prices ALMOST offset. Many of them are cutting back on planting corn and going for more milo and wheat, or beans as is mentioned in the article.
Sounds like the fed is trying to make a power grab and regulate industries which had no involvement in the current crisis. I don’t think the current problem came from the insurance industry for example.
PoliMom, that’s the 2nd reference I’ve seen of threads getting shut down. I don’t even look at the blog on the weekends. If I’m not catching up on domestics, I’m catching up on sleep.
I’m not sure why the threads are shut down. I’m also not sure why some racist idiot named “Rev. Wright” was allowed to choke his chitlins all over yesterday’s open thread.
If I stated that I believed Caucasians to be innately superior to African Americans, I’d be f–king flayed alive. (I don’t believe that, by the way - just so we’re clear.)
The “Rev.” sort of ticked me off - so I asked him a question. But I guess I don’t deserve an answer, seein’ as how I’m an “inferior” honk-aye and all……………
It would appear that there are a few Hays-Americans on this Blog. May I please ask - is Hays still the morbidly conservative (think to the far right of the Pope) enclave in which I was born and raised?
Where a very high-ranking faculty member at FHSU asked his confessor if he could “kill his daughter for having premarital sex?” Where said professor could try to fire an employee for living with her fiancee days before marriage? Where young, pregnant girls were automatically expelled for “being a disgrace and a scandal to the other, hymenally-holier-than-thou students?”
Goodness - I sure hope things have changed somewhat since those dark days. The fresh winds of Vatican II finally blew into town in the late 1970’s, I’m proud to say. One of my family members became firmly pro-life by 1978, and owing to her efforts, I believe that pregnant girls are no longer ostracized at the high schools in Hays. Sister Louise, one of the ugliest men, er, women, er, whatever the heck she was, was shipped back to Fond Du Lac decades ago - never to return. Father J., my former confessor, actually disciplined several of the local right-to-life zealots for their extremist behavior.
And that FHSU prof? He croaked last summer, not that I f–king care. No word yet on what “God” said to him about his homicidal inclinations toward his daughter in 1975………
Simpler plan. Let the banks fail. They bought unsound notes. Their bad. See ya.
Let the houses be foreclosed. The buyers signed without knowing what they signed. Their bad. See ya.
Maybe next time they both will pay more attention. The only way for them to learn is to hurt, badly, from their mistake. To bail them out tells them “It’s ok honey. Your nanny government will take care of your boo-boos.” And send them off to do the same thing again.
We need a good purging in the bank industry anyway.
1. BANKS weren’t wrighting the loans, unregulated “mortgage brokers” did.
2. Do you like your job? I ask this simply because you libertarians - CONs seem to think that you can massive economic upheaval, the real estate market crumble like feet of clay, and that’s not going to affect you or your family.
Is your job recession-proof, your wife’s, your children’s etc.?
The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the nation’s hodgepodge of financial regulatory agencies, which many experts say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until after they set off what is now the worst financial calamity in decades — from Sol’s site.
I watched pundit after pundit on Bloomberg warning that the housing price gains were not sustainable, and that many sub-prime loans would result eventually in foreclosures. Everyone knew it was coming, but as long as the bubble made Bush look good, no one was going to step in.
Could this be an unintended consequence of farm “policy”?
You should know kansas farm girl. Look out your window; is the grass being plowed up in Trego country? Not around here, it ain’t. I doubt if this is a serious trend yet. Anyway, there’s about a gazillion unfarmed acres in this country capable of growing something, at least for a while. Think what a herd of Mexican gardeners could do with the road ditches in a typical Kansas county. If they’ll grow six foot weeds, they’ll grow corn, or vegetables, or potatoes.
Hillary’s Hoodwink
Posted March 31, 2008 | 12:33 PM (EST)
I finally understand why Hillary Clinton is obsessed with health insurance mandates. As a blog over at the Baltimore Sun is reporting, the Clinton campaign failed to pay its health insurance premiums for months, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to its providers.
The deadbeat campaign is nearly $9 million in debt. It’s left a string of unpaid bills all over the country, from Ohio to Iowa. This has put a real-world hurt on the small businesses her campaign has hoodwinked.
When Clinton drops out, does she intend to pay off these campaign debts? Or should these business owners also pay a price for her continuing vanity campaign? Is this the kind of fiscal responsibility you’d get in a Hillary Clinton White House?
She’d pass a law to force you to buy health insurance. Yet she won’t pay any of her own bills.
Kerry: Clinton Health Care Proposal Is a ‘Nonstarter’
By RUSSELL BERMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
March 31, 2008
WASHINGTON — A senior Democratic lawmaker says Senator Clinton’s proposed health care mandate would be a “nonstarter” in the Senate, ratchetting up the rhetoric on an issue that once united Democrats.
The criticism from Senator Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, of the core element of Mrs. Clinton’s domestic platform signals a sharper intraparty divide over health care policy heading into the fall.
“Clinton has stated that her plan will cost $110 billion in total.”
I guess Hillary has a money tree out back just ripe for the plucking! And in the next breath she talks about the terrible national debt Bush has racked up.
A cap on health insurance premiums at 10% would mean if you make $10,000, your cap would be $1,000.
But if you make $100,000, your cap would be $10,000?
Am I reading this right? Automatically, this would lead to those with the ability to pay, paying MORE, to subsidize the poor.
That would make retirement sooner for me. We are saving now to cover the additional costs due to the expected high cost of healthcare. With this plan, we can retire sooner. Lower my income, and let the middle class pay my way.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need…. Karl Marx.
Songbird, I seriously doubt that things are still as bad as you remember in Hays. Remember, I left before you did, but I get up from time to time. I can remember partying with my nephew and his friends about a decade after your time in the area, and it seemed a lot more relaxed. At least many of their friends were in the habit of cohabitation.
(and you thought a bad habit was what Sister Louise wore)
Wait a minute Max. I think they are going to trick phuck us here. Lower healthcare premiums would be offset with the proposal to increase Social Security age to 75….
Besides, there is still that pesky deductible to worry about. But if Clinton garnishes pay to fulfill the premium, maybe she can do that for the deductible portion of each of our healthcare bills too.
“The Federal Reserve, a quasi-government entity, should not be creating money or determining interest rates, as this causes malinvestment and excessive debt to accumulate. Centrally planned, government manipulated economies always fail eventually. The collapse of communism and the failure of socialism should have made this apparent. Even the most educated, well-intentioned central planners cannot plan the market better than the market itself. Those that understand economics best, understand this reality.
In free markets, both success and failure are options. If government interventions prevent businesses, like Bear Stearns, from failing, then it is not truly a free market. As painful as it might be for Wall Street, banks, even big ones, must be allowed to fail.
The end game for this policy of monetary inflation is that the money in your bank account loses purchasing power. So, by keeping failing banks afloat, the Fed punishes those who have lived frugally and saved. The power to create money is a power that should never be granted to government. As we can plainly see today, the Fed has abused this power, and taxpayers are paying the price.”
Before they trick phuck us AmWay, with bait for free healthcare - then garnishing pay and bank accounts, they will need to take our guns.
Before they trick us into allowing the Federal Reserve to completely control our economy and money supply and interest rates, and credit availability, they will need to take our guns.
Before they trick us into allowing the Federal Reserve to completely control our economy and money supply and interest rates, and credit availability, …
Ghoti: Hays could be - and can be - a great place to live. Provided you don’t have a uterus and you weren’t living there in the mid-seventies. But the crime rate was virtually non-existent - something I remain grateful for.
But you must understand my palpable horror: I have such awful memories. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve been able to travel home to see my folks and my splendid steppuppy without puking my guts out from the flashbacks. (not acid flashbacks, either…)
If any filmmaker wishes to make a pre-quel to “2001: A Space (Cadet’s) Odyssey” - he could probably interview me. Me and any number of women who were under the spell of a red-haired retardate (and reprobate). There were several similarities to the Manson case - without the murder and the group sex. (The coitus-nondescriptus with “Charlie” was unmemorable enough for one lifetime…..)
I mean, here I was: A former straight-A student who (briefly) turned into one of the Manson women. Now, that’s fairly startling. The facts surrounding this dreadful individual (my ex) are gory and gratuitous: When he was 13, he briefly dated a local married woman. When her awfully bedded hubbie found out, he killed himself. My ex then dumped his old lady paramour. It’s not many little fellows who impregnate half a dozen young girls before he’s out of his teens.
It was like some ghastly urban legend.
Hell, maybe I should write my own screenplay, embarrass the crap out of this s–theap and make a ton of dough. Then I could retire to the Bahamas with a manservant and a state-of-the-art stereo system.
Yes, yes - Hays was quite the utopian idyll. (Not.) I’m glad it wasn’t horrifying for you, though. I would never claim that the world begins and ends with me. Even if “Charlie” did.
I do, but she’s at work right now.
8^b~~
________________________________________
It’s not many little fellows who impregnate half a dozen young girls before he’s out of his teens
There’s a guy living in my town now that has about 30 and isn’t out of his 20s. I know he has 13 from 3 different women, and a couple with many other women each. I just figure when he scratches his ankle it’s because his head itches.
(ok, I’m jealous!)
_________________________________
Hays has it’s cliques, and if you’re not in one, you’ll never get into one. The only reason my experience wasn’t horrifying is because I opted to drop out. I just went my own way.
gotiphaze:About those enviornmental friendly light bulbs. The new bulbs contain mercury a highly toxic substance banned everywhere, and nobody has figured out what to do with millions that will eventually be discarded. If you smash/drop one you have to be very, very careful to use rubber gloves and do not touch the debris and wear a mask while doing the clean up. Then you have no legal way to dispose of the debris and the gloves! I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t a bit of a marketing ploy about these new bulbs and their supposed reduction in energy usage. The later hasn’t been proven in general use as yet.
You mean you’re a kept man, Ghoti????? Does your wife respect you in the morning?
Just kidding…
Thirty kids? Does this dude know what “birth control” and/or “restraint” mean? Sheesh! Someone needs to neuter that nimrod - right this minute!
But my own memories are still horrifying. I still remember that cold, rainy evening in February 1975 when I returned home after my (positive) pregnancy test. I walked in the door, sat down - and two minutes later the phone rang.
One of my 11th-grade classmates was on the line, and she wished to inform me that she had spoken to my ex the previous evening at The Pub - then one of Hays’ premier drinking establishments for the young, illiterate, inbred and untamed. “It was kinda gross,” she said. “(My ex) was laughing about a rumor he heard about you. He heard you had tried to kill yourself because he had broken up with you. And he was LAUGHING. It was sorta sick in a way.”
“No s–t, Mary Poppins”, I wanted to say. Before I could end the call, said classmate chimed in with this gem: “Now that you two are no longer together, do you think he’d go out with me?”
I s–t you not - things like this happened every day during the early months of ‘75. Scores of young girls were attracted to him. Scores of young girls disdained him for his promiscuity - but his looks were a magic shield.
At least, they USED to be.
By the summer of 1982, I had just returned from several months of living in California. My ex had moved to Topeka, but he returned home for a friend’s wedding. I happened to drive by St. Joseph’s Church as the wedding party was exiting, and I caught a glimpse of the d—–bag standing on the steps.
Far from the stunning stoner of yore, by now it had a burgeoning beer belly and the same insipid, vapid countenance it always had. By now I was smart enough to discern it. As he stood on those steps with the same insolent, careless veneer he had exuded 8 years before, I hurried on over to St. Mary’s Church, got down on my knees, and thanked God and anyone else who could possibly be holy for his absence from my lucky-lucky life.
But I gotta tell ya: When you’re 16, newly pregnant and experiencing the agonies of romantic rejection for the first time, it’s f–king FREA-KAYE to hear about yer ex laughin’ at yer purported suicide (a rumor that was untrue, anyway). And that isn’t the totality of his degeneracy.
I’m tellin’ ya - if Steven Spielberg, David Geffen or the ghost of Louis B. Mayer wants to make a sci-fi flick any time soon, I and many other newly-intelligent women could probably provide ample fodder…………..
The new bulbs contain mercury a highly toxic substance banned everywhere
I figure I’m a lost cause on that, anyway. As a kid I’d pass handfuls of mercury from one hand to the other. It really looks neat when you miss and it ‘explodes’ on the floor. In the old days we never gave much thought to mercury exposure, and now it’s too late.
Lots of people (of both genders) are bad people. We are all sinners, certainly. None of us is perfect. But…..
My ex was something else again.
Neither my brother, my father, my uncle, my cousins, or any other male I observed behaved with the s–t-shoveling scumbaggery that my ex did. None of them. Not even close. Even among the dissolute - he was in a class by himself.
It demeans me to repeat several facets of his behavior. In the fall of 2004, I met with an Episcopalian priest, whose little nose turned green at some of the things I related. And I used great discretion and dignity. I mean, he didn’t know the half of it. And I thought the dude was gonna faint dead away.
But the priest did say one valuable thing, though: “The people who would have thrown you into the wilderness (when I was pregnant) have no moral capital when it comes to your abortion,” he declared. He, personally, was opposed to abortion. But he exuded a measure of truth and compassion nonetheless.
Dude, please. Men are not innately evil. Some choose to be evil. But not many of ‘em are an unsettling combination of Sean Penn in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, Al Pacino in “Scarface” (”say hello to my leetle friend!!”), Larry Flynt in the worst (actually, any) part of “Hustler”, and King Nero, who fiddled himself while Rome burned.
Sheesh - and people wonder why I was (briefly) addicted to opiate painkillers………
in 2000 and 2001, McCain gave serious consideration to jumping from the Republican party to become a Democrat. He discussed the hows, and etc. with Tom Daschale.
So, does that mean our choices in ‘08 are a conservative democrat (McCain), a moderate Democrat (Clinton) or a progressive Democrat (Obama). Looks that way to me.
Capt, you are on top of your game today huh? Anyway, I still remember hearing the Congressman arguing for the Banning of SUV from the nation’s highways. WHY? Because in a crash the occupants of the SUV were twice as likely to survive. Compared to the occupants of cheaply made and flimsy imports and American made small compacts! No he could not argue for better standards in cars, he was arguing too many people survived in the better made cars! I thought what’s next a federal law that requires the all Bulldozers have the keys left in them with plain and clear instructions on how to start them!
There’s a DNA test you can have done now that will tell you the linage of your ‘barn dog’! It ain’t cheep, but I have a rescue dog that I’m a little curious about.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A sex offender recently freed from prison was arrested in the death of a woman abducted while visiting a friend, police said Monday. The friend was shot and seriously wounded.
The body of MaryEllen Welsh, 62, was found in a wooded area of Bristol, about 10 miles from New Britain, where she was abducted Sunday. She had apparently been shot, New Britain police said.
She was visiting a friend Sunday morning when someone broke into the house, Sgt. Darren Pearson said. The friend, identified as Carol Larese, 65, was badly wounded but was expected to recover
Police: Pizza man turns tables on thief
By JACQUELINE LEE • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • March 29, 2008
An armed pizza deliveryman told Des Moines police that he shot a man who tried to rob him at gunpoint Thursday night outside a south-side apartment building.
When officers arrived at the Sutton Hill Apartments, 2100 S.E. King Ave., the pizza man, James William Spiers, 38, had both handguns, and the wounded robber had fled empty-handed.
The suspect, Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, was arrested when he later called for medical help. Jimmerson was hospitalized Friday with multiple gunshot wounds and faces a charge of first-degree robbery.
Melanie Stout, 18, who allegedly placed the pizza order, was arrested for conspiracy.
Spiers, who has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, escaped injury, although his bosses at Pizza Hut suspended him Friday until police sort out the details of the Thursday-night incident.
“We have policy against carrying weapons,” said Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut’s corporate offices in Dallas. “We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody.”
1. We have drivers out in your neighborhood.
2. All by themselves.
3. Unarmed and defenseless.
4. Carrying CASH!
5. And PIZZA!
So if you are hungry, and need some free cash, just look for the brightly lit Pizza Hut sign on top of the delivery car in a neighborhood near you! And if you don’t see one, just call and order a pizza! They will come right to your door bearing cash AND pizza! (Might as well take their car too!)
Police say young burglars had loaded guns
Posted by Tom Gantert | The Ann Arbor News March 31, 2008 09:33AM
By TOM GANTERT
The Ann Arbor News
Three Ann Arbor teenage boys suspected of breaking into two homes were carrying loaded guns and a knife when found on the street and arrested early this morning, city police said.
Lt. Mike Logghe said the three teens, ranging in age from 14 to 17, are suspected of breaking in to homes on the 3000 block of Platt Road and Champagne Drive at about 2:30 a.m. today. Police were called and found the suspects walking on about a quarter-mile away with stolen property.
Two of the boys were carrying guns and the third had a knife, Logghe said.
“That’s scary,” Logghe said. “Not only could the homeowners be seriously injured, but also the arresting officers confronting them on the street not knowing they were armed.”
The boys were held in the Ann Arbor police station and are awaiting arraignment on Tuesday. Logghe said their parents hadn’t been contacted as of 7 a.m. today.
At 2:30 a.m., police were called by a resident who was returning home to her home on Platt Road and saw a light on in a bedroom. When she pulled into the driveway, she noticed the garage door had been kicked in. She called police, who searched the premises and found nothing.
About 30 minutes later, a man who lives on Champagne Drive called police and said he awoke to find three people in his bedroom. When the three people realized he was awake, they fled.
Logghe said police found the three suspects about a quarter mile down the road. When police searched the teenagers, they found the weapons.
I figure I’m a lost cause on that, anyway. As a kid I’d pass handfuls of mercury from one hand to the other. It really looks neat when you miss and it ‘explodes’ on the floor. In the old days we never gave much thought to mercury exposure, and now it’s too late.
You could drink elemental mercury and not be harmed, ghot. It passes through the body unchanged and unabsorbed. There is a small possibility that it can get hung up somewhere in the digestive tract, which is another story.
HEALTH CARE REFORM TO CONFERENCE
This week, legislators from the Kansas Senate and House are expected to meet in Conference Committee to make a pivotal decision about health reform in our state. If they come to a negotiated agreement, the two houses may vote later this week.
Active discussion about health reform in Kansas started in November last year with the release of the 21 health reform recommendations developed by the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KPHA). Those recommendations were the result of conversations with hundreds of health care consumers, advocates, and providers across Kansas and were designed to transform the Kansas health system, lower health care costs, and make Kansas a healthier state. During this session, health reform was debated in the legislature and a thoughtful compromise bill emerged from the Kansas House of Representatives, resulting in House substitute for SB 81. The compromise encompassed many of the KHPA’s original 21 recommendations. Last week, a bipartisan coalition in the House played an important role in advancing a compromise health reform bill. Action next week in Conference Committee could result in meaningful Kansas health reform if the House compromise provisions are included in the final bill.
Important elements of the House health reform bill that will be debated by House and Senate conferees next week include:
? Providing first year funding for Premium Assistance, a new private health insurance program for very low income Kansans; ? Expanding opportunities for employees and employers to take advantage of Section 125 plans, which allow employees to purchase health insurance with pre-tax dollars; ? Expanding cancer screenings and providing dental coverage and tobacco cessation assistance for pregnant women; ? Expanding Medicaid to pregnant women from 150% of the Federal Poverty Level to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level ($35,200 for a family of 3); ? Increasing coordination of health care through statewide community health records and establishing “medical homes” for Kansans.
SENATE TAKES ON THE BOARD OF HEALING ARTS
Some Senators are fed up with what they have called a slow response to concerns about doctors such as Haysville osteopath Stephen Schneider, who is accused of over prescribing pain killers for many patients. The Senate Friday asked, in a non binding resolution, that the board that disciplines doctors remove its executive director and legal counsel.
“Clearly they have failed to do their job,” said Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita. “Clearly they are standing over that agency in a pool of innocent human blood.” Wagle’s resolution passed the Senate unanimously. She said she hoped a change in leadership would make the Board of Healing Arts more effective in investigating and disciplining doctors.
One of the targets of the resolution, board executive director Larry Buening, said further action would be up to the board. Board president Betty McBride said she’d always found the board staff to be efficient and professional. She said, however, that the board probably will meet next week to discuss the resolution. The board’s performance came under scrutiny after a federal grand jury alleged that Schneider had over prescribed dangerous pain medications that contributed to the overdose deaths of 56 patients. The board began receiving complaints about Schneider as early as 2004 from patients’ families and police reports.
It filed a petition against Schneider in May 2006, asking a judge to discipline him. It did not temporarily suspend his license until Jan.
29 of this year, after the doctor was arrested.
Once they started hearing testimony about the Schneider case, more people began to come forward with complaints about the board. “We’ve talked to people whose lives have been shattered and ruined because the Board of Healing Arts didn’t do their job,” Wagle said. The Legislature, including Wagle’s committee on health care strategies, has been discussing HB 2620, aimed at pushing the board investigate and discipline doctors.
House Bill 2620 would:
? Order the board to post a searchable database on its Web site by July 2010 of all doctors with a Kansas license.
? Bar doctors from having sex with their patients.
? Allow the board to discipline a doctor after one case of negligence.
? Direct the board to create a list of graduated sanctions it can use.
? Authorize the board to conduct criminal background checks for new medical license applications.
“We had hoped we would be given the opportunity and time to make those changes work,” said McBride. She is one of three public representatives appointed to the 15-member board. The rest are medical professionals. Buening and the board’s general counsel, Mark Stafford, have appeared before the Senate Health Care Strategies Committee several times to answer questions and before the Joint Interim Committee on Judiciary, where I served last summer. Stafford could not be reached for comment late Friday. Buening said he “didn’t realize these concerns were at issue.”
Senate Resolution 1846 asks the board to change its staff to make sure it fulfills its duties and “to restore public confidence in the board’s operations and activities.” “I have full faith that the true (appointed) Board of Healing Arts will respond… and return the protection that the people of Kansas are due,” said Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, who is also a physician.
GROUNDWATER LEVELS FALLING IN WESTERN KANSAS
Groundwater levels continued to fall this year in the western part of the state according to preliminary data compiled by the Kansas Geological Survey, while levels rose in south-central Kansas this year.
In January 2008, groundwater levels in a network of more than 1,400 wells were measured by the geological survey and the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources. For the entire network, the average water level rose slightly 0.005 feet based on preliminary estimates from the year before. In contrast, the average level had dropped a little more than a foot for the entire network between January
2006 and January 2007. The January 2008 levels varied significantly from east to west as unusually high increases in south-central Kansas offset declines to the west. “The increases and decreases are mainly precipitation-driven,” said Brownie Wilson, the geological survey’s water-data manager. Precipitation in south-central Kansas was 150% to 200% above normal in 2007 and greater than average at key times during the growing season. Some places in the southwest currently have moderate drought conditions while the rest of the area is abnormally dry.
“But you don’t have any problem posting how I should pay all your bills for you.”
Excuse me, American Way, but if you’re on Medicare, then I’m paying YOUR way.
I find it funny that those who are so opposed to government substidized health care for every American citizen are the ones who have it for themselves…like you and Nathan.
‘Gore announces 3-year campaign against global warming, with online organizing, bipartisan ads’
——————-
I wonder who all in contributing to the ad campaign so that we can follow the money.
Caught an interview with Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, who are going to be in big Al’s ad campign. I learned that at least in their ads, it is not about GW, but simply being good stewards of our planet. The young lady reporter was a bit perplexed that Robertson was not on board with Al on man made global warming.
Still, we can be, and should be, good stewards of our planet without falling for the MMGW hype.
I’ll bet American Way also takes advantage of the Mecicare prescription drug program. Interesting how some don’t care about the cost of healthcare when the taxpayers are substidizing their’s…but they certainly don’t want others to have the same benefits they do.
I heard on tonight’s news the school board will vote tonight on whether to release winston Brooks from his contract. He still has two years left on that contract.
He already accepted anothr position in Albuquerque.
What happens IF the school board votes to NOT release him?
Exactly what does the vote do? I suspect it has something to do with him receiving a nice severance package. So since he took himself off looking for another job, what you wanna bet our school board decides to release him from his contract and that costs us a bunch of bucks?
And they want us to trust them with $350 million bond money.
Linda, I would guess that it would have something to do with what kind of resignation/dismissal clause they wrote in his contract.. They could vote to release him, but since HE accepted another post, they could balk on any kind of severance package, I think…
“Still, we can be, and should be, good stewards of our planet without falling for the MMGW hype.”
Post your credible, peer-reviewed science showing that AGW is “hype”.
And your statement is like saying: “We can be good stewards of our planet even if we continue dumping large amounts of untreated sewage and toxic chemicals into our rivers and lakes.”
Earth’s atmosphere is thin, and fragile. Human-added GHG’s have changed the composition and properties.
What do you think about President Ronald Reagan’s appointee, Lee Thomas?
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/america/Gore-Environment.php
” “This is not only an environmental issue. It’s an issue of energy independence and it’s an issue of national security,” said Lee Thomas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan. “We need to all come together on this and the time to move on it is now, not later.” “
WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday.
The survey suggests that opinions have changed substantially since the last survey in 2002 and as the country debates serious changes to the health care system.
Of more than 2,000 doctors surveyed, 59 percent said they support legislation to establish a national health insurance program, while 32 percent said they opposed it, researchers reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The 2002 survey found that 49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance and 40 percent opposed it.
“Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance,” said Dr. Aaron Carroll of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led the study.
******
Drs. have finally figured it out. They’ve become “employees” of big healthcare corps.
Looks like they’d rather work for elected government answerable to voters than for unelected fat cats answerable to no one.
SCHOOL FINANCE
This afternoon, the House debated SB 531. The base bill adds a fourth year to the school finance plan that was adopted two sessions ago. There would be an additional $59 added to the Base State Aid Per Pupil (BSAPP) for the 2009-10 school year. The funding would be placed in a Keeping Education Promises Trust Fund that was created for the three year finance plan to assure that the funding promises are kept.
There have been several amendments proposed. One would put the entire amount of state funding into “high enrollment” weighting, the new name for the old “correlation weighting” that was designed to bring the bigger school districts up and diminish the low enrollment weighting part of the formula. That failed, so an amendment was proposed to take half of the money and use it that way, then an amendment to automatically increase high enrollment weighting whenever funding is added to the base. All failed. An amendment was proposed to add over $70 million for “non-proficiency” student weighting. That’s seen as Johnson County weighting because it was created for kids that are not proficient but are not “at risk” because they do not qualify for free lunch. It adds funding in many districts but primarily helps those with few low income students. That also failed, 28 to 92. Another amendment would have taken out the provisions putting the funding into the BSAPP and just left a lock box of school funding to be dealt with next year.
The problem with that is that school districts would go back to not knowing their funding until the end of next session, delaying planning of programs and budgets for the following school year. It failed. An amendment would take out a fix for Medicaid funding for special education services. The state lost Medicaid funding because some districts were not complying with the federal requirements. This amendment would distribute the state funding that is appropriated to replace the Medicaid funding first to school districts that are jumping through the hoops to receive Medicaid funding for their Medicaid students. That amendment failed on a voice vote.
Another amendment proposed to create a way to put lottery money from a state owned casino into school finance. There was a challenge to that amendment, arguing that it was not “germane” or on the same subject as the underlying bill. Then Owen Donohoe, R-Bonner Springs, tied it in by placing the lottery money into the Keeping Education Promises Trust Fund. The amendment failed to pass.
So the bill passed pretty much like it came out of committee, with 80 votes.
DEFERRED TAXES ON NEWLY BUILT HOMES
The House gave approval this morning to House Substitute for HB 2543, that would allow homebuilders to delay paying property taxes on unsold homes for as long as two years. The bill was requested by the Greater Kansas City Homebuilders Association. With the real estate market down, many new homes are sitting unsold for extended periods of time. However, while homebuilders would get a break, many new homeowners who purchase those homes may not get the one-year break they would enjoy under current law. Current Kansas law requires the owner of a new home to pay taxes based on the home’s value on Jan. 1. If a family buys a home and moves in shortly after that date, they don’t pay taxes on it for about two years. Under the House bill, new homeowners would pay a prorated tax on their property during the year they move in.
Homebuilders say buyers pay that tax anyway through the price of the home. The measure now moves to the Senate.
ANNEXATION
HB 2978 was the next bill brought up for debate. Annexation has been contentious in the Capitol for the past few years. This year there are areas in Overland Park, Shawnee County and down near Wellington that want to change the annexation laws and make it harder for cities to annex. The underlying bill is a compromise bill that would just strengthen current annexation law to assure that cities follow through on plans to extend services to annexed areas. Current law has a loophole that requires the County Commission to hold a public hearing five years after the annexation to assure that the city has implemented extension of services; but there is no trigger or incentive for the County to hold the hearing and many counties are not bothering to do so.
Ray Merrick, R-Stillwell, proposed an amendment which would provide a protest petition and could require a vote of those being annexed.
Present law requires approval of both the city commission and the county commission when a city decides to annex land connected to the city limits. In the Overland Park annexation of Stillwell land, the Johnson County Commission approved only a little over half of the annexation that the city proposed. Most cities oppose such a drastic limit on their powers of annexation.
The Kansas Legislature has been reluctant to get in the middle of a local fight, and the annexation squabbles presently brewing are no exception. After the Johnson County Commission approved the 8.5-square-mile annexation last month, rural residents still hoped that a bill in the Kansas House would stop it. The measure had a powerful sponsor, Majority Leader Ray Merrick, who represents much of the newly annexed area. But Merrick and annexation opponents suffered a major setback last week when the House Elections and Government Organization committee, assigned to consider the bill, tabled it for the year.
Conferees in committee which spoke against the annexation bills included the Kansas League of Municipalities and representatives of several cities. Studies have shown that, while residents targeted by an annexation are usually very vocal in their opposition, especially with the prospect of having to pay “higher city taxes,” the reality is that they are actually benefitting from the quality of life afforded by the adjacent city without paying their fair share of costs. Those who support the Topeka and Overland Park bills say that this is a property rights battle and people should not have their land annexed if they object.
So Merrick brought his amendment to the floor. Merrick has said that residents of the annexed area should have a vote and a voice in the decision to become part of Overland Park. Many residents have called the city’s move “annexation without representation.” Merrick’s original bill would have required a vote of those living in the annexed area. If voters said no, the area could not be annexed. When the bill bogged down, an effort was made to find a more acceptable version. The amendment would require an election if 20% of the registered voters in the proposed annexation area signed a petition. If at least two-thirds of those voting in the election disapproved of the annexation, a county commission would need a unanimous vote to approve the expansion.
Currently, only a majority vote by the county commission is required.
Merrick’s amendment failed with 69 no votes.
The Topeka anti-annexation push is by a number of residents of unincorporated Shawnee County, including a County Commissioner. They suggest a mechanism should be put in place to enable them to avoid seeing their property annexed against their will by Topeka City Council members they didn’t elect. The county commissioner, who moved last year from Topeka to just outside the city limits, said potential unilateral annexations affect him more as a landowner than as a commissioner. He said the county has no control over unilateral annexations, which take place without the consent of affected landowners or county commissioners. Topeka hasn’t used its unilateral annexation authority in more than 20 years. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, co-sponsored HB 2747, along with Merrick, to change the unilateral annexation laws. That bill would require an affirmative vote by mail ballot of a majority of residents living in the unincorporated area being annexed before it could become part of a city. If residents reject the proposed annexation, the bill would ban the city from reviving the effort for another four years. The House committee heard testimony on that bill and the chairman of the committee appointed a five-person subcommittee to recommend a course of action. The subcommittee recommended the underlying bill. Mah brought her bill as a proposed amendment to HB 2978.
Testimony by opponents of the amendment was that the state has no business passing legislation to control decisions that should be made by local officials. Interesting enough, support for unilateral annexation on the Topeka City Council diminished when voters in April 2005 elected
3 council members who had run on platforms opposing the practice, and one who supports its use only in a cautious and judicious manner. So passage of an annexation bill or not will not have much of an effect on Topeka and Shawnee County, as city council members have listened to local voters and generally oppose unilateral annexation. They also testified that limitations on a city’s annexation powers would preclude orderly growth and limit a city’s ability to provide necessary services to its citizens due to the inability of the city to continue to remain vibrant. They said it is naive for property owners living in close proximity to a city to not think they may some day be annexed as a natural progression of a city’s growth. Proponents complained that Topeka has annexed other areas and failed to extend proper services, while also neglecting the core of the city. That amendment also failed to pass.
Then there is the controversy in the Wellington area. When Wichita voted not to have a casino, Sumner County was left as the only contender for a state-owned casino in south-central Kansas. A debate ensued about which town will call it home, Wellington or Mulvane. At least two groups of casino investors are looking at building on the Mulvane interchange on the Kansas Turnpike, just across the county line separating Sedgwick and Sumner counties. The location, although in Sumner County, is five miles from Mulvane, which is mostly in Sedgwick County where residents rejected a casino. And the annexation by Mulvane is a narrow strip of winding pieces of land to connect the casino sites on the turnpike to the city of Mulvane. A group of investors, headed by former Wichita Mayor Bob Knight, focused on Mulvane rather than Wellington, citing a study showing it would attract 10 to 15% more traffic. Wellington has city property on the turnpike and the Wellington City Council has rezoned land south of U.S. 160 by the Kansas Turnpike to allow a casino.
In February, Sumner County officials filed a lawsuit against the city of Mulvane over its annexation of a narrow strip of land near the Kansas Turnpike to accommodate a proposed resort casino. The lawsuit alleges that Mulvane officials failed to comply with state laws by approving a ‘’shoestring” annexation of land near the city. Harrah’s Entertainment-Sumner Gaming and Resorts wants to put a $500 million casino on the site with turnpike visability. The proposal was endorsed by Mulvane’s City Council. According to The Wellington Daily News, Mulvane officials also are accused of failing to notify property owners and not providing a plan for extending city services. A judge ruled that the annexation was illegal.
In Mulvane, the annexation was initiated and completed at the request of all the landowners. So the city of Mulvane has started to re-annex the 100-foot wide ’shoestring,’ which winds mostly through Sedgwick County, in segments to join the city to two casino sites near the Kansas Turnpike 5 miles away from present city limits. In a series of special meetings that could take several weeks, the City Council plans to vote on resolutions annexing the 100-foot wide ’shoestring,’
which winds mostly through Sedgwick County, in segments. The commission will meet every night except Sundays until the entire string has been re-annexed, said Kent Hixson, city administrator. And, the Mulvane City Council also has voted to change its official newspaper from the weekly Mulvane News to The Wichita Eagle so it can publish its annexation resolutions daily. Resolutions don’t become legal until published in a city’s official newspaper,
Vince Wetta, D-Wellington, proposed an amendment that prohibits cities from annexing a narrow corridor of land to gain access to tracts of land that are not contiguous (attached) to the city. The corridor of land must have a tangible value and purpose other than for enhancing future annexations of land by the city. Wetta’s amendment passed on a voice vote.
DRUG TESTING DRIVERS
Drivers who cause an accident that kills another person would be tested for drugs as well as alcohol under a bill passed unanimously Friday by the Senate. HB 2617 is dubbed “Amanda’s Law” after a Tonganoxie teen, Amanda Bixby, who was killed in an accident Valentine’s Day 2007. The amended bill now comes back to the House for concurrance with Senate amendments or to be sent to a conference committee. The Senate version deletes provisions which required drug testing of a driver after an accident if there is a “serious bodily injury” and applies the requirement for drug testing without the driver’s consent only when there is a death and when there is reason to issue a traffic citation. The test will not be required if the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver was not responsible for the accident.
(but don’t ask if they are US citizens. That would be wrong…..)
INSPECTION OF AMUSEMENT RIDES
The House passed a bill, HB 2616, creating inspection rules for amusement rides. Currently, Kansas is one of only a few states that have no statewide regulations for rides. The Senate has not yet considered the measure. The bill does not provide for state inspection, because the state then is likely to become liable for any injury on a ride. It requires inspection and certification by qualified inspectors and oversite by the Dept. of Labor.
“I’ll bet American Way also takes advantage of the Mecicare…”
Just got back from a long day Mary and didn’t have a chance to post back.
I know you don’t read all my posts, but I have posted before that I am a Babyboomer, and not quite of retirement age yet. Alas, I still work for a living. Multiple activities all of which can be called “work”, but not all of the regular sense of the word.
I have very good healthcare. Like 260,000,000 other Americans do.
Sorry - you aren’t getting FREE socialized medicine this trip. The candidates are all taking money from all comers. The Congress knows who feeds them too.
Despite the media hype, and Capn’s claim that American doctors are for it - it isn’t in the cards.
Sorry, business as usual. No check for your poor and dishearted. But working in medicine, YOU can take care of them after your working hours. Go ahead and start the breathing, stop the bleeding, and treat for shock…..
No Chas - these posts are NOT from a webpage.
Check the news. Better yet, check my posts against the Kansas State Legislature website. See if this info is out there yet. Hell, the lights were burning in both houses until just a couple of hours ago.
But tomorrow, you should be able to verify all I have posted. Take the bill numbers I always try to provide. (someone should keep my honest. I do make mistakes)
What really makes me sad, is our representatives really do work hard and the majority of them are all good people who really do care. Some get lost in the political shuffle, lobbyists, and party dogma over time. But whether we all agree with the final votes and how they
140 Comments
You might not agree with his conclusions, but his facts are correct!
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/03/the_disgrace_of_liberalism.html
Looks like Sadr agreed to a cease fire, does this mean the surge is working, again? Look for bush and mccain to claim Iraq has passed their ‘defining moment’!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080331/bs_nm/usa_economy_housing_dc_1
Raygun corner
“No arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.” - Ronald Reagan
More news from the administration that has perfected the “culture of corruption”.
HUD Sec. to resign under cloud of investigation of cronyism. And the housing “crisis” goes on.
Color me shocked…
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080331/hud_chief.html
Here are Sadr’s terms to Maliki, which he agreed to:
http://gorillasguides.com/
Based upon our responsibilities under the law [shariah] and for the sparing of Iraki blood and for the protection of the reputability of the Iraqi people, and for their unity both in terms of people and in terms of territory, and in preparation for its independence and liberation from the armies of oppression; and in order to put out the fires of fitna which the occupier and his followers wish to keep burning between Iraki brothers, we call upon the beloved Iraki people to measure up to their responsibility and their cognisance of law in sparing bloodshed and preserving peace in Irak, and its stability and independence.
The following is resolved:
1. Ending armed manifestations in Basra governorate and all the other governorates.
2. Ending of attacks and illegal arbitrary detentions.
3. Demand that the government apply the law on general amnesty, and release all prisoners who have not had charges confirmed against them, in particular prisoners belonging to the Sadrist current.
4. We announce that we will repudiate those who carry weapons and target the government and service agencies and institutions, or the offices of political parties.
5. Cooperation with government agencies to bring about security and to charge criminals, according to due process of law.
6. We reassert that the Sadrist movement does not possess heavy weapons.
7. Efforts [meaningful efforts are to be made] for the return to their residential areas of those who were forced out as a result of security incidents.
8. We demand respect for human rights by the government in all of its security activities.
9. Working [meaningful efforts are to be made] towards the realisation of development and service projects in all governorates.
Do we really want to turn the nation’s finances over to Bush appointees?
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/03/seeing-red-at-t.html
How about some communications that make sense? I am open too discuss any subject or topic that makes sense. Herbert West III west.herb@yahoo.com
Yeah, right, Hank.
“Liberal disgrace” makes about as much sense as your 10,000 year old earth.
******
BUSH THROWS OUT FIRST PITCH–ROUNDLY BOOED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHUAsTrl4JI
“President Bush delivered the first pitch tonight at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to a resounding chorus of boos. After being announced, Bush was showered by boos as he strode to the mound. Even after delivering the pitch, the jeering did not let up until Bush disappeared from the field.”
******
What’s the matter, King George? You didn’t get your normal by-invitation-only audience?
Worst.
President.
Ever.
From the Top Ten Conservative Idiots — Number 6 — Dick Cheney
Two weeks ago, Dick Cheney was informed that the vast majority of Americans disagree with the war in Iraq. His response:
So?
Last week Dick Cheney was informed that the 4,000th U.S. troop had been killed in Iraq. His response:
…we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.
Or in other words, hey, they volunteered, suck it up. Cheney continued, “A lot of men and women sign up because sometimes they will see developments. For example, 9/11 stimulated a lot of folks to volunteer for the military because they wanted to be involved in defending the country.”
It sure did. Take Sgt. Lazaro Arocha, for example, who joined the Marines the day after 9/11.
AROCHA: These terrorists are, you know, attacking our country, you know, especially my city, you know? I was, like, holy smokes, you know, right, right in — you know, right in the Big Apple. I was like, no way, man, that this isn’t the way it’s going to be.
I started hating an enemy I didn’t know, you know, existed, right? I didn’t know who these people were. I didn’t know they had a face. I didn’t know anything. I wanted to, you know, look them in the eye.
But if Sgt. Arocha didn’t know who he was fighting the day he joined the Marines, Dick Cheney would soon spell it out for him.
CHENEY: If we’re successful in Iraq, if we can stand up a good representative government in Iraq, that secures the region so that it never again becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it’s not pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it’s not a safe haven for terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.
And so it was with pride in his heart that Sgt. Arocha got his chance to fight the very people who organized the 9/11 attacks.
AROCHA: I was 1st Battalion, 8th Marines. And we wound up going to Iraq twice. We went into Fallujah in November 2004. And the fighting there was — it was very intense.
(snip)
And, sometimes, these guys that — they’re kids. You know, they’re like 15, 16 years old. And you’re looking at them, like, wow, you know?
You want to try your best not to have to, you know, use, you know, lethal force. You know, if it’s possible, sure, you know? But, if it isn’t, if it comes down to, if it’s going to be him or me, then it’s going to have to be — you know?
He wanted to look into the eyes of the people who attacked his city in 2001, and three years later he was killing 15-year-olds in Iraq.
But hey, he volunteered - right Dick?
Meanwhile Cheney was spelling out exactly who was carrying the biggest load in all of this. Not the soldiers or their families, and certainly not the Iraqi people. Oh no.
“The president carries the biggest burden, obviously,” Cheney said. “He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans.”
Thanks for putting your post in bold Crapn, makes it much easier to locate and scroll over.
(smirks)
Hehe, check this out.
A conservative idiot wants to keep incandescent bulbs from getting phased out because they waste energy.
http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=72055§ion=news&freebie_check&CFID=21256254&CFTOKEN=74892018&jsessionid=88302fd3259b2660803b
The Minnesota Republican has introduced the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act.” The legislation would repeal the national phase-out of conventional incandescent light bulbs.
Bachmann said the government shouldn’t tell people what kinds of light bulbs they can use.
*****
Because gays can’t get married, kids can’t get birth control, and you can’t smoke pot for your cancer symptoms, but BY GOD! Republicans draw the line on limiting personal freedom in which lightbulb you have to use.
I always read what you write, Regular.
Otherwise I couldn’t feel justifiably superior.
To: John McCain 2008 Presidential Campaign
We the undersigned taxpayers and citizens of the United States of America, do hereby make claim to be defrauded of a fair election process that appropriately used public funding. To wit, we assert that Senator John McCain has violated the intent and purpose of the public financing system for presidential contestants. We further assert that this constitutes a breach of existing codified law, as well as established ethics.
http://www.petitiononline.com/JDAlvey1/petition.html
_
“Because gays can’t get married, kids can’t get birth control, and you can’t smoke pot for your cancer symptoms, but BY GOD! Republicans draw the line on limiting personal freedom in which lightbulb you have to use.”
———–
Don’t forget about the wonderful regs on how much water your toilet can use. Ah government… What will they think of next?
Be sure to put a brick in your toilet if you have one of those water hog toilets that you only have to flush once.
Hillary is operating her campaign at a 9 million dollar deficit. She has stopped paying those she owes.
McCain is operating at about a 3 million dollar deficit.
Can’t get Barack’s numbers.
If these folks can’t even run a campaign in the black, what the hell makes you think they can handle the finances of the nation???
Cap’n, as a tree hugger for nearly 40 years, I still find a need for incandescents. Have you tried lighting a flourescent bulb on your porch in that 20 degree and lower temperatures? Sure if you have 10 minutes to wait for it to come up to lumens, but if you don’t, take a white cane or tumble down the steps.
Be sure to put a brick in your toilet if you have one of those water hog toilets that you only have to flush once.
Doesn’t everyone have a gallon milk jug in their toilet tank? Actually, on 3rd shift, I find it easier to just use the outside–we’re out of town anyway. And making sure I hit the same rock, the wildlife thanks me for the salt lick.
WTF, the comments on yesterday’s open thread are already closed? Nice work guys.
I was trying to post this regarding the discussion of sharing heaven with the devotees of wingnuttia.
HA! JR and Clark! I was watching the movie “Latter Days” last night. About a gay Mormon boy. The older woman who rescued him said “your church doesnt like alcohol or homosexuals. I cant imagine heaven without both!”
heheheheheh. Or as Billy Joel said “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun, and only the good die young.”
Heh, fish. You should remember what we say out here.
“Flush twice, Hays needs the water”.
The local bowling joint had a sign like that over every toilet.
hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehheheh….
Ok, on my way to the Quinter sale barn for lunch and livestock. The lady who runs the sale barn cafe makes the BEST chocolate pie in the world. No kidding.
And I love lookin’ at heifers…
My sister had a sign over her toilet: Ladies remain seated for the entire performance. Gentlemen, take one step closer; it’s not as long as you think.
I told her I soaked down her toilet–I followed the advice on her sign and it was longer than I thought
*ducks*
And I love lookin’ at heifers…
that’s what I call my wife!
One more thing…
This just in from the dept of “more good news for average folks”.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080331/planting_report.html
Gee, do ya think that has anything to do with the ethanol builder going bankrupt? (see business section)
Most of the farmers I know say the cost of inputs for the next crop is so high the record grain prices ALMOST offset. Many of them are cutting back on planting corn and going for more milo and wheat, or beans as is mentioned in the article.
Could this be an unintended consequence of farm “policy”?
http://dtnag.com/dtnag/common/link.do?symbolicName=/ag/blogs/template1&blogHandle=inothermedia&blogEntryId=8a82c0bc18964ea70118f68db8f00479
Sounds like the fed is trying to make a power grab and regulate industries which had no involvement in the current crisis. I don’t think the current problem came from the insurance industry for example.
Who keeps getting the threads shut down???
PoliMom, that’s the 2nd reference I’ve seen of threads getting shut down. I don’t even look at the blog on the weekends. If I’m not catching up on domestics, I’m catching up on sleep.
Did someone already post this one?
My in-laws had this sign up on the public toilet in their business:
I aim to please
You too aim please.
You aim too please.
I’ve seen that sign a time or two, myself, AmWay.
I’m not sure why the threads are shut down. I’m also not sure why some racist idiot named “Rev. Wright” was allowed to choke his chitlins all over yesterday’s open thread.
If I stated that I believed Caucasians to be innately superior to African Americans, I’d be f–king flayed alive. (I don’t believe that, by the way - just so we’re clear.)
The “Rev.” sort of ticked me off - so I asked him a question. But I guess I don’t deserve an answer, seein’ as how I’m an “inferior” honk-aye and all……………
It would appear that there are a few Hays-Americans on this Blog. May I please ask - is Hays still the morbidly conservative (think to the far right of the Pope) enclave in which I was born and raised?
Where a very high-ranking faculty member at FHSU asked his confessor if he could “kill his daughter for having premarital sex?” Where said professor could try to fire an employee for living with her fiancee days before marriage? Where young, pregnant girls were automatically expelled for “being a disgrace and a scandal to the other, hymenally-holier-than-thou students?”
Goodness - I sure hope things have changed somewhat since those dark days. The fresh winds of Vatican II finally blew into town in the late 1970’s, I’m proud to say. One of my family members became firmly pro-life by 1978, and owing to her efforts, I believe that pregnant girls are no longer ostracized at the high schools in Hays. Sister Louise, one of the ugliest men, er, women, er, whatever the heck she was, was shipped back to Fond Du Lac decades ago - never to return. Father J., my former confessor, actually disciplined several of the local right-to-life zealots for their extremist behavior.
And that FHSU prof? He croaked last summer, not that I f–king care. No word yet on what “God” said to him about his homicidal inclinations toward his daughter in 1975………
Usually, it is after consuming a large number of beers.
Every time I glanced up to read the sign (focus), I just made more of a mess……..
Boeing problems continue….
No answer yet as to why both jet engines of a 777 stopped working. Maybe they were lazy Socialist engines taking a break.
Huh, wonder if this impacted the Pentagon’s tanker decision. Sorta nice to have all jet engines on a plane to keep running.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0309BoeingCrash0309.html
Officials concerned with jet’s power loss
Alan Levin
USA Today
Mar. 9, 2008 12:00 AM
Passenger planes aren’t ever supposed to lose power in midair.
That’s been a foundation of design for decades, yet a British Airways Boeing 777 did just that approaching Heathrow Airport in London on Jan. 17.
I’m also not sure why some racist idiot named “Rev. Wright” was allowed to choke his chitlins all over yesterday’s open thread.
That is what gets threads locked. It takes them a while sometimes but that is pretty much the cause.
Why does Max associate not working hard to socialism?
The people making money for nothing are all trust-fund kids like Steve Forbes . . .
It’s more likely the Boeing engines quit working because they were designed and assembled by scab, non-union labor.
Not possible Capn.
You Union boys wouldn’t allow that.
Treasury’s Plan Would Give Fed Wide New Power
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/29regulate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=business&pagewanted=print
Simpler plan. Let the banks fail. They bought unsound notes. Their bad. See ya.
Let the houses be foreclosed. The buyers signed without knowing what they signed. Their bad. See ya.
Maybe next time they both will pay more attention. The only way for them to learn is to hurt, badly, from their mistake. To bail them out tells them “It’s ok honey. Your nanny government will take care of your boo-boos.” And send them off to do the same thing again.
We need a good purging in the bank industry anyway.
Treasury plan would turn America over to a Federal Reserve Board entirely appointed by Bush.
You’re wrong on two bases, Sol.
1. BANKS weren’t wrighting the loans, unregulated “mortgage brokers” did.
2. Do you like your job? I ask this simply because you libertarians - CONs seem to think that you can massive economic upheaval, the real estate market crumble like feet of clay, and that’s not going to affect you or your family.
Is your job recession-proof, your wife’s, your children’s etc.?
The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the nation’s hodgepodge of financial regulatory agencies, which many experts say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until after they set off what is now the worst financial calamity in decades — from Sol’s site.
I watched pundit after pundit on Bloomberg warning that the housing price gains were not sustainable, and that many sub-prime loans would result eventually in foreclosures. Everyone knew it was coming, but as long as the bubble made Bush look good, no one was going to step in.
BANKS weren’t wrighting the loans, unregulated “mortgage brokers” did.
And banks bought those notes.
Do you like your job?
Yes
not going to affect you or your family.
Correct
Is your job recession-proof
Yes
your wife’s, your children’s
Yes and yes.
We will have a recession. We are in a recession. If the fed will quit dicking with things, we will have it and be done.
Could this be an unintended consequence of farm “policy”?
You should know kansas farm girl. Look out your window; is the grass being plowed up in Trego country? Not around here, it ain’t. I doubt if this is a serious trend yet. Anyway, there’s about a gazillion unfarmed acres in this country capable of growing something, at least for a while. Think what a herd of Mexican gardeners could do with the road ditches in a typical Kansas county. If they’ll grow six foot weeds, they’ll grow corn, or vegetables, or potatoes.
Think what they could do with a golf course.
Hillary’s Hoodwink
Posted March 31, 2008 | 12:33 PM (EST)
I finally understand why Hillary Clinton is obsessed with health insurance mandates. As a blog over at the Baltimore Sun is reporting, the Clinton campaign failed to pay its health insurance premiums for months, racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to its providers.
The deadbeat campaign is nearly $9 million in debt. It’s left a string of unpaid bills all over the country, from Ohio to Iowa. This has put a real-world hurt on the small businesses her campaign has hoodwinked.
When Clinton drops out, does she intend to pay off these campaign debts? Or should these business owners also pay a price for her continuing vanity campaign? Is this the kind of fiscal responsibility you’d get in a Hillary Clinton White House?
She’d pass a law to force you to buy health insurance. Yet she won’t pay any of her own bills.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-j-davis/hillarys-hoodwink_b_94262.html
You see this!?! Hillary’s new health care plan will be a 5 to 10% tax!!!!
http://www.dbtechno.com/health/2008/03/28/clinton-details-cap-on-universal-health-care-plan/
Clinton stated that she will place a cap on health insurance premiums. The cap will be anywhere from 5% to 10% of income.
Even John Kerry says Hillary’s Health Plan Sucks.
http://www2.nysun.com/article/73862
Kerry: Clinton Health Care Proposal Is a ‘Nonstarter’
By RUSSELL BERMAN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
March 31, 2008
WASHINGTON — A senior Democratic lawmaker says Senator Clinton’s proposed health care mandate would be a “nonstarter” in the Senate, ratchetting up the rhetoric on an issue that once united Democrats.
The criticism from Senator Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, of the core element of Mrs. Clinton’s domestic platform signals a sharper intraparty divide over health care policy heading into the fall.
“Clinton has stated that her plan will cost $110 billion in total.”
I guess Hillary has a money tree out back just ripe for the plucking! And in the next breath she talks about the terrible national debt Bush has racked up.
allowed to choke his chitlins all over yesterday’s open thread.
That wasn’t me, Songbird, but have you been spying on me?
*ducks*
Hillary Lied, again.
A 5 to 10% tax is a h*ll of a lot more then $110 Billion.
For that matter, where’s the Details for Obama’s Health Plan?
The Devil is in the Details!
We know from last week’s news that Social Security taxes will have to rise by 25% and Medicare Taxes by over 100%.
How much more can these Socialist DemoRats take?
Max,
A cap on health insurance premiums at 10% would mean if you make $10,000, your cap would be $1,000.
But if you make $100,000, your cap would be $10,000?
Am I reading this right? Automatically, this would lead to those with the ability to pay, paying MORE, to subsidize the poor.
That would make retirement sooner for me. We are saving now to cover the additional costs due to the expected high cost of healthcare. With this plan, we can retire sooner. Lower my income, and let the middle class pay my way.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need…. Karl Marx.
Songbird, I seriously doubt that things are still as bad as you remember in Hays. Remember, I left before you did, but I get up from time to time. I can remember partying with my nephew and his friends about a decade after your time in the area, and it seemed a lot more relaxed. At least many of their friends were in the habit of cohabitation.
(and you thought a bad habit was what Sister Louise wore)
Yes AmWay! We can all retire sooner now!
This would be the first time medical insurance premiums are tied to a percentage of your income. What a great Socialist Plan!
It will encourage us all to work less, retire early, and leave the work to someone else.
That is the true beauty of the Socialist way!
Wait a minute Max. I think they are going to trick phuck us here. Lower healthcare premiums would be offset with the proposal to increase Social Security age to 75….
Besides, there is still that pesky deductible to worry about. But if Clinton garnishes pay to fulfill the premium, maybe she can do that for the deductible portion of each of our healthcare bills too.
“The Federal Reserve, a quasi-government entity, should not be creating money or determining interest rates, as this causes malinvestment and excessive debt to accumulate. Centrally planned, government manipulated economies always fail eventually. The collapse of communism and the failure of socialism should have made this apparent. Even the most educated, well-intentioned central planners cannot plan the market better than the market itself. Those that understand economics best, understand this reality.
In free markets, both success and failure are options. If government interventions prevent businesses, like Bear Stearns, from failing, then it is not truly a free market. As painful as it might be for Wall Street, banks, even big ones, must be allowed to fail.
The end game for this policy of monetary inflation is that the money in your bank account loses purchasing power. So, by keeping failing banks afloat, the Fed punishes those who have lived frugally and saved. The power to create money is a power that should never be granted to government. As we can plainly see today, the Fed has abused this power, and taxpayers are paying the price.”
http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=18565
“So, by keeping failing banks afloat, the Fed punishes those who have lived frugally and saved.”
Tell me something new. We’ve all been paying for those pigs who build their houses of sticks.
Welcome to the United Socialist States of America.
Trade in your stars and stripes for hammer can sickle.
Before they trick phuck us AmWay, with bait for free healthcare - then garnishing pay and bank accounts, they will need to take our guns.
Before they trick us into allowing the Federal Reserve to completely control our economy and money supply and interest rates, and credit availability, they will need to take our guns.
From my cold dead hands!
Heading to the bar now. All this bad news is giving me a head ache. Maybe I can be disabled now under Social Security.
Disability, may be the only way to get Social Security. I can’t live to 75!
Before they trick us into allowing the Federal Reserve to completely control our economy and money supply and interest rates, and credit availability, …
Bush is doing this as we speak.
Ghoti: Hays could be - and can be - a great place to live. Provided you don’t have a uterus and you weren’t living there in the mid-seventies. But the crime rate was virtually non-existent - something I remain grateful for.
But you must understand my palpable horror: I have such awful memories. It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve been able to travel home to see my folks and my splendid steppuppy without puking my guts out from the flashbacks. (not acid flashbacks, either…)
If any filmmaker wishes to make a pre-quel to “2001: A Space (Cadet’s) Odyssey” - he could probably interview me. Me and any number of women who were under the spell of a red-haired retardate (and reprobate). There were several similarities to the Manson case - without the murder and the group sex. (The coitus-nondescriptus with “Charlie” was unmemorable enough for one lifetime…..)
I mean, here I was: A former straight-A student who (briefly) turned into one of the Manson women. Now, that’s fairly startling. The facts surrounding this dreadful individual (my ex) are gory and gratuitous: When he was 13, he briefly dated a local married woman. When her awfully bedded hubbie found out, he killed himself. My ex then dumped his old lady paramour. It’s not many little fellows who impregnate half a dozen young girls before he’s out of his teens.
It was like some ghastly urban legend.
Hell, maybe I should write my own screenplay, embarrass the crap out of this s–theap and make a ton of dough. Then I could retire to the Bahamas with a manservant and a state-of-the-art stereo system.
Yes, yes - Hays was quite the utopian idyll. (Not.) I’m glad it wasn’t horrifying for you, though. I would never claim that the world begins and ends with me. Even if “Charlie” did.
Provided you don’t have a uterus
I do, but she’s at work right now.
8^b~~
________________________________________
It’s not many little fellows who impregnate half a dozen young girls before he’s out of his teens
There’s a guy living in my town now that has about 30 and isn’t out of his 20s. I know he has 13 from 3 different women, and a couple with many other women each. I just figure when he scratches his ankle it’s because his head itches.
(ok, I’m jealous!)
_________________________________
Hays has it’s cliques, and if you’re not in one, you’ll never get into one. The only reason my experience wasn’t horrifying is because I opted to drop out. I just went my own way.
http://www.ucc.org/newsletter/pdfs/ny-times-ad.pdf
Screen play sounds good Songbird!! Go For It!!
gotiphaze:About those enviornmental friendly light bulbs. The new bulbs contain mercury a highly toxic substance banned everywhere, and nobody has figured out what to do with millions that will eventually be discarded. If you smash/drop one you have to be very, very careful to use rubber gloves and do not touch the debris and wear a mask while doing the clean up. Then you have no legal way to dispose of the debris and the gloves! I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t a bit of a marketing ploy about these new bulbs and their supposed reduction in energy usage. The later hasn’t been proven in general use as yet.
You mean you’re a kept man, Ghoti????? Does your wife respect you in the morning?
Just kidding…
Thirty kids? Does this dude know what “birth control” and/or “restraint” mean? Sheesh! Someone needs to neuter that nimrod - right this minute!
But my own memories are still horrifying. I still remember that cold, rainy evening in February 1975 when I returned home after my (positive) pregnancy test. I walked in the door, sat down - and two minutes later the phone rang.
One of my 11th-grade classmates was on the line, and she wished to inform me that she had spoken to my ex the previous evening at The Pub - then one of Hays’ premier drinking establishments for the young, illiterate, inbred and untamed. “It was kinda gross,” she said. “(My ex) was laughing about a rumor he heard about you. He heard you had tried to kill yourself because he had broken up with you. And he was LAUGHING. It was sorta sick in a way.”
“No s–t, Mary Poppins”, I wanted to say. Before I could end the call, said classmate chimed in with this gem: “Now that you two are no longer together, do you think he’d go out with me?”
I s–t you not - things like this happened every day during the early months of ‘75. Scores of young girls were attracted to him. Scores of young girls disdained him for his promiscuity - but his looks were a magic shield.
At least, they USED to be.
By the summer of 1982, I had just returned from several months of living in California. My ex had moved to Topeka, but he returned home for a friend’s wedding. I happened to drive by St. Joseph’s Church as the wedding party was exiting, and I caught a glimpse of the d—–bag standing on the steps.
Far from the stunning stoner of yore, by now it had a burgeoning beer belly and the same insipid, vapid countenance it always had. By now I was smart enough to discern it. As he stood on those steps with the same insolent, careless veneer he had exuded 8 years before, I hurried on over to St. Mary’s Church, got down on my knees, and thanked God and anyone else who could possibly be holy for his absence from my lucky-lucky life.
But I gotta tell ya: When you’re 16, newly pregnant and experiencing the agonies of romantic rejection for the first time, it’s f–king FREA-KAYE to hear about yer ex laughin’ at yer purported suicide (a rumor that was untrue, anyway). And that isn’t the totality of his degeneracy.
I’m tellin’ ya - if Steven Spielberg, David Geffen or the ghost of Louis B. Mayer wants to make a sci-fi flick any time soon, I and many other newly-intelligent women could probably provide ample fodder…………..
The new bulbs contain mercury a highly toxic substance banned everywhere
I figure I’m a lost cause on that, anyway. As a kid I’d pass handfuls of mercury from one hand to the other. It really looks neat when you miss and it ‘explodes’ on the floor. In the old days we never gave much thought to mercury exposure, and now it’s too late.
Cripes, my cousin lived at the north end of block from the alley behind St. Joes.
Songbird, I’ll be the first to admit, guys are (!)s
Dude, please………..
Lots of people (of both genders) are bad people. We are all sinners, certainly. None of us is perfect. But…..
My ex was something else again.
Neither my brother, my father, my uncle, my cousins, or any other male I observed behaved with the s–t-shoveling scumbaggery that my ex did. None of them. Not even close. Even among the dissolute - he was in a class by himself.
It demeans me to repeat several facets of his behavior. In the fall of 2004, I met with an Episcopalian priest, whose little nose turned green at some of the things I related. And I used great discretion and dignity. I mean, he didn’t know the half of it. And I thought the dude was gonna faint dead away.
But the priest did say one valuable thing, though: “The people who would have thrown you into the wilderness (when I was pregnant) have no moral capital when it comes to your abortion,” he declared. He, personally, was opposed to abortion. But he exuded a measure of truth and compassion nonetheless.
Dude, please. Men are not innately evil. Some choose to be evil. But not many of ‘em are an unsettling combination of Sean Penn in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, Al Pacino in “Scarface” (”say hello to my leetle friend!!”), Larry Flynt in the worst (actually, any) part of “Hustler”, and King Nero, who fiddled himself while Rome burned.
Sheesh - and people wonder why I was (briefly) addicted to opiate painkillers………
Since the McCain thread got shut down, will post this here. According to this source (pps. 30-31) -
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/books/04thom.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
in 2000 and 2001, McCain gave serious consideration to jumping from the Republican party to become a Democrat. He discussed the hows, and etc. with Tom Daschale.
So, does that mean our choices in ‘08 are a conservative democrat (McCain), a moderate Democrat (Clinton) or a progressive Democrat (Obama). Looks that way to me.
I agree Steven except move ‘em all to the left a notch!
On a lighter note, this weekend is the big dog show. Some specialties on Thursday night and regular show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
I have the judging schedule so if you want to know when ‘your’ breed is being shown, let me know.
Conformatiom, herding, lure coursing, agility and obedience. A lot of venders if you’re looking for something special for Foo Foo.
Not too far off Steven. Label them as you wish. Hard to argue, when McCain is getting praise from a NYT writer NOT named Kristol…
“Anybody who thinks McCain is merely continuing the Bush agenda is not paying attention.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/opinion/28brooks.html
Capt, you are on top of your game today huh? Anyway, I still remember hearing the Congressman arguing for the Banning of SUV from the nation’s highways. WHY? Because in a crash the occupants of the SUV were twice as likely to survive. Compared to the occupants of cheaply made and flimsy imports and American made small compacts! No he could not argue for better standards in cars, he was arguing too many people survived in the better made cars! I thought what’s next a federal law that requires the all Bulldozers have the keys left in them with plain and clear instructions on how to start them!
Hank - check for ‘my’ breed - barn dog. Female lineage sort of known; male lineage not even a guess!
Hey Ben!
There’s a DNA test you can have done now that will tell you the linage of your ‘barn dog’! It ain’t cheep, but I have a rescue dog that I’m a little curious about.
Ask your vet if he knows about it!
Stuff like this never happens to YOU:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343675,00.html
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A sex offender recently freed from prison was arrested in the death of a woman abducted while visiting a friend, police said Monday. The friend was shot and seriously wounded.
The body of MaryEllen Welsh, 62, was found in a wooded area of Bristol, about 10 miles from New Britain, where she was abducted Sunday. She had apparently been shot, New Britain police said.
She was visiting a friend Sunday morning when someone broke into the house, Sgt. Darren Pearson said. The friend, identified as Carol Larese, 65, was badly wounded but was expected to recover
Might as Well Boycott Pizza Hut.
Stuff like this never happens to YOU.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080329/NEWS/803290329/-1/SPORTS0806
Police: Pizza man turns tables on thief
By JACQUELINE LEE • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • March 29, 2008
An armed pizza deliveryman told Des Moines police that he shot a man who tried to rob him at gunpoint Thursday night outside a south-side apartment building.
When officers arrived at the Sutton Hill Apartments, 2100 S.E. King Ave., the pizza man, James William Spiers, 38, had both handguns, and the wounded robber had fled empty-handed.
The suspect, Kenneth Jimmerson, 19, was arrested when he later called for medical help. Jimmerson was hospitalized Friday with multiple gunshot wounds and faces a charge of first-degree robbery.
Melanie Stout, 18, who allegedly placed the pizza order, was arrested for conspiracy.
Spiers, who has a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon, escaped injury, although his bosses at Pizza Hut suspended him Friday until police sort out the details of the Thursday-night incident.
“We have policy against carrying weapons,” said Vonnie Walbert, vice president of human resources at Pizza Hut’s corporate offices in Dallas. “We prohibit employees from carrying guns because we believe that that is the safest for everybody.”
It’s like Pizza Hut advertises:
1. We have drivers out in your neighborhood.
2. All by themselves.
3. Unarmed and defenseless.
4. Carrying CASH!
5. And PIZZA!
So if you are hungry, and need some free cash, just look for the brightly lit Pizza Hut sign on top of the delivery car in a neighborhood near you! And if you don’t see one, just call and order a pizza! They will come right to your door bearing cash AND pizza! (Might as well take their car too!)
Can you imagine the job interview at Pizza Hut, and the disclosures made by Pizza Hut?
You will have your own car and will buy your own gas.
You will race around town at all hours of the day and night.
You will drive thru rain and sleet and snow.
You will deliver all pizzas in 10 minutes or less.
You will be unarmed, but you will have this bullet-proof vest.
You will be by yourself.
You will carry lotsa cash.
You will be paid $6 an hour, plus tips, less robberies.
Good luck Jim.
Should you be killed or captured, Pizza Hut will disavow all knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE!
Hank - that would constitute entrapment of the father!
Never happens to YOU:
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/03/police_say_young_burglars_had.html#more
Police say young burglars had loaded guns
Posted by Tom Gantert | The Ann Arbor News March 31, 2008 09:33AM
By TOM GANTERT
The Ann Arbor News
Three Ann Arbor teenage boys suspected of breaking into two homes were carrying loaded guns and a knife when found on the street and arrested early this morning, city police said.
Lt. Mike Logghe said the three teens, ranging in age from 14 to 17, are suspected of breaking in to homes on the 3000 block of Platt Road and Champagne Drive at about 2:30 a.m. today. Police were called and found the suspects walking on about a quarter-mile away with stolen property.
Two of the boys were carrying guns and the third had a knife, Logghe said.
“That’s scary,” Logghe said. “Not only could the homeowners be seriously injured, but also the arresting officers confronting them on the street not knowing they were armed.”
The boys were held in the Ann Arbor police station and are awaiting arraignment on Tuesday. Logghe said their parents hadn’t been contacted as of 7 a.m. today.
At 2:30 a.m., police were called by a resident who was returning home to her home on Platt Road and saw a light on in a bedroom. When she pulled into the driveway, she noticed the garage door had been kicked in. She called police, who searched the premises and found nothing.
About 30 minutes later, a man who lives on Champagne Drive called police and said he awoke to find three people in his bedroom. When the three people realized he was awake, they fled.
Logghe said police found the three suspects about a quarter mile down the road. When police searched the teenagers, they found the weapons.
Never happens to YOU:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1939687/posts
Invader Burns 2 Women At Lake Wales Business (”heartless, absolutely heartless”)
The Ledger ^ | 12-14-07 | Bill Bair
Posted on 12/14/2007 4:23:32 PM PST by Main Street
Friday, December 14, 2007
‘heartless, absolutely heartless’ Invader Burns 2 Women At Lake Wales Business
Police Say Robber Threw Gasoline onto Employees, Who Are in Critical Condition
By Bill Bair
The Ledger
Ads created by firm that made Geico’s gecko and caveman ads, and initially spending $300 million over three years.
‘Gore announces 3-year campaign against global warming, with online organizing, bipartisan ads’
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/america/Gore-Environment.php
I figure I’m a lost cause on that, anyway. As a kid I’d pass handfuls of mercury from one hand to the other. It really looks neat when you miss and it ‘explodes’ on the floor. In the old days we never gave much thought to mercury exposure, and now it’s too late.
You could drink elemental mercury and not be harmed, ghot. It passes through the body unchanged and unabsorbed. There is a small possibility that it can get hung up somewhere in the digestive tract, which is another story.
“We know from last week’s news that Social Security taxes will have to rise by 25% and Medicare Taxes by over 100%.
How much more can these Socialist DemoRats take?” — MaX
Enough Max to pay your cost of living increases.
News from the Statehouse legislative day 78:
HEALTH CARE REFORM TO CONFERENCE
This week, legislators from the Kansas Senate and House are expected to meet in Conference Committee to make a pivotal decision about health reform in our state. If they come to a negotiated agreement, the two houses may vote later this week.
Active discussion about health reform in Kansas started in November last year with the release of the 21 health reform recommendations developed by the Kansas Health Policy Authority (KPHA). Those recommendations were the result of conversations with hundreds of health care consumers, advocates, and providers across Kansas and were designed to transform the Kansas health system, lower health care costs, and make Kansas a healthier state. During this session, health reform was debated in the legislature and a thoughtful compromise bill emerged from the Kansas House of Representatives, resulting in House substitute for SB 81. The compromise encompassed many of the KHPA’s original 21 recommendations. Last week, a bipartisan coalition in the House played an important role in advancing a compromise health reform bill. Action next week in Conference Committee could result in meaningful Kansas health reform if the House compromise provisions are included in the final bill.
Important elements of the House health reform bill that will be debated by House and Senate conferees next week include:
? Providing first year funding for Premium Assistance, a new private health insurance program for very low income Kansans; ? Expanding opportunities for employees and employers to take advantage of Section 125 plans, which allow employees to purchase health insurance with pre-tax dollars; ? Expanding cancer screenings and providing dental coverage and tobacco cessation assistance for pregnant women; ? Expanding Medicaid to pregnant women from 150% of the Federal Poverty Level to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level ($35,200 for a family of 3); ? Increasing coordination of health care through statewide community health records and establishing “medical homes” for Kansans.
News from the Statehouse legislative day 78:
SENATE TAKES ON THE BOARD OF HEALING ARTS
Some Senators are fed up with what they have called a slow response to concerns about doctors such as Haysville osteopath Stephen Schneider, who is accused of over prescribing pain killers for many patients. The Senate Friday asked, in a non binding resolution, that the board that disciplines doctors remove its executive director and legal counsel.
“Clearly they have failed to do their job,” said Sen. Susan Wagle, R-Wichita. “Clearly they are standing over that agency in a pool of innocent human blood.” Wagle’s resolution passed the Senate unanimously. She said she hoped a change in leadership would make the Board of Healing Arts more effective in investigating and disciplining doctors.
One of the targets of the resolution, board executive director Larry Buening, said further action would be up to the board. Board president Betty McBride said she’d always found the board staff to be efficient and professional. She said, however, that the board probably will meet next week to discuss the resolution. The board’s performance came under scrutiny after a federal grand jury alleged that Schneider had over prescribed dangerous pain medications that contributed to the overdose deaths of 56 patients. The board began receiving complaints about Schneider as early as 2004 from patients’ families and police reports.
It filed a petition against Schneider in May 2006, asking a judge to discipline him. It did not temporarily suspend his license until Jan.
29 of this year, after the doctor was arrested.
Once they started hearing testimony about the Schneider case, more people began to come forward with complaints about the board. “We’ve talked to people whose lives have been shattered and ruined because the Board of Healing Arts didn’t do their job,” Wagle said. The Legislature, including Wagle’s committee on health care strategies, has been discussing HB 2620, aimed at pushing the board investigate and discipline doctors.
House Bill 2620 would:
? Order the board to post a searchable database on its Web site by July 2010 of all doctors with a Kansas license.
? Bar doctors from having sex with their patients.
? Allow the board to discipline a doctor after one case of negligence.
? Direct the board to create a list of graduated sanctions it can use.
? Authorize the board to conduct criminal background checks for new medical license applications.
“We had hoped we would be given the opportunity and time to make those changes work,” said McBride. She is one of three public representatives appointed to the 15-member board. The rest are medical professionals. Buening and the board’s general counsel, Mark Stafford, have appeared before the Senate Health Care Strategies Committee several times to answer questions and before the Joint Interim Committee on Judiciary, where I served last summer. Stafford could not be reached for comment late Friday. Buening said he “didn’t realize these concerns were at issue.”
Senate Resolution 1846 asks the board to change its staff to make sure it fulfills its duties and “to restore public confidence in the board’s operations and activities.” “I have full faith that the true (appointed) Board of Healing Arts will respond… and return the protection that the people of Kansas are due,” said Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, who is also a physician.
News from the Statehouse legislative day 78:
GROUNDWATER LEVELS FALLING IN WESTERN KANSAS
Groundwater levels continued to fall this year in the western part of the state according to preliminary data compiled by the Kansas Geological Survey, while levels rose in south-central Kansas this year.
In January 2008, groundwater levels in a network of more than 1,400 wells were measured by the geological survey and the Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources. For the entire network, the average water level rose slightly 0.005 feet based on preliminary estimates from the year before. In contrast, the average level had dropped a little more than a foot for the entire network between January
2006 and January 2007. The January 2008 levels varied significantly from east to west as unusually high increases in south-central Kansas offset declines to the west. “The increases and decreases are mainly precipitation-driven,” said Brownie Wilson, the geological survey’s water-data manager. Precipitation in south-central Kansas was 150% to 200% above normal in 2007 and greater than average at key times during the growing season. Some places in the southwest currently have moderate drought conditions while the rest of the area is abnormally dry.
Al Gore, MY HERO!
(He does talk like Elmer Fudd though)
Is it time yet for the nighttime version of the Max and AmWay ‘Pity Party’? I can hardly wait…
Editors, please develop a “one nic per customer” system before McCluer takes over the entire blog with his multiple personalities.
Thank you,
William Stephenson Clark.
“But you don’t have any problem posting how I should pay all your bills for you.”
Excuse me, American Way, but if you’re on Medicare, then I’m paying YOUR way.
I find it funny that those who are so opposed to government substidized health care for every American citizen are the ones who have it for themselves…like you and Nathan.
Good grief, just what we need… The Rev. is back with his/her racist BS again!! And like most racist BS, totally uncalled for, and unnecessary!!
Ignore it and it will go away.
Let’s hope so
‘Gore announces 3-year campaign against global warming, with online organizing, bipartisan ads’
——————-
I wonder who all in contributing to the ad campaign so that we can follow the money.
Caught an interview with Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton, who are going to be in big Al’s ad campign. I learned that at least in their ads, it is not about GW, but simply being good stewards of our planet. The young lady reporter was a bit perplexed that Robertson was not on board with Al on man made global warming.
Still, we can be, and should be, good stewards of our planet without falling for the MMGW hype.
Call it man made hype if you want… Still better to err on the side of caution… Would be nice to leave the planet a better place for our descendants!!
Being better stewards of the planet will do the same, whether it is MMGW or not!! Time to get people on the environmental band wagon all the same!!
I’ll bet American Way also takes advantage of the Mecicare prescription drug program. Interesting how some don’t care about the cost of healthcare when the taxpayers are substidizing their’s…but they certainly don’t want others to have the same benefits they do.
That’s “Medicare”. My bad.
I heard on tonight’s news the school board will vote tonight on whether to release winston Brooks from his contract. He still has two years left on that contract.
He already accepted anothr position in Albuquerque.
What happens IF the school board votes to NOT release him?
Exactly what does the vote do? I suspect it has something to do with him receiving a nice severance package. So since he took himself off looking for another job, what you wanna bet our school board decides to release him from his contract and that costs us a bunch of bucks?
And they want us to trust them with $350 million bond money.
Yeah, right!
Linda, I would guess that it would have something to do with what kind of resignation/dismissal clause they wrote in his contract.. They could vote to release him, but since HE accepted another post, they could balk on any kind of severance package, I think…
He signs a multi-year contract BUT it evidently doesn’t mean too much since he ignored it when he went job hunting.
I hope the school board protects our interests and does whatever costs us the least.
I won’t hold my breath.
outlander posted March 31, 2008 at 7:29 pm
“Still, we can be, and should be, good stewards of our planet without falling for the MMGW hype.”
Post your credible, peer-reviewed science showing that AGW is “hype”.
And your statement is like saying: “We can be good stewards of our planet even if we continue dumping large amounts of untreated sewage and toxic chemicals into our rivers and lakes.”
Earth’s atmosphere is thin, and fragile. Human-added GHG’s have changed the composition and properties.
Cosmos says >>>
“Post your credible, peer-reviewed science showing that AGW is “hype”.”
But… But… Cosmos — There isnt any!!
CUBS sure know how to pick new players… One of their newest is named: Fukudome… Ya just cant make this stuff up!!
outlander,
What do you think about President Ronald Reagan’s appointee, Lee Thomas?
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/america/Gore-Environment.php
” “This is not only an environmental issue. It’s an issue of energy independence and it’s an issue of national security,” said Lee Thomas, head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Ronald Reagan. “We need to all come together on this and the time to move on it is now, not later.” “
My question to you, Max, is how did the wannabe thief get off with just “wounds”?
That’s one lucky thief or one small handgun . . .
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN31432035
US doctors support universal health care - survey
Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:00pm EDT
WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - More than half of U.S. doctors now favor switching to a national health care plan and fewer than a third oppose the idea, according to a survey published on Monday.
The survey suggests that opinions have changed substantially since the last survey in 2002 and as the country debates serious changes to the health care system.
Of more than 2,000 doctors surveyed, 59 percent said they support legislation to establish a national health insurance program, while 32 percent said they opposed it, researchers reported in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The 2002 survey found that 49 percent of physicians supported national health insurance and 40 percent opposed it.
“Many claim to speak for physicians and represent their views. We asked doctors directly and found that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most doctors support national health insurance,” said Dr. Aaron Carroll of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led the study.
******
Drs. have finally figured it out. They’ve become “employees” of big healthcare corps.
Looks like they’d rather work for elected government answerable to voters than for unelected fat cats answerable to no one.
They’re no dummies.
This afternoon in our State house:
SCHOOL FINANCE
This afternoon, the House debated SB 531. The base bill adds a fourth year to the school finance plan that was adopted two sessions ago. There would be an additional $59 added to the Base State Aid Per Pupil (BSAPP) for the 2009-10 school year. The funding would be placed in a Keeping Education Promises Trust Fund that was created for the three year finance plan to assure that the funding promises are kept.
There have been several amendments proposed. One would put the entire amount of state funding into “high enrollment” weighting, the new name for the old “correlation weighting” that was designed to bring the bigger school districts up and diminish the low enrollment weighting part of the formula. That failed, so an amendment was proposed to take half of the money and use it that way, then an amendment to automatically increase high enrollment weighting whenever funding is added to the base. All failed. An amendment was proposed to add over $70 million for “non-proficiency” student weighting. That’s seen as Johnson County weighting because it was created for kids that are not proficient but are not “at risk” because they do not qualify for free lunch. It adds funding in many districts but primarily helps those with few low income students. That also failed, 28 to 92. Another amendment would have taken out the provisions putting the funding into the BSAPP and just left a lock box of school funding to be dealt with next year.
The problem with that is that school districts would go back to not knowing their funding until the end of next session, delaying planning of programs and budgets for the following school year. It failed. An amendment would take out a fix for Medicaid funding for special education services. The state lost Medicaid funding because some districts were not complying with the federal requirements. This amendment would distribute the state funding that is appropriated to replace the Medicaid funding first to school districts that are jumping through the hoops to receive Medicaid funding for their Medicaid students. That amendment failed on a voice vote.
Another amendment proposed to create a way to put lottery money from a state owned casino into school finance. There was a challenge to that amendment, arguing that it was not “germane” or on the same subject as the underlying bill. Then Owen Donohoe, R-Bonner Springs, tied it in by placing the lottery money into the Keeping Education Promises Trust Fund. The amendment failed to pass.
So the bill passed pretty much like it came out of committee, with 80 votes.
This afternoon at our Statehouse:
DEFERRED TAXES ON NEWLY BUILT HOMES
The House gave approval this morning to House Substitute for HB 2543, that would allow homebuilders to delay paying property taxes on unsold homes for as long as two years. The bill was requested by the Greater Kansas City Homebuilders Association. With the real estate market down, many new homes are sitting unsold for extended periods of time. However, while homebuilders would get a break, many new homeowners who purchase those homes may not get the one-year break they would enjoy under current law. Current Kansas law requires the owner of a new home to pay taxes based on the home’s value on Jan. 1. If a family buys a home and moves in shortly after that date, they don’t pay taxes on it for about two years. Under the House bill, new homeowners would pay a prorated tax on their property during the year they move in.
Homebuilders say buyers pay that tax anyway through the price of the home. The measure now moves to the Senate.
This afternoon at our Statehouse:
ANNEXATION
HB 2978 was the next bill brought up for debate. Annexation has been contentious in the Capitol for the past few years. This year there are areas in Overland Park, Shawnee County and down near Wellington that want to change the annexation laws and make it harder for cities to annex. The underlying bill is a compromise bill that would just strengthen current annexation law to assure that cities follow through on plans to extend services to annexed areas. Current law has a loophole that requires the County Commission to hold a public hearing five years after the annexation to assure that the city has implemented extension of services; but there is no trigger or incentive for the County to hold the hearing and many counties are not bothering to do so.
Ray Merrick, R-Stillwell, proposed an amendment which would provide a protest petition and could require a vote of those being annexed.
Present law requires approval of both the city commission and the county commission when a city decides to annex land connected to the city limits. In the Overland Park annexation of Stillwell land, the Johnson County Commission approved only a little over half of the annexation that the city proposed. Most cities oppose such a drastic limit on their powers of annexation.
The Kansas Legislature has been reluctant to get in the middle of a local fight, and the annexation squabbles presently brewing are no exception. After the Johnson County Commission approved the 8.5-square-mile annexation last month, rural residents still hoped that a bill in the Kansas House would stop it. The measure had a powerful sponsor, Majority Leader Ray Merrick, who represents much of the newly annexed area. But Merrick and annexation opponents suffered a major setback last week when the House Elections and Government Organization committee, assigned to consider the bill, tabled it for the year.
Conferees in committee which spoke against the annexation bills included the Kansas League of Municipalities and representatives of several cities. Studies have shown that, while residents targeted by an annexation are usually very vocal in their opposition, especially with the prospect of having to pay “higher city taxes,” the reality is that they are actually benefitting from the quality of life afforded by the adjacent city without paying their fair share of costs. Those who support the Topeka and Overland Park bills say that this is a property rights battle and people should not have their land annexed if they object.
So Merrick brought his amendment to the floor. Merrick has said that residents of the annexed area should have a vote and a voice in the decision to become part of Overland Park. Many residents have called the city’s move “annexation without representation.” Merrick’s original bill would have required a vote of those living in the annexed area. If voters said no, the area could not be annexed. When the bill bogged down, an effort was made to find a more acceptable version. The amendment would require an election if 20% of the registered voters in the proposed annexation area signed a petition. If at least two-thirds of those voting in the election disapproved of the annexation, a county commission would need a unanimous vote to approve the expansion.
Currently, only a majority vote by the county commission is required.
Merrick’s amendment failed with 69 no votes.
The Topeka anti-annexation push is by a number of residents of unincorporated Shawnee County, including a County Commissioner. They suggest a mechanism should be put in place to enable them to avoid seeing their property annexed against their will by Topeka City Council members they didn’t elect. The county commissioner, who moved last year from Topeka to just outside the city limits, said potential unilateral annexations affect him more as a landowner than as a commissioner. He said the county has no control over unilateral annexations, which take place without the consent of affected landowners or county commissioners. Topeka hasn’t used its unilateral annexation authority in more than 20 years. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, co-sponsored HB 2747, along with Merrick, to change the unilateral annexation laws. That bill would require an affirmative vote by mail ballot of a majority of residents living in the unincorporated area being annexed before it could become part of a city. If residents reject the proposed annexation, the bill would ban the city from reviving the effort for another four years. The House committee heard testimony on that bill and the chairman of the committee appointed a five-person subcommittee to recommend a course of action. The subcommittee recommended the underlying bill. Mah brought her bill as a proposed amendment to HB 2978.
Testimony by opponents of the amendment was that the state has no business passing legislation to control decisions that should be made by local officials. Interesting enough, support for unilateral annexation on the Topeka City Council diminished when voters in April 2005 elected
3 council members who had run on platforms opposing the practice, and one who supports its use only in a cautious and judicious manner. So passage of an annexation bill or not will not have much of an effect on Topeka and Shawnee County, as city council members have listened to local voters and generally oppose unilateral annexation. They also testified that limitations on a city’s annexation powers would preclude orderly growth and limit a city’s ability to provide necessary services to its citizens due to the inability of the city to continue to remain vibrant. They said it is naive for property owners living in close proximity to a city to not think they may some day be annexed as a natural progression of a city’s growth. Proponents complained that Topeka has annexed other areas and failed to extend proper services, while also neglecting the core of the city. That amendment also failed to pass.
Then there is the controversy in the Wellington area. When Wichita voted not to have a casino, Sumner County was left as the only contender for a state-owned casino in south-central Kansas. A debate ensued about which town will call it home, Wellington or Mulvane. At least two groups of casino investors are looking at building on the Mulvane interchange on the Kansas Turnpike, just across the county line separating Sedgwick and Sumner counties. The location, although in Sumner County, is five miles from Mulvane, which is mostly in Sedgwick County where residents rejected a casino. And the annexation by Mulvane is a narrow strip of winding pieces of land to connect the casino sites on the turnpike to the city of Mulvane. A group of investors, headed by former Wichita Mayor Bob Knight, focused on Mulvane rather than Wellington, citing a study showing it would attract 10 to 15% more traffic. Wellington has city property on the turnpike and the Wellington City Council has rezoned land south of U.S. 160 by the Kansas Turnpike to allow a casino.
In February, Sumner County officials filed a lawsuit against the city of Mulvane over its annexation of a narrow strip of land near the Kansas Turnpike to accommodate a proposed resort casino. The lawsuit alleges that Mulvane officials failed to comply with state laws by approving a ‘’shoestring” annexation of land near the city. Harrah’s Entertainment-Sumner Gaming and Resorts wants to put a $500 million casino on the site with turnpike visability. The proposal was endorsed by Mulvane’s City Council. According to The Wellington Daily News, Mulvane officials also are accused of failing to notify property owners and not providing a plan for extending city services. A judge ruled that the annexation was illegal.
In Mulvane, the annexation was initiated and completed at the request of all the landowners. So the city of Mulvane has started to re-annex the 100-foot wide ’shoestring,’ which winds mostly through Sedgwick County, in segments to join the city to two casino sites near the Kansas Turnpike 5 miles away from present city limits. In a series of special meetings that could take several weeks, the City Council plans to vote on resolutions annexing the 100-foot wide ’shoestring,’
which winds mostly through Sedgwick County, in segments. The commission will meet every night except Sundays until the entire string has been re-annexed, said Kent Hixson, city administrator. And, the Mulvane City Council also has voted to change its official newspaper from the weekly Mulvane News to The Wichita Eagle so it can publish its annexation resolutions daily. Resolutions don’t become legal until published in a city’s official newspaper,
Vince Wetta, D-Wellington, proposed an amendment that prohibits cities from annexing a narrow corridor of land to gain access to tracts of land that are not contiguous (attached) to the city. The corridor of land must have a tangible value and purpose other than for enhancing future annexations of land by the city. Wetta’s amendment passed on a voice vote.
(no link for this information)
Also this afternoon:
DRUG TESTING DRIVERS
Drivers who cause an accident that kills another person would be tested for drugs as well as alcohol under a bill passed unanimously Friday by the Senate. HB 2617 is dubbed “Amanda’s Law” after a Tonganoxie teen, Amanda Bixby, who was killed in an accident Valentine’s Day 2007. The amended bill now comes back to the House for concurrance with Senate amendments or to be sent to a conference committee. The Senate version deletes provisions which required drug testing of a driver after an accident if there is a “serious bodily injury” and applies the requirement for drug testing without the driver’s consent only when there is a death and when there is reason to issue a traffic citation. The test will not be required if the law enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver was not responsible for the accident.
(but don’t ask if they are US citizens. That would be wrong…..)
Lastly for our amusement:
INSPECTION OF AMUSEMENT RIDES
The House passed a bill, HB 2616, creating inspection rules for amusement rides. Currently, Kansas is one of only a few states that have no statewide regulations for rides. The Senate has not yet considered the measure. The bill does not provide for state inspection, because the state then is likely to become liable for any injury on a ride. It requires inspection and certification by qualified inspectors and oversite by the Dept. of Labor.
AmWay, cccant you just lpost ink?? I mean, you’re getting it from some web site!! geez!!
“I’ll bet American Way also takes advantage of the Mecicare…”
Just got back from a long day Mary and didn’t have a chance to post back.
I know you don’t read all my posts, but I have posted before that I am a Babyboomer, and not quite of retirement age yet. Alas, I still work for a living. Multiple activities all of which can be called “work”, but not all of the regular sense of the word.
I have very good healthcare. Like 260,000,000 other Americans do.
Sorry - you aren’t getting FREE socialized medicine this trip. The candidates are all taking money from all comers. The Congress knows who feeds them too.
Despite the media hype, and Capn’s claim that American doctors are for it - it isn’t in the cards.
Sorry, business as usual. No check for your poor and dishearted. But working in medicine, YOU can take care of them after your working hours. Go ahead and start the breathing, stop the bleeding, and treat for shock…..
No Chas - these posts are NOT from a webpage.
Check the news. Better yet, check my posts against the Kansas State Legislature website. See if this info is out there yet. Hell, the lights were burning in both houses until just a couple of hours ago.
But tomorrow, you should be able to verify all I have posted. Take the bill numbers I always try to provide. (someone should keep my honest. I do make mistakes)
What really makes me sad, is our representatives really do work hard and the majority of them are all good people who really do care. Some get lost in the political shuffle, lobbyists, and party dogma over time. But whether we all agree with the final votes and how they