WE Blog

Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
– Faith Whittlesey

Another one bites the dust. “The dog ate my homework” doesn’t have many left. Who’s next?

Lurita Doan finally forced out at GSA

Lurita Doan, head of the General Services Administration, was forced to offer her resignation tonight, according to an e-mail she sent out this evening.

Doan was appointed in late May, 2006, becoming the first woman to serve as GSA Administrator. With 12,000 empioyees and a $20 billion annual budget, GSA has responsibilty for overseeing the thousands of building and properties owned by the federal government.

Doan became the subject of congressional scrutiny last year for allegedly using GSA to help Republican lawmakers win re-election. Doan denied the allegation, but her appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was disastrous. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the panel, called on Doan to resign over the allegations, but Doan refused to do so.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0408/Lurita_Doan_forced_out_at_GSA.html

I’ll let this one speak for itself:

Iran is once again considering banning the importation of Barbie dolls, after the Iranian Prosecutor General warned that “the irregular importation of such toys, which unfortunately arrive through unofficial sources and smuggling, is destructive culturally and a social danger,”

An earlier short-lived anti-Barbie campaign in 2002 led to the Iranian government’s promotion of a pair of twin dolls, based on a series of stories in children’s school books, who are modestly dressed and uphold traditional Islamic values.

The hosts of Fox and Friends found this story amusing. “So they’re actually doing, like, their own anti-Barbie doll,” commented Alisyn Camerota, who herself bears an amazing resemblance to the Barbie dolls she was displaying.

“‘It can destroy the Islamic republic!’” exclaimed Brian Kilmeade, quoting from the Prosecutor General’s warning. “Here we are,” he continued, “trying to find their nuclear power plants. We could drop dolls on their nation and bring them to their knees.”

“Remember that one story about the woman at Starbucks?” added Camerota. “She was just having a meeting with another guy and she got arrested because that guy was not her husband.” (The incident to which Camerota referred actually took place in Saudi Arabia, whose laws are very different from those of Iran.)

“I’m not surprised that they’re going to ban Barbie,” Camerota concluded.

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=923

Rockefeller Family:Exxon Ignoring Shifting Energy Landscape

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200804300847DOWJONESDJONLINE000742_FORTUNE5.htm

Gee, I thought they needed all those profits to do research for our energy future!

Blackwater to Build Facility Near Mexican Border

The private security company Blackwater has announced plans to build an indoor training center in Otay Mesa, California, just across from the Mexican border. Blackwater recently abandoned plans to build a larger facility on a ranch in Potrero, California. Democratic Congressman Bob Filner said he is concerned that Blackwater is attempting to become better situated to win border security contracts. Filner said, “This is a very sensitive area when it comes to human and civil rights. We don’t need people who have no regard for human and civil rights to be part of that enforcement. It’s dangerous, literally, to the lives of my constituents.” Blackwater officials say they’ll use the 61,000-square-foot site to train Navy and Coast Guard sailors.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#1

OPEC: Oil Prices Could Hit $200 a Barrel

On Monday, oil prices hit a new record of nearly $120 dollars a barrel, but OPEC’s president Chakib Khelil of Algeria warns oil prices could eventually hit $200 a barrel. Khelil blamed record oil prices on the weak dollar and global political insecurity.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#1

Go figure. And they didn’t say how they would replace the lost money…

Economists Question McCain and Clinton’s Gas Tax Proposal

On the campaign trail, Senator Hillary Clinton has joined Senator John McCain in calling for the temporary elimination of the roughly eighteen-cent-a-gallon gas tax over the summer. Senator Obama has opposed the elimination of the tax. While Clinton and McCain have framed the tax cut as a way to help working class families, many economists question who would benefit from the tax cut. According to economist Dean Baker, the tax cut would result in higher profits for the oil industry but would not change the price of gas paid by consumers.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#1

But.. but.. but… the war is so popular!!!

Longshoremen to Shut West Coast Ports on May 1 to Protest War

In labor news, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union is planning to shut down all of the nation’s West Coast ports on Thursday to condemn the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The eight-hour shutdown will affect twenty-nine ports. The union workers are calling for an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of US troops from the Middle East. The protest will occur on May 1, May Day.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#1

Yeah… about that….

Antonin Scalia: Torture Is Not “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”

And Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has publicly claimed that the torture of prisoners does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment.” Scalia’s comment came during an interview with Lesley Stahl on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Justice Scalia: I don’t like torture. I’m—although defining it is going to be a nice trick. But, I mean, who’s in favor of it? Nobody. And we have a law against torture. But if the—everything that is hateful and odious is not covered by some provision of the Constitution.

Lesley Stahl: If someone’s in custody, as in Abu Ghraib, and they are brutalized by a law enforcement person, if you listen to the expression, ‘cruel and unusual punishment,’ doesn’t that apply?

Justice Scalia: “No, no.”

Stahl: “Cruel and unusual punishment?”

Justice Scalia: “To the contrary. You think—you think that you would—has anybody ever referred to torture as punishment? I don’t think so.”

Stahl: “Well, I think if you’re in custody and you have a policeman who’s taken you into custody—”

Justice Scalia: “And you say he’s punishing you?”

Stahl: “Sure.”

Justice Scalia: “What’s he punishing you for? You punish somebody—”

Stahl: “Well, because he assumes you, one, either committed a crime—”

Justice Scalia: “No, no.”

Stahl: “—or that you know something that he wants to know.”

Justice Scalia: “It’s the latter. And when he’s—when he’s—when he’s hurting you in order to get information from you—”

Stahl: “Yeah.”

Justice Scalia: “—you don’t say he’s punishing you. What’s he punishing you for? He’s trying to extract—”

Stahl: “Because he thinks you’re a terrorist, and he’s going to beat the you-know-what out of you.”

Justice Scalia: “Anyway, that’s my view. And it happens to be correct.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#1

Bush Administration Claims It Can Ignore Anti-Torture Laws

The New York Times reports the Justice Department has told Congress that US intelligence operatives can legally use interrogation methods that are banned by US and international law if they are attempting to thwart terrorist attacks. The letters from the Justice Department show that the Bush administration believes it can ignore the Geneva Conventions and restrictions from the Supreme Court and Congress designed to prevent interrogators from torturing prisoners. In the letters, the Justice Department argues that the legality of some interrogation techniques depends on why they are being used.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/28/headlines

Another tact might be to tax ‘windfall profits on oil speculation’, stand back and watch oil prices plummet. Or another, make it so anyone bidding on oil has to take delivery of oil as a percentage of the value of contracts they purchase.
We need some vision from our politicians instead of this inane ‘gas tax holliday’ more of which follows:

Clinton-McCain gas tax holiday slammed as bad idea By Alister Bull
19 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A gas tax holiday proposed by U.S. presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Clinton is viewed as a bad idea by many economists and has drawn unexpected support for Clinton rival Barack Obama, who also is opposed.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Score one for Obama,” wrote Greg Mankiw, a former chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. “In light of the side effects associated with driving … gasoline taxes should be higher than they are, not lower.”

Republican McCain and Democrat Clinton, who is battling Obama for their party’s nomination, both want to suspend the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax during the peak summer driving months to ease the pain of soaring gas prices. The tax is used to fund the Highway Trust Fund that builds and maintains roads and bridges.

Economists said that since refineries cannot increase their supply of gasoline in the space of a few summer months, lower prices will just boost demand and the benefits will flow to oil companies, not consumers.

“You are just going to push up the price of gas by almost the size of the tax cut,” said Eric Toder, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington.

Obama criticized the plan as pure politics and said the only way to lower the price of gas is to use less oil.

“It would last for three months and it would save you on average half a tank of gas, $25 to $30. That’s what Senator Clinton and Senator McCain are proposing to deal with the gas crisis,” he said on Tuesday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“This isn’t an idea designed to get you through the summer, it’s an idea designed to get them through an election.”

It’s a sad day for acid-heads everywhere.

Albert Hofmann, father of the mind-altering drug LSD, dies in Switzerland at 102

FRANK JORDANS
AP News

Apr 30, 2008 06:52 EST

Albert Hofmann, the father of the mind-altering drug LSD whose medical discovery inspired — and arguably corrupted — millions in the 1960s hippie generation, has died. He was 102.

Hofmann died Tuesday at his home in Burg im Leimental, said Doris Stuker, a municipal clerk in the village near Basel where Hofmann moved following his retirement in 1971.

For decades after LSD was banned in the late 1960s, Hofmann defended his invention.

“I produced the substance as a medicine. … It’s not my fault if people abused it,” he once said.

The Swiss chemist discovered lysergic acid diethylamide-25 in 1938 while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains at the Sandoz pharmaceuticals firm in Basel.

He became the first human guinea pig of the drug when a tiny amount of the substance seeped onto his finger during a laboratory experiment on April 16, 1943.

“I had to leave work for home because I was suddenly hit by a sudden feeling of unease and mild dizziness,” he subsequently wrote in a memo to company bosses.

“Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror,” he said, describing his bicycle ride home. “I had the impression I was rooted to the spot. But my assistant told me we were actually going very fast.”

Upon reaching home, Hofmann began experiencing what he called “wonderful visions.”

Three days later, Hofmann experimented with a larger dose. The result was the world’s first scientifically documented bad trip.

“The substance which I wanted to experiment with took over me. I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I would go crazy. I was transported to a different world, a different time,” Hofmann wrote.

Hofmann and his scientific colleagues hoped that LSD would make an important contribution to psychiatric research. The drug exaggerated inner problems and conflicts and thus it was hoped that it might be used to recognize and treat mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

For a time, Sandoz sold LSD 25 under the name Delysid, encouraging doctors to try it themselves. It was one of the strongest drugs in medicine — with just one gram enough to drug an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 people for 12 hours.

LSD was elevated to international fame in the late 1950s and 1960s thanks to Harvard professor Timothy Leary who embraced the drug under the slogan “turn on, tune in, drop out.”

But away from the psychedelic trips, horror stories emerged about people going on murder sprees or jumping out of windows while hallucinating. Heavy users suffered permanent psychological damage.

The U.S. government banned LSD in 1966 and other countries followed suit.

Hofmann maintained this was unfair, arguing that the drug was not addictive. He repeatedly argued for the ban to be lifted to allow LSD to be used in medical research.

Last December, Swiss authorities decided to allow LSD for psychotherapy in exceptional cases.

“For me, this is a very big wish come true. I always wanted to see LSD get its proper place in medicine,” he told Swiss TV at the time.

Hofmann himself took the drug — purportedly on an occasional basis and out of scientific interest — for several decades.

“LSD can help open your eyes,” he once said. “But there are other ways — meditation, dance, music, fasting.”

Even so, the self described “father” of LSD readily agreed that the drug was dangerous if in the wrong hands. This was reflected by the title of his 1979 book: “LSD – my problem child.”

In it he wrote that, “The history of LSD to date amply demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can ensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken for a pleasure drug.”

Hofmann retired from Sandoz in 1971 and devoted his time to travel, writing and lectures.

“This is really a high point in my advanced age,” Hofmann said at a ceremony in Basel honoring him on his 100th birthday. “You could say it is a consciousness-raising experience without LSD.”

——————————————————————————–

Everyone should gaze into the sun for 1 minute at noon to honor Dr. Hoffman.

Maybe if enough foreign investors come over and buy up our American land (priced in worthless dollars), we’ll finally become de jure what we already are de facto: slaves to big multinational corporations.

Ya know, I read something interesting on the obama/wright thing today.

It pointed out that obama’s strategy of running a “race neutral” campaign was flawed from the start. The idea that America is, in ANY way, race neutral is nuts to anyone on the front lines. Yet…obama and his supporters tried to be “above” the race issue, and when he says stuff like “there is no white America or Black America, there is just America” well…

That may ring true for white folk, but not necessarily black or brown folk. They KNOW, that we may WANT one America, but that is NOT who we are as a nation right now.

So, no matter if you agree or disagree on the above, it helped me put a finger on why the mcclurkin incident disturbs me so much. And it is part of the pattern here.

Dont F’n tell me that it’s a good thing to let someone like mccloset preach his hatred and then not apologize for letting him HEADLINE the damn event.

Maybe obama and his supporters think the divide between gay America and straight America is not too big. Maybe they think this “reaching across the aisle” and giving mcclurkin a platform for his crap is no big deal because they WANT it to be no big deal.

Sorry, I know I’m not explaining this very well, but damn, it rings as inauthentic and phoney and downright deceitful when you say we already ARE what we WANT to be, instead of acknowledging the reality of where we REALLY are.

You dont get to home plate by jumping over and ignoring third base. Ignoring what we are, and pretending we are something better, is a bad strategy when what the public craves this year is authenticity.

What Wright has done is make obama come clean about who we are and who we want to be. We may want to be race neutral, but we are not. And admitting we have a problem is the first step to recovery.

Thanks Linda. I dont have time to refine that post or explain it better, but if you read this, you will see what I’m explaining so badly. It was what inspired my insight.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132×5747755

“Maybe if enough foreign investors come over and buy up our American land”

But will they be required to speak English?

“The survey of 200 Assoc of Foreign Invest Real estate(AFIRE) members was conducted in the fourth quarter 2007. AFIRE members hold $700 billion of cross-border real estate, including $230 billion in the U.S.

Here are the survey results:

Global Snapshot
Top Five Global Cities for Foreign Investor’s Real Estate Dollars
1. New York; up from #2 in 2006
2. Washington, DC; up from #4 in 2006
2. London; down from #1 in 2006
4. Paris; down from #3 in 2006
5. Shanghai; up from #9 in 2006

Other significant changes:
• Singapore, up to 6th place (tied with Tokyo) from 24th place in 2006
• Sydney, up to 9th place from 15th place in 2006
• Hong Kong, up to 10th place from 11th place in 2006

Most Stable and Secure Countries for Real Estate Investments
1. U.S. – 56% of vote
2. Germany – 11% of vote; up from #3, with 4.5% of the vote in 2006
3. United Kingdom – 8.8% of vote; down from #2, with 11% of the vote in 2006
4. Australia – 8.8% of vote; up from #5, with 3% of the vote in 2006
5. Japan – 5.3% of vote; with 3% of the vote [tied with Australia], unchanged from 2006

Countries Offering the Best Opportunity for Capital Appreciation

1. U.S. – maintains ranking; increases percentage of votes to 26.2% from 23% in 2006

2. China – moves into 2nd place from 3rd; increases percentage of votes to 21.4% from 14.8% in 2006

3. India – falls from 2nd to 3rd; decreases percentage of votes from 18% to 16.7% in 2006.

4. Russia – moves from 5th to 4th; although percentage of votes decreases to 7.1% from 8.2% in 2006

4. Mexico – moves from 7th to 4th (tied with Russia); increases percentage of votes to 7.1% from 4.9% in 2006

U.S. Snapshot
Top U.S. Property Types
Within the U.S. property market, the most dramatic change was a total reversal of investors’ preferred U.S. property types, with every property category shifting and, most dramatically, office properties falling into fifth place and retail properties rising to first.
1. Retail – from 5th place in 2006
2. Hotels – from 3rd place in 2006
3. Industrial – from 4th place in 2006
4. Multi-family – from 2nd place in 2006
5. Office – from 1st place in 2006

Top U.S. Cities
The ranking of the top five U.S. cities echoed respondents’ choices in 2006:
1. New York
2. Washington, DC
3. Los Angeles
4. San Francisco
5. Seattle

Climbing up the ladder:
• Las Vegas from 16th place to 8th

Appetite and Opportunity: U.S.
The resilience of the U.S. real estate market among seasoned international investors is underscored by the timing of the survey, conducted during the fourth quarter of 2007, after the much-publicized credit crunch and sub-prime mortgage crisis. In spite of this news:

• On average, survey respondents say that slightly more than 50% of their real estate planned acquisitions in 2008 will be allocated to the U.S. While the percentage allocated to the U.S. remains roughly the same as 2007, the actual dollar amount is expected to increase by 16%.

• Eighty-five percent of survey respondents say that recent fluctuations in the dollar have not prompted them to increase their U.S. allocation.

• The percentage of respondents saying it was “very difficult” to find attractive U.S. real estate fell to 22.8% from 37.5% in 2006. This represents the smallest percentage expressing this sentiment since 2003.

• For the first time since 2004, a measurable number of investors declared investing in the U.S. to be “somewhat easy.”

• For the first time in years “distressed assets” are mentioned by AFIRE members as a new strategic focus.” Business Week

“Every person wants legitimacy and respect for exactly who they are. Not because of who they might be or (goodness forbid) should be. An honest acknowledgment that they are as worthy as anyone else because of exactly who they are.”

And Obama and the Government will give us that respect? Can’t do anything without Government.

Let’s have Government force that respect on everybody. Even Charles Manson.

The great racial divide, another crisis for Government to solve. 150 years after emancipation and Government is still working on it.

That Dem undergound story was pure BS. Obama, not for a minute, intended to keep race out of politics. That’s the only thing that drove him to the top of the Dem campaign.

He had his Racial Emancipation/Wright Denunciation speech pre-written a year ago. Now he finally gets to explicitly play his race card.

Affirmative Action and White Guilt, at its best or worse.

After 150 years it’s time to get over it and go on.
I don’t care how long you stand there and look at it, a bottle of spilled milk is still just that. It over! And wanting and waiting for someone to do something for you is the surest way to get nowhere.
It’s time those complaining go ahead and complete the bases if they ever want to get home.

It the wheel squeeks loud enough, maybe someone will give it some oil.

How much do we owe in reparations? Is it limited to just blacks, or do we go ahead and take care of the American Indians too?

Will it be as much or more per person than the Economic Unstimulus Act?

How many slaves are still alive today?

What happened to that 40 acres and a Mule?

AmericanWay: Have you ever looked up the best cities in which to live? A whole different geography. CNN claims they are (in order)Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna, Geneva, Perth, Adelaide,Zurich, Toronto and Calgary.

Jesus WEPT!

No wonder the subject of racial relations is never given a serious and honest discussion.

Please repose where I said the problems we have with race can/should be solved by the government. Please repost where I advocated for reparations. Please repost where I suggested government be responsible for, what was it, respect?

Sumbitch. You guys have your rants prepared no matter WHAT the other posters say. Or whether they are relevant to any discussion.

Bad libs! Socialism! Get out of my pockets! Bill Clinton!

yikes

The Kansas Senate failed to override Bilious Sebelius’ veto of the pro-life CARA bill to protect informed consent in abortion mills, by a vote of 25-14.
This means political war on Election Day, and in northeast Kansas, specifically war on Barbara Allen, Overland Park; John Vratil, Leawood; David Wysong, Mission Hills, and David Haley and Chris Steineger, both Kansas City, KS.
- – -

Brandy Hildreth26, of Granite City, IL is suing the notorious Hope Clinic abortion mill for committing a coerced abortion in February. Lisa Memmel is the abortionist quack accused of inflicting coerced abortion, physical injuries, emotional harm, medical expenses, including past and future medical expenses, disability, disfigurement, and the loss of normal life.
The Illinois Division of Professional Regulation is currently conducting an investigation.
- – -

“When I hear anyone, including a presidential candidate, equate having a baby as punishment, I realize with particular force the impact that the millions of legal abortions in this country have had on respect for human life.”
. . . Democrat historian, novelist, columnist, and Jewish atheist Nat Hentoff, showing just enough sense to refuse support for Obamanation, although not enough sense to leave a thoroughly pro-abortion political party
- – -

Now that we have dealt with Obamanation getting too chummy with a senile, racist preacher:
Carl Davidson, a former vice president of the radical Students for a Democratic Society, who traveled to Cuba to meet with his Communist buddy Fidel Castro, is webmaster for the Progressives for Obama Internet page. His old SDS collaborator, Tom Hayden, who traveled with Jane Fonda to meet with Vietnamese communist leaders during the height of the Vietnam war, is also part of Progressives for Obama, as is Hanoi Jane Fonda. Also supporting Obama are Weather Underground chums William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, whose avowed creed is “Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home, kill your parents, that’s where it’s really at.” Mr. Dohrn is also a supporter of convicted mass murderer Charles Manson. Mr. Ayers regrets only participating in 30 bombings because it wasn’t enough, and Fort Dix, the Pentagon, and the Capitol building still stand, and the family members of a New York State Supreme Court Justice still live.

FOX News Poll: Obama’s Favorable Rating Drops

Nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) think Hillary Clinton has a better chance of beating John McCain in November — 10 percentage points higher than the 38 percent who think Barack Obama can win, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday. This represents a significant shift from March, when Democrats said Obama was the candidate more likely to beat McCain.

The ongoing controversy over Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, appears to have damaged how Americans view Obama. His favorable rating is now 47 percent, down 7 percentage points since February when 54 percent had a positive view of him. As may be expected, his unfavorable rating went up from 33 percent to 42 percent today.

Obama linked to funding Terrorists

A top official at the Pentagon during former-President George H. W. Bush’s Administration and a former CIA intelligence officer maintain that Barack Obama and former Weather Underground honcho William Ayers funneled money to Professor Rashid Khalidi, a known terrorist sympathizer.

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/03/obama-connected.html

Hey Parkay, you know why that veto override was shut out right?

My senator said he was P”D OFF at the underhandedness of the whole deal- how it hadn’t even been proposed properly, the 10pm phone calls to his home from your side, the ignoring of the CONSTITUTIONALITY of the deal. So you can thank your buddies for that.

What did you send one of your friends to the clinic to get an abortion so that she could claim it was coerced?

Speaking of tin-foil wearing conspiracy theorists, has anyone heard about the “Amero”? It would be our continent’s version of the euro: A common currency among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

I have a friend, whom I have never known to be a nut, cotends that this currency is already minted and will be introduced soon.

Wiki pooh, poohs the story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_currency_union

Parkay ;

I guess abortion isn’t THAT important an issue to Republicans if they can’t even override a governor’s veto.

Ever get the feeling that you’ve been used Parkay ?

Republicans love abortion because they can use it to ‘get out the vote’, but they don’t want the issue to go away so they keep it legal.

StevenEDavis: I have family in Ontario who just poo-poo the story feeling it is some dog and pony show engineered by scare mongers. They like the US up there but like keeping things the way they are better, for nationalism is pretty strong. Besides, the right wing here would never allow it. Just imagine getting 33 million Democrats and 10 Democratic States all at once!

Tomorrow is Commander Codpiece Day!

Tomorrow we celebrate the 5th anniversary of the famously accomplished mission of the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln. :wink:

HOWEVER, NOBODY SHOULD MENTION THAT THE THE “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” BANNER WAS EVEN REMOTELY THE MOST ARROGANT ACT OF ANY WARTIME US PRESIDENT! NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!!

SHHHH!

Instead, just say that it the crew requested the banner and the White House arranged for a “private vendor” to merely meet their request.

:lol:

Anybody doing anything special on Commander Codpiece Day?

Anybody plannin’ any celebratory struttin’?

:lol:

What are people planning on doing with their ’stimulus rebate checks’?

My wife and I thought we had a really fun purchase planned and that would put it back into the economy. But, then I remembered the county raised my home’s evaluation a full 11% this year and the property tax half payment will will now take about all of hers and mine.
Hum, that’s not nearly as much fun.
Ever notice when they say we are to be given something they just come and take it back in someway? :(

Fort Bragg barracks shown in deplorable condition, photographed by the dad of a returning warrior.

Must See TV!. Hail to the Chief!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4P-camUjjk

Oops! Here is the video link.

“My wife and I thought we had a really fun purchase planned and that would put it back into the economy. But, then I remembered the county raised my home’s evaluation a full 11% this year and the property tax half payment will will now take about all of hers and mine.” — boxlock.

I pay $2,000 on a $120,000 property. So if an 11 percent increase results in a $1,200 property tax increase, you must be paying taxes on an $800,000 property. Now we understand where you are coming from.

“Plus Boxlock,
Before you get your check, there will be Federal Income Tax taken out of it.” :D

Thanks Regular…as if I wasn’t feeling bad enough.
:(

I plan to pay bills.

Well you know if the govt didn’t spend 400 dollars on a can of paint, they’ve got the manpower to clean the place up….they could probably get reject paint for next to nothing and make the recruits paint for a day every group.

“Who’s got the issues?” — p.m.

If someone came by with a nice quarter ounce of B.C. red, you’d turn it down? Tell me another one. Anyway, I’m down to pot, whiskey and mushrooms now, oh, and good beer, and Budweiser, and, oh, never mind.

Will there be a Commander Codpiece Day parade in Wichita tomorrow?

:D

Orally is about the biggest gasbag pos I have a hard time just looking at him.

A testicle spectacle.

:lol:

Good heavens, did I say testicle?!?

Your thoughts please, Regular.

:lol:

Box,

My stimulous effort will be devoted to some combination of:

Springfield XD9 Compact

Panther Arms AR-15 (Can’t decide between .223 or .308)

Benelli Montefeltro 12g semi-auto

It’s best to get anything that is semi-automatic or high-capacity NOW, before Obama or Clinton ban these guns.

Only 1 of the 3 is made in the USA, but heck, what can you buy that’s made in the USA today? Our Union labor here can’t make sh*t, and can’t compete with labor overseas.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS

LSD users often have flashbacks, during which certain aspects of their LSD experience recur even though they have stopped taking the drug. In addition, LSD users may develop long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depression.

http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/lsd.html

Max, I’m proud of you….all fine choices and what better way to show your patriotism.

I still may find a way to use my ’stimulus check’ to do my patriotic part by buying another rifle.
There are a bunch of really aggressive, pesky wabbits down around the farm that need attention.

I’ve got my eye on a CZ 452 Lux made by Ceska Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod, Czech Republic, in 22 WMR that I’m thinking should do the trick on them.
Here, take a look and tell me what you think. :)
http://www.cz-usa.com/product_detail.php?id=3

PMama, now we know why Max gets unstable LOL darned acid relapses… that’ll do it every time!!

Sorry Max, I thought this was your statement >>>>

“Yeah I saw what was so cool about it, I’ll never look at a wheat field blowing in the wind the same way ever again. And I also saw why it could be so very deadly when I was bent over the rail trying to get a better look at the spillway.

Not like pot at all. There is a good reason why its illegal.”

Oh my gawd………..and this woman wants to take control of the ‘red button’ defending this nation.

Hillary can’t figure out the coffee machine and she wants to control our aircraft carriers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C9bkuJliMY

BTW, PMama admitted to ONE use… :-)

I’m a bit disappointed that Senator Clinton would give Billo the time of day.

I don’t like the Dems to lend Fox “news” any credence.

But Obama went there first.

And Hillary put Billo on his HEELS.

Again, look into, “LAPD Outgunned”, and read, watch, and listen too the details of Feb 28th 1987. I found it in a yahoo search. The 911 tapes are 43 minutes long. They are downloadable at the yahoo search on the audio/comment portion of the anniversary letter published there. 1,100 enemy rounds fired at Cops for 44 minutes. 760 rounds of fire returned by the Police in the same 44 minutes. 11 wounded, shot Cops. 7 wounded shot bystanders. One gunman was hit 29 times, before he committed suicide. His automatic jammed. Why does the general public need these guns? What would they do with them? Save a Cop/Trooper/Deputy, save a friend, family member, neighbor and save yourself. Tell your Legislature “NO” to WMD!!!!! Herbert West III, west.herb@yahoo.com P.S. Thank you to all Troopers/Cops/Deputies and their families, alive and fallen.

Interesting post, Herb

Heh good one kansas native!

World Net Daily has several different articles on the alleged “ready” status of the “Amero”

Wow, Panther is available in 6.8×43mm SPC.
Now that would be a great defensive/military cartridge. :lol:

Thanks Chas. I am trying to thank them in preventative actions. This is away of letting them know, I listen when they take the time, to show “preventative measures”, in dealing with the problems in everyday life. Preventative Measures work. It is the Social Interaction/Interactive, “Serve” part of Law Enforcements, Too Protect and Serve. Thanks again, Herbert West III west.herb@yahoo.com

She wouldn’t have to defend herself from gun weilding bad guys if the bad guys weren’t able to get the guns from law abiding citizens in the first place.

Obama is the Great White Hope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqA_v1fHsyk&feature=related

Reverend Doctor James David Manning

MaxGrobnik?? If the Police can get these items and dont, why cant we follow their lead? Why follow the lead of Gun Fights and Bigger Guns? If each Cop and bystander was hit 10 times each and 1,100 rounds were fired at them, this would be 180 rounds accounted for. Where are the other rounds? 920 rounds sparyed all over the neighborhood. The Police hit him 29 times. His armor suit held up. We need to work with them and “PREVENT” siuations. I belive in self defense. I also believe in using our brains in any situation, armed or unarmed. People shoot back when shot at. Stray bullets kill just as effectively as targeted ones. 920 bullets with the fire power by the other party. 2,200 bullets in 44 minutes. Cops are trained and could not stop these ILLEGAL GUNMEN. Where is the general public going to fare any better? Look at all the dead people yearly in America today who settle their disputes with guns. Look at all their dead neighbors. If we limit the guns, it helps force people into using their brains and working their problems out. It helps them stay alive in this. Why would they complain. They also get to live. No dis-respect intended, I am not where ever these situations are or were. I do live on earth with problems, like everyone else though. Peace and God Bless. Herbert West III west.herb@yahoo.com

Regular, and others, before you put much stock in what Rev. Manning might have on YouTube, it might be a good idea to check out his web site >>>>

http://atlah.org/

I agree — And that seems to be just one of his problems… My guess is he is under investigation for his tax exempt “ministry”

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=167375&rsspartner=rssyahoo
gotta watch it….

and this is Russia going fascist. Thank Reagan’s buddies.

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/1135/53/

With care and treatment, people who have ingested LSD can be helped to lead a seemingly normal life.
Of course, they would have been able to do more with their life, without dangerous, illegal drugs.
We all get to pay for our mistakes. Some of us pay a lot longer and a lot more.
That’s why they call it dope.

Boxlock

You might want to do a google search on the information Regular provided you on the Economic Stimulus “payment” you will receive.

I do not believe it is taxable. It is not considered a refund.

“The payment is not included in your tax refund check, but it is not taxable income. You won’t have to pay taxes on it in 2008, and it will not reduce your 2008 refund.’

Check Regular and me both out at IRS.gov

(It’s simply FREE MONEY from that gubermint money tree.)

More news from the State House:

STATE REVENUES DOWN – COSTS UP
A tight budget year got tighter for Kansas legislators when revenue estimators made their projections about revenue to be expected during the next fiscal year. On April 16, revenue estimators projected that the state would bring in $130 million less than previously expected over the next two years — in part because of the federal economic stimulus package. Revenue is expected to increase 3% for the next fiscal year and be relatively flat for fiscal 2009. That’s not good news for programs that lawmakers postponed funding until after the revenue projection. Proponents had hoped those programs, which total nearly $140 million in additional spending, could be funded in an omnibus, or wrap-up, budget during the wrap up session that started today.
Many high-priority services have yet to be funded. Among the highest of these priorities must be in-home services for our frail elderly. Republicans have vowed to keep the state’s budget to a 5% or lower increase. The Governor proposed a budget that was less than a 5% increase in spending. The $13.4 billion budget passed in April did that with $24.4 million to spare, but did not include many of the Governor’s budget items.
Lawmakers also learned in mid April that an additional $12 million will be needed for the state’s match for the federal Medicaid program.
Now each aspect of the state budget should be scrutinized to ensure accountability and responsible spending. However, although the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee said that scrutiny was unlikely to result in cuts to programs lawmakers had already approved, the majority of the House committee stripped out funding from the Children’s Trust Fund, cutting all of the funding for local early childhood education programs and moved much of the money to fund the Medicaid shortfall.
The budget already approved includes $10 million for aviation training and research in Wichita, $1 million for the Equus Beds recharging project. An additonal $500,000 was added to fund an unmanned airplane project requested by one legisator (an “earmark”?).
If the legislature is not to cut the planned bare bones budget, they will have to dip deeper into the state’s reserves to pay the bills. The majority already took roughly $382 million, or more than a third of the money in the state’s reserve fund, to fund the original budget bill.
Duane Goossen, director of the Kansas Division of the Budget, attributed the lower revenue projection to the federal economic stimulus package, decreased interest earnings and the shift of more money to the state’s biosciences authority. The stimulus package is projected to lead to $79 million less in revenue for the state over the next two years, mostly because businesses will be allowed to depreciate assets more quickly. Lower interest rates are expected to result in $44 million less in revenue over two years. The biosciences authority is pulling away an additional $36.4 million. The state isn’t in trouble, but “concerns with the national economy are having some effect on the Kansas economy,” said Alan Conroy, director of the Kansas Legislative Research Department, who helped present the consensus revenue estimates.

Some States may tax the Federal rebate. It’s not taxable by the Feds.

Hey isn’t Alabama like the mecca of redneck Republicon country?

Gee, maybe they’re having a hard time at the state level paying for stuff, ya think?

More news from our State House

BTW, anyone living in Kansas but working in Missouri
will be eligible to file an amended Missouri return in order to collect additional Missouri refund from the screw job MO did to Kansas residents last/this year.

Short background: MO passed a bill to exclude non-residents from the deduction for property taxes paid outside of MO. In effect, this increased the tax liability to MO for non-residents, and reduced any refund received. Average estimated loss is approximately $190 additional tax liability to MO.
Because KS residents get a credit for taxes paid to other states – this in effect REDUCED the revenue KS received. MO robbed KS. Millions of dollars.

Our Kansas Legislature (and the gov) fought back threatening to pass similar legislation screwing MO residents working in KS.

MO finally repealed the new attack on bleeding KS.

So KS residents may file an amended return to MO to seek relief.

Here’s the catch: Because your tax liability to MO was reduced, your “credit for taxes paid to other states” is ALSO reduced.

So you will owe KS MORE MONEY. MO “WILL” report to KS and you the refund (all states do this).

Do the math. Is the refund worth the paperwork?

Or, are you doing KS a favor at YOUR expense to file an amended return to each state?

In other words, are you getting a check from MO only to hand it over to KS?

Do the math and see if you get to keep any of that refund from MO. Or let your conscience rule.

Now watching Michael Moore on Larry King.

I am deeply disappointed in his endorsement of Obama. But I am giving him a hearing.

Chas,

I will never answer your silly assed question.

My information comes from Topeka. You are more than capable of verifying my posts from other sources at our capital. Check the legislature website.

By ALL MEANS check me out. (Never stopped any blogger here before)

But stop trying to fit all of us into boxes, getting personal, and figuring out who is who in the zoo. You have a personal problem in this regard.

I’ve posted before on this subject.

From our State House:

SHOULD WE DECOUPLE?
Faced with a tightening budget, advocates for children and other social service programs are urging the Kansas Legislature to “decouple” from a federal tax cut. Since Kansas income tax is tied to the federal tax, the federal tax cut would provide businesses with a double benefit, cuts in their state as well as their federal taxes. To decouple would provide $79 million that would otherwise not be collected in state revenue to state lawmakers as they prepare a final budget during the wrap-up session that starts today. “Decoupling is a viable solution to our state’s budget shortfalls, and will better position Kansas in case of further economic downturn,” said April Holman, director of Fiscal Focus for Kansas Action for Children.
The triggering mechanism is a provision known as bonus depreciation in the federal economic stimulus act which results in cutting Kansas business tax revenue by $79 million because the state income tax code is tied directly to the federal income tax code. The bonus depreciation allows businesses to claim an immediate deduction of 50% of the cost of new equipment, rather than following the standard approach of depreciating that cost over the equipment’s lifetime. The result is that Kansas had to reduce its tax revenue projections for the current and next fiscal years by $79 million. The state could avoid this hit by decoupling the federal business depreciation rules from the state tax code.
Because of the loss of revenue, budget negotiators are wrestling with ways to address various state funding requests such as community based early childhood education programs, waiting lists for home health services and nutrition programs for frail elderly, cancer screening for the uninsured, insurance premium assistance for the working poor, funding for mental health centers and many more services.
Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, who is chairman of the House Tax Committee, said he would oppose any effort to decouple. “My argument is that it’s a national policy, and if we decouple we put our Kansas businesses at a disadvantage to their competitors in other states,”
Wilk said. But Holman said studies have shown that the bonus depreciation is not an effective way to stimulate the economy. Kansas Action for Children said at least 17 states have decoupled from the federal bonus depreciation. If the other states jump off a cliff, I guess that is reason for Kansas to join them. There is no certainty that if the legislature votes to “decouple” as the governor requests, that the money truly will go to these programs. Although the social agencies are their own lobby, the legislature can spend the additional revenue on anything.
Once it goes into the cookie jar, none of the cookies has any markings on it when they come out.

Chas, I’m guessing it’s inside info from a reporter, legislater, or even the Governor herself.

This stuff is great, hard to find real news like this in the press.

I’d say verify it later if you don’t trust it.

Not trying to verify it… just a way to read it myself…

“Governor herself.”

Max, please……!

Can’t I just post information I have without you getting personal? Judge my post by the content.
Verify it when you can. Sometimes even newspapers pick and choose which topics THEY think are important, and ignore the rest. Not everything is considered “news worthy” by editors. It’s not what sells papers.

Ok Governor, er I mean AmWay. I won’t pry.

Thanks Gov!

http://www.kansas.com/457/story/379574.html

Sebelius signs machine gun bill

Grobnik is a flushback

#
ANTI
Posted April 30, 2008 at 10:45 pm | Permalink

Regular, I know your into visual editing/graphics, I just purchased a modest digital video recorder and was looking for some reasonably priced editing software, nothing to fancy. Any suggestions?
————————————
Check out these options from Sony.

I would suggest Platinum as it has more capability than the entry level.

You won’t need the Vegas Pro unless you plan on opening your own video studio. :)

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