`The only certain thing is the science is uncertain’
Lord Lawson on the difficulty of publishing a contrarian book on global warming and why huge cuts in CO2 emissions would be `madness’
`This is my fourth book. I’ve never had any difficulty getting a publisher. In fact, I’ve got the contracts before the books were written. But this one - I couldn’t get a publisher anywhere in this country. it shows the unhelpful and unhealthy climate, in a different sense, there is over this issue.’
Nigel Lawson, former UK chancellor of the exchequer and energy secretary in the 1980s Conservative government, has become a high-profile critic of current orthodoxies on climate change. In a week when the legitimacy of criticising the mainstream view has been called into question following the UK television regulator’s censuring of the Channel 4 documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle, a debate featuring Lawson looked likely to be lively. And so it proved.
Lawson was speaking on Tuesday evening at the latest Bookshop Barnie, a series of rowdy discussions organised by the Future Cities Project at the Waterstones store next to the London School of Economics (LSE). It’s not exactly one of those Borders monsters, over four floors with a Starbucks in the middle. The LSE store is a much smaller affair, with the walls lined with serious tomes about economics and social science. But it does make an excellent and intimate venue if you want to have a well-informed row - which is what followed.
The subject of the discussion was Lawson’s book, An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming. In a cheeky introduction, the chairman of the discussion, Austin Williams, told the audience: `Nigel Lawson, Lord Lawson of Blaby, speaks from a position of eminent authority on the issue of carbon reduction. He was responsible for the biggest reduction in carbon emissions in this country when he presided over the slashing of the coal mining industry.’ Apart from raising laughter, the introduction was a pointed nod to the fact that the old lines of left and right in society have disappeared today, replaced by new divisions over climate change and the environment more broadly.
As a former finance minister, Lawson does not pretend to be an expert on the details of atmospheric physics. But, as he pointed out, many scientists and noisy commentators on the subject have no special expertise in the particular disciplines required to understand climate, either. More importantly, the politicians charged with making the big policy decisions on the subject must do so on the basis of limited knowledge, too.
`The one thing that is absolutely clear about the science is that it isn’t certain, far from it’, began Lawson. That is not to say that there isn’t plenty of common ground between sceptics and mainstream views of the science, as Lawson pointed out. `Most people would agree there have been huge increases in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’; `there is no real argument that the major contributor to that has been man, through the burning of carbon’; and `there is no doubt there is such a thing as the greenhouse effect or that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas’.
For Lawson, the real uncertainty is around how big the effect of carbon dioxide will be on temperatures. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that most of the warming over the past 100 years has been due to human activity, Lawson argued that the consensus isn’t as complete as is usually suggested. He pointed to a survey conducted by the German climate scientist, Hans von Storch - someone who has supported the mainstream view of the science while being critical of much of the presentation of it in the media. The survey asked 500 climate scientists, under strict promise of anonymity, for their view on the debate. Of those surveyed, 70 per cent supported the view that global warming was mostly caused by humans; 30 per cent did not. While science should never be `conducted by a head count’, said Lawson, it is clear that the much-vaunted unanimity is absent.
But Lawson’s real beef is with the other aspects of the IPCC’s report. Moving on to the effects of climate change, Lawson noted that in many respects, the IPCC’s forecasts are not that scary. `Even if you look at the IPCC’s own estimates you find, both in the particular and the general, it really is much less alarming than the flesh-creeping things that are written in the Independent newspaper or by the people who run the IPCC, as opposed to the scientists and economists who produce the reports.’
Lawson pointed out that `there are many benefits as well as harms from global warming. So, what is the net effect?’ On health, the only thing that the IPCC is `virtually certain’ of, said Lawson, is that there will be fewer deaths from cold-related diseases if the planet gets warmer; a rise in temperatures of up to 2.8 degrees would, says the IPCC, be beneficial for food production. These net benefits are declared despite what Lawson called the IPCC’s `very curious treatment of adaptation’ - in other words, the assumption that people would behave pretty much as they do now as temperatures rise, rather than changing the way they live and the crops they grow to suit climatic conditions.
The bottom line for Lawson, drawing out the IPCC’s own conclusions, is that even at the worst end of the projections the IPCC posits as reasonably likely, those who might suffer the most - people in the developing world - would be 8.5 times better off than they are now rather than 9.5 times better off if warming were more limited. There were, concluded Lawson with understatement, worse catastrophes imaginable. …..
Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters
I feel pretty, Oh so Pretty
A Beverly Hills hotel security guard told FOXNews.com he intervened this week between a man he identified as former Sen. John Edwards and tabloid reporters who chased down the former presidential hopeful after what they’re calling a rendezvous with his mistress and love child.
The Beverly Hilton Hotel guard said he encountered a shaken and ashen-faced Edwards — whom he did not immediately recognize — in a hotel men’s room early Tuesday morning in a literal tug-of-war with reporters on the other side of the door.
“What are they saying about me?” the guard said Edwards asked.
“His face just went totally white,” the guard said, when Edwards was told the reporters were shouting out questions about Edwards and Rielle Hunter, a woman the National Enquirer says is the mother of his child.
The guard said he escorted Edwards, who was not a registered guest at the hotel, out of the building after 2 a.m. Edwards did not say anything while he was escorted out, said the guard, adding that at times the reporters on the scene were “rough on him,” sticking a camera in his face and shouting questions.
The guard did not recognize Edwards at the time of the incident, but said he concluded it was the 2008 presidential hopeful after hearing reports about the incident and finding an Enquirer reporter’s notebook at the scene.
The guard said during the chase the reporters had dropped the notebook, which he picked up. “This book has everything in it on him,” he said, referring to Edwards. The guard later confirmed Edwards’ identity after being shown a photograph.
A former campaign staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FOXNews.com he wishes he were “more surprised” to hear reports Edwards was visiting Hunter. “I’m definitely upset by it. I wish I was more surprised, though.”
U.S. regulators seize two more banks, engineer sale
The FDIC said the 28 offices of the two banks will reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank. Over the weekend, customers can access their money by writing checks, using automatic teller machines or debit cards.
Top banking regulators have warned of additional insolvencies this year and next, but for now do not expect failures the size of IndyMac, which had $32 billion in assets and $19 billion in total deposits at the end of March.
California has become the first US state to ban restaurants and food retailers from using trans-fats, which are linked to coronary heart disease.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the new legislation, which will take effect in 2010, represented a “strong step toward creating a healthier future”.
Violations will incur fines of between $25 (£13) and $1,000 (£502).
Trans-fats are chemically altered vegetable oils, used to give processed foods a longer shelf-life.
Some cities, like New York City, Philadelphia and Seattle, have already banned the fats. Many food makers and restaurant chains have also been experimenting with replacements for oils and foods that contain them.
‘Tremendous benefit’
Trans-fats are produced artificially in a process called hydrogenation which turns liquid oil into solid fat.
They can be used for frying or baking, or put into processed foods and ready-made mixes for cakes and drinks like hot chocolate.
Trans-fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf-life. They have no nutritional value.
TRANS-FATS
They are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, turning oily foods into semi-solid foods
Used to extend shelf life of products
Put into pastries, cakes, margarine and some fast foods
Can raise levels of “bad” cholesterol
Even a small reduction in consumption can cut heart disease
They have no nutritional benefit
The US Food and Drug Administration estimates that on average, Americans eat 4.7lb (2.14kg) of trans-fats each year.
A review by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 concluded that there was a strong connection between the consumption of trans-fats and coronary heart disease. It found they boosted “bad” cholesterol levels in the body.
The review said that eliminating artificial trans-fats from the food supply could prevent between six and 19% of heart attacks and related deaths each year.
The legislation signed by Mr Schwarzenegger will ban from 1 January 2010 the use of trans-fats in oil, shortening and margarine used in spreads or for frying.
The president of the California Academy of Family Physicians, Jeffrey Luther, said that the law, “when it finally takes effect, will be a tremendous benefit”, adding that there was no safe level of consumption, as with cigarettes.
The California Restaurant Association opposed the ban, but a spokesman said that it had no plans to challenge it in the courts, in part because some restaurants have already begun to phase out trans-fats to satisfy customers.
Careful Hank, apophis will pull a “Clarkism” on how good looking he is, trim and fit and the best cook in the world. He’ll claim to be the Ghandi of home life and the a off-season Santa Clause to children.
LOL I watched the repeat broadcast of the “executive powers and the Bush Administration” hearing.
Repeatedly it was made clear that it was not a impeachment hearing, the panel was instructed to not refer to anyone by their title. On this I am sure some will agree, it was a total joke! It boiled down to not much more then a “He is a bad man” countered with “I do not think he is a bad man!”.
If one was watching hoping to see real evidence or a real defense it was lacking. The witnesses for the action were simply sighting topics without evidence that it was illegal or in and under what it was illegal.
Those countering were not arguing that it was legal, they would either say they did not see evidence or dismissed it as nothing more than “Its be because you hate Bush!”.
If the intent was to somehow show the American people or the world that we take it seriously.
It only showed that we wish to whistle pass the grave yard and ignore the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. I love the defense of “well he meant well and truly believe that he was right”. Which of course is the acceptable excuse in any court for killing someone that you think may, kind of, sort of, might have done something that there is evidence to lead to it not being the fact.
Something that did come out I had not heard, the NIE on Iraq and its WMDs in 2002 was that both our State department intelligence arm and the U.S. Nuclear regulation agency stated that there was no evidence that Iraq or Saddam was trying or had continued or attempted to gain Nuclear weapons. Both dismissed the tube argument and stated they could not be used in the Nuclear field.
“Global climate change is real. You can post alll of the nonsense you want, it isn’t going to change this fact.”
Very good. As it has always been, since the earth came into being it’s climate has been changing.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is highly questionable, and most certainly a load of crap. There’s plenty of real science to indicate that I am correct.
Regular
Posted July 26, 2008 at 7:59 am | Permalink
Careful Hank, apophis will pull a “Clarkism” on how good looking he is, trim and fit and the best cook in the world. He’ll claim to be the Ghandi of home life and the a off-season Santa Clause to children.
******************************************************************************
You’re anti-psychotic meds need to be increased I would think McLiar.
Heckler
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:06 am | Permalink
Apophis
“Global climate change is real. You can post all of the nonsense you want, it isn’t going to change this fact.”
Very good. As it has always been, since the earth came into being it’s climate has been changing.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is highly questionable, and most certainly a load of crap. There’s plenty of real science to indicate that I am correct.
***************************************************************************************
I hope your “science” IS BETTER than the links old man price posts everyday, because I’m not buying it.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is NOT “highly questionable”, it is a fact based on empirical evidence.
Keep up the spin though, it really shows your lack of intelligence.
Apophis, Hank believes the world is just a few thousand years old and you don’t need to worry about global warming because Jesus is coming back in the year 2000 and will solve all the problems. Hank is a joke on these forums, let him embarrass himself further by reminding us daily he’s a scientific illiterate.
“If one was watching hoping to see real evidence or a real defense it was lacking. The witnesses for the action were simply sighting topics without evidence that it was illegal or in and under what it was illegal.”
—–
I see this as a continuing problem that affects lots of areas our “law” makers delve into. Remember when the majority of members of Congress were lawyers? They had studied the Constitution and the laws of the land and had a better grasp of how to make or change those laws. Nowadays we have the majority who haven’t a clue and they either have lobbyists write the bills or they are so far outside the “law” they won’t stand up to a court challenge.
“….and YOU think posting your anti-science nonsense is positive?”
Well, first we must address the premise of your question. It’s false. Many of my morning posts are concerned with the politics of global warming. They concern the overwhelming financial and social costs that restrictions on CO2 emissions will have on society.
Then, calling them ‘anti-science nonsense’ is little more than a lazy way of trying to discredit them without actually attempting to address their content in any intelligent way.
For an educator, you bring very little to the discussion other than your biased preconceived notions and your hateful attacks on my faith. We should be able to expect more from you.
HLP
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:19 am | Permalink
“….and YOU think posting your anti-science nonsense is positive?”
Well, first we must address the premise of your question. It’s false. Many of my morning posts are concerned with the politics of global warming. They concern the overwhelming financial and social costs that restrictions on CO2 emissions will have on society.
*****************************************************************************
OF COURSE there will be “financial and social costs” to restricting CO2 emissions. I have never claimed otherwise. Of course, what other choice does the human race have but to change?
******************************************************************************
Then, calling them ‘anti-science nonsense’ is little more than a lazy way of trying to discredit them without actually attempting to address their content in any intelligent way.
*****************************************************************************
You have little credibility when it comes to science old man. When you favor your creationist myth over the empirical science supported theory of evolution, you are in the “anti-science” camp. You are therefore not worthy of any “intelligent discussion”.
******************************************************************************
For an educator, you bring very little to the discussion other than your biased preconceived notions and your hateful attacks on my faith. We should be able to expect more from you.
Regular
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:18 am | Permalink
That’s right apophis, I’m psychotic, so don’t push it. I’m might do something unexpected and crazy.
****************************************************************************
I think James McCluer is overtly threatening to bodily harm to another blogger with this post.
……………actually, I’m not worried one bit from an old man who uses a quad-cane, lives on the government dole and lives in his sister’s basement.
The editors of the Eagle should be concerned with the likes of James McCluer though.
……………unlike you McLiar, I don’t cruise MySpace sites cruising for little girls as you apparently do at night. I spend my nights sleeping with my wife.
Who do you sleep withMcLiar?
In today’s Opinion section JIM GILES, Wichita complains that the United States has 3 percent of the world’s known oil resources, but uses 25 percent of its production.
Interesting because the U.S. also produces approx. 25% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
GDP (millions of USD)
World 54,311,608
Europe European Union 16,830,100
United States United States 13,843,825
13,843,825/54,311,808 = 25.5%
I wonder if the AGW fanatics want to reduce the U.S. GDP to only 3% of the world’s in their quest for lower CO2 release.
Imagine the wonderful lives we would all live consuming only 3% of energy of the world.
It take energy to drive a successful country.
AGW Fanatics = Nitwits
“The Knutson study follows one published by prominent global warming alarmist Kerry Emanuel and two other scientists.
The Emanuel study, published in the March 2008 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, concluded, “A new technique for deriving hurricane climatologies from global data, applied to climate models, indicates that global warming should reduce the global frequency of hurricanes, though their intensity may increase in some locations.”
The study comes as a tremendous concession from Emanuel, who has long stoked media fears of global warming causing more hurricanes.”
snip
“The Emanuel study directly contradicts sensationalist media assertions of global warming being responsible for recent hurricane activity. Assuming the computer models are correct, Emanuel reported, “the greater part of the large increase in power dissipation over the past 27 [years] cannot be ascribed to global warming.” ”
snip
” “When computer models based on SPECULATIVE ASSUMPTIONS (my emphasis) predict one thing but real-world evidence shows exactly the opposite, science tells us we should trust the real-world evidence, Gray noted. ”
Hey you Maggot,
Your link nitwit is to an article showing disagreement….NOT voter suppression. Nothing in it proves that, so your link is worth less that nothing and proves nothing.
Read you own post:
“”We follow the state law that was adopted by our state Legislature,” said Jacques Berry, press secretary for Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a Republican. “It supersedes the NVRA.”
“There is a section of the NVRA that they (the voting rights lawyers) interpret differently than we do,” said Brad Bryant, Kansas deputy secretary of state. “It has been this way for 15 years.”"
“So, insuring the integrity of the process= voter suppression?
Can you show evidence that even one person was not allowed to vote where they were supposed to?”
So why the need to violate federal law in order to do so? Simply having the same name as a resident in another state isn’t reason to violate someone’s Constitutional rights.
Just face it. Any election of a Republican will be the result of cheating. Republicans hate America, it’s that simple.
I see there’s still no evidence of Democratic Kansans committing voter fraud like Phill Kline.
You’all can save your breath. It won’t matter anyway. In this morning’s paper, the Phelps lawyer (forgot her name, have already tossed the paper) said the church won’t have to pay taxes on the Ford pickup because the world is going to end soon.
So, see, all that stewing, back-biting, name-calling, etc., is a waste of time. None of us are going to be around to worry about it anyway.
Just want to make sure that where ever the Phelps folks go, I don’t have to go there.
Thanks Boxlicker, I didn’t realize Louisiana and Kansas dictated federal law. I’m glad I have a genius like you who figures these things out. Now if you could turn off your stupid switch and present facts for the claims of voter fraud by the Democrats then maybe you won’t look so incompetent.
“So why the need to violate federal law in order to do so? ”
Reference Boxlocks 9:41 post-”“”We follow the state law that was adopted by our state Legislature,” said Jacques Berry, press secretary for Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a Republican. “It supersedes the NVRA.”
“There is a section of the NVRA that they (the voting rights lawyers) interpret differently than we do,” said Brad Bryant, Kansas deputy secretary of state. “It has been this way for 15 years.””
So, which law holds sway?
“violate someone’s Constitutional rights.”
Which Constitutional right is that Magg? And can you show me evidence that even ONE person has not been allowed to vote where they are supposed to because of this process?
“Which Constitutional right is that Magg? And can you show me evidence that even ONE person has not been allowed to vote where they are supposed to because of this process?”
That will be revealed on election day won’t it? It’s the same tactics the Republicans used to win Florida in 2000. People with no criminal history were denied the right to vote because their name was matched with a felon in a different state.
Sorry you couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the news.
It’s no surprise that Ron has reduced the number of polling locations as well. Not like there was record voter turnout for the Democratic primaries or anything. Anything to discourage voters, it’s the Republican way.
Is Senator Roberts getting desperate? Already having claimed to be out of funds (probably a lie), Roberts blames his opponent, Jim Slattery, for high gas prices. The problem is Slattery hasn’t been in office for 14 years.
Naturally it follows that Roberts went on to vote against efforts to reduce gas prices by opposing the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act. I’m suppose Roberts thinks his supports are ignorant of the facts (as is usually seen on this Blog).
Provisional ballots are counted so why would it matter if someone fills them out or not? But since you claimed to be following the story then you should have the answer? Your pathetic attempt at fooling me with a lie may work on your equally ignorant Republicans but it doesn’t work on me.
Thanks for playing, but I don’t want to distract you from your daily American flag burning.
For the rest of you who choose not to remain as ignorant as the liar Heckler the number Bush and Harris ordered removed from the polls is 57,700. But this issue is 7 years old and only Heckler, the one who claims to be informed about the issue, doesn’t know about it.
Maggie, I see you are still full of it. Would persons with the same names as criminals tend to vote Democrat? Jeesh.
Here is an opinion that you can sink your fangs into, instead of whining and making up excuses for losing.
ABLE BODIED citizens who are on welfare should not be able to vote.
Why should an ABLE BODIED person on welfare be eligible to vote? They are a negative, an expense that others citizens must subsidize. That person’s motives in voting would also be suspect.
I think the right to vote should be suspended until the person gets off of welfare.
Awww, are the poor conservatives upset that they have been made to look like idiots again? Maybe the reasons Republicans need to fix elections is they can’t find enough people dumb enough to support them?
Senator Roberts can find enough rich people to donate to him. $2,000 donations just to have breakfast with Roberts in D.C?
“Google ACORN CRIME - so I guess democrats are REALLY dumb!”
Clicking on the first result I see:
“There are no Articles to display.”
Well, that about sums up the facts Republicans have on their side. Was Amway trying to be clever? Perhaps in the realm of conservative mental prowess he was.
I already did. You claimed you were informed about the issue but your posts proved that you weren’t. You already backed up the fact you are a liar. Need I provide more? You have no credibility.
Your gonna get dizzy and hit your head with all that spinning buddy. That’s pathetic. You made an assertion and couldnt back it up with fact so you call me a liar.
The only thing you proved is that you got nothing. Including integrity.
Yeah Heckler, I’ve noticed that about you tighty righties.
You pick and choose among the doing unto others.
Outlander says that the least among us should have no political voice. Oh but HE will be the first to pipe up and tell the same folk they aint right with “God” and offer advice on how they can get that way.
Workers accused of concocting the biggest voter-registration-fraud scheme in state history said they were under pressure from the community-organizing group that hired them to sign up more voters, according to charging papers filed Thursday.
To boost their output, the defendants allegedly went to the downtown Seattle Public Library, where they filled out voter-registration forms using names they made up or found in phone books, newspapers and baby-naming books.
One defendant “said it was hard work making up all those cards,” and another “said he would often sit at home, smoke marijuana and fill out cards,” according to a probable-cause statement written by King County sheriff’s Detective Christopher Johnson.
Prosecutors in King and Pierce counties filed felony charges Thursday against seven employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, claiming they turned in more than 1,800 phony voter-registration forms, including an estimated 55 in Pierce County.
Use a little thoughtfulness when you use Google.
Try ACORN convicted ACORN charged ACORN voter fraud. Or even ACORN and OBAMA (he was a lawyer ya know)
Shall I post a dozen or so articles from across the country of ACORN and voter fraud over the years in a large number of campaigns?
Your call Maggotpunk. Save me the trouble and admit democrats wrote the book on voter fraud.
The Acorn Indictments
A union-backed outfit faces charges of election fraud.
Friday, November 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
So, less than a week before the midterm elections, four workers from Acorn, the liberal activist group that has registered millions of voters, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for submitting false voter registration forms to the Kansas City, Missouri, election board. But hey, who needs voter ID laws?
We wish this were an aberration, but allegations of fraud have tainted Acorn voter drives across the country. Acorn workers have been convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado, and investigations are still under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
The good news for anyone who cares about voter integrity is that the Justice Department finally seems poised to connect these dots instead of dismissing such revelations as the work of a few yahoos. After the federal indictments were handed up in Kansas City this week, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that “This national investigation is very much ongoing.”
Three of seven defendants in the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced, prosecutors said Monday.
The defendants were all temporary employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when they allegedly filled out and submitted more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties.
ACORN Workers Have Been Convicted In Wisconsin And Colorado, Under Investigation In Three Other States. “We wish this were an aberration, but allegations of fraud have tainted Acorn voter drives across the country. Acorn workers have been convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado, and investigations are still under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.” (”The ACORN Indictments,” Wall Street Journal Online, November 3, 2006)
1,492 fraudulent registrations were submitted by ACORN in St. Louis, Missouri including a 16-year-old and deceased individuals. “The St. Louis Election Board says it has received close to 1,500 voter registration cards leading up to the deadline of registration that appear to be frauds, including some from dead people, and at least one from a 16-year-old girl.” (Jeff Douglas, “Voter registration fraud alleged in St. Louis,” The Associated Press, 10/11/06)
Eight former ACORN employees in Missouri pleaded guilty to fraud. Eight workers for a get-out-the-vote effort in St.Louis city and county have pleaded guilty to federal election fraud for submitting false registration cards for the 2006 election, authorities said Wednesday. The workers were employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now to gather voter registrations. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said they submitted cards with false addresses and names, and forged signatures. Each faces up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The organization has said the former, temporary hourly workers were likely trying to increase their pay by turning in more, albeit, false applications. (”Ex-ACORN workers plead guilty to fraud”, Columbia Tribune, 4/6/08)
ü A federal judge today sentenced the last of four defendants indicted for voter registration fraud on the eve of the 2006 elections. Kwaim A. Stenson was sentenced to four months and five days. He will report to a half-way house in Springfield next week. Other defendants in the case also received light sentences. For example, Brian Gardner and Dale D. Franklin received probation, while Carmen R. Davis was sentenced to 120 days in a halfway house. (”Voter fraud defendant sentenced”, The Kansas City Star, 09/05/07,)
ü 4 voter registration recruiters indicted on fraud charges. All four face two felony counts each of “knowingly and willingly” filing false information. The charge carries maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. as many as 15,000 recently submitted voter registrations could be “questionable,” which they define as duplicates, unreadable applications or containing information that doesn’t match other existing records. Last week the board chairwoman, Melodie Powell, said the board had turned the investigation of the questionable cards over to local and federal authorities. (Dave Helling, “False voter registrations allegedly submitted; Four who have been indicted had worked as registration recruiters for ACORN group,” The Kansas City Star, 11/2/06)
“Election Officials In Three Of Ohio’s Largest Counties Have Cited Problems With Hundreds Of Voter Registration Cards. ACORN Is Accused Of Submitting Cards With Nonexistent Addresses, Forged Signatures And, In One Case, For Someone Who Died Seven Years Ago.” (Andrew Welsh-Huggins, “Voter Fraud Allegations Still Tripping Up Voting Rights Group,” The Associated Press, 10/2/06)
“Outlander says that the least among us should have no political voice.”
No, that’s not what he said.
“ABLE BODIED citizens who are on welfare should not be able to vote.
Why should an ABLE BODIED person on welfare be eligible to vote? They are a negative, an expense that others citizens must subsidize. That person’s motives in voting would also be suspect.”
The least among us would not be the ABLE BODIED. It would be those who cannot care for themselves.
I agree with Outlander on this. If for no other reason than it makes people like you shoot blood out of their eyes.
And finally on the subject of criminal activity by ACORN, who do you suppose comes to their defense?
But back in Chicago, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through “direct action.” It’s sometimes a code for illegal activities.
Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person — meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
Since he graduated from law school, Obama’s work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/datelinedc/s_488184.html
My brother and his family are Virginia bound next weekend, to visit me, so I’ve got lots to do today and tomorrow to get things ready.
One last thing, and it’s not political.
Anybody remember the old quiz show scandals from the 1950s? A fictionalized account of how the television quiz show “21″ was scripted was presented in the 1994 Robert Redford film, Quiz Show. Anybody remember that movie? It starred John Turturro as Herb Stempel and Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren.
In 1956 the producers of the television quiz show “21,” Dan Enright and Jack Berry, had a problem with declining ratings. They were convinced that the problem’s solution lay in scripting (fixing) the outcome of the contest in “21.” They had become convinced that canned drama, not real life, was what drove growth and retention in viewing audiences (quite the opposite thinking holds today in primetime broadcast television). To that end they coached both current and future contestants on their quiz shows, including “Tic Tac Dough” and “21.”
Why did the person scripted to lose agree to this, you might ask. Well, they threatened to withhold the loser’s winnings if they didn’t play along. Of course this corrupt scheme blew up in Barry’s and Enright’s face, resulting in Congressional hearings, ruined careers, and Hollywood movies.
If you are a baby boomer like me this whole thing is endlessly fascinating. Actually, I think it’s pretty interesting no matter when you were born.
My point is this, and then I’m out of here. Charles Van Doren, the guy who in real life ‘beat’ Herb Stempel on Dec 5, 1956, writes about it in the July 28, 2008, edition of The New Yorker. I believe it’s the first time he’s written or spoken about this.
If you, too, find this interesting, you might head to the library or to your local newsstand to pick up a copy to read. The article isn’t available online, and for good reason: it’s fascinating. It is a quite a piece of writing by Van Doren. Highly recommended for your weekend downtime reading.
Maybe I think outlander’s or YOUR motives in voting are suspect there Heckler.
Yeah, actually, I do.
Maybe I think outlander should not vote because he believes in some old man in the sky that no one can see. Maybe outlander is delusional.
What outlander would like to do is go to the people who have nothing and take away even their voice in politics. THEN maybe he can herd them into his church and tell them why it is all their fault.
ACORN’s Questionable Activities in just ONE state:
Former Minnesota ACORN Employee’s Car Contained Hundreds Of Voter Registration Cards In Trunk. “When police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport stopped a man for running a stop sign late last month, they found an unusual stash in his car trunk: More than 300 voter registration cards that had been filled out but never submitted to the Minnesota secretary of state. The motorist allegedly told police that he was an ex-employeeof ACORN…” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
ACORN Employee Charged With Felony For Not Turning In Cards. “A man arrested in late September with more than 300 completed voter registration cards in the trunk of his car was accused Friday of committing a felony offense for allegedly failing to turn in the cards to election officials promptly.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Voter Registration Cards Bring Felony Charge,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/16/04)
Same Ex-ACORN Employee Faced Felony Drug Charges And Misdemeanor Shoplifting Charge. “The man stopped at the airport is Joshua Reed, 19, of St. Louis Park. He faces two unrelated criminal charges, a felony drug case in Hennepin County and a misdemeanor shoplifting case being prosecuted by the St. Louis Park city attorney.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
Worker Said He Was Fired For Copying Cards, But ACORN Disputed Claim. “Much of what is publicly known about the case comes from a memo written by Bert Black, a legal analyst in Kiffmeyer’s office. In the memo, Black said investigators told him that Reed ‘indicated he had been fired from ACORN for making copies of the cards.’ Becky Gomer, the head organizer in Minnesota for ACORN, denied that Reed was discharged for copying cards. ‘That’s absolutely not true,’ she said. She said Reed was one of a number of canvassers whom ACORN paid $1 for each new voter registration they secured and, she said, ACORN supervisors discharged him because representatives of the county attorney warned ACORN that they suspected he was registering some voters twice to double his fee. ‘So we let him go,’ she said.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
ACORN Worker Pleaded Guilty To Two Felonies. “A man who was arrested in late
September with hundreds of filled-out voter registration cards in the trunk of his car pleaded guilty Monday in Hennepin County District Court to two felonies. Joshua Reed,19, of St. Louis Park admitted failing to promptly turn over the voter registration cards to the Secretary of State or to a county auditor, and admitted forging signatures on 18 other voter registration cards. Reed faces sentencing Jan. 20 before Hennepin County District Judge Joanne Graham, according to County Attorney Amy Klobuchar.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Man Pleads Guilty In Vote Card Scam,” Pioneer Press, December 7, 2004)
ACORN Settlement From Minnesota AG Comes Under Question:
ACORN Received $249,999 From Company Under Investigation By Attorney General Mike Hatch; ACORN Later Endorsed Hatch For Governor. “Attorney General Lori Swanson and her predecessor, Mike Hatch, have come under question for their role in a court settlement that diverted money to a nonprofit whose political wing endorsed Hatch’s bid for governor. Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles recently asked Swanson and Hatch to explain the 2006 settlement, which required a credit card company accused of violating consumer protection laws to give $249,999 to a community advocacy organization, Minnesota ACORN. Its political action committee endorsed Hatch three weeks later.” (Pat Doyle, “AG Office Queried About Diverted Funds,” Star Tribune, June 30, 2008)
Maybe his motives are exactly as he says. That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.
Oh, I forgot, the Maggot has poor reading comprehension skills so here is the conclusion from the above referenced study.
Conclusion:
“There is some evidence of vote fraud. Regulations meant to prevent fraud can actually increase the voter participation rate. It is hard to see any evidence that voting regulations differentially harm either minorities, the elderly, or the poor. While this study examines a broad range of voting regulations, it is still too early to evaluate any possible impact of mandatory photo IDs on U.S. elections. What can be said is that the non-photo ID regulations that are already in place have not had the negative impacts that opponents predicted.
One particularly valuable finding is that voting regulations have a different impact on turnout in counties where fraud is alleged to be rampant. These results indicate that while these voting regulations have little impact on turnout generally, certain regulations do significantly impact turnout in these so-called “hot spots.”
Contrary to the claims that campaign finance regulations will encourage voter participation by reducing the perception of political corruption, campaign finance regulations reduced voter participation rates.
Following other recent work showing that campaign finance regulations entrench incumbents, reduce the number of candidates running for office, and increase win margins (all factors associated with less exciting campaigns), these results find that
campaign finance regulations usually reduce voter turnout.”
Is their anything more perfect than the union of Christianity and American conservativism?
If you’re poor? Why “God” has ordered it so! You are in your station and who are you to question “God”? Don’t look to government that you can actually see and work in and be a part of! Government is bad! Look up! All your curses are blessings!
Whoever said it was right. Religion really is the opiate of the masses.
Eliminating voter duplication, dead people, prisoners, felons and others not entitled to vote does not selectively eliminate one party over another by using political affiliation as a determinate.
In fact, in Kansas since there are more registered Republicans it very well might work to their determent numbers wise and to the Dems advantage.
But certainly not to the Dems advantage if they intend on cheating.
So what are you complaining about Maggot…do you want the Dems to cheat?
‘IPCC: Lawson wrong about climate change‘ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/15/eaclimate115.xml
“However, Jean Palutikof, one of the authors of a new IPCC report, said: “By the time you get past 2050 the winners become fewer and fewer. By 2100, we will be losing almost everywhere.”
…
She said Lord Lawson’s view that climate change might have benefits that outweighed the disbenefits was “very wrong” when it came to the availability of water.
Dr Robert Watson, the former chairman of the IPCC and now chief scientist to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, wrote in a letter to a newspaper: “Lord Lawson’s perspective that the UK and Europe are over-reacting to the threat of human-induced climate change is substantially wrong and ignores a significant body of scientific, technological and economic evidence.”
“That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.”
Using that logic, shouldn’t America restrict voting to the top 5% of taxpayers? Afterall, they are providing the bulk of tax dollars this nation spends.
“Any food deemed “Unhealthy” will be banned.”
————
You may ingest large quantities of trans fat, to your “hearts” content. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7526624.stm
“Trans-fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf-life. They have no nutritional value.
TRANS-FATS
They are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, turning oily foods into semi-solid foods
Used to extend shelf life of products
Put into pastries, cakes, margarine and some fast foods
Can raise levels of “bad” cholesterol
Even a small reduction in consumption can cut heart disease
They have no nutritional benefit
The US Food and Drug Administration estimates that on average, Americans eat 4.7lb (2.14kg) of trans-fats each year.
A review by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 concluded that there was a strong connection between the consumption of trans-fats and coronary heart disease. It found they boosted “bad” cholesterol levels in the body.
The review said that eliminating artificial trans-fats from the food supply could prevent between six and 19% of heart attacks and related deaths each year.”
————–
O.K. Cosmos, you can cut and paste. Like anyone in American doesn’t already know they are bad for you. (really scary stuff)
So is driving a motorcycle without a helment. So is eating at Burger King or Micky D’s. So is standing on ladders. So is standing outside during a thunderstorm. So is driving. So are fossil fuels. So is chocolate cake.
Some might say the same about guns.
Egg whites. Or is it egg yokes? Or is it aspirin?
Drinking alcohol. No wait. More than 4 ounces a day. No wait. It’s wine. No it’s red wine.
Because things in life are bad for you, the government should decide for us?
How many lives can we save if we ban coal burning power plants?
You can’t take shi-t without the government. 1.5 gallon flush toilets. Flow restricting shower heads. Warning labels on my mandated GFCI bathroom electrical outlet where I plug in my electric razor with a mandated label that improper use could result in shock.
And after I shave and shower, I will take a nap on my pillow with a mandated label and my mattress with a warning not to remove it’s label.
After getting all worked about over this, I now have a headache. I’m going to take an aspirin after I read the mandatory label warning me of Reye’s syndrome and ulcers.
Whoever said it was right. Religion really is the opiate of the masses.
———-
Karl Marx said it BJ. You believe it. That settles it.
My reasons for believing that ABLE BODIED citizen on welfare should not be able to vote in federal elections have nothing to do with religion though. And BJ, you have a tough time not categorizing a person once they admit to being a Christian. I mean, I don’t always think of you as a socialist wacko.
When Chicago’s city council this summer required big-box stores to pay new employees at least $10 an hour, supporters of the legislation held an impromptu celebration in the council galleries. The hoopla was reminiscent of another scene five years earlier in New York, when opponents of Rudy Giuliani’s effort to privatize failing public schools embraced in the streets after parents rejected the idea.
What linked these celebrations was the left-wing Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), which led the campaign for the legislation and against privatization. And in each case its efforts represented Pyrrhic victories for the poor. Anti-big-box legislation does little more than limit shopping choices and raise prices for inner-city residents, while parents who celebrated Acorn’s defeat of Mr. Giuliani were left with their same old failing public schools.
No one should be surprised, for this organization grew out of some of the most counterproductive ideas of 1960s radicalism. Acorn’s roots are in the National Welfare Rights Organization, whose leader, George Wiley, believed he could use poor, unwed mothers to foment a revolution. The NWRO agitated for unlimited welfare benefits for those mothers and persuaded many urban politicians to loosen welfare eligibility requirements. This led to a more-than doubling of the welfare roles and strained local budgets. Wiley hoped to persuade the federal government to come to the rescue with massive aid. Instead NWRO’s strategy prompted a backlash against “welfare mothers” and politicians in free-spending cities like New York.
When Wiley’s welfare strategy reached a dead end he moved on to other ventures, including sending some of his troops to form a new community organization in Arkansas, infused with the same radicalism. It was a brilliant stroke: By the early ’70s billions of dollars in federal and state aid was streaming to these local groups, spurred by Republicans in Washington who reasoned that it was better to fund nonprofits than create giant federal bureaucracies to run burgeoning antipoverty programs. Little did the GOP understand that the money would finance a nationwide network of organizations that for decades have mobilized urban residents against the party’s candidates and agenda.
Then came the Community Reinvestment Act. Passed in 1977 to prompt banks to lend money in underserved communities, the CRA allowed community groups to file complaints that could hold up or even scuttle bank mergers. As one nonprofit umbrella group observed: “To avoid the possibility of a denied or delayed application, lending institutions have an incentive to make formal agreements with community organizations.”
Acorn became among the most successful at exploiting the law, especially after the Clinton administration set up tough new CRA standards. In 1993 Acorn crafted a $55 million, 11-city lending program administered by it and financed by 14 major banks eager to avoid CRA woes. In 1998 Acorn activists disrupted Federal Reserve hearings on the proposed Citicorp merger with Travelers, waving red umbrellas, a corporate symbol of Travelers, and then later protested Citigroup’s acquisition of Associates First Capital Corp. Eventually Citigroup signed an agreement to provide mortgages through Acorn counseling centers, including home loans to undocumented aliens in California. In 2000 a U.S. Senate subcommittee estimated that such CRA deals had directed at least $9.5 billion through nonprofits, making the CRA the second-most important funder of social advocacy groups next to the government itself.
While Acorn now operates in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million, it never truly left behind the welfare-rights mentality. One is hard-pressed to find in the organization’s many antipoverty initiatives any programs that address social dysfunctions like illegitimacy and single parenthood. Instead, as Acorn’s executive director, Steven Kest, said several years ago, “We are more focused on irresponsible behavior in the corporate sector. I don’t think [illegitimacy] comes anywhere close to the irresponsible behavior of people running the largest businesses in this country.”
While CRA spurred Acorn’s growth, the “living wage” is the group’s most successful local issue. In the early ’90s, advocates persuaded Baltimore to require city government contractors to pay salaries substantially above the federal minimum wage; the campaign caught the attention of Acorn just when the Gingrich Congress was coming into power with a conservative agenda. Stymied in Washington, Acorn decided instead it would work city by city, starting in the most liberal places, to enact local wage legislation. Partnering with Wayne State University’s publicly funded labor studies program, Acorn set up a national living-wage center to help coordinate campaigns. Some 125 municipalities have since passed living-wage legislation.
The movement is not always what it appears to be. Though Acorn touts living-wage laws as a way to lift the working poor into the middle class, the vast body of academic work on wage laws shows that they end up hurting the poor by forcing businesses to eliminate some low-wage jobs. Acorn’s own leadership understands this principle perfectly. When California regulators sued Acorn for not paying its own workers the minimum wage, Acorn argued that this would endanger its mission—because it would have to hire fewer workers.
One of Acorn’s real intentions with this legislation is to help its public-sector union allies. By artificially raising the cost of outsourcing until it is just as costly as work done by government employees, “the Living Wage undercuts the incentive to privatize,” Acorn proclaims in its manual on how to run a living-wage campaign. Some living-wage efforts have gone one cynical step further—with laws that specifically exempt unionized companies from adhering to the new wage standards.
The Chicago legislation is the latest iteration of Acorn’s living-wage campaign and is more likely to benefit unions than the poor. Wal-Mart and its competitors have lately been eying low-income urban neighborhoods because they are underserved by retailers. A recent study by the Brookings Institution estimated that millions of low-income residents of cities pay excessively high prices for consumer goods in part because of a lack of competition. The report noted that in Chicago “higher priced, small grocery stores” are concentrated in the city’s poorer neighborhoods—exactly the kind of place where big-box stores now want to open.
Far from rejecting these stores, inner-city residents have embraced them. Thousands of local residents showed up to apply for jobs when Wal-Mart announced it was opening a new store in an abandoned former Macy’s outlet in the Baldwin Hills section of Los Angeles. After the store opened in 2003, sales soared at the mall were the Wal-Mart was located and other national retailers moved into the predominantly black neighborhood, vastly improving the range of products offered to residents.
But if poor Chicagoans miss out on such a boom, so what? Groups like Acorn thrive off a 1960s philosophy which holds that the worse things are, the better. The more Acorn’s policies thwart the free market, stymie efforts to make government more efficient and saddle the poor with bad stores and lousy services, the more Acorn can lobby for government aid to cure the ills of our society—all funneled through Acorn-run programs, of course.
“, you have a tough time not categorizing a person once they admit to being a Christian. ”
Not at all. It is not I who is forever judging who and who is not Christian.
Maybe it is just that MY take on that religion finds several of its followers to be hypocrites.
So? Who else should not get to vote outlander?
Maybe employees should not get to vote. I mean they are eating off someone else’s table are they not? Nevermind that they set the table and prepared the food. Let their boss speak for them?
Hey maybe people who don’t believe in your God should not get to vote. Their rights are “God” given or so some suppose. If one denies “God” does one forfeit their rights?
I WANT those who have the least voting. Indeed, THEY should have the loudest voice. To do otherwise is to encourage plutocracy.
““That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.”
Using that logic, shouldn’t America restrict voting to the top 5% of taxpayers? Afterall, they are providing the bulk of tax dollars this nation spends.”
I suppose you could advocate taking it that far. Boortz advocates making each persons vote proportional to the amount of taxes they pay, which wouldnt be quite as extreme.
I prefer to break it at the producer/non-producer line.
have used the flea/tick squeeze on product from hartz for years for my dog and it worked ok, but not perfect…not like frontline. So tonight I decided to buy a new brand..the sergeant’s Gold.
Let me tell you, I am ready to sue them. I put the stuff on at 8pm. At 10pm, I thought my dog’s leg had merely fallen asleep. By 1AM she woke me up out of a dead sleep bumping into doors and walls, she couldn’t hardly walk. She was shaking, drooling, I swear she had something like mad cow or rabies. *Ok, I knew it probably wasn’t rabies because she’s been vax’d but also she hasn’t been in contact with anything to get rabies*.
I threw her in the car and drove all the way to Salina to the Animal ER *which by the way moved to behind Alltel….that tidbit of info would had been good to know*.
So she got a 100 dollar bath tonight- the vet thinks she’ll be fine. But earlier in the night he said that they actually had a cat die from the same thing. Says he sees this all the time!
How the &*())_! can this company keep selling this stuff if it is so dangerous!
By the way, the pet ER staff were amazing and wonderful. I’m so thankful they were there!
I did email the company right when I got home, and demanded they send me reimbursement for the vet bill, the gasoline for the trip to and from, and for the two packages of this evil concoction that I bought.
For the record a vet tech emailed me after I posted this, saying that the Vet group has been trying to get this stuff pulled from the shelves for years. There is also a class action lawsuit from hundreds of other people who have experienced the same thing. Why is it we get laws against abuse from people, but the government and courts refuse to do anything about this stuff that is poisoning our pets?
If there is a lawmaker out there reading this- I know its not as important as people stuff, but pets are HUGE members of our families too. PLEASE do something about this.
In B.J.’s world voting for his best interest means voting for the government to take money from people who make more money than he does and giving it to him.
My wife has had problems with some of the Harzt flea/tick product on some of her cats. Made them dilerious, like they were stumbling around in the fog. Had to quickly wash it off. Some of them it didnt bother.
291 Comments
`The only certain thing is the science is uncertain’
Lord Lawson on the difficulty of publishing a contrarian book on global warming and why huge cuts in CO2 emissions would be `madness’
`This is my fourth book. I’ve never had any difficulty getting a publisher. In fact, I’ve got the contracts before the books were written. But this one - I couldn’t get a publisher anywhere in this country. it shows the unhelpful and unhealthy climate, in a different sense, there is over this issue.’
Nigel Lawson, former UK chancellor of the exchequer and energy secretary in the 1980s Conservative government, has become a high-profile critic of current orthodoxies on climate change. In a week when the legitimacy of criticising the mainstream view has been called into question following the UK television regulator’s censuring of the Channel 4 documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle, a debate featuring Lawson looked likely to be lively. And so it proved.
Lawson was speaking on Tuesday evening at the latest Bookshop Barnie, a series of rowdy discussions organised by the Future Cities Project at the Waterstones store next to the London School of Economics (LSE). It’s not exactly one of those Borders monsters, over four floors with a Starbucks in the middle. The LSE store is a much smaller affair, with the walls lined with serious tomes about economics and social science. But it does make an excellent and intimate venue if you want to have a well-informed row - which is what followed.
The subject of the discussion was Lawson’s book, An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming. In a cheeky introduction, the chairman of the discussion, Austin Williams, told the audience: `Nigel Lawson, Lord Lawson of Blaby, speaks from a position of eminent authority on the issue of carbon reduction. He was responsible for the biggest reduction in carbon emissions in this country when he presided over the slashing of the coal mining industry.’ Apart from raising laughter, the introduction was a pointed nod to the fact that the old lines of left and right in society have disappeared today, replaced by new divisions over climate change and the environment more broadly.
As a former finance minister, Lawson does not pretend to be an expert on the details of atmospheric physics. But, as he pointed out, many scientists and noisy commentators on the subject have no special expertise in the particular disciplines required to understand climate, either. More importantly, the politicians charged with making the big policy decisions on the subject must do so on the basis of limited knowledge, too.
`The one thing that is absolutely clear about the science is that it isn’t certain, far from it’, began Lawson. That is not to say that there isn’t plenty of common ground between sceptics and mainstream views of the science, as Lawson pointed out. `Most people would agree there have been huge increases in concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere’; `there is no real argument that the major contributor to that has been man, through the burning of carbon’; and `there is no doubt there is such a thing as the greenhouse effect or that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas’.
For Lawson, the real uncertainty is around how big the effect of carbon dioxide will be on temperatures. While the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that most of the warming over the past 100 years has been due to human activity, Lawson argued that the consensus isn’t as complete as is usually suggested. He pointed to a survey conducted by the German climate scientist, Hans von Storch - someone who has supported the mainstream view of the science while being critical of much of the presentation of it in the media. The survey asked 500 climate scientists, under strict promise of anonymity, for their view on the debate. Of those surveyed, 70 per cent supported the view that global warming was mostly caused by humans; 30 per cent did not. While science should never be `conducted by a head count’, said Lawson, it is clear that the much-vaunted unanimity is absent.
But Lawson’s real beef is with the other aspects of the IPCC’s report. Moving on to the effects of climate change, Lawson noted that in many respects, the IPCC’s forecasts are not that scary. `Even if you look at the IPCC’s own estimates you find, both in the particular and the general, it really is much less alarming than the flesh-creeping things that are written in the Independent newspaper or by the people who run the IPCC, as opposed to the scientists and economists who produce the reports.’
Lawson pointed out that `there are many benefits as well as harms from global warming. So, what is the net effect?’ On health, the only thing that the IPCC is `virtually certain’ of, said Lawson, is that there will be fewer deaths from cold-related diseases if the planet gets warmer; a rise in temperatures of up to 2.8 degrees would, says the IPCC, be beneficial for food production. These net benefits are declared despite what Lawson called the IPCC’s `very curious treatment of adaptation’ - in other words, the assumption that people would behave pretty much as they do now as temperatures rise, rather than changing the way they live and the crops they grow to suit climatic conditions.
The bottom line for Lawson, drawing out the IPCC’s own conclusions, is that even at the worst end of the projections the IPCC posits as reasonably likely, those who might suffer the most - people in the developing world - would be 8.5 times better off than they are now rather than 9.5 times better off if warming were more limited. There were, concluded Lawson with understatement, worse catastrophes imaginable. …..
http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5495/
…….old man, don’t you ever tire of posting the copy/paste anti-science rhetoric every morning.
Global climate change is real. You can post alll of the nonsense you want, it isn’t going to change this fact.
By the way old man, how old is the Earth?
Proof positive GW is real: http://www.thehumorarchives.com/joke/Proof_of_global_warming
I think apophis lingered way too long at that link you provided JMWalker.
Guard Confirms Late-Night Hotel Encounter Between Ex-Sen. John Edwards, Tabloid Reporters
I feel pretty, Oh so Pretty
A Beverly Hills hotel security guard told FOXNews.com he intervened this week between a man he identified as former Sen. John Edwards and tabloid reporters who chased down the former presidential hopeful after what they’re calling a rendezvous with his mistress and love child.
The Beverly Hilton Hotel guard said he encountered a shaken and ashen-faced Edwards — whom he did not immediately recognize — in a hotel men’s room early Tuesday morning in a literal tug-of-war with reporters on the other side of the door.
“What are they saying about me?” the guard said Edwards asked.
“His face just went totally white,” the guard said, when Edwards was told the reporters were shouting out questions about Edwards and Rielle Hunter, a woman the National Enquirer says is the mother of his child.
The guard said he escorted Edwards, who was not a registered guest at the hotel, out of the building after 2 a.m. Edwards did not say anything while he was escorted out, said the guard, adding that at times the reporters on the scene were “rough on him,” sticking a camera in his face and shouting questions.
The guard did not recognize Edwards at the time of the incident, but said he concluded it was the 2008 presidential hopeful after hearing reports about the incident and finding an Enquirer reporter’s notebook at the scene.
The guard said during the chase the reporters had dropped the notebook, which he picked up. “This book has everything in it on him,” he said, referring to Edwards. The guard later confirmed Edwards’ identity after being shown a photograph.
A former campaign staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FOXNews.com he wishes he were “more surprised” to hear reports Edwards was visiting Hunter. “I’m definitely upset by it. I wish I was more surprised, though.”
cont’d at
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391426,00.html
U.S. regulators seize two more banks, engineer sale
The FDIC said the 28 offices of the two banks will reopen on Monday as Mutual of Omaha Bank. Over the weekend, customers can access their money by writing checks, using automatic teller machines or debit cards.
Top banking regulators have warned of additional insolvencies this year and next, but for now do not expect failures the size of IndyMac, which had $32 billion in assets and $19 billion in total deposits at the end of March.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2528445020080726?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&sp=true
Trans-fats banned in California
Next it will be what you books you read and what clothes you wear
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7526624.stm
Trans-fats are used in many fried and baked foods
California has become the first US state to ban restaurants and food retailers from using trans-fats, which are linked to coronary heart disease.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said the new legislation, which will take effect in 2010, represented a “strong step toward creating a healthier future”.
Violations will incur fines of between $25 (£13) and $1,000 (£502).
Trans-fats are chemically altered vegetable oils, used to give processed foods a longer shelf-life.
Some cities, like New York City, Philadelphia and Seattle, have already banned the fats. Many food makers and restaurant chains have also been experimenting with replacements for oils and foods that contain them.
‘Tremendous benefit’
Trans-fats are produced artificially in a process called hydrogenation which turns liquid oil into solid fat.
They can be used for frying or baking, or put into processed foods and ready-made mixes for cakes and drinks like hot chocolate.
Trans-fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf-life. They have no nutritional value.
TRANS-FATS
They are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, turning oily foods into semi-solid foods
Used to extend shelf life of products
Put into pastries, cakes, margarine and some fast foods
Can raise levels of “bad” cholesterol
Even a small reduction in consumption can cut heart disease
They have no nutritional benefit
The US Food and Drug Administration estimates that on average, Americans eat 4.7lb (2.14kg) of trans-fats each year.
A review by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 concluded that there was a strong connection between the consumption of trans-fats and coronary heart disease. It found they boosted “bad” cholesterol levels in the body.
The review said that eliminating artificial trans-fats from the food supply could prevent between six and 19% of heart attacks and related deaths each year.
The legislation signed by Mr Schwarzenegger will ban from 1 January 2010 the use of trans-fats in oil, shortening and margarine used in spreads or for frying.
The president of the California Academy of Family Physicians, Jeffrey Luther, said that the law, “when it finally takes effect, will be a tremendous benefit”, adding that there was no safe level of consumption, as with cigarettes.
The California Restaurant Association opposed the ban, but a spokesman said that it had no plans to challenge it in the courts, in part because some restaurants have already begun to phase out trans-fats to satisfy customers.
Good morning Apophis, my memory challenged educator friend,
Actually, in answer to your question, I don’t tire of posting on GW every morning.
Do you ever tire of being little more than a festering sore on the butt of society?
How long has it been since you’ve started the day by bringing us something positive or productive to the BLOG?
I bet you’re a real joy to live with.
Careful Hank, apophis will pull a “Clarkism” on how good looking he is, trim and fit and the best cook in the world. He’ll claim to be the Ghandi of home life and the a off-season Santa Clause to children.
LOL I watched the repeat broadcast of the “executive powers and the Bush Administration” hearing.
Repeatedly it was made clear that it was not a impeachment hearing, the panel was instructed to not refer to anyone by their title. On this I am sure some will agree, it was a total joke! It boiled down to not much more then a “He is a bad man” countered with “I do not think he is a bad man!”.
If one was watching hoping to see real evidence or a real defense it was lacking. The witnesses for the action were simply sighting topics without evidence that it was illegal or in and under what it was illegal.
Those countering were not arguing that it was legal, they would either say they did not see evidence or dismissed it as nothing more than “Its be because you hate Bush!”.
If the intent was to somehow show the American people or the world that we take it seriously.
It only showed that we wish to whistle pass the grave yard and ignore the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. I love the defense of “well he meant well and truly believe that he was right”. Which of course is the acceptable excuse in any court for killing someone that you think may, kind of, sort of, might have done something that there is evidence to lead to it not being the fact.
Something that did come out I had not heard, the NIE on Iraq and its WMDs in 2002 was that both our State department intelligence arm and the U.S. Nuclear regulation agency stated that there was no evidence that Iraq or Saddam was trying or had continued or attempted to gain Nuclear weapons. Both dismissed the tube argument and stated they could not be used in the Nuclear field.
HLP
Posted July 26, 2008 at 7:49 am | Permalink
Good morning Apophis, my memory challenged educator friend,
Actually, in answer to your question, I don’t tire of posting on GW every morning.
Do you ever tire of being little more than a festering sore on the butt of society?
How long has it been since you’ve started the day by bringing us something positive or productive to the BLOG?
I bet you’re a real joy to live with.
******************************************************************************
….and YOU think posting your anti-science nonsense is positive?
Apophis
“Global climate change is real. You can post alll of the nonsense you want, it isn’t going to change this fact.”
Very good. As it has always been, since the earth came into being it’s climate has been changing.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is highly questionable, and most certainly a load of crap. There’s plenty of real science to indicate that I am correct.
Regular
Posted July 26, 2008 at 7:59 am | Permalink
Careful Hank, apophis will pull a “Clarkism” on how good looking he is, trim and fit and the best cook in the world. He’ll claim to be the Ghandi of home life and the a off-season Santa Clause to children.
******************************************************************************
You’re anti-psychotic meds need to be increased I would think McLiar.
Heckler
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:06 am | Permalink
Apophis
“Global climate change is real. You can post all of the nonsense you want, it isn’t going to change this fact.”
Very good. As it has always been, since the earth came into being it’s climate has been changing.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is highly questionable, and most certainly a load of crap. There’s plenty of real science to indicate that I am correct.
***************************************************************************************
I hope your “science” IS BETTER than the links old man price posts everyday, because I’m not buying it.
The concept that it is warming because of human generated CO2 is NOT “highly questionable”, it is a fact based on empirical evidence.
Keep up the spin though, it really shows your lack of intelligence.
Apophis, Hank believes the world is just a few thousand years old and you don’t need to worry about global warming because Jesus is coming back in the year 2000 and will solve all the problems. Hank is a joke on these forums, let him embarrass himself further by reminding us daily he’s a scientific illiterate.
“If one was watching hoping to see real evidence or a real defense it was lacking. The witnesses for the action were simply sighting topics without evidence that it was illegal or in and under what it was illegal.”
—–
I see this as a continuing problem that affects lots of areas our “law” makers delve into. Remember when the majority of members of Congress were lawyers? They had studied the Constitution and the laws of the land and had a better grasp of how to make or change those laws. Nowadays we have the majority who haven’t a clue and they either have lobbyists write the bills or they are so far outside the “law” they won’t stand up to a court challenge.
………….right to the point MP!
Have you noticed though how his fellow science illiterates will start the dogpile, supporting his nonsense?
That’s right apophis, I’m psychotic, so don’t push it. I’m might do something unexpected and crazy.
“….and YOU think posting your anti-science nonsense is positive?”
Well, first we must address the premise of your question. It’s false. Many of my morning posts are concerned with the politics of global warming. They concern the overwhelming financial and social costs that restrictions on CO2 emissions will have on society.
Then, calling them ‘anti-science nonsense’ is little more than a lazy way of trying to discredit them without actually attempting to address their content in any intelligent way.
For an educator, you bring very little to the discussion other than your biased preconceived notions and your hateful attacks on my faith. We should be able to expect more from you.
HLP
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:19 am | Permalink
“….and YOU think posting your anti-science nonsense is positive?”
Well, first we must address the premise of your question. It’s false. Many of my morning posts are concerned with the politics of global warming. They concern the overwhelming financial and social costs that restrictions on CO2 emissions will have on society.
*****************************************************************************
OF COURSE there will be “financial and social costs” to restricting CO2 emissions. I have never claimed otherwise. Of course, what other choice does the human race have but to change?
******************************************************************************
Then, calling them ‘anti-science nonsense’ is little more than a lazy way of trying to discredit them without actually attempting to address their content in any intelligent way.
*****************************************************************************
You have little credibility when it comes to science old man. When you favor your creationist myth over the empirical science supported theory of evolution, you are in the “anti-science” camp. You are therefore not worthy of any “intelligent discussion”.
******************************************************************************
For an educator, you bring very little to the discussion other than your biased preconceived notions and your hateful attacks on my faith. We should be able to expect more from you.
*****************************************************************************
I don’t know what “biased preconceived notions” you think I have, but that is YOUR problem.
WHAT “hateful attacks” have I made on your faith?
*****************************************************************************
Regular
Posted July 26, 2008 at 8:18 am | Permalink
That’s right apophis, I’m psychotic, so don’t push it. I’m might do something unexpected and crazy.
****************************************************************************
I think James McCluer is overtly threatening to bodily harm to another blogger with this post.
Feeling worried girlie-man apophis?
Been cruising My Space for late night chat sessions with the estudiante apophis?
……………actually, I’m not worried one bit from an old man who uses a quad-cane, lives on the government dole and lives in his sister’s basement.
The editors of the Eagle should be concerned with the likes of James McCluer though.
……………unlike you McLiar, I don’t cruise MySpace sites cruising for little girls as you apparently do at night. I spend my nights sleeping with my wife.
Who do you sleep withMcLiar?
………………I shouldn’t of used “lives” twice in one sentence…………..let’s change it to “RESIDES in his sister’s basement.
In today’s Opinion section JIM GILES, Wichita complains that the United States has 3 percent of the world’s known oil resources, but uses 25 percent of its production.
Interesting because the U.S. also produces approx. 25% of the world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP):
GDP (millions of USD)
World 54,311,608
Europe European Union 16,830,100
United States United States 13,843,825
13,843,825/54,311,808 = 25.5%
I wonder if the AGW fanatics want to reduce the U.S. GDP to only 3% of the world’s in their quest for lower CO2 release.
Imagine the wonderful lives we would all live consuming only 3% of energy of the world.
It take energy to drive a successful country.
AGW Fanatics = Nitwits
Ah Apophis is so predictable when he lashes out.
(chortles)
…….McLiar is so predictable, he shows I am right on target whenever he posts his (chortles)!
AGW Fanatics = Nitwits
Apophis = AGW Fanatic
so; Apophis = Nitwit
And there are numerable other proofs of that logic.
Boxlock,
Want to see an interesting fact about who the largest oil producers are?
Check it out.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm
This one even better.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_energy_data.cfm?fips=US
………how’s that dossier on me going boxtop?
Let me know which BOE you will presenting it at so I can go watch the comedy show?
….speaking of being a nitwit!
Apo
“The Knutson study follows one published by prominent global warming alarmist Kerry Emanuel and two other scientists.
The Emanuel study, published in the March 2008 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, concluded, “A new technique for deriving hurricane climatologies from global data, applied to climate models, indicates that global warming should reduce the global frequency of hurricanes, though their intensity may increase in some locations.”
The study comes as a tremendous concession from Emanuel, who has long stoked media fears of global warming causing more hurricanes.”
snip
“The Emanuel study directly contradicts sensationalist media assertions of global warming being responsible for recent hurricane activity. Assuming the computer models are correct, Emanuel reported, “the greater part of the large increase in power dissipation over the past 27 [years] cannot be ascribed to global warming.” ”
snip
” “When computer models based on SPECULATIVE ASSUMPTIONS (my emphasis) predict one thing but real-world evidence shows exactly the opposite, science tells us we should trust the real-world evidence, Gray noted. ”
http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=23558
There’s going to be a lot of alarmists going on weight loss programs in coming years from eating all of their own overblown words.
A little bragging from a proud Mom! My son does good work and this funding will help make advances that will benefit mankind.
http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/foundations/articles/glaxosmithkline-and-harvard-stem-cell-institute-announce-major-collaboration-ag
Voter suppression going on in Kansas.
http://www.alternet.org/democracy/92695/three_states_accused_of_illegally_purging_voter_lists_/?page=entire
It’s the only way Republicans can win.
“It’s the only way Republicans can win.”
And voter fraud, including duplicate voting, is one way the Dems try to win.
“And voter fraud, including duplicate voting, is one way the Dems try to win.”
Funny how I can present a link to support my position but you can’t. Well, chalk another one up to Republican honesty.
linda, is your son mentioned in that link?
Maggott
So, insuring the integrity of the process= voter suppression?
Can you show evidence that even one person was not allowed to vote where they were supposed to?
He is! He is that junior faculty member quoted in the final paragraph. Like all Moms are, I’m proud of my son.
Wow. I’ve read where you and bth swap stories about the Charles River, but I never felt free to make the leap to 2 + 2 = 4. So it was Harvard, eh?
Good grief, you’re modest. Congratulations!
Hey you Maggot,
Your link nitwit is to an article showing disagreement….NOT voter suppression. Nothing in it proves that, so your link is worth less that nothing and proves nothing.
Read you own post:
“”We follow the state law that was adopted by our state Legislature,” said Jacques Berry, press secretary for Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a Republican. “It supersedes the NVRA.”
“There is a section of the NVRA that they (the voting rights lawyers) interpret differently than we do,” said Brad Bryant, Kansas deputy secretary of state. “It has been this way for 15 years.”"
“Next it will be what you books you read and what clothes you wear”
It won’t end under the government actually provides wholesome meals for every American. Breakfact, Lunch, and Dinner will be dictated by the State.
Any food deemed “Unhealthy” will be banned.
There will be fines and arrests for eating inappropriate items. Smuggling of cheeseburgers and beersticks will become the rage.
Americans simple cannot think for themselves anymore. Government must intervene and become instrusive into every aspect of life.
And thanks to you and your husband, for being such great parents!
(and your son of course!)
The War on Drugs will be superceded by the War on Unhealthy Food.
“So, insuring the integrity of the process= voter suppression?
Can you show evidence that even one person was not allowed to vote where they were supposed to?”
So why the need to violate federal law in order to do so? Simply having the same name as a resident in another state isn’t reason to violate someone’s Constitutional rights.
Just face it. Any election of a Republican will be the result of cheating. Republicans hate America, it’s that simple.
I see there’s still no evidence of Democratic Kansans committing voter fraud like Phill Kline.
You’all can save your breath. It won’t matter anyway. In this morning’s paper, the Phelps lawyer (forgot her name, have already tossed the paper) said the church won’t have to pay taxes on the Ford pickup because the world is going to end soon.
So, see, all that stewing, back-biting, name-calling, etc., is a waste of time. None of us are going to be around to worry about it anyway.
Just want to make sure that where ever the Phelps folks go, I don’t have to go there.
Dennis
Thanks Boxlicker, I didn’t realize Louisiana and Kansas dictated federal law. I’m glad I have a genius like you who figures these things out. Now if you could turn off your stupid switch and present facts for the claims of voter fraud by the Democrats then maybe you won’t look so incompetent.
Why the delay?
Maggott
“So why the need to violate federal law in order to do so? ”
Reference Boxlocks 9:41 post-”“”We follow the state law that was adopted by our state Legislature,” said Jacques Berry, press secretary for Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, a Republican. “It supersedes the NVRA.”
“There is a section of the NVRA that they (the voting rights lawyers) interpret differently than we do,” said Brad Bryant, Kansas deputy secretary of state. “It has been this way for 15 years.””
So, which law holds sway?
“violate someone’s Constitutional rights.”
Which Constitutional right is that Magg? And can you show me evidence that even ONE person has not been allowed to vote where they are supposed to because of this process?
“Which Constitutional right is that Magg? And can you show me evidence that even ONE person has not been allowed to vote where they are supposed to because of this process?”
That will be revealed on election day won’t it? It’s the same tactics the Republicans used to win Florida in 2000. People with no criminal history were denied the right to vote because their name was matched with a felon in a different state.
Sorry you couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the news.
Good ol’ Ron is playing politics and keeping other party names off the ballot.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/06/27/kansas-reform-party-files-paperwork-to-list-baldwin-as-its-presidential-candidate/
Gotta reduce the competition.
It’s no surprise that Ron has reduced the number of polling locations as well. Not like there was record voter turnout for the Democratic primaries or anything. Anything to discourage voters, it’s the Republican way.
Maggott
“People with no criminal history were denied the right to vote because their name was matched with a felon in a different state.”
How many persons did this happen to? How many of them were not allowed to fill out a provisional ballot?
How does that number compare to the number of persons serving in the military overseas who’s vote was thrown out?
Is Senator Roberts getting desperate? Already having claimed to be out of funds (probably a lie), Roberts blames his opponent, Jim Slattery, for high gas prices. The problem is Slattery hasn’t been in office for 14 years.
Naturally it follows that Roberts went on to vote against efforts to reduce gas prices by opposing the Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act. I’m suppose Roberts thinks his supports are ignorant of the facts (as is usually seen on this Blog).
Say Cuz Maggot,
Just how long does it take to burn human flesh to ashes?
Is there a lot of shoveling involved afterward?
“How many persons did this happen to? How many of them were not allowed to fill out a provisional ballot?”
Wow, this story is seven years old and you are just hearing of it now? I must commend your ability to remain this ignorant for so long.
maggot
No, I followed it closely. I repeat my questions-
How many persons did this happen to? How many of them were not allowed to fill out a provisional ballot?
How does that number compare to the number of persons serving in the military overseas who’s vote was thrown out?
You shouldnt have any trouble answering them since you are so informed.
You can answer them can’t your? Or is your position total bullchit?
Provisional ballots are counted so why would it matter if someone fills them out or not? But since you claimed to be following the story then you should have the answer? Your pathetic attempt at fooling me with a lie may work on your equally ignorant Republicans but it doesn’t work on me.
Thanks for playing, but I don’t want to distract you from your daily American flag burning.
For the rest of you who choose not to remain as ignorant as the liar Heckler the number Bush and Harris ordered removed from the polls is 57,700. But this issue is 7 years old and only Heckler, the one who claims to be informed about the issue, doesn’t know about it.
Maggott
“For the rest of you who choose not to remain as ignorant as the liar Heckler the number Bush and Harris ordered removed from the polls is 57,700″
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO VOTE BECAUSE OF THIS? And how many really were felons who werent allowed by law to vote?
You call me a liar. What have I lied about?
I ask you for the facts to back up your arguement and you call me a liar. Hallmark tactic of a loser.
Maggie, I see you are still full of it. Would persons with the same names as criminals tend to vote Democrat? Jeesh.
Here is an opinion that you can sink your fangs into, instead of whining and making up excuses for losing.
ABLE BODIED citizens who are on welfare should not be able to vote.
Why should an ABLE BODIED person on welfare be eligible to vote? They are a negative, an expense that others citizens must subsidize. That person’s motives in voting would also be suspect.
I think the right to vote should be suspended until the person gets off of welfare.
Awww, are the poor conservatives upset that they have been made to look like idiots again? Maybe the reasons Republicans need to fix elections is they can’t find enough people dumb enough to support them?
Senator Roberts can find enough rich people to donate to him. $2,000 donations just to have breakfast with Roberts in D.C?
“Republicans need to fix elections is they can’t find enough people dumb enough to support them?”
Google ACORN CRIME - so I guess democrats are REALLY dumb!
“Why should an ABLE BODIED person on welfare be eligible to vote?”
Hey outlander? Don’t I remember something in YOUR faith that says something like…
That you doest to the least of ye, you do unto me?
Something like that?
Maybe you can give me chapter and verse. Then maybe tell me how your politics jibes with your faith?
Maggott
You called me a liar. Back it up.
“Google ACORN CRIME - so I guess democrats are REALLY dumb!”
Clicking on the first result I see:
“There are no Articles to display.”
Well, that about sums up the facts Republicans have on their side. Was Amway trying to be clever? Perhaps in the realm of conservative mental prowess he was.
“You called me a liar. Back it up.”
I already did. You claimed you were informed about the issue but your posts proved that you weren’t. You already backed up the fact you are a liar. Need I provide more? You have no credibility.
B.J.
Separation of church and state.
Maggott
Your gonna get dizzy and hit your head with all that spinning buddy. That’s pathetic. You made an assertion and couldnt back it up with fact so you call me a liar.
The only thing you proved is that you got nothing. Including integrity.
Heckler, follows up lies with more lies. Typical Republican. Better not make him too upset he might make a mess in his McCain 2008 diaper.
Ah Yes, another beautiful day on WEBlog. Well, at least SOME of the posters are able to have adult conversation.
Linda, you must be so proud. At least there is an adult conversation.
(moderate this)
Maggott
All you’ve done this morning is pu11chit out of your arrses. When challenged you run in circles and call me a liar. That’s so pre-school. Grow up.
“Separation of church and state.”
Yeah Heckler, I’ve noticed that about you tighty righties.
You pick and choose among the doing unto others.
Outlander says that the least among us should have no political voice. Oh but HE will be the first to pipe up and tell the same folk they aint right with “God” and offer advice on how they can get that way.
“Was Amway trying to be clever?”
Do I have to do everything for you Maggot?
Workers accused of concocting the biggest voter-registration-fraud scheme in state history said they were under pressure from the community-organizing group that hired them to sign up more voters, according to charging papers filed Thursday.
To boost their output, the defendants allegedly went to the downtown Seattle Public Library, where they filled out voter-registration forms using names they made up or found in phone books, newspapers and baby-naming books.
One defendant “said it was hard work making up all those cards,” and another “said he would often sit at home, smoke marijuana and fill out cards,” according to a probable-cause statement written by King County sheriff’s Detective Christopher Johnson.
Prosecutors in King and Pierce counties filed felony charges Thursday against seven employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, claiming they turned in more than 1,800 phony voter-registration forms, including an estimated 55 in Pierce County.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003808207_votefraud27m.html
Use a little thoughtfulness when you use Google.
Try ACORN convicted ACORN charged ACORN voter fraud. Or even ACORN and OBAMA (he was a lawyer ya know)
Shall I post a dozen or so articles from across the country of ACORN and voter fraud over the years in a large number of campaigns?
Your call Maggotpunk. Save me the trouble and admit democrats wrote the book on voter fraud.
“The War on Drugs will be superceded by the War on Unhealthy Food.” — America Pays.
That would at least make some sense. Coca Cola kills more people in a week than all the illegal drugs combined do in a year.
The Acorn Indictments
A union-backed outfit faces charges of election fraud.
Friday, November 3, 2006 12:01 a.m. EST
So, less than a week before the midterm elections, four workers from Acorn, the liberal activist group that has registered millions of voters, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for submitting false voter registration forms to the Kansas City, Missouri, election board. But hey, who needs voter ID laws?
We wish this were an aberration, but allegations of fraud have tainted Acorn voter drives across the country. Acorn workers have been convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado, and investigations are still under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
The good news for anyone who cares about voter integrity is that the Justice Department finally seems poised to connect these dots instead of dismissing such revelations as the work of a few yahoos. After the federal indictments were handed up in Kansas City this week, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that “This national investigation is very much ongoing.”
Let’s hope so. Acorn officials bill themselves as nonpartisan community organizers merely interested in giving a voice to minorities and the poor.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009189
Three of seven defendants in the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced, prosecutors said Monday.
The defendants were all temporary employees of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, when they allegedly filled out and submitted more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties.
ACORN Workers Have Been Convicted In Wisconsin And Colorado, Under Investigation In Three Other States. “We wish this were an aberration, but allegations of fraud have tainted Acorn voter drives across the country. Acorn workers have been convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado, and investigations are still under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.” (”The ACORN Indictments,” Wall Street Journal Online, November 3, 2006)
1,492 fraudulent registrations were submitted by ACORN in St. Louis, Missouri including a 16-year-old and deceased individuals. “The St. Louis Election Board says it has received close to 1,500 voter registration cards leading up to the deadline of registration that appear to be frauds, including some from dead people, and at least one from a 16-year-old girl.” (Jeff Douglas, “Voter registration fraud alleged in St. Louis,” The Associated Press, 10/11/06)
Eight former ACORN employees in Missouri pleaded guilty to fraud. Eight workers for a get-out-the-vote effort in St.Louis city and county have pleaded guilty to federal election fraud for submitting false registration cards for the 2006 election, authorities said Wednesday. The workers were employed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now to gather voter registrations. U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said they submitted cards with false addresses and names, and forged signatures. Each faces up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The organization has said the former, temporary hourly workers were likely trying to increase their pay by turning in more, albeit, false applications. (”Ex-ACORN workers plead guilty to fraud”, Columbia Tribune, 4/6/08)
ü A federal judge today sentenced the last of four defendants indicted for voter registration fraud on the eve of the 2006 elections. Kwaim A. Stenson was sentenced to four months and five days. He will report to a half-way house in Springfield next week. Other defendants in the case also received light sentences. For example, Brian Gardner and Dale D. Franklin received probation, while Carmen R. Davis was sentenced to 120 days in a halfway house. (”Voter fraud defendant sentenced”, The Kansas City Star, 09/05/07,)
ü 4 voter registration recruiters indicted on fraud charges. All four face two felony counts each of “knowingly and willingly” filing false information. The charge carries maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. as many as 15,000 recently submitted voter registrations could be “questionable,” which they define as duplicates, unreadable applications or containing information that doesn’t match other existing records. Last week the board chairwoman, Melodie Powell, said the board had turned the investigation of the questionable cards over to local and federal authorities. (Dave Helling, “False voter registrations allegedly submitted; Four who have been indicted had worked as registration recruiters for ACORN group,” The Kansas City Star, 11/2/06)
“Election Officials In Three Of Ohio’s Largest Counties Have Cited Problems With Hundreds Of Voter Registration Cards. ACORN Is Accused Of Submitting Cards With Nonexistent Addresses, Forged Signatures And, In One Case, For Someone Who Died Seven Years Ago.” (Andrew Welsh-Huggins, “Voter Fraud Allegations Still Tripping Up Voting Rights Group,” The Associated Press, 10/2/06)
ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
Community Organization
Obama
HEHEHEHE
What Maggotpunk wrote:
“Maybe the reasons Republicans need to fix elections is they can’t find enough people dumb enough to support them?”
What Maggotpunk implies:
Maybe the reasons democrats need to fix elections is they can’t find enough people dumb enough to support them?
(smirking)
B.J.
“Outlander says that the least among us should have no political voice.”
No, that’s not what he said.
“ABLE BODIED citizens who are on welfare should not be able to vote.
Why should an ABLE BODIED person on welfare be eligible to vote? They are a negative, an expense that others citizens must subsidize. That person’s motives in voting would also be suspect.”
The least among us would not be the ABLE BODIED. It would be those who cannot care for themselves.
I agree with Outlander on this. If for no other reason than it makes people like you shoot blood out of their eyes.
And finally on the subject of criminal activity by ACORN, who do you suppose comes to their defense?
But back in Chicago, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is more important than Iraq or Washington. ACORN and its associated Midwest Academy, both founded in the 1970s, continue to train and mobilize activists throughout the country, often using them to manipulate public opinion through “direct action.” It’s sometimes a code for illegal activities.
Prior to law school, Barack Obama worked as an organizer for their affiliates in New York and Chicago. He always has been an ACORN person — meeting and working with them to advance their causes. Through his membership on the board of the Woods Fund for Chicago and his friendship with Teresa Heinz Kerry, Obama has helped ensure that they remain funded well.
Since he graduated from law school, Obama’s work with ACORN and the Midwest Academy has ranged from training and fundraising, to legal representation and promoting their work.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/datelinedc/s_488184.html
Maggot…what a dumbass.
Evidence of Voter Fraud and the Impact that Regulations to Reduce …
http://www.vote.caltech.edu/VoterID/ssrn-id925611.pdf
My brother and his family are Virginia bound next weekend, to visit me, so I’ve got lots to do today and tomorrow to get things ready.
One last thing, and it’s not political.
Anybody remember the old quiz show scandals from the 1950s? A fictionalized account of how the television quiz show “21″ was scripted was presented in the 1994 Robert Redford film, Quiz Show. Anybody remember that movie? It starred John Turturro as Herb Stempel and Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren.
In 1956 the producers of the television quiz show “21,” Dan Enright and Jack Berry, had a problem with declining ratings. They were convinced that the problem’s solution lay in scripting (fixing) the outcome of the contest in “21.” They had become convinced that canned drama, not real life, was what drove growth and retention in viewing audiences (quite the opposite thinking holds today in primetime broadcast television). To that end they coached both current and future contestants on their quiz shows, including “Tic Tac Dough” and “21.”
Why did the person scripted to lose agree to this, you might ask. Well, they threatened to withhold the loser’s winnings if they didn’t play along. Of course this corrupt scheme blew up in Barry’s and Enright’s face, resulting in Congressional hearings, ruined careers, and Hollywood movies.
If you are a baby boomer like me this whole thing is endlessly fascinating. Actually, I think it’s pretty interesting no matter when you were born.
My point is this, and then I’m out of here. Charles Van Doren, the guy who in real life ‘beat’ Herb Stempel on Dec 5, 1956, writes about it in the July 28, 2008, edition of The New Yorker. I believe it’s the first time he’s written or spoken about this.
If you, too, find this interesting, you might head to the library or to your local newsstand to pick up a copy to read. The article isn’t available online, and for good reason: it’s fascinating. It is a quite a piece of writing by Van Doren. Highly recommended for your weekend downtime reading.
“ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization”
Non-partisan doesn’t equal Democratic Party. Well, that’s my quota of debunking Republican lies for the day, have a wedding to go to.
Maggot
Have a Grand Delusion.
Maybe I think outlander’s or YOUR motives in voting are suspect there Heckler.
Yeah, actually, I do.
Maybe I think outlander should not vote because he believes in some old man in the sky that no one can see. Maybe outlander is delusional.
What outlander would like to do is go to the people who have nothing and take away even their voice in politics. THEN maybe he can herd them into his church and tell them why it is all their fault.
“doesn’t equal Democratic Party.”
If you are correct Maggot, please provide me a list of republican candidates ACORN has endorsed locally, state, or national in any campaign.
Go stew at the wedding.
)
ACORN’s Questionable Activities in just ONE state:
Former Minnesota ACORN Employee’s Car Contained Hundreds Of Voter Registration Cards In Trunk. “When police at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport stopped a man for running a stop sign late last month, they found an unusual stash in his car trunk: More than 300 voter registration cards that had been filled out but never submitted to the Minnesota secretary of state. The motorist allegedly told police that he was an ex-employeeof ACORN…” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
ACORN Employee Charged With Felony For Not Turning In Cards. “A man arrested in late September with more than 300 completed voter registration cards in the trunk of his car was accused Friday of committing a felony offense for allegedly failing to turn in the cards to election officials promptly.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Voter Registration Cards Bring Felony Charge,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/16/04)
Same Ex-ACORN Employee Faced Felony Drug Charges And Misdemeanor Shoplifting Charge. “The man stopped at the airport is Joshua Reed, 19, of St. Louis Park. He faces two unrelated criminal charges, a felony drug case in Hennepin County and a misdemeanor shoplifting case being prosecuted by the St. Louis Park city attorney.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
Worker Said He Was Fired For Copying Cards, But ACORN Disputed Claim. “Much of what is publicly known about the case comes from a memo written by Bert Black, a legal analyst in Kiffmeyer’s office. In the memo, Black said investigators told him that Reed ‘indicated he had been fired from ACORN for making copies of the cards.’ Becky Gomer, the head organizer in Minnesota for ACORN, denied that Reed was discharged for copying cards. ‘That’s absolutely not true,’ she said. She said Reed was one of a number of canvassers whom ACORN paid $1 for each new voter registration they secured and, she said, ACORN supervisors discharged him because representatives of the county attorney warned ACORN that they suspected he was registering some voters twice to double his fee. ‘So we let him go,’ she said.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Stash Of Voter Cards Probed,” Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 10/8/04)
ACORN Worker Pleaded Guilty To Two Felonies. “A man who was arrested in late
September with hundreds of filled-out voter registration cards in the trunk of his car pleaded guilty Monday in Hennepin County District Court to two felonies. Joshua Reed,19, of St. Louis Park admitted failing to promptly turn over the voter registration cards to the Secretary of State or to a county auditor, and admitted forging signatures on 18 other voter registration cards. Reed faces sentencing Jan. 20 before Hennepin County District Judge Joanne Graham, according to County Attorney Amy Klobuchar.” (Patrick Sweeney, “Man Pleads Guilty In Vote Card Scam,” Pioneer Press, December 7, 2004)
ACORN Settlement From Minnesota AG Comes Under Question:
ACORN Received $249,999 From Company Under Investigation By Attorney General Mike Hatch; ACORN Later Endorsed Hatch For Governor. “Attorney General Lori Swanson and her predecessor, Mike Hatch, have come under question for their role in a court settlement that diverted money to a nonprofit whose political wing endorsed Hatch’s bid for governor. Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles recently asked Swanson and Hatch to explain the 2006 settlement, which required a credit card company accused of violating consumer protection laws to give $249,999 to a community advocacy organization, Minnesota ACORN. Its political action committee endorsed Hatch three weeks later.” (Pat Doyle, “AG Office Queried About Diverted Funds,” Star Tribune, June 30, 2008)
B.J.
Maybe so, maybe not.
Maybe his motives are exactly as he says. That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.
Who knows.
I know what mine are.
Oh, I forgot, the Maggot has poor reading comprehension skills so here is the conclusion from the above referenced study.
Conclusion:
“There is some evidence of vote fraud. Regulations meant to prevent fraud can actually increase the voter participation rate. It is hard to see any evidence that voting regulations differentially harm either minorities, the elderly, or the poor. While this study examines a broad range of voting regulations, it is still too early to evaluate any possible impact of mandatory photo IDs on U.S. elections. What can be said is that the non-photo ID regulations that are already in place have not had the negative impacts that opponents predicted.
One particularly valuable finding is that voting regulations have a different impact on turnout in counties where fraud is alleged to be rampant. These results indicate that while these voting regulations have little impact on turnout generally, certain regulations do significantly impact turnout in these so-called “hot spots.”
Contrary to the claims that campaign finance regulations will encourage voter participation by reducing the perception of political corruption, campaign finance regulations reduced voter participation rates.
Following other recent work showing that campaign finance regulations entrench incumbents, reduce the number of candidates running for office, and increase win margins (all factors associated with less exciting campaigns), these results find that
campaign finance regulations usually reduce voter turnout.”
Speaking of weddings.
Is their anything more perfect than the union of Christianity and American conservativism?
If you’re poor? Why “God” has ordered it so! You are in your station and who are you to question “God”? Don’t look to government that you can actually see and work in and be a part of! Government is bad! Look up! All your curses are blessings!
Whoever said it was right. Religion really is the opiate of the masses.
Eliminating voter duplication, dead people, prisoners, felons and others not entitled to vote does not selectively eliminate one party over another by using political affiliation as a determinate.
In fact, in Kansas since there are more registered Republicans it very well might work to their determent numbers wise and to the Dems advantage.
But certainly not to the Dems advantage if they intend on cheating.
So what are you complaining about Maggot…do you want the Dems to cheat?
‘IPCC: Lawson wrong about climate change‘
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/04/15/eaclimate115.xml
“However, Jean Palutikof, one of the authors of a new IPCC report, said: “By the time you get past 2050 the winners become fewer and fewer. By 2100, we will be losing almost everywhere.”
…
She said Lord Lawson’s view that climate change might have benefits that outweighed the disbenefits was “very wrong” when it came to the availability of water.
Dr Robert Watson, the former chairman of the IPCC and now chief scientist to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, wrote in a letter to a newspaper: “Lord Lawson’s perspective that the UK and Europe are over-reacting to the threat of human-induced climate change is substantially wrong and ignores a significant body of scientific, technological and economic evidence.”
“That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.”
Using that logic, shouldn’t America restrict voting to the top 5% of taxpayers? Afterall, they are providing the bulk of tax dollars this nation spends.
American_Way posted July 26, 2008 at 9:41 am
“Any food deemed “Unhealthy” will be banned.”
————
You may ingest large quantities of trans fat, to your “hearts” content. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7526624.stm
“Trans-fats are used because they are cheap, add bulk to products, have a neutral flavour and give products a long shelf-life. They have no nutritional value.
TRANS-FATS
They are partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, turning oily foods into semi-solid foods
Used to extend shelf life of products
Put into pastries, cakes, margarine and some fast foods
Can raise levels of “bad” cholesterol
Even a small reduction in consumption can cut heart disease
They have no nutritional benefit
The US Food and Drug Administration estimates that on average, Americans eat 4.7lb (2.14kg) of trans-fats each year.
A review by the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 concluded that there was a strong connection between the consumption of trans-fats and coronary heart disease. It found they boosted “bad” cholesterol levels in the body.
The review said that eliminating artificial trans-fats from the food supply could prevent between six and 19% of heart attacks and related deaths each year.”
————–
More at,
http://www.bantransfats.com/abouttransfat.html
O.K. Cosmos, you can cut and paste. Like anyone in American doesn’t already know they are bad for you. (really scary stuff)
So is driving a motorcycle without a helment. So is eating at Burger King or Micky D’s. So is standing on ladders. So is standing outside during a thunderstorm. So is driving. So are fossil fuels. So is chocolate cake.
Some might say the same about guns.
Egg whites. Or is it egg yokes? Or is it aspirin?
Drinking alcohol. No wait. More than 4 ounces a day. No wait. It’s wine. No it’s red wine.
Because things in life are bad for you, the government should decide for us?
between six and 19% of heart attacks a year.
Wow! Six whole percent? We could save 40,000 lives a year if we ban cars.
How many lives can we save if we ban coal burning power plants?
You can’t take shi-t without the government. 1.5 gallon flush toilets. Flow restricting shower heads. Warning labels on my mandated GFCI bathroom electrical outlet where I plug in my electric razor with a mandated label that improper use could result in shock.
And after I shave and shower, I will take a nap on my pillow with a mandated label and my mattress with a warning not to remove it’s label.
After getting all worked about over this, I now have a headache. I’m going to take an aspirin after I read the mandatory label warning me of Reye’s syndrome and ulcers.
So I’ll follow up with a Tum’s.
Whoever said it was right. Religion really is the opiate of the masses.
———-
Karl Marx said it BJ. You believe it. That settles it.
My reasons for believing that ABLE BODIED citizen on welfare should not be able to vote in federal elections have nothing to do with religion though. And BJ, you have a tough time not categorizing a person once they admit to being a Christian. I mean, I don’t always think of you as a socialist wacko.
American_Way,
Tell us how you know whether of not food contains trans fat.
And again, you may ingest large quantities of trans fat, to your “hearts” content. . . Bon appetit!
The Wall Street Journal.
Acorn Squash
August 26, 2006
By Steven Malanga
When Chicago’s city council this summer required big-box stores to pay new employees at least $10 an hour, supporters of the legislation held an impromptu celebration in the council galleries. The hoopla was reminiscent of another scene five years earlier in New York, when opponents of Rudy Giuliani’s effort to privatize failing public schools embraced in the streets after parents rejected the idea.
What linked these celebrations was the left-wing Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), which led the campaign for the legislation and against privatization. And in each case its efforts represented Pyrrhic victories for the poor. Anti-big-box legislation does little more than limit shopping choices and raise prices for inner-city residents, while parents who celebrated Acorn’s defeat of Mr. Giuliani were left with their same old failing public schools.
No one should be surprised, for this organization grew out of some of the most counterproductive ideas of 1960s radicalism. Acorn’s roots are in the National Welfare Rights Organization, whose leader, George Wiley, believed he could use poor, unwed mothers to foment a revolution. The NWRO agitated for unlimited welfare benefits for those mothers and persuaded many urban politicians to loosen welfare eligibility requirements. This led to a more-than doubling of the welfare roles and strained local budgets. Wiley hoped to persuade the federal government to come to the rescue with massive aid. Instead NWRO’s strategy prompted a backlash against “welfare mothers” and politicians in free-spending cities like New York.
When Wiley’s welfare strategy reached a dead end he moved on to other ventures, including sending some of his troops to form a new community organization in Arkansas, infused with the same radicalism. It was a brilliant stroke: By the early ’70s billions of dollars in federal and state aid was streaming to these local groups, spurred by Republicans in Washington who reasoned that it was better to fund nonprofits than create giant federal bureaucracies to run burgeoning antipoverty programs. Little did the GOP understand that the money would finance a nationwide network of organizations that for decades have mobilized urban residents against the party’s candidates and agenda.
Then came the Community Reinvestment Act. Passed in 1977 to prompt banks to lend money in underserved communities, the CRA allowed community groups to file complaints that could hold up or even scuttle bank mergers. As one nonprofit umbrella group observed: “To avoid the possibility of a denied or delayed application, lending institutions have an incentive to make formal agreements with community organizations.”
Acorn became among the most successful at exploiting the law, especially after the Clinton administration set up tough new CRA standards. In 1993 Acorn crafted a $55 million, 11-city lending program administered by it and financed by 14 major banks eager to avoid CRA woes. In 1998 Acorn activists disrupted Federal Reserve hearings on the proposed Citicorp merger with Travelers, waving red umbrellas, a corporate symbol of Travelers, and then later protested Citigroup’s acquisition of Associates First Capital Corp. Eventually Citigroup signed an agreement to provide mortgages through Acorn counseling centers, including home loans to undocumented aliens in California. In 2000 a U.S. Senate subcommittee estimated that such CRA deals had directed at least $9.5 billion through nonprofits, making the CRA the second-most important funder of social advocacy groups next to the government itself.
While Acorn now operates in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million, it never truly left behind the welfare-rights mentality. One is hard-pressed to find in the organization’s many antipoverty initiatives any programs that address social dysfunctions like illegitimacy and single parenthood. Instead, as Acorn’s executive director, Steven Kest, said several years ago, “We are more focused on irresponsible behavior in the corporate sector. I don’t think [illegitimacy] comes anywhere close to the irresponsible behavior of people running the largest businesses in this country.”
While CRA spurred Acorn’s growth, the “living wage” is the group’s most successful local issue. In the early ’90s, advocates persuaded Baltimore to require city government contractors to pay salaries substantially above the federal minimum wage; the campaign caught the attention of Acorn just when the Gingrich Congress was coming into power with a conservative agenda. Stymied in Washington, Acorn decided instead it would work city by city, starting in the most liberal places, to enact local wage legislation. Partnering with Wayne State University’s publicly funded labor studies program, Acorn set up a national living-wage center to help coordinate campaigns. Some 125 municipalities have since passed living-wage legislation.
The movement is not always what it appears to be. Though Acorn touts living-wage laws as a way to lift the working poor into the middle class, the vast body of academic work on wage laws shows that they end up hurting the poor by forcing businesses to eliminate some low-wage jobs. Acorn’s own leadership understands this principle perfectly. When California regulators sued Acorn for not paying its own workers the minimum wage, Acorn argued that this would endanger its mission—because it would have to hire fewer workers.
One of Acorn’s real intentions with this legislation is to help its public-sector union allies. By artificially raising the cost of outsourcing until it is just as costly as work done by government employees, “the Living Wage undercuts the incentive to privatize,” Acorn proclaims in its manual on how to run a living-wage campaign. Some living-wage efforts have gone one cynical step further—with laws that specifically exempt unionized companies from adhering to the new wage standards.
The Chicago legislation is the latest iteration of Acorn’s living-wage campaign and is more likely to benefit unions than the poor. Wal-Mart and its competitors have lately been eying low-income urban neighborhoods because they are underserved by retailers. A recent study by the Brookings Institution estimated that millions of low-income residents of cities pay excessively high prices for consumer goods in part because of a lack of competition. The report noted that in Chicago “higher priced, small grocery stores” are concentrated in the city’s poorer neighborhoods—exactly the kind of place where big-box stores now want to open.
Far from rejecting these stores, inner-city residents have embraced them. Thousands of local residents showed up to apply for jobs when Wal-Mart announced it was opening a new store in an abandoned former Macy’s outlet in the Baldwin Hills section of Los Angeles. After the store opened in 2003, sales soared at the mall were the Wal-Mart was located and other national retailers moved into the predominantly black neighborhood, vastly improving the range of products offered to residents.
But if poor Chicagoans miss out on such a boom, so what? Groups like Acorn thrive off a 1960s philosophy which holds that the worse things are, the better. The more Acorn’s policies thwart the free market, stymie efforts to make government more efficient and saddle the poor with bad stores and lousy services, the more Acorn can lobby for government aid to cure the ills of our society—all funneled through Acorn-run programs, of course.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html
“, you have a tough time not categorizing a person once they admit to being a Christian. ”
Not at all. It is not I who is forever judging who and who is not Christian.
Maybe it is just that MY take on that religion finds several of its followers to be hypocrites.
So? Who else should not get to vote outlander?
Maybe employees should not get to vote. I mean they are eating off someone else’s table are they not? Nevermind that they set the table and prepared the food. Let their boss speak for them?
Hey maybe people who don’t believe in your God should not get to vote. Their rights are “God” given or so some suppose. If one denies “God” does one forfeit their rights?
I WANT those who have the least voting. Indeed, THEY should have the loudest voice. To do otherwise is to encourage plutocracy.
Or belief in invisible “God” things.
AmWay
““That those who carry the load should have more say than those who refuse to carry their own load despite the ability to do so.”
Using that logic, shouldn’t America restrict voting to the top 5% of taxpayers? Afterall, they are providing the bulk of tax dollars this nation spends.”
I suppose you could advocate taking it that far. Boortz advocates making each persons vote proportional to the amount of taxes they pay, which wouldnt be quite as extreme.
I prefer to break it at the producer/non-producer line.
Oh this could get interesting.
“I prefer to break it at the producer/non-producer line.”
And Neal Boortz produces? What?
Oh he misleads alot of people. Gets them to vote against their own best interest.
But what does Mr. Boortz produce?
have used the flea/tick squeeze on product from hartz for years for my dog and it worked ok, but not perfect…not like frontline. So tonight I decided to buy a new brand..the sergeant’s Gold.
Let me tell you, I am ready to sue them. I put the stuff on at 8pm. At 10pm, I thought my dog’s leg had merely fallen asleep. By 1AM she woke me up out of a dead sleep bumping into doors and walls, she couldn’t hardly walk. She was shaking, drooling, I swear she had something like mad cow or rabies. *Ok, I knew it probably wasn’t rabies because she’s been vax’d but also she hasn’t been in contact with anything to get rabies*.
I threw her in the car and drove all the way to Salina to the Animal ER *which by the way moved to behind Alltel….that tidbit of info would had been good to know*.
So she got a 100 dollar bath tonight- the vet thinks she’ll be fine. But earlier in the night he said that they actually had a cat die from the same thing. Says he sees this all the time!
How the &*())_! can this company keep selling this stuff if it is so dangerous!
By the way, the pet ER staff were amazing and wonderful. I’m so thankful they were there!
I did email the company right when I got home, and demanded they send me reimbursement for the vet bill, the gasoline for the trip to and from, and for the two packages of this evil concoction that I bought.
For the record a vet tech emailed me after I posted this, saying that the Vet group has been trying to get this stuff pulled from the shelves for years. There is also a class action lawsuit from hundreds of other people who have experienced the same thing. Why is it we get laws against abuse from people, but the government and courts refuse to do anything about this stuff that is poisoning our pets?
If there is a lawmaker out there reading this- I know its not as important as people stuff, but pets are HUGE members of our families too. PLEASE do something about this.
In B.J.’s world voting for his best interest means voting for the government to take money from people who make more money than he does and giving it to him.
SSSDD
B.J. says- “And Neal Boortz produces? What?”
Millions of dollars in sales for the companies who advertise during his radio show.
Wow there you have it. Outlander says that poor people should not be able to vote! What bs is that?
Guess what, Outlandish…people do not get their civil rights suspended because they go through a rough patch.
P mom
My wife has had problems with some of the Harzt flea/tick product on some of her cats. Made them dilerious, like they were stumbling around in the fog. Had to quickly wash it off. Some of them it didnt bother.
“Millions of dollars in sales for the companies who advertise during his radio show” — Heckler.
That may well be true, but if so, Willie Nelson has produced billions in sales, if Arbitron ratings indicate anything.
There was a dog that the product BURNED a hole in its skin all the way down the back where it was applied.
If its doing this to our animals…what is it doing to us and our children who pet the animals?
Good to know there political mama.
I wonder if this is why my local grocery clearanced out a bunch of those budget flea treatments a while back?
That’s what deregulation gets us.
If I were you, I would seek legal counsel. Class actions get lawyers rich and you won’t see any money or very little for years.
You might try leaning on them by threatening to go to local media. This story does not seem to be getting out.
Pmom
“Wow there you have it. Outlander says that poor people should not be able to vote! ”
No, that’s not what he said.
“What bs is that?”
Exactly that, B.J…er…B.S. Inaccurate quoting is little different than lying.
Someone needs to put the word out enmass.
Maybe I’ll contact the consumer protection agency- better business bureau, the media?
Heckler–
How’s your son?
Back to chasing the horses?