Category: Politics

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IBM to lay off 100,000 workers?

Here’s an article on Digg regarding this rumor and a quote of one guys extreme reaction to the news: IBM Layoff

People here in the States aren’t going to wake up to what is happening until THEIR job is taken. The middle class is being systematically dismantled.

We’ve pretty much lost most of our manufacturing base. Very little is still “made in the USA”. We’ve gone from a self-sufficient country that could make anything it needs to one that imports damn near everything. Hell, many of the parts required for some of our more sophisticated military weapons are made in China. Hmm, wonder what happens if China decides to stop making them?

One thing we still make and make well are firearms. I’d suggest you buy a few and get ready for the coming maelstrom.

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Was Charles W. Steger smirking?

Yesterday, during a noon news conference, a reporter asked Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and the Blacksburg Police Chief if they were at all emotionally affected by the shooting tragedy that occurred yesterday morning.  I can understand the point of his question.  I’m afraid the whole time I watched Charles Steger I thought the man was trying to surpress a grin.  I tried to dismiss it as an unintented reaction to all the attention from all the media, but I’m sorry to say it looked more like he was basking in the attention this brought to him.

Not only did his administration and the police department most likely fumble the response and investigation at the initial shooting (from what we know at this point).  But his attitude could potentially fuel the outrage that is building in those who feel the second series of deaths could have been prevented.

Virginia Tech would do well to find themselves another spokesperson/PR Rep immediately to handle this issue.  A few more days of Charles Seger on camera could be enough to fuel lawsuits from many directions against the Virginia Tech.

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How do you feel about Global Warming?

Personally I’ve felt guilty about the amount of energy I waste long before it became a media spectacle and a consensus of international scientist confirming we’re responsible for killing our own atmosphere. Amazingly there are still Neocons who swear the the problem doesn’t exist much less that humans cause it. My own father falls directly into this category. But like the majority of Americans I hear about it and think it’s terrible but do absolutely nothing to change my personal behavior.

I’m not paying extra for recycled paper towels, my company isn’t going to give me $3000 for buying a hybrid vehicle (the Timberland shoe company does) and I’m not going around the house unplugging all of my power supplies and battery chargers. In fact, if I had to turn off my desktop PC when I’m not using it you wouldn’t be reading this and I’d be paying a monthly fee for web hosting. In short, there’s no incentive.

I admit there’s a problem but I’m too selfish to sacrifice my personal desires and routines for universal positive gain. Welcome to America. This is precisely why our government is lax on the environment. There’s no monetary or political benefit to requiring corporations to implement expensive environmental controls. One suggestion I heard an environmental consultant recommend on a news program was “stop flying so much, use video and web conferences”. I’m sure the airline industry loves that idea. Again, where’s the national economic incentive? We don’t see where saving the atmosphere is going to provide anyone with a commission check. The only thing that governs America is money.

Until there are financial or personal incentives for individual Americans and corporations to cut back on greenhouse emissions it’s simply not going to happen. There’s not even social or cultural incentive. You’re stereotyped a “tree hugger” if you drive a hybrid or anything less than a 4-door SUV. The only reason Americans buy fuel efficient vehicles is to save money at the pump, not to stop emitting carbon atoms. It would be completely deceptive for us to tell the rest of the world we’re going to do our part to help when we have no intention of doing any such thing. It’s perceived to be too inconvenient, time consuming, expensive and socially embarrassing to be environmentally concerned in America. Yet we will give awards to the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”, which is now required viewing in several European countries. Please enjoy American hypocrisy at it’s finest.

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My six minutes on Iraq and no more.

Last night, during a 60 minutes interview, Bush used the word “succeed” again when there has never been a true definition of “success” in Iraq presented by Rebuplicans or Democrats. Is it defined as a stable Iraq? Clearly there won’t be a Wal-Mart ribbon cutting ceremony in downtown Baghdad any time soon. So at this point what exactly is our mission? Too keep Sunni’s and Shia from killing each other? This is something they’ve wanted to do for hundreds of years and we removed the only thing stopping it: A “strong man” who basically said if there’s any killing that’s gonna be done in these parts, I’m the one who’s gonna be a doin’ it. Anyone with any knowledge of the middle east could have predicted this outcome. Many did and their warnings were ignored.

So now we stand in the middle and try to break up the fight using the lives of Americans and tax payer dollars. If we stay 100 years the minute we leave these people will try to kill each other. They are driven by religious, sectarian ideologies we cannot deter. Neither Republicans or Democrats want to present their idea as anything but the path to stability. When will it be admitted that we cannot “give” freedom and stability? We might as well get out of the way and let them settle it. As for those who argue this course would jeopardize western security I would like to ask how? How will it put us in harms way to call our troops back for national defense (novel idea) and let the Sunnis and Shia have it out? Tragic, yes. Our problem? – I don’t see it that way.

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Additional Hospital Bills Make Contractor Sick :: WRAL.com

Additional Hospital Bills Make Contractor Sick :: WRAL.com

Spokeswoman Stephanie Crayton said Bridges was originally billed too little because the hospital coded the case wrong.

“The confusion started because Bridges was a third party paying someone else’s bill. Most of the time, Crayton said, a third party is an insurance company, and Bridges was originally billed the price insurance companies pay for treatment, which is much less than what people who don’t have or don’t use insurance pay.”

This is the first time I’ve heard a hospital representative make this claim publicly. The question is why? Why do people without insurance have to pay more than the negotiated insurance rates? This is what make programs like Maternity Card so appealing. You get the benefit of participating in a plan with pre-negotiated rates even though you will pay the bill out of pocket. This is a practice by health care institutions that must be stopped but won’t. There’s too much corporate health care influence in Washington.

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The best thing about the 11-07-2006 election results…

Was not that we can potentially start focusing on domestic issues more than foreign failures. It wasn’t the fact that we can stop arguing about the validity of electronic voting machines. Hell, it wasn’t even that the left created such vaccum on the right that Rumsfeld was finally asked to exit stage left. It was because this election decision was aided by the votes of the highest number of 18-29 year olds to ever vote in a modern, mid-term election. Today websites are full of gloats from many who “won” the first election they ever voted in.

This was too quickly overlooked by the media with only brief mention by CNN in one morning segment. Didn’t enough incumbents learn in the early 70’s that if you agitate enough college students with an unpopular war you’re going to cause a movement? It may not be big enough to run on it’s own but combined with enough disgruntled veteran voters you’re just gonna get voted out of office. So while Ultra Conservatives were busy trying to get enough camoflauge hats and bibles to the polls, the Democrats did just that, plus a silent mob of enraged youth arrived for the only thing they’ve committed to waking up in time for in the past two years and changed the face of congress. Go drink a keg, you earned it.

This election should prove to all future candidates and representatives elect that partisan politics and corrupt shrugs at the opposition does not validate the perceived notion that the public is clueless in the face of Washington arrogance. Regardless of party affiliation our idea of effective leadership is not all that different. Go forth and take care of the issues that matter to the public at large, the majority, for the greater good. Avoid idealistic crusades for any vocal minority and above all be prepared to admit to your mistakes and appologize publically. This takes more pride and earns more respect, nationally and internationally, than trying to “stay the course” to save face when the course clearly has no positive resolve (put in more troops or take them out – just do something).

But don’t take it from me. Listen to the greatest number of modern young voters to ever disapprove of the leadership from our elected representatives.

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Rush did burn it.

I deleted an entry I created about Rush Limbaugh burning in hell. This was followed by a couple of emails asking why I deleted it. I simply had a moment of clarity. I realized that I did not want Rush to burn. After reading this article on mediamatters.org (http://mediamatters.org/items/200610250005) I realized he’s necessary to remind us all how crazy the far right, imbalanced Necon’s are. The ads favoring stem cell research by Micheal J. Fox would have probably gone completely unnoticed this year had it not been for Rush vomiting his opinion on us all to gain applause from a handful of delusional people who still think he’s worth listening to. His comments were a big push for the left.

“Mr. Limbaugh, Thank you so much for the brutal assault on Michael J. Fox. My wife heard it on your show and she is no longer undecided regarding the midterm elections due to your despicable attack on Mr. Fox. Thanks again for the boost to the Democrats. Keep up the good work.”

  • Tuesday October 24, 2006 09:42:45 PM EST
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Republican or Democrat? Independants are the future.

Should I change my voter registration card?

  • I am pro-choice. = Democrat
  • I don’t believe in same sex marriages (at least not those sanctioned by government what you do in your house is your business). = Moderate Republican
  • I am obviously against “big business” and feel that corporate influence has no place in political legislation. = Green Party
  • I don’t think amnesty for illegal immigrants is an option. Anyone here illegally broke the law. Even if it’s a $1 fine then so be it. But, the real way to solve this problem is to make it unaffordable for American companies to hire illegal immigrants. No jobs = no incentive to hop the border. If the cost of common goods go up slightly – deal with it. = Independent
  • I also feel that religion has no place in politics or legislation (America was not founded as a theocracy or “Christian nation” and should never become one). If religion is to enter politics then all religions’ must be equally represented, not just the Southern Baptist Convention. = Libertarian
  • I am all about health care reform of any type. = Anybody?….anybody?… Spineless wusses… You’re all afraid of America’s largest employment industry that’s busy bankrupting the middle class.

My point is that no single political party affiliation is going to encompass all of my beliefs. I think the majority of Americans could make a list like this of their own and determine that they cannot vote straight ticket without sacrificing at least one social issue of personal importance. We are now a nation facing issues that cannot be addressed by partisan political positions. Democracy in its purest sense can only be recognized when each individual’s position on each issue is taken into account. Until we can trust the public at large with this responsibility we are dependant on our elected representatives.

Future representatives need to denounce “party lines” and tell us what they believe in. Not what their party believes in. To this end we need many more Independent candidates. We need candidates who do fear being labeled non-partisan which in turn sacrifices their party’s financial support. Independent candidacy will only be achieved when the nation’s voter base comes to recognize the idea that a candidate doesn’t have to choose sides.

Running our country is not a sporting event where there are two teams and you have to be fan of one or the other. By endorsing Independents’ we can in effect have representation that reflects the position of the majority instead of settling for the closest match under our current model of choosing one of two sides. The truest exercise of Democracy is supporting local Independent candidates.

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Congradulations. We are officially a nation of Weenies.

Several school systems start banning “tag”, flag football and any other “contact activity” at recess. Yes, a few of the biggest weenie’s around have decided that your children’s independent social building activities should be limited to walking around. This, and the removal of jungle gyms not long ago, mean all your fat kids are going to have fewer and fewer reasons to move their lard asses. The heaviest family wins right?

I don’t blame the lawyers who go after schools as liable for kids getting hurt on the playground. I blame the parents that hire them. They’re scared weenies looking to get paid. Wait a minute. That’s 3/4 of America isn’t it? Don’t forget that lawyers don’t have cases without clients.

The terrorists and bullies are coming so you better hurry up and vote for Jesus. Oh ya, he’s not on the ballot is he? Well then, who can we count on to protect our kids from the bad guys with dodge balls? If we don’t find someone soon we’ll all just have to go inside and lock the door for good because the evil will reign down on us like solar flares and burn our skulls until we’re all dead.

Then again, you’re more likely to die in a fiery accident during your commute to work tomorrow. But you’ll put your kids in the car and trust your meager driving skill to risk that trip won’t you? Of course, because there’s a check in it for ya – weenie.

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A Diebold voting machine can be opened by a hotel mini-bar key.

No one dares ask me what I think about corporate “sponsored” voting machines which were handed to contractors by the most corrupt of Neocons. Not unless they want a 30 minute lecture on individual vote accountability. But this is a security test anyone can understand. A common key that can be bought almost anywhere on-line can open the most security sensitive part of a Diebold voting machine where the memory card is located.

Your vote does count. As many times as Diebold wants it to for their candidates. I particularly like one readers response:

“At least the minibar has a paper record of what you’ve taken out.”
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1064