January 30th, 2009
It is a U.S. Constitutional mandate that the U.S. Congress shall secure the borders of the United States. It appears this was never done and never will be. When the Federal Government failed to do its job and made things worse, it became the responsibility of the affected Border States to secure these borders and start programs that reduce the pressure on those who are driven to the U.S. The Border States did nothing but point to the irresponsible Feds….and continues to do so. Not our job, they say, and the job goes undone.
In the past few years, citizen groups have begun to step in, to attempt to do what government will not. These citizen groups scare the hell out of everybody, but the people and the drugs just keep on coming. Since no one can stop the illegal traffic, it is way past time to create a uniform policy for these people that were essentially invited here by the government’s irresponsible, unlawful behavior.
Because every undocumented immigrant represents government carelessness and dereliction of duty and the lack of domestic security, they should be recorded and rewarded for their effort. In many cases they have risked their lives. Congress has risked nothing. The immigrants deserve recognition for the triumph of will over bureaucracy. They should be an inspiration to us all.
Offer amnesty, a green card and a State driver’s license to every one who desires them. Document where they came from, who they are, what skills they have brought with them and why they have come here. Take DNA samples so we can identify them and their offspring so long as they remain in the U.S. They came for a better life and we will see they get one. We can help them with skills training and work options, education, health care, housing and more.
Because they essentially invaded the country, there must be a penalty that will discourage others from doing the same. That penalty is the forfeiture of citizenship for them and any offspring, forever. Unless they return to their homeland, apply for legal admission, and obtain it, based on their record while living in the U.S.
The citizenship provisions of the U.S. Constitution were deficient from the day they were written. They encourage illegal immigrants to have children here because citizenship is a privilege of birth. Citizenship should not be a privilege. It should mean as much to someone born here as it does to legal immigrants who study for naturalization. The tests should be meaningful and difficult to pass.
Citizens need to be knowledgeable in Religious, Common and Constitutional law. This law is the contract we agree to live by. Not to know the terms of the contract generates criminal society and government. That’s what we have today and that’s what we’ll have tomorrow. Citizens have left it all to incompetent professionals. Liberty demands personal vigilance. A lazy free man is a hermit.
Gift citizenship makes political equals of the ignorant and the educated. What is the point of obtaining degrees and being a conscientious citizen, when ignorant fools can outvote you? How can you have a jury of peers when people who know nothing of law are seated on a jury and simply take instruction from some authoritarian, black robed, law priest? When citizenship is a gift it has no meaning but privilege. When citizenship becomes an achievement, it has honest value. Let’s fix the many deficiencies in the U.S. Constitution. It won’t be easy.
Immigrants are one of the best sources of foreign aid the U.S. has ever had. Poverty stricken immigrants work hard and long for low wages, continue to live simply and send a large part of their pay to the families that did not come with them. This serves as a check on increased immigration. At the same time, their relatively cheap labor helps U.S. industry remain competitive in the global market. All of which means, these immigrants have value and add value to U.S. society. We need to respect and reward that value, not frustrate and block it.
Over the past one hundred years, we have ignored the opportunity to export economic prosperity to our Southern brothers and sisters. We could have invited those of talent and ability to come and learn business, trade and the skills that would raise the standard of living in their homelands. These people would agree after a five year program, to return to their homelands and teach others what they have learned about creating prosperity at the local level. After such a program had been in place for twenty or thirty years, the pressure to cross the border would be substantially relieved. Instead, the welfare of the entire Southern Hemisphere has been largely ignored unless the U.S. government had some pressing strategic interest.
Not only has the U.S. government created the immigration problem, they now insist the Border States and now many others, pay all the associated costs for medical care, criminal behaviors, and the general welfare. This is the way the National Government says to the states and the citizens, you have no more sovereignty. We are the boss of all we see. We tell everyone what they will do and we pick the pockets of every man, woman and child as we see fit. The states and the once sovereign people say Amen.
Let the once sovereign states rebel. Let them forbid the collection of Federal taxes within their borders. Then their citizens will be able to support effective state and local government. We only have Federal tyranny over citizens and states because we pay the tyrants. Since the Federal War against the States in the 1860s, the power and money has increasingly flowed to Washington, D.C. from the people’s pockets. It is time to build a dam and stop this bleeding into a bottomless pit that buys nothing but empty promises, from people who refuse to obey the law and do their jobs. It is time for citizens and states to grow a backbone.
About the Author
Freelance writer published on many websites and in newspapers.
edhowes@hotmail.com
justanotherview.com
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January 27th, 2009
There are two choices when it comes to selling a house, leave it the way it is, or fix it up. Fixing it up can take a great deal of time and energy, so whether or not to do it should be weighed out. If the market is great and you have a house in a location where people want to live, then it can be of great value to invest in fixing it up. Fixing it up can mean replacing the carpet, floors, appliances, painting the walls and ceiling, and the list go on. You could make a list of the most important to the least important and then calculate everything out. If you are working with a Real Estate Agent they could review the list with you and let you know their thoughts, they know what the market is like and how the potential customers should respond to the improvements. Once you decide to go forward with the fix up of the house you can really benefit from the exercise it takes, if you are in the middle of your weight loss phase after using the Acceletrim solution then this extra exercise can help rev up your metabolism. If you decide not to fix the house up, then you will not have to spend any time replacing anything, and this might be the best thing to do depending on the location and the Real Estate Market. An Agent can truly help you make the right decision.
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January 27th, 2009
A large and forever growing phone UK market following the rule of introducing the latest camera phone has made it remarkably hard for mobile customers to compare phone deals. Most of the time, there are loads of aspects that individuals need to look into when making mobile phone comparisons that some of the very most prominent ones get forgotten about.
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January 26th, 2009
As of late steroid use in sports has been the topic of conversation by the media. From Jose Conseco appearing on Donnie Deustch’s “The Big Idea” which airs on CNBC to Congress looking to pass legislation to regulate steroid use in professional sports.
Is steroid use a problem in pro sports?
Well it depends on who you asked, but steroids weren’t developed in 2005, they have been around for quite some time. Most people associated bodybuilding with steroid use so football and baseball players that may have used them just flew under the radar.
As sports enthusiasts question records that were broken and bash those pro athletes that have been singled out for steroid use, the big problem isn’t the use of steroids by pro athletes but the use of steroids by the youth.
Of course kids that are playing baseball in the schoolyard look up to their role models and try to emulate them. So laws being passed to eliminate the use of steroids in pro sports may have an impact, but having a law isn’t enough. There has to be an educational process developed so that the youth really understands the dangers of steroid use.
Legislation without Education in this instance would be a big error.
When educators and politicians thought that speaking about drugs or sexually transmitted diseases might increase the use of drugs or sexual activity with the youth, they found out that kids knew more than they thought. So they have to take the same stance with steroids early on.
They have to assume that young athletes are aware of steroids and some perhaps use them. Then move forward accordingly and educate the youth on what they are and the harm that they may cause.
I am amazed that a pro athlete would come out via a book and admit their steroid use but does not take the responsibility of publicly denouncing steroid use with the youth and making public statements along those lines. Perhaps tainting the careers of other pro athletes was good enough but any pro athlete that has thousands if not millions of kids looking up to them have a responsibility to the public.
Maybe congress should work with MLB, the NFL, NHL and NBA and create PSA’s warning of the dangers of steroid use and begin a program in schools educating the youth on steroid use. Another good idea would be to develop a program to educate the parents as well.
We will see what develops in the coming months and hopefully legislators will keep in mind that they have to include education with legislation as it relates to steroids.
Louis Victor
New Age Media Concepts
646-403-9972
About the Author
Louis Victor is the Executive VP of the firm New Age Media Concepts. He has written several published articles on various topics such as advertising, business, and international issues.
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January 24th, 2009
Recently the Los Angeles Transit workers are on Strike and the RTD is not operating, this happens every few years. This disrupts the flow of people on their way to get food, go to work, attend college or visit friends. When the flow of transportation is disrupted it hurts our trust in the integrity of the system and affects our lives. When you design a city and have a transportation system to support the population and then turn it off you cause chaos.
In Los Angeles they had a grocery store strike along with a transit strike. So going to the store to buy food is irrelevant, because they are not open and you can’t get there anyway. Disruptions in flow hurt businesses in that their customers cannot get to them and their workers cannot come to work. This means businesses make less money, pay less taxes, might go out of business when times are already challenging and workers cannot get paid for working and therefore cannot pay their rents. Everyone loses.
This is why we need additional choices of transportation. Shuttles, Taxis, private cars, buses, trains, aircraft, ferries, etc. The more choices and the more competition the better prices, level of services and quality. This means people can get where they need to get to, in order to fulfill their needs and desires or pursue their dreams, goals and happiness. Having public transportation break down is as bad as having roads in disrepair. One problem we have also is the roads in this country need to get more attention. What I usually see is construction projects that take years on major freeways, block traffic, slow logistics and make families traveling wait. This costs society as it is blocking or bottle-necking the flow of transportation costing the efficiencies of trucking, which is already stressed with over regulation, high insurance costs and fuel costs.
Every small disruption that effects transportation has a rippling effect in the economy, what looks like a small fast moving wave turns into a Tsunami of Chaos in our Civilization.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
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January 22nd, 2009
If you believe passionately in political correctness and cannot bear to see it used as a weapon in a war against the idiots who originated the whole politically correct idea, do please leave now. And you needn’t return. Folks with no sense of humor give me a severe pain somewhere south of my belly button.
I hold a concealed handgun license in the State of Texas. I am also licensed as a concealed handgun instructor in Texas. Contrary to the belief held by most residents of the other 49 states, Texas has some of the strictest gun laws on the books anywhere outside of New York City. I mention this only to illustrate that I have absolutely zero criminal history in a state where at least ten percent of the population can expect to spend a year or more in a penal institution at some point in their lives - and it seems that more than half of the population has something to be found in the way of criminal history, whether violent or otherwise.
This makes me a minority!
Forget that I’m a woman (we are 52 percent, after all, even if it isn’t fashionable to mention it). Forget that I’m a small business owner. I am not a criminal. I own - and carry - a gun! Voila! I am a genuine, card-carrying minority.
It gets worse. I am a minority who is hated and feared by the majority.
It’s a very good thing I don’t have children. If I had kids, the venerable American Medical Association would advise you to ask my children (if you were too embarrassed to ask me) about the guns at my house - and forbid your children to play with mine if mine were to answer the “gun question” in the affirmative. Oh, yes. Absolute fact. And you don’t even want to contemplate the lawsuit that would have occurred the first time that happened to any child of mine! Luckily for those hapless parents, it won’t ever happen to me or to my non-existent kids. You may not be that fortunate.
Nevertheless, I am a full-fledged victim of discrimination. Yes, you heard me right, folks. I am a victim of discrimination every bit as severe and as real as that which was directed at people of color in the 1950s. I am discriminated against because of my deeply held belief that self-defense (and defense of the genuinely helpless) is my right and my sacred duty.
How does this discrimination work?
Well, aside from complete morons like the American Medical Association (who don’t even pretend not to discriminate), it works like this:
Texas law states that a business owner may forbid firearms carry even by licensed individuals on his/her premises if they are posted properly. Fair enough. That’s just freedom, no matter how vehemently we may disagree with the businessperson’s decision to totally exclude firearms (except, of course, for the firearms belonging to those individuals who will ignore the law, anyway). However, Texas case law has also established that a gun owner is responsible at all times for properly securing his or her firearm.
Add to that the fact that the Attorney General has ruled that the business owner’s “premises” specifically excludes parking areas - and we have come to the crux of the problem.
Because of the Attorney General’s ruling, there is no immediately apparent problem. In fact, in theory at least, there is no problem. I disarm in the parking lot, lock my firearm in my vehicle, and go transact my business, right?
Are you out of your bloody little minds??
Does anyone here really believe that a locked vehicle is secure? Boy, have I got a news flash for you! It takes less than five seconds to enter one - and that’s if you’re polite enough to avoid breaking the window. The younger the perp, the faster the job. And if you think you might have a rough time with the law if your firearm is stolen and used to commit a crime, you don’t even know what a rough time is until that firearm is stolen by a minor in Texas!
In practical fact, therefore, a business owner who excludes firearms excludes me - because, idiot that I am, I do honestly try to obey the law.
So I am a genuine victim of discrimination. I belong to a class of people who are being deliberately excluded from a fairly large number of businesses in my state. This class of people consists of those who (a) have no criminal history, (b) obey the law even when it’s silly, and (c) carry a firearm for self-defense - and, just incidentally, for defense of that business owner’s business, although he is obviously too ignorant and frightened to see it that way.
Now let me get to the fun part of this article.
The very liberals who want to take your guns wrote the strict laws against discrimination in this country!
What is happening is actually against both state and federal law. So what can be done to redress the situation? Well, obviously, the business owners can grow up and stop being scared of law-abiding citizens, but it won’t be quite that easy. For example, carry is forbidden inside any U.S. Post Office, which would almost be a funny knee-jerk reaction if it weren’t so awfully pathetic.
Carry is also forbidden in the secure parts of a commercial airport. I may disagree, but I don’t see that changing any time soon.
On top of that, there are even one or two prohibitions I actually do agree with - like hospitals. Defending my life inside the halls of a hospital - at the expense of countless helpless patients (when the oxygen system in the walls goes bang!) - is not a picture I like to contemplate, and it would kill me just as dead, anyway. So that particular prohibition makes sense.
There are effective ways to deal with the problem, though, and they would allow for pretty much all circumstances. What about business owners actually providing security for customer’s firearms? Why not? They provide wheel chair ramps, don’t they? And Braille markings on elevators! If the disabled are a class of people, then so are we!
It isn’t necessary to go to any great expense for this. A bank of lockers in a small alcove near the business entrance would work. The gun owner steps into the alcove, disarms, locks his handgun up and pockets the numbered key. When his business on the premises is concluded, he steps into the alcove, opens his locker and re-holsters the firearm before departing (the key is retained by the lock for the next user). The firearm is reasonably secure for the duration, and folks are not running around the paranoid business owner’s premises with firearms all day long. Problem satisfactorily solved - and cheaply, too. These locker systems are used in most post offices today (for small parcels), and airports (a larger type, for luggage), so they are available and fairly inexpensive. On top of that, the business owner can charge a dime or even a quarter for the rent of the locker.
Everybody wins!
Now is anyone so foolish as to believe that business owners are going to do something so logical without having their figurative heads knocked together??
Don’t answer that question. The foolish optimism of my fellow man never fails to astound me. Take it on trust from your cantankerous old grandma’ here - it ain’t gonna’ happen!
So what can we do? Well, my friends, that is exactly why we have a civil court system in this country. That’s why we have civil rights attorneys, too. If we have to put up with them (apologies to attorney friends), then we might as well use them!
Let me issue a challenge here. Are any Texas concealed handgun licensees reading this? Write me! Let’s get together and plan a class action civil rights lawsuit right out of the 1960s! If you climb on board, I’ll donate your next renewal class for nothing - you will need just your fee to the state! It’s a contribution I would be pleased - and proud - to make to this effort.
Are there any readers licensed in other states? Any instructors? Go for it in your state!
Are there any Second Amendment friendly attorneys out there? Step up and volunteer to take these cases on contingency! I’ll do your classes free, too, if you live in Texas.
Let’s get some real class action suits going, people! Let’s use the system for ourselves this once!
It can be done, and it can be won, first in state - and then in federal - court.
The simple truth is that if you aren’t willing to fight for your rights, you deserve to lose them.
About the Author
At a tiny 5′1″, Kathryn A. Graham is a licensed private investigator, pilot, aircraft mechanic and handgun instructor in Texas. Also a prolific author, she has written numerous articles, short stories and a science fiction novel.
http://www.kathrynagraham.com/
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January 20th, 2009
Karen had just herded the kids into the back seat of that elephant sized black Lexus SUV they have when I caught her on her cell.
As usual, she had the Waylon Jennings pumped up to drown out the sound of little Georgie Joe and Condi Sue screaming in the back. Waylon was singing:
She’s a good hearted woman
In love with a good timing man.
She loves him in spite of
The wicked things that she don’t understand
She clicked in with “This is Karen” and I just couldn’t help myself. I had to yell.
Really let her have it.
“I can’t believe you did this to me! Karen, I just can’t believe it! It’s just. . . .you said I could have it! You said that the LINE was mine! You said it would be a throw away and that there was no way the Chief would ever use it. You said he’d just laugh and say, “Nice try Soccer Mom—but that doggie ain’t got no tail!”
For the love of . . . Oh Karen, . . . I don’t know. . . .for the love of Boy Genius himself: no one will buy the tag line “global struggle against violent extremism!”
You can’t just re-brand the whole war and expect people will swallow that! Think of Classic Coke Karen! Think of Euro Disney . . .Karen think of THE EDSEL!”
And Karen, you promised ME the line. You said I could I could have it! Now every first year MBA student is gonna be blogging and whining and buzzing on their cell phones that we’re off message, saying things like ‘Hey, Bushie Crew—where’s the beef?’—We got nothing now Karen. And worse yet: I got no way to come up with a power point deck to describe what it is I been DOING out here acting like I was looking for a job.
Karen, this just might even blow my cover! What if people find out that this whole time—I’ve been embedded in the ranks of the middle class un-employed, gathering the TRUTH about unemployment. Fighting the terrorists by being unemployed. Standing up for freedom by being unemployed.
“Roger, it sounds like—Georgie Joe! You get your hands off of your sister’s neck right now! Don’t you see how she starts turning blue when you choke her like that!—oh sorry. What were we talking about Roger?”
“We were talking about how I needed the global struggle tag line! How I needed a tag line for my mission. Didn’t matter which one. But I had to have a tag line. Karen: this could all land on HIS desk! And you KNOW how he hates it when stuff is on his desk!”
“Oklet me think a minute.”
That’s the thing about Karen. She can think in the middle of a hurricane. I’ve seen it a million times. We’d all be in meetings. Rummy off in the corner asking himself questions and then supplying the answers. That little guy who always walks a few steps behind him writing it all down. Rummy would be mumbling things like, “What is a war? It’s a struggle. And isn’t life a struggle? So aren’t we ALL struggling?”
Cheney in that surgical mask he wears to the really top secret meetings. Leaning over that scary stainless steel sink of his with the scalpel and the dead cats. That whisper voice he uses when he’s really concentrating. Hissing, “I’ll find the stem cells. I’ll do the research. I am the DOCTOR. The chief on the phone to a baseball player or his Mom. Condi thumbing through a leather catalog, Karl pacing up and down in the front of the room, clapping his hands and saying, “People! I need your attention here people! We are protecting freedom here people!
And there is Karen at the middle of it all. Humming along to the rhythm of her fingers on the keys of that laptop. Humming a show tune. Karen adores Steven Sondheim. She LOVES send in the clowns:
“Isn’t it rich?
Isn’t it queer
Loosing my timing,
This late in my career?
And then like she’s some sort of sorcerer or something, Karen stops typing and blurts out a tag line of pure genius. I think it might have been Karen who came up with, “Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should.” Sure, I know she doesn’t look that old.
But Karen has been around . . . . Well, let’s just say that she has always been with us.
She turns down the Waylon Jennings in her mini-van. Says, “Ok. Hang on Roger. Karl’s on the video feed monitor here in my van. Let me punch him up and see what he’s got. Maybe he can help us with this.”
“Karen my dear?” I hear the sound of Karl’s voice.
“Karl, let me switch on the cone of silence. My kids are in the back and I have Roger on the other line.”
“Ah Roger. But of course. Unemployment. How it too can protect freedom! Just got the Intel that we won’t be seeing you in the ranks of the unemployed much longer old man? We’ll talk later about how you plan on helping our true friends by NOT being unemployed.. And I think I might have a new assignment for you. “Library Visits from Your Neighborhood Special Agent? That Means Freedom. Karen, we’ll need you for the spin there. Don’t quite have all the bugs out . . . . .”
“Karl,” Karen cut in, ” Roger has some concerns about “Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism.” He wanted the line. A bit of a snafu. He thought no would buy it so he could use it for the Unemployment Means Freedom campaign.
“Acchh—so many campaigns, so little time!” Karl laughed in that way he has,” Well, I have news for you both. Early numbers tell us that we have a fish on the line my friends. 23% tested positive that “global struggle” actually had a MEANING! I told the Chief.
“What did he say?” Karen asked
“He said he had brush to clear, and some doggies had strayed from the herd,
“Oh that’s right. We’re in Crawford this month.”
“So, Roger, I’m sorry but that tag line has been taken. We’re going with it. And I think we’ll shut off “Unemployment Means Freedom.” Even with Karen driving our message: I was never sure how we’d shape that one as a way to help our friends. And the Library Visits? Well, that is coming as soon as we take care of the whole Supreme Court project.” Maybe we can use you for that Roger.”
“Hang on you two, I’ve got Novak on the other line. . . .”
“Karen,” I said, if I get a new assignment, can you help with the spin? I mean if we’re really going to go monitor the libraries now, we’ll need to. . . . “
But just then I heard the click and the line went dead. Lost the cell connection.
And again —I was alone.
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January 20th, 2009
Japan lit its candles of pure,”noble sadness” on the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The mayor of the late city, Iccho Itoh, criticized the USA for dropping the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and following that after 3 days by the second atomic bomb which attacked Nagasaki.
The two bombs harvested the lives of more than 242,437 people to end the Second World War by the surrender of Japan.
Iccho Itoh, urged the United States to stop the recent new nuclear policy and made an angry appeal for a global ban on nuclear weapons.
He made gestures towards the International peace by asking if the United States security has enhanced by maintaining 10,000 nuclear weapons, and carrying out repeated sub-critical nuclear tests and pursuing the development of new mini-nuclear weapons!
I thought what he tries to convey, is a deep part of the “Bushing” new administration policy, to force out the “New American Time”. This new American time plays the first role in the “New World Order” after the break-down of the Socialist System and the Eastern Block.
The deep sorrow and sadness of the American people which we share in other parts of this World, in regards to the September 11th horror, plays a mobilized factor to determine the future of peace on this Earth nowadays.
That’s what makes the mayor of Nagasaki’s words about the 9-11 attacks more understandable when he said and aimed particularly at Washington: “We understand your anger and anxiety over the memories of the horror of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.”
But this result leaves an urgent question in the collective memory of those who do love peace: Is Bush’s Second Term! A Chance for More Wars or A Stable Peace?
If the sour feelings of the invasion of Iraq is still sour, then the answer will never come to be predictably “optimistic”!
Not the political powers, but the people who should really stop the crisis.
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January 17th, 2009
No one could possibly assuage a grieving mother who has lost a son. All the effects of time, prayer, supportive family and friends will have its way as it does with anyone who has lost. Should this grief be cast into an arena or public forum to become a free for all, a battle of opinion, a slugging fest between the right and the left?
Death may not be dignified in any light but the way it is perceived, handled and finally dealt with can be under certain circumstances even less dignified. The cause Cindy Sheehan has undertaken may or may not be worthy depending on who you ask. I choose not to ask anyone but rather I would ask a question of a different sort. It is not a question of the Presidents moment of accountability but of her son’s accountability. I would ask this question to her or anyone who might dare to question his moment of accountability. He did have one, let us examine it.
In August of 2003 Casey Sheehan re-enlisted in the United States Army. He was fully informed that his unit would be deployed in the Iraq theatre at some time in the future. Casey belonged to the 1st Calvary where he plied his skills as a Humvee mechanic. On April 4th of 2005 Casey was killed in a place called Sadr City in Iraq. He was twenty four years of age. Indeed a Hero of the highest order and a young man that according to all accounts would make any mother or any American proud of him.
In every state in this country there is a general consensus about when a person reaches the age of accountability. That consensus has found its way to the legislative annuls of every state in the form of various laws that credential it as the will of the people. Federal law too has been formed on the basis of this general consensus. Although the laws vary from state to state they all seem to fall into a very close and familiar expression of what is the age of accountability. For instance in most states the age limits for mandatory enrollment in a public or private school is up to age sixteen. The age at which a person can buy and consume alcohol goes between eighteen and twenty one in most states. Most states also will hold young people accountable for serious crimes somewhere between the ages of sixteen and eighteen. The US Military has similar age restrictions for anyone volunteering for duty. What does all this mean?
At some point in his life Casey Sheehan believed he had reached the age of accountability. Exactly when that moment came for Casey may only be known by him. But even if he shared it with his mother or others it was still his moment, his passage to manhood or to any other place he perceived it to be. It is not a moment that any mother can alter nor do they have a right to. When Casey signed on the line not once but twice, it was his moment of accountability. Perhaps he was never braver even in battle than he was in that moment. By the time he re-enlisted he knew a great deal about the military and what to expect, but at the moment he put his signature on the line for the first time there were only a world of unknowns, he faced them alone, he became accountable.
Without raising a single word about our Presidents honesty, a single word about Casey’s reasons or fears, it would still be undignified and less than honorable to cast aspersions on that moment. The moment when a young man made the decision of a man should not be diminished by the outcome of that decision. As far as President Bush being given a moment of accountability I would tread lightly in this area. He is accountable to all of us in this country, but if that weren’t enough both he and all of us in this country are accountable to a much higher power.
Those of us that put our trust in God do so in the midst of a world where life and death are all around us. We see children starving, hospitals full to capacity, wars we don’t always understand, crime and injustice on every hand, but we continue to have faith in God. Life did not come with a promise or a contract. We may die young or wish we could die because we feel so old but we believe he holds our hand throughout the journey long or short. This is more than faith it is trust and loyalty and it is the proof that no matter what we may endure we have shown ourselves to be accountable. May we always do so, and in the end will be found in good company along with other good men and good soldiers like Casey Sheehan.
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January 17th, 2009
The aftermath of Katrina has affected more that just New Orleans
and the surrounding gulf coast. There are huge financial
implications associated with the catastrophe, from the initial
humanitarian aid to the rebuilding and repairing needed to get
the local area back on its feet. Eight oil refineries shut down
as a result of Katrina could take many months to restart. The
Gulf Coast is a prime supplier of oil, through pipelines now
shut due to lack of power and ocean-going barges unable to load
from ports eradicated by the storm.
>From a global perspective, the loss of oil production in the
area is sending shockwaves through the world’s financial
institutions and economies. Even before hurricane Katrina’s
damage to oil production the price of fuel has increased to a
major degree. The following data compares price increases from
September 2004 to August 2005 in the United States of America
and the United Kingdom.
US Fuel Price Increases
September 2004
Unleaded: £0.28 ($0.48) per Litre
Diesel: £0.29 ($0.51) per
Litre
August 2005
Unleaded: £0.38 ($0.67) per
Litre
Diesel: £0.39 ($0.68) per Litre
UK Fuel Price Increases
September 2004
Unleaded: £0.87 ($1.59) per Litre
Diesel: £0.83 ($1.52) per
Litre
August 2005
Unleaded: £0.96 ($1.76) per
Litre
Diesel: £0.94 ($1.73) per Litre
In the United Kingdom, motorists are burdening more fuel
increases with the price of 1 litre soon to exceed £1 ($1.84).
About 65% of the price UK motorists pay goes to the government
in tax so the additional revenues generated are unlikely to
direct the government to rebalance tax levels on fuel unless the
wider economy comes under threat.
“…If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break
And the
water gonna come in, have no place to stay…”
When The Levee Breaks
Memphis Minnie
recording of
1929 written after the devastating Mississippi flood of 1927
My next visit to fill up my car is once again bound to force a
whimper from my wallet especially when the litre dial spins at
the same rate as the total cost dial. But as my day to day
problems range from the extra few pounds I have to pay on the
weekly fuel to what colour to paint my children’s bedrooms, I
consider myself very lucky and certainly very selfish… shame
on me!
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