Steve

From a political view, banning this on the federal level is such a no brainer for me. I wonder why Obama hasn't done it. Its so unpopular that I don't think any Republicans saying its soft on terrorism would get any one agreeing. I stopped supporting long ago when airport terrorism experts from Isreal, who are the best in the world, said it was all for show. They don't even do it (they did profiling and only searched those that seemed ideal candidates). He could do that as well. Visa versa, Republicans could get brownie points for asking for it to stop. They are known as the ones that are the most vigilant against terrorism (not true but they have the reputation for being strong defense advocates) so that would win over some independents possibly or help sway support.

I've posted a few times a church is one of the last great tax shelters and businesses to get into. You guys really should thank us Christians for that. The government hates going after religions. They give you a wide berth. You really have to try to get into trouble as a church. You can send yourself on 'missionary' trips to Thailand and have it all paid for tax free. 'Missionary'..hehehe..just thought of the play on words...hehehe...sorry, in a silly mood tonight.

I was a former SEAL. I have the pics from Mrs. Jeffers 2nd grade class show to prove it.

Rather than start a new thread and risking the ire of all you anti Americanistas..hehe..I'll put it here. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110509/us_yblog_thelookout/local-pastor-made-up-elaborate-navy-seal-tale Local pastor made up elaborate Navy SEAL tale Moats told his church for five years that he was a former SEAL, and even once wore the elite program's gold Trident medal around town. He elaborated on that tale when his local paper contacted him last week as it was reporting a story about the rigors of SEAL training in the wake of the SEAL raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. Among other things, Moats said he was subjected to waterboarding when he trained at Little Creek Amphibious Base in Virginia Beach in 1971 and was assigned dishwashing duty for his bad attitude. "I had almost no discipline. I was as wild as they came. That was my nemesis," he told the paper. "They weren't looking for a guy who brags to everyone he is a SEAL. They wanted somebody who was ready but had an inner confidence and didn't have a braggadocio attitude." Several former SEALs wrote into The Patriot-News casting doubt on the reverend's account of his service. "We deal with these guys all the time, especially the clergy. It's amazing how many of the clergy are involved in those lies to build that flock up," said retired SEAL Don Shipley. Shipley also speculated the waterboarding and kitchen details came from the action depicted in "Under Siege." that part made me laugh.

A while back I asked in one of my meandering diatribes about government if anyone was as distrustful as I am if I were a retired city or state government worker (even Federal) and I was on a lifelong pension. How confident are you that the money will be paid out? I thought it would be paid but it would be reduced greatly over time by the powers that be taxing it more, reducing it or doing something that would take more money out. This is a list of states that are in the most trouble with their pension funds. http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/112640/states-pensions-public-sector-247 1. Kentucky 2. Illinois 3. New Hampshire 4. New Jersey 5. Oklahoma 6. Kansas 7. Massachusetts 8. Colorado 9. Maryland 10. Pennsylvania A few states surprised me by being on the list as well as a few states that weren't on the list that I thought would be. Surprised to see New Hampshire on the list. Thought those New England states had their act together. Especially NH and Vermont which I always envisioned as states with yankee strictness. Surprised California and New York are not on there. Also, more states from the deep south like Alabama and Mississipi or Arkansas. They have a fairly large number of poor, etc. so I thought their tax revenues would be fairly low.

Was gonna put this in the sports section but no one would have read it...lol...probably still won't here. :nahnah: While I agree the BCS is a mess and the ONLY reason it is the only college sport that doesn't have a play off system is because of one thing and one thing only...MONEY. I agree with the BCS exec in the article that the government should have better things to do than investigate this stuff (throw in steroid use amongst athletes as well, let the governing bodies of the sports handle that). Seems the congress is investigating at the behest of Sen. Hatch of Utah, who is pissed BYU never gets invited. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110504/ap_on_sp_ot/us_bcs_justice_department;_ylt=AiI2..IxBuSdCYIdvqGU2OcLMxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJxcHBscTdoBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwNTA0L3VzX2Jjc19qdXN0aWNlX2RlcGFydG1lbnQEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcnkEc2xrA2p1c3RpY2V0b25jYQ-- In a letter this week, the department's antitrust chief, Christine Varney, asked NCAA President Mark Emmert why a playoff system isn't used in football, unlike in other sports; what steps the NCAA has taken to create one; and whether Emmert thinks there are aspects of the BCS system that don't serve the interest of fans, schools and players. "Your views would be relevant in helping us to determine the best course of action with regard to the BCS," she wrote. "Serious questions continue to arise suggesting the current Bowl Championship Series system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in the federal antitrust laws," Varney said. Hatch's involvement: in response to a statement from Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican and BCS critic. Hatch called the BCS a "mess" and said that "privileged conferences" have tremendous advantages over the unprivileged. "And I just hope that you'll continue to follow up on that particular issue," he said. "It's an important one, I think." Also Obama is interested as well: Before he was sworn in as president, Barack Obama said in 2008 that he was going to "to throw my weight around a little bit" to nudge college football toward a playoff system. I do agree with the BCS people on this: Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, was confident the current system complies with the law. "Goodness gracious, with all that's going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money to have the government looking into how college football games are played," he said.

Salary is a tough one. How about the same wages for any politician in your state? Same as the governor or state legislature or an average of all them. Since they represent the state, I'd shift the pay and benefits package to the state. Let their own people determine their worth.

Even I laughed out loud when I read this one. Its pretty good actualy. Its a racist statement but its still damn funny and I have to admire the creativity. The kids had a joke for the black and Puerto Rican students at the HS in the 'burbs outside Philly we got sent to. I stil laugh when I think about however at the time had I heard it someone would have gotten a chin check "when we graduate we're going to spend 4 years at Penn State and they are going to spend 4 years at the State Pen"

So McCain's full birth certificate is accepted without question and Obama's isn't? The whole Obama affair makes no logical sense. His mother wanted him to be an American citizen so she goes to Kenya to have a baby but a few days later sends the Honolulu papers an announcement that he's born in Hawaii. Obama himself is made privy to this family secret as well and keeps it going. Knowing the truth and the risks, he still runs for President. Also, in this conspiracy are Hawaiian officials that are guarding a fake birth certificate from plublic viewing under some law about releasing such documents. What I would find a hoot (damn, I sound like my father) is if he was born in Kenya. I actually wouldn't mind if he were so I could have a big laugh about it all.

The IMF has proclaimed that the Age of America is ending. It was a pretty good run we had. I've likened America's run to that of the mob in Vegas. Had a good thing going and f*cked it up themselves. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112616/imf-bombshell-age-america-end-marketwatch

We KNOW McCain was not born in America (but is a citizen). There stands a greater chance of his birth being fabricated to make him a U.S. citizen since his dad was an Admiral and would not want any his child not be an American citizen. hehehe

Read up on the history of the birther thingy on wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obama_birth_certificate even more convinced its BS even though I thought so originally. Trump? I won't take him serious as a candidate. Isn't he the one that has had companies he controlled file for BK? More than once if I recall. This is the man I want to run the country. A man who bankrupted his own company? Ron Paul or nothing of the Republican candidates for me.

Okay, is this another case of CS histrionics and I need to calm the eff down or is this a valid concern. If you were a retired state employee. Pretty much any state and you are to receive say 90% of your salary for the rest of your life, how confident are you that the state would pay out? My guess at some point (lets assume you live another 25 to 30 years) they will find some way to dick you out of some of the money. Tax it a different way, or just flat out reducing citing some crisis. I have no faith in the government anymore, state or federal.

Interestingly, some of the founders weren't religious or believed in God or were Deists. http://freethought.mbdojo.com/foundingfathers.html Americans still like to have a Christian in the white house even if they themselves aren't practicing the religion. They know what a Christian will suppoesedly do morally and ethically. I also think that a Jew could successfully run as well as we've went from calling ourselves a Christian nation to a Judeo-Christian one. Morally using religion as a guide, Christians believe Jews would do the same since we both share the 10 commandments. An atheist wouldn't get votes. A christian or jew has a 'code' (10 commandments, Jesus' sayings, etc.). An atheist to most people doesn't have a code. If there were no 911, a non practicing moslem could be elected IF he was a Republican, I think. I think an Atheist could get in if he were a Republican. The reason I say that is that the Republicans are the most religion conscious of the two parties and so if they accepted that person not being a Christian then everyone else would with regard to religion. As for Obama. I'm surprised at how centrist he is. He's not the liberal a lot of folks thought he would be. He kept some key Bush appointees and had some people who were part of the establishment in key areas. Fed Chief for example who was NY Fed chief. He hasn't shaken up enough things for those that voted for him. He hasn't governed as an outsider coming to Washington to clean it out. If Republicans are honest he's no where as liberal as they feared I think. Doesn't matter, he'll be domonized by Republicans anyway because he won so decisively. To be fair, the same animosity would have been hurled at a Republican if the roles were reversed. As far as the national debt and such, I think it would have been increased significantly had McCain won. He talked of bailing out everyone as well. I don't think it would have been nearly as high as Obama though. So, I think if Republicans are honest they would concede that. I honestly think their problem with Obama is he's not their man. Its about power. Its about the power of the office and not having your party there. Its not about debt, jobs, etc. If their man had the same debt and numbers they'd have ready excuses as well. Again, the same would happen if the roles were reversed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110424/ap_on_hi_te/us_wi_fi_warning On Feb. 11, an investigator with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees cybersecurity enforcement, signed in to a peer-to-peer file sharing program from his office. After connecting with someone by the name of "Doldrum," the agent browsed through his shared files for videos and images and found images and videos depicting children engaged in sexual acts. The agent identified the IP address, or unique identification number, of the router, then got the service provider to identify the subscriber. Investigators could have taken an extra step before going inside the house and used a laptop or other device outside the home to see whether there was an unsecured signal. That alone wouldn't have exonerated the homeowner, but it would have raised the possibility that someone else was responsible for the downloads. After a search of his devices proved the homeowner's innocence, investigators went back to the peer-to-peer software and looked at logs that showed what other IP addresses Doldrum had connected from. Two were associated with the State University of New York at Buffalo and accessed using a secure token that UB said was assigned to a student living in an apartment adjacent to the homeowner. Agents arrested John Luchetti March 17. He has pleaded not guilty to distribution of child pornography.

I know huh? However, I guess if he caught bad guys and did a good job, he was a good cop then I suppose, right?

Vegas money for lobbyists and the government itself are pissed they aren't cashing in on online and offshore gambling. Their three main arguments are al quaida can hide money off shore or wash it through online gambling. (gambling is against islam for one and there are far more sophisticated ways to wash money), second, underage gambling. Some kid uses his parent's card or he has one from them and gambles online. (Really? give me a break) and third, not paying taxes on winnings (how many gamblers have a net profit after a year?). Its all about money. Obama is governing as a centrist and its not winning over anyone. He's not as far left as a lot of liberals who voted him for like and he could do everything the Republicans want and still be demonized as he's not their man. He's in nowhere land but unless the Republicans can field a credible candidate I think the American people will stick with the devil they know, like they did with Bush.

Neighborhood groups and businesses that it would run near or through would fight it tooth and nail. NIMBY would make it nigh on impossible.

$7 oil would suck obviously but the sting wouldn't be so bad if we had reliable, efficient and low cost mass transit to offset it. $7 gas would make it so tough on the working poor as well as working and middle class families in LA and most of California. You must have a car in LA unless you live and work near home or on the train lines which don't go everywhere. Not likey in a city of that size. $7 gas has less impact in NYC obviously where they have an extensive train and bus system but large parts of the rest of the country aren't so fortunate. I bet we see a rise in motorcyles.

Bigger qusstion. Where is all that oil going? Isn't America also one of the world's biggest [color:red]producers[/color] of crude oil? I found the data on the EIA website... The data was for 2010 and claims the USA, Russia, and Saudia Arabia produce about the same amount of oil. You are right - we are on the same footing as Saudia Arabia. Big question now is why that is kept such a secret?

Once oil prices went way up, I knew it was the end of relatively cheap oil when compared to other industrialized nations. The oil companies want us in line with the rest of the western world. The government has no desire to ween ourselves off oil. All we have done is slowly weened ourselves off middle eastern oil and bought more from other countries (Canada, Venuezula, Nigeria) outside the middle east. The amount of money the government makes off taxing gas is good so why take away that cash cow in these hard economic times? For a start the nation's busses could be run on natural gas. LA has the biggest fleet in America I think. The local, state and federal governments could intiate a program to convert all their vehicles to hybrids by a certain date. This would kick start the industry, the cars, trucks, vans and busses could be made right here in the USA and provide millions of jobs. Just to post office vehicles alone would be a boost. Non combatant miliary vehicles on domestic soil as well. Because of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) and other factors we could have better mass transportaion systems as well both local and interstate. High speed trains the ones we have seen in Japan and Korea could provide tons of jobs and again, make us use less gas from more people taking them, cut on airline fuel costs, etc. Why California doesn't have a high speed line from San Diego to San Francisco doesn't stand to reason. What Obama should have done was put his political capital on infrastructure instead of heath care. Hard for political enemies to fight a program that creates jobs. Michigan would get a boost for sure for example from all this. We've phased out the tax credits for some aternative fuel cars (some hybrids for example http://www.hybridcars.com/federal-incentives.html ) When we did have them, they were about $7,500 in total. Not nearly enough in my opinion for a car that would cost close to 20k or more. I would have it where you can fully amortize the cost of the car over a 5-7 year period for an American made (and damn near 100% of it has to be made here) atlernative fuel car (electric or hybrid) for any car under a certain price (30k for for example or whatever to avoid manufactures coming up with some 60k car). I wouldn't force anyone to give up gas guzzlers. Just give them an eocnomic incentive to give it up. Carrot rather than stick.

Isn't America also one of the world's biggest [color:red]producers[/color] of crude oil? Exactly where we stand, I am not sure. The EIA's website has been revamped in such a way it looks like it is impossible to abstract that data. The White House webside has been redone in the same fashion. Figure it out? According to this we're 3rd!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110422/us_yblog_thelookout/homeless-woman-prosecuted-for-enrolling-son-in-conn-school She faces jail time adn 15k in fines if convicted. Homeless woman prosecuted for enrolling son in Conn. School The case is attracting some national attention in the education world, as it's similar to the headline-making story of Ohio mom Kelley Williams-Bolar, who spent days in jail after using her father's address to send her kids to a better-performing school. Her story ignited a debate about inequalities in the public school system.

Isn't America also one of the world's biggest [color:red]producers[/color] of crude oil?

It may be moot though. If the U.S. government said the person is a citizen, how can a state say otherwise? My question is can a state deem someone who is regarded a citizen, not a citizen? Unless I'm mistaken, only the federal government can determine U.S. citizenship. Immigrants must ask the INS not the state to become citizzens. Arizona may not like that Hawaii has determined Obama to be born there but its the federal government that has to accept it, not Arizona. My guess, leagally, is Arizona has no choice. Its also a states right issue. Each state has varying degrees of what they require I assume.