Hugh_Hoy Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 IRegan and the highway bill killed that as well as other freedoms we had... At least you could score a Happy Meal back then. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 1, 2010 Report Share Posted December 1, 2010 Yes, and there is a lot to be said for not having to drive 1 county over for that pleasure now...but I digress, I think it was who? Montana who told the old turb ball to shove his highway aide, and they kept the spped limit t 70 and the drinking age at 18 until the $$ ran out.n Real Americans in my book...not the bullshitters we have today. Who sucks ass more? Ronnie or GWB? tough call of course if you toss Carter in the mix it becomes a no brainer...I just long for the days of cheap gas, and V8s, and some slut in the back seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 This is the thread for all things USA, right? Okay. Here's my contribution. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_re_us/us_california_legislative_vehicles California lawmakers enjoy a perk that seems like a luxurious amenity in a state that has been slashing billions of dollars from its budget: taxpayer-provided cars. The state purchases cars for lawmakers to drive around their districts and the capital under a decades-old program, spending more than $5 million for the latest suite of vehicles that includes a $55,000 Cadillac sedan and a $52,000 Lexus hybrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 Yeah well...oh fuck it don't get me started...I have a 97 Campry, needs a lot of work, roof leaks, has 254,000 miles on it, ALL original, except the radiator, and It gets me where I want and need to fo...looks good, if and when I clean it, so if it is good enough for me, why do the shit bags that work for me deserve better? I say give them a bus pass and tell them to suck my dick! If they don't like it, let them go get a real job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I feel this thread needs help Obama tells troops in Afghanistan they're thriving President Barack Obama greets troops at a rally during an unannounced visit at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on Dec. 3. Enlarge image Enlarge By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP President Barack Obama greets troops at a rally during an unannounced visit at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan on Dec. 3. BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (AP)  In a rousing holiday-season visit, President Obama on Friday told cheering U.S. troops in Afghanistan they're succeeding in their vital mission fighting terrorism. But after he flew in secrecy for 14 hours to get here, foul weather kept him from nearby Kabul and a meeting to address frayed relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Obama's surprise visit to the war zone, his second as president, came 10 days before he is to address the nation about a new review of U.S. strategy to defeat the Taliban and strengthen the Afghan government so American troops can begin leaving next year. The trip also came at a particularly awkward moment in already strained U.S. relations with Afghanistan because of new and embarrassing leaked cables alleging widespread fraud and underscoring deep American concerns about Karzai. There was no mention of that as the president spoke to more than 3,500 service members packed into a huge airplane hangar. After his remarks, he spent more than 10 minutes shaking hands, going around the hangar three times as they grabbed his hand and held cameras and cellphones high to take photos. Obama stayed on this U.S. military base, the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division, the entire time he was here, just under four hours. He huddled with U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry. And he visited wounded soldiers at a base hospital, personally dispensing five Purple Hearts to wounded service members. "Because of the progress we're making, we look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of the transition to Afghan responsibility," Obama told the troops. He thanked them for their efforts, noting the difficulty in being away from home during the holidays, and they repeatedly cheered him in return. He said the U.S. was continuing "to forge a partnership with the Afghan people for the long term." And he said, "we will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who would attack the United States of America again. That will never happen." There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014. White House officials said gusty winds and swirling dust led them to cancel Obama's planned helicopter visit to Kabul, about 30 miles north of here. A backup plan for a secure videoconference was also scrapped. Waheed Omar, a Karzai spokesman, said the Afghan leader was "not upset" that the palace visit was scuttled. He noted that the two leaders had met during the conference in Lisbon and discussed the situation in Afghanistan in detail. Obama, who has tripled U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan, has come under increasing pressure to demonstrate progress in turning the tide against the Taliban insurgency in the battle that has now gone on for more than nine years. In his remarks to the troops, Obama cited "important progress." "We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. And that's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense, targeting their leaders, pushing them out of their strongholds. Today, we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control and more Afghans have a chance to build a more hopeful future," he said. He thanked the troops for their work and sacrifice "on behalf of more than 300 million Americans." "You give me hope. You give me inspiration. Your resolve shows that Americans will never succumb to fear," he said to cheers and shouts. Petraeus, the commander Obama is looking to to turn things around, introduced Obama to the troops and teased the president about the basketball injury to his lip last week. Presenting him with a 101st Airborne T-shirt, Petraeus told the president: "No one will mess with you if you wear this, Mr. President." At the base hospital, Obama met with platoon members from the unit that lost six soldiers this week in brazen killings by an Afghan border policeman who turned fire on his U.S. trainers. Mentioning that visit and his meeting with what Petraeus called "wounded warriors," Obama told the assembled troops: "I don't need to tell you this is a tough fight. ... It's a tough business. Progress comes slow. And there are going to be difficult days ahead. Progress comes at a high price." Newly leaked U.S. cables show American diplomats portraying Afghanistan as rife with graft to the highest levels of government, with tens of millions of dollars flowing out of the country and a cash transfer network that facilitates bribes for corrupt Afghan officials, drug traffickers and insurgents. A main concern in the cables appears to be Karzai himself, who emerges as a mercurial figure. In a July 7, 2009, dispatch, Eikenberry describes "two contrasting portraits" of the Afghan president. "The first is of a paranoid and weak individual unfamiliar with the basics of nation building and overly self-conscious that his time in the spotlight of glowing reviews from the international community has passed," the cable says. "The other is that of an ever-shrewd politician who sees himself as a nationalist hero. ... In order to recalibrate our relationship with Karzai, we must deal with and challenge both of these personalities." Obama aides later said the subject of the cables didn't come up during the Obama-Karzai phone call, which lasted 15 minutes. Ben Rhodes, a White House national security aide, told reporters Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had already spoken to Karzai about WikiLeaks disclosures. After the long, unannounced flight from Washington, Obama landed in darkness under intense security. He stepped off Air Force One clad in a brown leather jacket that he was also wearing when he spoke to troops. Plans of his trip into the war zone were tightly guarded. Despite the upcoming review results, White House officials on the trip played down the significance of his upcoming speech. No big policy changes are expected, they said. To deal with any doubts about reasons for the Karzai meeting being canceled, reporters traveling with Obama were escorted outside the air field hangar to get a glimpse of the conditions. The wind was blowing strongly, kicking up dust clouds as troops streamed in to hear Obama. An American flag whipped against its pole. At the presidential palace, U.S. armored vehicles were securing entrances. Carpets were ready to be unrolled. The war in Afghanistan is the nation's longest after Vietnam, launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. This has been the deadliest year to date for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. More than 1,300 have died here since the war began, more than 450 in 2010. The visit comes a year after Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 troops to try to gain control  and then get the United States out  of a worsening conflict. Obama's plan is to start pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan in July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 FARK this is awful! 10 children rescued from smugglers in Phoenix PHOENIX (AP)  Ten children have been rescued from human smugglers who threatened to rape and kill some of them if their parents didn't pay more money for their entry into the U.S., authorities said Friday. The children, from 2 to 17 years old, were smuggled from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, and were being held against their will at a drop house in Phoenix, authorities said. Only one of them was being brought into the country with a parent. The smugglers threatened to rape and kill three El Salvadoran sisters ages 12, 14 and 16 if their mother didn't pay them $10,000, Arizona Department of Public Safety Capt. Fred Zumbo said. The girls' mother, who is living legally in the U.S. in the San Francisco area, called the FBI for help, and Phoenix police and other agencies took over from there. Police found the home where the girls were being held, and found them and the other children when a SWAT team raided it Thursday night. None of the children appeared to have been harmed, and they had been fed and given water, Zumbo said. "They seemed in fairly good condition considering what they went through," said Zumbo, who leads DPS' Illegal Immigration Prevention & Apprehension Co-op Team. "Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't rescued them, especially if the mother couldn't come up with the money." Zumbo said it's unusual to find so many children in one drop house unaccompanied by a family member. Two people were arrested on smuggling, kidnapping and extortion charges. They were identified as Jaime Cruz Gutierrez, 44, and Olga Marino Fuentes, 41, who were both in the country illegally from Mexico. DPS officials said more than $9,600 in cash was seized from the drop house along with 4,000 pesos ($324), a vehicle and a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol. Zumbo said his agency was working to find out who else was involved in the smuggling of the children, in an effort to dismantle the operation. The three El Salvadoran sisters were turned over to their mother in California as they await immigration hearings so a judge can decide whether they must return to their home country or can stay in the U.S. A 15-year-old Mexican girl was returned to her home country with her mother, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was working to confirm whether a woman who contacted them is the mother of a 2-year-old Guatemalan girl found in the home. ICE spokesman Vincent Picard said the agency was working to identify the parents of the five other children: three other girls from El Salvador and two boys from Mexico. The girls are 7, 14 and 17, and the boys are 6 and 17. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCorinthian Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 I think it was who? Montana who told the old turb ball to shove his highway aide, and they kept the spped limit t 70 and the drinking age at 18 until the $$ ran out.n Real Americans in my book...not the bullshitters we have today. Yea, it was them. As much as I loved it when they did it.... a look at their highway death rate and DUI death rate was an astounding cost for ...that freedom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 "...The smugglers threatened to rape and kill three El Salvadoran sisters ages 12, 14 and 16 if their mother didn't pay them $10,000, Arizona Department of Public Safety Capt. Fred Zumbo said. The girls' mother, who is living legally in the U.S. in the San Francisco area..." If the mother is here legally, she can petition to bring her kids here safely and legally. While I feel bad for the kids, the parents should be held responsible for breaking the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted December 4, 2010 Report Share Posted December 4, 2010 This is the thread for all things USA, right? Okay. Here's my contribution. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101203/ap_on_re_us/us_california_legislative_vehicles California lawmakers enjoy a perk that seems like a luxurious amenity in a state that has been slashing billions of dollars from its budget: taxpayer-provided cars. The state purchases cars for lawmakers to drive around their districts and the capital under a decades-old program, spending more than $5 million for the latest suite of vehicles that includes a $55,000 Cadillac sedan and a $52,000 Lexus hybrid. In Arizona, some prisoners are housed in tents. So, why can't government employees work out of tents? Tents were good enough for Abraham and Moses. Are they any better? As for cars? Jesus rode into Jerusaleum on an ass. Why can't government employees ride an ass? If they did ride an ass, it would help them to get of their ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCorinthian Posted December 5, 2010 Report Share Posted December 5, 2010 More government workers live in tents than there are prisoners in Az. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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