Hate Is Not A Social Value
It's Time To Live and Let Live
Nov 14, 2010
Ragbag Headliners
How To Call In Sick Without Jeopardizing Your Job
Eric McCoole, 38, called in sick on St. Patrick's Day in 2000, and no, he didn't have a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection. He didn't even have the sniffles.
"Being of Irish descent, I wanted to take the day off," says McCoole, a government employee in Alpine, California.
He called early enough so he could leave a message and skip the awkward talk with his boss. "The next day a supervisor came over the PA system and announced, 'Two people called in sick yesterday, St. Patrick's Day: Eric McCoole and Brian O'Malley.' Luckily, everyone laughed," McCoole recalls. "He said next year we should flip a coin to decide who takes that day off."
Ah, the good old days. Few folks in today's workplace are calling in sick even if they have a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection. Given the economic meltdown, the highest unemployment rate in years, and layoffs around every corner, workers are more likely to drag themselves into the office even when they feel like death warmed over. –Read more at CNN Health
Eric McCoole, 38, called in sick on St. Patrick's Day in 2000, and no, he didn't have a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection. He didn't even have the sniffles.
"Being of Irish descent, I wanted to take the day off," says McCoole, a government employee in Alpine, California.
He called early enough so he could leave a message and skip the awkward talk with his boss. "The next day a supervisor came over the PA system and announced, 'Two people called in sick yesterday, St. Patrick's Day: Eric McCoole and Brian O'Malley.' Luckily, everyone laughed," McCoole recalls. "He said next year we should flip a coin to decide who takes that day off."
Ah, the good old days. Few folks in today's workplace are calling in sick even if they have a cold, the flu, or a sinus infection. Given the economic meltdown, the highest unemployment rate in years, and layoffs around every corner, workers are more likely to drag themselves into the office even when they feel like death warmed over. –Read more at CNN Health
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Why We Can't Kill Bedbugs
In the old days killing bedbugs was easy. If you saw one of the critters you'd waltz down to the local pharmacy, drop few bucks on a box of DDT, and zap, problem solved.
Today -- in a DDT free country -- exterminating the bugs can be expensive.
A professional extermination to deal with a problem that all too often won't go away costs somewhere between $200 to $1500 -- per room.
It's not that DDT should come back. First off, most bedbugs are immune to that now, too. And second, the chemical and those that followed it are largely responsible for the near-extinction of birds like the bald eagle, and who knows how many terminal illnesses in humans.
But it's the 21st century. Can't we come up with some other safe yet affordable means to kill these critters from hell? -Read more at CNN Money
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Do We Still Need Daylight Saving Time?
For nearly a century, Americans have been springing forward and falling back, and this year will be no different. Come Sunday morning, we’ll be snuggled soundly in bed as the clocks fall back an hour. Daylight saving time is the autumnal gift that provides the proverbial snooze button to our circadian rhythm.
But whether or not we should get that extra sleep has spurred some passionate debate from many disparate groups.
To better understand the situation, it’s best to look at why we do this annual clock change each fall and spring. Agrarian cultures built their societies around sunlight, waking up with the sun to toil in the field and heading home as the sun lowered beneath the horizon. But the Industrial Revolution, and electricity in particular, brought the freedom to unshackle us from nature’s clock.
For nearly a century, Americans have been springing forward and falling back, and this year will be no different. Come Sunday morning, we’ll be snuggled soundly in bed as the clocks fall back an hour. Daylight saving time is the autumnal gift that provides the proverbial snooze button to our circadian rhythm.
But whether or not we should get that extra sleep has spurred some passionate debate from many disparate groups.
To better understand the situation, it’s best to look at why we do this annual clock change each fall and spring. Agrarian cultures built their societies around sunlight, waking up with the sun to toil in the field and heading home as the sun lowered beneath the horizon. But the Industrial Revolution, and electricity in particular, brought the freedom to unshackle us from nature’s clock.
As far back as 1897, countries began instituting daylight saving time, adding an hour of sunlight to the day. This meant communities could be more productive — people could work longer, and when work was done it was still bright enough to run errands and stimulate the economy. The added daylight also meant more exposure to vitamin D and the added time for people to exercise outdoors. –Read more at Yahoo Shine
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Labor Board: Facebook Vent Against Supervisor Not Grounds For Firing
In what could prove to be a precedent-setting case, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against a Connecticut company for firing an employee after she posted critical, derogatory comments about her supervisor on Facebook.
The company, ambulance service American Medical Response, says emergency medical technician Dawnmarie Souza was fired because of "multiple, serious complaints about her behavior," not because she took to a social networking site to describe her supervisor in various unflattering terms, among the mildest of which was comparing the supervisor to a psychiatric patient.
The labor board, a federal agency that oversees union elections and investigates claims of unfair labor practices, accuses the company of illegally terminating Souza and denying her access to union representation during an investigatory review.
The labor relations board argues that workers' criticism of their bosses on social networking sites like Facebook is generally "a protected concerted activity."
"You are permitted to talk about terms and conditions with employees or anyone else, it's public because you are protected under the National Labor Act," says Jonathan Kreisberg, the board's regional director in Hartford, Connecticut.—Read more at CNN Tech
Pelosi Doesn't Congratulate GOP
Pelosi Statement on Midterms:
"Over the last four years, the Democratic Majority in the House took courageous action on behalf of America's middle class to create jobs and save the country from the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.
"Our Members and candidates ran remarkable campaigns led by the superb leadership of DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen.
"The outcome of the election does not diminish the work we have done for the American people. We must all strive to find common ground to support the middle class, create jobs, reduce the deficit and move our nation forward." -Fox Nation
"Over the last four years, the Democratic Majority in the House took courageous action on behalf of America's middle class to create jobs and save the country from the worst economic catastrophe since the Great Depression.
"Our Members and candidates ran remarkable campaigns led by the superb leadership of DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen.
"The outcome of the election does not diminish the work we have done for the American people. We must all strive to find common ground to support the middle class, create jobs, reduce the deficit and move our nation forward." -Fox Nation
9 Bathroom Cleaning Problems Solved
"My shower curtain is crawling with mildew"
1. Wash it with a bleach solution. Shower curtains can be tricky to clean because they are big and cumbersome. Getting rid of mildew, especially during damp weather, can be especially challenging. Here’s a solution that’s quick, easy, and low-cost: Pour 1 gallon (3.7 liters) of warm water and 1⁄2 cup of household bleachinto a plastic bucket. With plastic gloves on, soak a sponge in this cleaning solution, give it a squeeze to avoid drips, and wipe. The mildew will vanish. Rinse using the showerhead.
2. "I’m ready to toss this filthy shower curtain liner"
Toss it in the washer. Don’t throw away your liner just because of mildew and dirt buildup. Extend its life by cleaning it in your washing machine. Set the machine on the gentle cycle with warmwater and 1 cup of regular laundry detergent or 1⁄2 cup of vinegar. Afterward, whirl it in your drier, set on Low Heat or Fluff, for about 20 minutes. Your liner will come out clean and wrinkle-free. Rehang it immediately.
3. "My brass fixtures look dull"
Polish them with baking soda and lemon juice. Don’t rush out to buy an expensive brass cleaner. Save time and money by making a paste with equal amounts of baking soda and lemon juice. Dip an old toothbrush in the mix and lightly scrub the fixtures. Let the solution dry a few minutes and then buff the fixtures with a clean cloth. They’ll look brand new.
4. "The nooks and crannies in my bathroom are hard to clean"
Use an old toothbrush. An old toothbrush is the perfect time-saving bathroom-cleaning tool. For example, you can use it to clean the tracks of your bathtub’s sliding glass doors. Simply spray bathroom cleaner on a paper towel and wrap the towel around the bristle end of the toothbrush. Then scoot the brush along the tracks to dislodge dirt. Or put the little bristles to work on the grime that collects around the rim of a bathroom sink. Once the bristles have loosened the dirt, just mop it up with a damp sponge.
5. "I hate those mineral deposits on my bathroom faucet"
Remove them with white vinegar. No one likes crusty white deposits on a faucet. Try this easy solution: Before you go to bed one night, head to your kitchen for a bottle of white vinegar and three paper towels. Saturate the towels in the white vinegar and wrap them around the faucet like a cocoon. In the morning, remove thetowels. Fill the basin with warm water, plus a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Dip an old toothbrush in the solution and scrub the faucet toremove the final bits of mineral deposit.
6. "I have scum buildup on shower doors."
Use furniture oil to prevent buildup. Cleaning soap scum off a shower door is a tough, time-consuming job. Try using lemon oil furniture polish as a barrier against the scummy buildup.
1. Wash it with a bleach solution. Shower curtains can be tricky to clean because they are big and cumbersome. Getting rid of mildew, especially during damp weather, can be especially challenging. Here’s a solution that’s quick, easy, and low-cost: Pour 1 gallon (3.7 liters) of warm water and 1⁄2 cup of household bleachinto a plastic bucket. With plastic gloves on, soak a sponge in this cleaning solution, give it a squeeze to avoid drips, and wipe. The mildew will vanish. Rinse using the showerhead.
2. "I’m ready to toss this filthy shower curtain liner"
Toss it in the washer. Don’t throw away your liner just because of mildew and dirt buildup. Extend its life by cleaning it in your washing machine. Set the machine on the gentle cycle with warmwater and 1 cup of regular laundry detergent or 1⁄2 cup of vinegar. Afterward, whirl it in your drier, set on Low Heat or Fluff, for about 20 minutes. Your liner will come out clean and wrinkle-free. Rehang it immediately.
3. "My brass fixtures look dull"
Polish them with baking soda and lemon juice. Don’t rush out to buy an expensive brass cleaner. Save time and money by making a paste with equal amounts of baking soda and lemon juice. Dip an old toothbrush in the mix and lightly scrub the fixtures. Let the solution dry a few minutes and then buff the fixtures with a clean cloth. They’ll look brand new.
4. "The nooks and crannies in my bathroom are hard to clean"
Use an old toothbrush. An old toothbrush is the perfect time-saving bathroom-cleaning tool. For example, you can use it to clean the tracks of your bathtub’s sliding glass doors. Simply spray bathroom cleaner on a paper towel and wrap the towel around the bristle end of the toothbrush. Then scoot the brush along the tracks to dislodge dirt. Or put the little bristles to work on the grime that collects around the rim of a bathroom sink. Once the bristles have loosened the dirt, just mop it up with a damp sponge.
5. "I hate those mineral deposits on my bathroom faucet"
Remove them with white vinegar. No one likes crusty white deposits on a faucet. Try this easy solution: Before you go to bed one night, head to your kitchen for a bottle of white vinegar and three paper towels. Saturate the towels in the white vinegar and wrap them around the faucet like a cocoon. In the morning, remove thetowels. Fill the basin with warm water, plus a squirt of dishwashing liquid. Dip an old toothbrush in the solution and scrub the faucet toremove the final bits of mineral deposit.
6. "I have scum buildup on shower doors."
Use furniture oil to prevent buildup. Cleaning soap scum off a shower door is a tough, time-consuming job. Try using lemon oil furniture polish as a barrier against the scummy buildup.
The next time you clean the door, follow up by wiping it with furniture oil on a soft rag. Let the oil sit for two minutes and then polish off the excess with a dry cloth. The furniture polish will leave a slight film of oil that will act as a buffer against future soap scum. Using a shower squeegee (available at discount stores and supermarkets) after every shower will also discourage the buildup.
7. "My glass shower doors are filmy"
Clean them with vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Stubborn mineral buildup on glass shower doors is no competition for a few common household ingredients—white vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Spray vinegar on the door and let it sit for a few minutes. Next, create a paste with equal amounts of baking soda and salt. Use adamp sponge to rub this paste over the door; then rinse well.
8. "My bathroom grout is grungy with mildew"
Spray it with vinegar. Mildew on grout is no match for that miracle household cleaning dynamo called vinegar. Just pour somewhite vinegar into a container, dip in an old toothbrush, and scrub away at the mildew. Or pour the vinegar into a spray bottle, squirt it on the mildew, and let it sit for ten minutes. Rinse with water and apply the old toothbrush if necessary. Bleach is effective in removing mildew from tile grout. Fill a spray bottle with equal parts of household chloride bleach and water. Spray the grout, let it sit a few minutes, and then wipe with a clean white cotton cloth.
9. "Those nonslip bathtub stickers won’t peel off"
Loosen them with laundry presoak. You know the ones: They’re shaped like flowers and fish and are stuck on with industrial-strength adhesive. Instead of ruining the smooth surface of your tub trying to scrape them off, follow these simple steps for removing them: Carefully lift corners on each sticker using your fingernail or a plastic scraper. (Metal will scratch most tubs.) Spray the stickers with a good dose of laundry pretreatment product, such as Shout or Spray ’n Wash. Let the stickers soak in the spray for a few hours. This should loosen the stickers and allow you to peel them off. Wipe up any adhesive residue and the laundry spray. Clean and rinse the tub thoroughly. –Yahoo Shine
7. "My glass shower doors are filmy"
Clean them with vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Stubborn mineral buildup on glass shower doors is no competition for a few common household ingredients—white vinegar, baking soda, and salt. Spray vinegar on the door and let it sit for a few minutes. Next, create a paste with equal amounts of baking soda and salt. Use adamp sponge to rub this paste over the door; then rinse well.
8. "My bathroom grout is grungy with mildew"
Spray it with vinegar. Mildew on grout is no match for that miracle household cleaning dynamo called vinegar. Just pour somewhite vinegar into a container, dip in an old toothbrush, and scrub away at the mildew. Or pour the vinegar into a spray bottle, squirt it on the mildew, and let it sit for ten minutes. Rinse with water and apply the old toothbrush if necessary. Bleach is effective in removing mildew from tile grout. Fill a spray bottle with equal parts of household chloride bleach and water. Spray the grout, let it sit a few minutes, and then wipe with a clean white cotton cloth.
9. "Those nonslip bathtub stickers won’t peel off"
Loosen them with laundry presoak. You know the ones: They’re shaped like flowers and fish and are stuck on with industrial-strength adhesive. Instead of ruining the smooth surface of your tub trying to scrape them off, follow these simple steps for removing them: Carefully lift corners on each sticker using your fingernail or a plastic scraper. (Metal will scratch most tubs.) Spray the stickers with a good dose of laundry pretreatment product, such as Shout or Spray ’n Wash. Let the stickers soak in the spray for a few hours. This should loosen the stickers and allow you to peel them off. Wipe up any adhesive residue and the laundry spray. Clean and rinse the tub thoroughly. –Yahoo Shine
Amusing and Intriguing Thoughts
Below are some amusing and intriguing ideas presented by Steve Quayle on his website on November 4, 2010. Who is Steve Quayle? He is late night radio talk show host on Coast-to-Coast [North America: Canada & USA], whose "pet" topics include paranormal and controversial events.
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QUESTION: When in U.S. History has a sitting [incumbent] President taken off on an overseas trip for an extended period of time with 65 airplanes, 34 warships [reportedly], and 3,000 people including his friends and cohorts, at the pinnacle of an economic and political upheaval?
ANSWER: Never!
So, what's up? Yesterday, I received a call [from a friend] which should alarm even the most comatose in La La Land.
A church pastor, who is known to the friend who called me, had been called in to a very prominent East Coast bank by one of the top officers of the bank to tell the clergyman that "a bank holiday is coming as early as November 11, 2010."
The bank official has been friends with this pastor for a long time. The only other thing that was said was: for the pastor to realize that once the banks reopen, all withdrawals would be limited to $500 per week --- no matter how much the balance in the account might be. No period of time for the length of the bank closures was given.
Coupled with the information posted last year on this website from a major Mid-western banking consortium, it dovetails perfectly.
Ladies and Gentlemen: if you have been paying attention to France, Britain, Ireland, and Greece, which at this point are the poster children of financial rioting, do you even begin to imagine the ramifications of financial rioting In the USA? The once "hidden" attack, now in plain sight against world finances, is in full-scale operational mode in order to destroy by design, all national currencies and to bring on one world currency and one global government!
Once again, consider our mutual dependence upon electronic verification of every sales transaction, credit card purchase, bank deposit and/or withdrawal. Whether [most] people understand or comprehend it, wealth on financial statements and balance sheets are numbers, computer entries, and IOUs of dubious quality. Think about the old adage --"possession is nine-tenths of the Law". In other words, if it's not in your hands, it's in someone else's hands --- no matter how much you try to rationalize it!
This is a defining moment. AMERICA IS BANKRUPT and the rest of the world is no longer willing to go along with "quantitative easing", which means printing money out of thin air with nothing to back it up leads to and means global war. Every nation that has tried to print its way out of an insurmountable debt ends up embroiled in internal war and usually under the leadership of a dictator, who is as willing to spill the blood of his countrymen, as fast as he prints more worthless currency!
The reason many [if not all] have a sense of "something big" is getting ready to happen is the fact that it is already happening now.
When all commerce finally ceases, when goods are no longer on the store shelves, and when all transportation comes to a full silent stop, then will it be clear, [especially to those who are too naive to comprehend it], that the only those who have prepared will eat and survive!
When all commerce finally ceases, when goods are no longer on the store shelves, and when all transportation comes to a full silent stop, then will it be clear, [especially to those who are too naive to comprehend it], that the only those who have prepared will eat and survive!
Guess What Oklahoma Did?
The Oklahoma State Legislature passed HB 1330, (with a even few liberals voting in favor of it). The bill permits placement of the 10 commandments on the front entrance of the Oklahoma State Capitol. The feds (in D.C.) along with the ACLU do not like it. Hey, this is a conservative state based on Christian values!
So, guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.
Oklahoma also passed HB 1804 to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. Many have obviously left Oklahoma. Hopefully none of them went to your State. This was against the advice of the federal government and the ACLU, and they said that it would be a mistake.
Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.
Another Oklahoma law, SB 1102, was also recently passed to include DNA samples from any and all illegals to the Oklahoma database for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional.
Guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.
Several weeks ago, Oklahoma passed HJR1003 declaring Oklahoma to be a sovereign state, not under federal government directives---and joining Texas, Montana and Utah as the only states to do so, thus far. But guess what? More states are likely to follow: Alabama, Arkansas, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia. Save your Confederate money, it appears that the South is about to rise up once again.
The federal government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law affirming that people in the State of Oklahoma have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a set back for the criminals (and Obamaites). The liberals don't like it.
But guess what? Oklahoma did it anyway.
Lastly ... this month, Oklahoma has voted and passed a law that all driver's license exams will be printed in English only, and no other language. Oklahoma has been called racist for doing this. The fact is, all road signs in the United States are in English only! So, if one wants to drive in Oklahoma, one must read and write English. By the way, Obama probably does not like any of this.
Guess what? Oklahoma does not care what Obama does not like, since Obama has done things which most Americans do not like, either. So, Oklahoma is doing it anyway!
Author Unknown
Nov 7, 2010
Locally Speaking
Nikki Haley Elected New Governor Of South Carolina
Voters have elected South Carolina's first woman governor.
Tea-party backed Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley will also become the nation's second Indian-American governor when she replaces term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal also is Indian-American.
Haley won over state Sen. Vincent Sheheen (shuh-HEEN') in a contest that flipped between the candidates by the minute Tuesday night.
Haley is a three-term House member who campaigned as a political outsider and earned the backing of Sarah Palin.
The 38-year-old married mother of two beat back unproven accusations of infidelty and questions about her finances and experience. –Read more at Sun News
Voters have elected South Carolina's first woman governor.
Tea-party backed Republican state Rep. Nikki Haley will also become the nation's second Indian-American governor when she replaces term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal also is Indian-American.
Haley won over state Sen. Vincent Sheheen (shuh-HEEN') in a contest that flipped between the candidates by the minute Tuesday night.
Haley is a three-term House member who campaigned as a political outsider and earned the backing of Sarah Palin.
The 38-year-old married mother of two beat back unproven accusations of infidelty and questions about her finances and experience. –Read more at Sun News
Ragbag Headliners
Giants defeat Texas Rangers 3-1 in Game 5 to win first World Series since leaving New York for San Francisco in 1950s. –CNN Reports
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Voters in California reject Prop. 19, a measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use. –CNN Reports
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Alcohol 'Most Harmful Drug'
Alcohol ranks "most harmful" among a list of 20 drugs, beating out crack and heroin when assessed for its potential harm to the individual imbibing and harm to others, according to study results released by a British medical journal.
A panel of experts from the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs weighed the physical, psychological, and social problems caused by the drugs and determined that alcohol was the most harmful overall, according to an article on the study released by The Lancet on Sunday.
Using a new scale to evaluate harms to individual users and others, alcohol received a score of 72 on a scale of 1 to 100, the study says. It was compared to 19 other drugs using 16 criteria: nine related to the adverse effects the drug has on an individual and seven on its harm against others.
That makes it almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco, according to the article, which is slated to be published on The Lancet's website Monday and in an upcoming print edition of the journal. –Read more at CNN Health
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Contraception Could Be Free Under Health Care Law
Fifty years after the pill, another birth control revolution may be on the horizon: free contraception for women in the U.S., thanks to the new health care law.
That could start a shift toward more reliable — and expensive — forms of birth control that are gaining acceptance in other developed countries.
But first, look for a fight over social mores.
A panel of experts advising the government meets in November to begin considering what kind of preventive care for women should be covered at no cost to the patient, as required under President Barack Obama's overhaul.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., author of the women's health amendment, says the clear intent was to include family planning.
But is birth control preventive medicine? -Read More at Yahoo News
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Legal Cannabis For The Rest Of Us?
Marijuana makes you slow and raises the risk of addiction, memory problems and cognitive functions, some health agencies warn.
But its enthusiasts counter that in addition to fueling creativity, pot is a natural herb with health benefits, relieving pain and improving quality of life for chronically ill patients.
Medical use of marijuana is legal in 14 states and the District of Columbia. On Tuesday, California voters will decide whether their state will be the first to legalize recreational marijuana use.
The vote on Proposition 19 is being closely watched as the Golden State is often seen as a bellwether. It was the first state to authorize medicinal marijuana in 1996.
Prop 19 would allow people 21 and older to possess, cultivate or transport up to 1 ounce of marijuana for personal use. –Read more at CNN HealthNN Health
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GOP Soars In House, State Races; Democrats Expected To Keep Senate
Voters' anger over a stubborn jobless rate and anxiety over troubled economy helped propel Republicans to a sweeping takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives and a stronger presence in state offices, projections indicate.
With results still coming in, the full extent of the Republican takeover of the 435-member House was still to be determined. But CNN projected that Republicans would win at least 60 more House seats than they currently hold to wipe out the Democratic majority of the past four years.
Democrats cling onto their majority in the Senate, though in smaller numbers, according to projections based on CNN analysis of exit poll data from Tuesday's midterm elections. Democrats were guaranteed of holding at least 50 of the 100 Senate seats, with a handful of close races still outstanding, according to the projections.
Exit poll data analyzed by CNN showed the economy was the dominant issue on voters' minds and indicated that key constituencies shifted from supporting Democrats in 2008 to voting for Republicans this time. –Read more at CNN Politics
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Space Station Marks 10 Years Of Human Occupation
The crew of the International Space Station marked the 10th anniversary of continuous human occupation of the orbiting science laboratory with a typical workday, pausing only briefly for a chat with NASA chief Charles Bolden and questions from international reporters.
"It's kind of mind-boggling when you stop and think about what you've done," Bolden told the crew. Bolden is a former NASA astronaut who flew on four space shuttle missions prior to the station's 2000 opening.
The football-field sized platform passed the 10-year mark early Tuesday, some 57,361 orbits of Earth after the first crew came aboard, according to NASA. –Read more at CNN U.S.
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Variety Of Proposals On Ballots In 37 States
California voters rejected the legalization of marijuana Tuesday, according to a CNN projection based on exit polling.
Supporters of Proposition 19 argued that the "prohibition" of marijuana -- much like that for alcohol decades ago -- has created a violent criminal black market, led today by international drug cartels.
But opponents prevailed Tuesday. They asserted that even if the proposition were to pass, federal law still prohibits individuals and groups from manufacturing, distributing and possessing marijuana for recreational use. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he will continue to enforce that federal law. Opponents also said that driving under the influence of marijuana would be a public threat. –Read more at CNN Politics
Supporters of Proposition 19 argued that the "prohibition" of marijuana -- much like that for alcohol decades ago -- has created a violent criminal black market, led today by international drug cartels.
But opponents prevailed Tuesday. They asserted that even if the proposition were to pass, federal law still prohibits individuals and groups from manufacturing, distributing and possessing marijuana for recreational use. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said he will continue to enforce that federal law. Opponents also said that driving under the influence of marijuana would be a public threat. –Read more at CNN Politics
A New Credit/Debit Card Scam
Greedy scammers are cropping up, especially these days. It pays to be careful.
About a month ago, I bought a bunch of stuff at the Wal-Mart Supercenter (Store #1279 on 10411 North Freeway 45) in Houston, Texas. As I glanced at my receipt, I saw a "cash-back" of $40. I told the cashier that I didn't ask for any "cash back", and it should be deleted from the bill. She said I'd have to take the $40 because she couldn't delete it. I then told her to call a supervisor. When the supervisor came, I was once again told that I'd have to take it. I insisted and told both the cashier and the supervisor: "NO, I did not ask for it and don't want it because taking the $40 would be a cash advance on my credit card, and I wasn't paying the exorbitant finance charge for a cash advance! If it couldn't be deleted then I want the whole order deleted, and my purchases completely re-scanned." So, the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order and re-scan everything! The second time I looked at the electronic pad before I signed the bill, again a "cash-back" of $20 popped up. At that point, I told the cashier about the $20 "cash back". She deleted the transaction again, and made sure that the correct amount of purchase only came out. The cashier then stated that the electronic pad must be "defective". [Personally, I felt that the cashier knew what was happening all along! One has to wonder how many people went through her line before me & at the end of her shift and how much money she could have pocketed!]
Then, last week, my co-worker went to another Wal-Mart. After her purchases were rung up by, the cashier was in a hurry to process the next customer's merchandise, and didn't give my co-worker a receipt. When my co-worker asked the cashier for a receipt, the cashier was annoyed that she asked, but gave it to her. My co-worker didn't look at her receipt until later after she got home. Yes, the receipt showed a $20 "cash back", and just like me, she did not ask for any "cash back"! My co-worker then called Wal-Mart who informed her that the case would be investigated. She then called her niece, who works for a bank, and her niece told her that there is a new scam going on in which the cashier will key-in a "cash back" and then pocket the money after the customer is gone or hand it to a friend who is the next person in the check-out line.
Additionally, I was in yet another Wal-Mart recently when my husband noticed that there was a $20 "cash back" on the receipt. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want any "cash back". The cashier then said that "the machine has been messing up", and she canceled "cash back".
SUGGESTION: Please make sure to check your receipt(s) before leaving the check-out line when paying with a credit or debit card! This scam is probably not limited to Wal-Mart.
About a month ago, I bought a bunch of stuff at the Wal-Mart Supercenter (Store #1279 on 10411 North Freeway 45) in Houston, Texas. As I glanced at my receipt, I saw a "cash-back" of $40. I told the cashier that I didn't ask for any "cash back", and it should be deleted from the bill. She said I'd have to take the $40 because she couldn't delete it. I then told her to call a supervisor. When the supervisor came, I was once again told that I'd have to take it. I insisted and told both the cashier and the supervisor: "NO, I did not ask for it and don't want it because taking the $40 would be a cash advance on my credit card, and I wasn't paying the exorbitant finance charge for a cash advance! If it couldn't be deleted then I want the whole order deleted, and my purchases completely re-scanned." So, the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order and re-scan everything! The second time I looked at the electronic pad before I signed the bill, again a "cash-back" of $20 popped up. At that point, I told the cashier about the $20 "cash back". She deleted the transaction again, and made sure that the correct amount of purchase only came out. The cashier then stated that the electronic pad must be "defective". [Personally, I felt that the cashier knew what was happening all along! One has to wonder how many people went through her line before me & at the end of her shift and how much money she could have pocketed!]
Then, last week, my co-worker went to another Wal-Mart. After her purchases were rung up by, the cashier was in a hurry to process the next customer's merchandise, and didn't give my co-worker a receipt. When my co-worker asked the cashier for a receipt, the cashier was annoyed that she asked, but gave it to her. My co-worker didn't look at her receipt until later after she got home. Yes, the receipt showed a $20 "cash back", and just like me, she did not ask for any "cash back"! My co-worker then called Wal-Mart who informed her that the case would be investigated. She then called her niece, who works for a bank, and her niece told her that there is a new scam going on in which the cashier will key-in a "cash back" and then pocket the money after the customer is gone or hand it to a friend who is the next person in the check-out line.
Additionally, I was in yet another Wal-Mart recently when my husband noticed that there was a $20 "cash back" on the receipt. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want any "cash back". The cashier then said that "the machine has been messing up", and she canceled "cash back".
SUGGESTION: Please make sure to check your receipt(s) before leaving the check-out line when paying with a credit or debit card! This scam is probably not limited to Wal-Mart.
PASS THIS MESSAGE ON TO YOUR FAMILY/RELATIVES & FRIENDS.
Capitalism Saved The Miners
Here's the real story about the Chilean miner rescue which the mainstream news media have never bothered to let the public know, and which the present US administration have totally ignored probably because both today's news media and US administration are ignorant and out of touch with reality.
Far be it for the present American President to publicly congratulate --- let alone even mention --- American ingenuity and American private enterprise for the miracle rescue of the Chilean miners.
Schramm Inc. of West Chester, Pennsylvania built the drills and equipment used to reach the trapped miners.
Center Rock Company of Berlin, Pennsylvania built the drill bits used to reach the miners.
UPS, the US shipping company, delivered the 13-ton drilling equipment from Pennsylvania to Chile in less than 48 hours.
UPS, the US shipping company, delivered the 13-ton drilling equipment from Pennsylvania to Chile in less than 48 hours.
Crews from Layne Christensen Company of Wichita Kansas and its subsidiary Geotec Boyles Bros. worked the drills and machinery to locate and reach the miners and then enlarge the holes to ultimately rescue them.
Jeff Hart of Denver Colorado was called off his job drilling water wells for the U.S. Army's forward operating bases in Afghanistan to lead the drilling crew that reached the miners.
Atlas Copco Construction Mining Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin provided consultation services on how to make drilling equipment from different sources work together under differing pressure specifications.
Aries Central California Video of Fresno California designed the special cameras that were lowered nearly a mile into the ground sending back video of the miners.
Zephyr Technologies of Annapolis Maryland made the remote monitors of vital signs that miners will wear during their ascent.
NASA engineers designed the "Phoenix" capsule that miners would be brought to the surface in, and provided medical consulting, special diets and spandex suits to maintain miners' blood pressure as they're brought back to the surface.
Oh, and the Canadian-based Precision Drilling Corp. and the South African company Murray & Roberts, drilled a backup rescue shafts in case the American rig failed. Which it didn't.
It needs to be said that the rescue of the Chilean miners is a smashing victory for free-market capitalism.
Amid the boundless human joy of the miners' liberation, it may seem churlish to make such a claim. It is churlish. These are churlish times, and the stakes are high.
In the United States, with 9.6% unemployment, a notably angry electorate will go to the polls shortly and dump one political party in favor of the other, on which no love is lost. The present President of the U.S. is campaigning across the country making this statement at nearly every stop:
"The basic idea is that if we put our blind faith in the market and we let corporations do whatever they want and we leave everybody else to fend for themselves, then America somehow automatically is going to grow and prosper."
Uh, yeah. That's a caricature of the basic idea, but basically that's right. Ask the miners.
If those miners had been trapped a half-mile down like this 25 years ago anywhere on Earth, they would be dead. What happened over the past 25 years that meant the difference between life and death for those men?
Short answer: the [US-made] Center Rock drill bit.
Short answer: the [US-made] Center Rock drill bit.
This is the miracle bit that drilled down to the trapped miners. Center Rock Inc. is a private company in Berlin, Pa. It has 74 employees. The drill's rig came from Schramm Inc. in West Chester, Pa. Seeing the disaster, Center Rock's president, Brandon Fisher, called the Chileans to offer his drill. Chile accepted. The miners are alive.
Longer answer: the [US-made] Center Rock drill, heretofore not featured on websites like Engadget or Gizmodo, is in fact a piece of tough technology developed by a small company in it for the money, for profit. That's why they innovated down-the-hole hammer drilling. If they make money, they can do more innovation.
This profit = innovation dynamic was everywhere at that Chilean mine. The high-strength cable winding around the big wheel atop that simple rig is from Germany. Japan supplied the super-flexible, fiber-optic communications cable that linked the miners to the world above.
A remarkable Sept. 30 story about all this by The Journal's Matt Moffett was a compendium of astonishing things that showed up in the Atacama Desert from the distant corners of capitalism.
Samsung of South Korea supplied a cellphone that has its own projector.
Samsung of South Korea supplied a cellphone that has its own projector.
Jeffrey Gabbay, the founder of Cupron Inc. in Richmond, Va., supplied socks made with copper fiber that consumed foot bacteria, and minimized odor and infection. Chile's health minister, Jaime Manalich, said, "I never realized that kind of thing actually existed."
That's right. In an open economy, you will never know what is out there on the leading developmental edge of this or that industry. But the reality behind the miracles is the same: someone innovates something useful, makes money from it, and re-innovates, or someone else trumps their innovation. Most of the time, no one notices. All it does is create jobs, wealth and well-being. But without this system running in the background, without the year-over-year progress embedded in these capitalist innovations, those trapped miners would be dead.
Some will recoil at these triumphalist claims for free-market capitalism. Why make them now?
Here's why. When a catastrophe like this occurs—others that come to mind are the Chile earthquake in February, the various disasters in China, the BP oil well blow-out in July—a government has all its chips pushed to the center of the table. Chile succeeded (it rebuilt after the February earthquake with phenomenal speed). China floundered. The American administration left the public agog as it stumbled through the mess.
Still, what the political class understands is that all such disasters wash away eventually, and that life in a developed nation reverts to a tolerable norm. If the Obama administration refuses to complete free-trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama, no big deal. It's only politics.
But that's not true. Getting a nation's economics right is more important than at any time since the end of World War II. Chile, Colombia, Peru and Brazil are pulling away from the rest of their hapless South American neighbors. China, India and others are simply copying or buying the West's accomplishments.
The U.S. has a current government led by a mindset obsessed with 250K-a-year "millionaires" and given to mocking "our blind faith in the market". In a fast-moving world filled with nations intent on catching up with or passing us, this policy path is a waste of time.
The miners' rescue is a thrilling moment for Chile, an imprimatur on its rising status. But I'm thinking of that 74-person outfit in Berlin, Pa., whose high-tech drill bit opened the Earth to free them. You know there are tens of thousands of stories like this in the U.S., as big as Google and small as Center Rock. I'm glad one of them helped save the Chileans. What's needed now is a new American economic model and a [better US] government that lets our innovators rescue the rest of us.
By Daniel Henninger
By Daniel Henninger
The Truth About the Health Care Bill
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of House Bill 3200, a.k.a. The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise --- constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the new law might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had expected or heard.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The new health care law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and certain other classes of citizens are involved; free health care for illegal immigrants; free abortion services, and probable forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The bill also eventually forces private insurance companies out of business, and puts everyone into a government-run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats, most of whom are not health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled by the government.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover up for the most massive transfer of power to the executive branch of government which has ever been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own.
The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with! I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides access by the appointees of the Obama administration to all of your personal healthcare information; your direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th amendment to the Constitution; your personal financial information; and all information about your employer, physician, and hospital. All of these are rights supposed to protect against unreasonable searches and seizures [per the U.S. Constitution's intent and provisions]. You can forget about your right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance, or if you have private insurance that is not deemed "acceptable" to the Health Choices Administrator appointed by Obama, there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a "tax" instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process of law clause of the 5th amendment. However, that 5th amendment will no longer apply work because there will be nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, [which means] it is definitely depriving someone of property or right without the due process of law.
So, these are three of those pesky amendments that the far-left hate so much, out of the original ten in the Bill of Rights, that are effectively nullified by the new law. It doesn't stop there though.
The 9th Amendment provides the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people; and the 10th Amendment states that: the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States are preserved to the States or to the people respectively. Under the provisions of the [new] piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the States have any right or power of any kind in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This new law is not really about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights.
Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution". If I were a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling that I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. And if I voted for it anyway, I would hope that the American people would not hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat, I suggest they consult the original source: the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Bill of Rights. There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken away from us.
By Michael Connelly
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