And luckily millions of others believe in marriage for all human kind
Posted By: New Englander on 2009-04-06
In Reply to: Wow - Patty
and not just those "select few".
Issues...I don't have issues with people with common sense. The one who know that the Creator loves all people.
I do have issues with people who are blatantly ignorant.
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Sex is just a small part of marriage. What marriage
So why is the fact that two people who happen to love and support each other, but who have a different concept of it than you do, are so incredibly threatening to you? Even if it WERE a 'sin' (which it absolutely is NOT), why would it be any business of yours? Did God fly down out of the sky and annoint your head, hand you a cape and superpowers, and tell you to go out and rid the world of same-sex love? I don't think so.
Luckily,
I don't have to validate my faith to you, only to my maker. Jews have been practicing their faith for many more years than Christians, so we, of course, feel our faith is valid. You feel free to feel what you want. I am not going to try to convert you or call you unG-dly or unfaithful because you don't believe as I do.
As i said before, i have never had to make the decision to abort, but if you are not part of the process, you really don't know what is going on when those decisions are made.
As far as partial-birth abortions, doctors have been performing them for a very long time (though the right has only recently decided to call them that) for a multitude of reasons. I am not a doctor, so I can't said whether they are valid 'medical reasons' or not. But again, I believe the choice is up to the mother and doctor, not me or anyone else.
luckily for me..
I get to stay home with my 2-year-old and work at the same time! Oh the happy life of the MT ;)
Luckily, your foul tricks won't work this time. Begone, NeoCon.
You guys have tried this before and the only reason it worked was because a) you had a fresh crop of victims every few months or so as the liberals you didn't like got banned from the board, and b) you know the ins and outs because you yourselves were posting under multiple names repeatedly for a very long time. Your favorite trick was always to accuse others of doing what you yourselves were constantly doing, and you vicously accused a lot of innocent people who had no idea what you were talking about. I believe the Bible calls this false witness. Not that you'd care.
The liberals don't have to resort to such deceit. They actually say something in their posts and they believe in what they say. They stand by their words.
It's the one-line slimers who post and run anonymously and try to pump themselves up to look like more than they are by posting under multiple names, agreeing with themselves - they have nothing better to do, no real thoughts to offer, and no real desire to communicate. Hence the anonymous posts they don't want to own. All they are about is tearing down and creating conflict - kind of like the administration they revere.
So don't try it, NeoCons - your habit of blaming others for the deceit you practice yourselves isn't going to fly anymore. You're busted.
Exactly, how else were millions allowed to die...sm
And genocide is not something of the past. Darfur is the here and now, but we are not effected economically (i.e., oil), so we go on our merry little way.
It's so very sad that millions of Americans ....sm
have blinders on for this man.
If you really and truly feel, that you "deserve" Obama as President.....what the heck....go for it.
You are of the "me, me, me" and "take care of me from cradle to grave" generation, that can't think or do anything for themselves, and want the government to "fix everything for them.
Well, go ahead. Vote that socialist in.
You and so many others will be so sick of him and the other democrats in power, that in two years the Republicans will be voted back in Congress.
And then in four years, the way will be clear for a "real" conservative Republican to come to the forefront, and save your sorry a$$ and everyone else that voted Obama in....by voting in someone who isn't JM.
I can wait four years for a "real" Conservative Republican leader, that will take this country back from the democrat-induced financial disasters of the last decades, and failed social programs that are about to come about, should this Obama be voted in.
I can wait for the right leader.
I hope the country can wait four years for that person, as well.
This, along with the millions to the unions
help pay for Mr. O's presidency being bought. These 2 for sure, reckon how much more?
Well, the moron cut millions to the...
Army Corp of Engineers so they couldn't shore up the levies. He cut funding to most infrastructure in the entire US that was designed to protect us. Um, we were attacked on Bush's watch and the retard PROMISED he would get Bin Laden - so the blame lies with him. Quit being so juvenile........your argument is lame. BTW, WTH did he spend more than $10 trillion on after he cut funding and jammed all those agencies into Homeland Security? And hired pony judges to run it? He sure didn't spend it on our troops who are killing themselves left and right. What a legacy!! He can't even HIRE someone to write his memoirs!
Right. ..and millions of us feel the same way.
nm
Because there are millions of uninsured?
dd
Yes, for now those VRs need human
editors but they are getting better every day and with the government pushing for full speed ahead it shouldn't take long. I expect in the not too distant future "see alice" won't be an issue as new drugs will simply be entered into the software. I'm not a computer geek so I don't know HOW they will do it but do it they WILL.
Far be it from me to try to convince those MTs who think they are indispensable that it isn't so.
It was ok for hillary supporters in the millions...
wasn't it? Hillary played it again when she gave the nomination to Obama. Oh my, it bites on the other side doesn't it??
Hello? The only reason that millions of Americans ...sm
didn't lose all their savings these last few weeks is BECAUSE of government insurance of their bank accounts etc. I feel sorry for you frankly. Your opinions are not based in reality.
But, remember all the millions the folks
into buying Mr. O the presidency? Well, this is the way all of us taxpayers get to pay them back! Along with unions, and, well who knows who else!
millions/trillions/gazillions
Anyone notice that media and politicians are having trouble reciting all these bucks in their proper denomination? I hear media people say billions when they really mean millions, or whatever, and Nancy Pelosi said we were losing 500 million jobs every month! I think she may have meant 500 thousand, but don't really know. It's like money has become such an illusion that we cannot even fathom any of it anymore.
Funny how all those millions of Americans
are calling Obama and saying NO to his stimulus package. I guess all his fearmongering didn't get to them! Where are all those people who are so helpless that only Obama and his stooges can help them? White House phone lines don't seem to correlate with his thoughts. Interesting!
You're right Obama, they didn't send you there to do the same thing OR to screw them over, both of which you are doing......over worse!
Not to mention the millions they employ for...
...slave wages overseas (you know, like MTSOs do.)
I don't understand why you condone corporate welfare/tax cheaters. Not surprised -- just don't understand.
Why should any human being have the right to decide...
whether another is allowed to live? You honestly don't find a problem with that? What will your thought be when they decide that when people are not useful to society anymore they just be euthanized? It's legal in Holland; you can have grandpa put down. Don't think it can't happen here...because when you start to devalue human life, no matter what level that is on...you start down a very slippery slope.
You keep saying the government meddle in a woman's life...what about the baby? What about that life, who can't speak for itself, can't defend itself, can't run? Picture someone chasing a toddler around a room that the toddler can't escape from, slicing pieces off until its dead? That is somehow more palatable because it hasn't been born yet?? Sorry, Amanda...to ME that is the underlying question here. The VICTIM in all this is the CHILD.
Is Obama really human?????!!!!!
I read a blog that said he was sent here by aliens!!!!!!
www.blogcaca.com
you are a warped human being. It is
people who had rather kill their unborn children than give them to STRANGERS that are bringing the prophecies to pass. Yes, there are many *points of view,* but no ifs, ands or buts, there is only ONE way to eternal life and that is the only thing worth owning stock in.
You have my support, Human........
Sh*t happens, whether we like it or not. I'm in the same boat you are. We still have 2 houses, still making the mortgage payments but our ability to do that for how long is in question......fortunately, we didn't buy what we couldn't afford and my kids pay the mortgage on the 2nd house. I don't know what is going to happen to me because we have no healthcare coverage right now (waiting for income tax return to pay COBRA) and my cancer has not been treated since October.......I guess we will see what happens...good luck to you!
NYC using fed millions to fight sick WTC workers. sm
Shame on them. Looks like the articles by the Daily News is finally getting them some much needed attention.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/story/438101p-369136c.html
Former CEO of Freddie Mac is a pub, had to return millions he thieved
http://www.reuters.com/article/bankingfinancial-SP/idUSN0642989720071107
http://www.nndb.com/people/222/000163730/
Millions could get to DC for the inauguration, but couldn't get out of NO before the hurricane...
nm
And yet MILLIONS of illegals are taking jobs in this
nm
Big 'ol mean corporations that employ millions
Bet you wouldn't be griping if you were rich, huh? Just think about it...
Wouldn't you want to find tax shelters? Jealous little people!
Neocon human shield
You are the one who is so PRO WAR, why dont you become a human shield and go to Iraq and help the unfortunate people we have destroyed and stop spouting your hate and baloney here. Im anti war, 100% and anti Bush for sure..I hope Bush rots in hell along with his family because they could have talked some sense into him. They all should go to Iraq if they believe so much in the *noble mission*..Oh, wait a minute, what is the mission? WMD?, Nah, liberating Iraq and creating a Demcracy, nah, never gonna happen.
Hear about the sorry excuse for a human
He carved a "B" in her forehead with a knife after seeing she had a McCain sticker on her car. This was after he attacked her a few seconds earlier.
Only talking to those who care for human
//
As opposed to a living human being
raped, murdered, beaten,and tortured. I'm sorry, I find that much more atrocious.
No he is not perfection, no human is. In the current...sm
climate, no, he probably will not be able to accomplish everything, but his is going to try to do his best, and I think that the people who elected him realize that.
yes, I will explain human rights to you now sm
Barack Obama has announced that he will close Guantanamo. Throughout the world, this announcement will be understood as an introduction to a new kind of American leadership, a repudiation of the unilateralism of the Bush administration, and a return to diplomacy and the rule of law.
Closing Guantanamo will be a complicated process, which must be accomplished in phases. But the first step clearly is the settlement of the 50 or 60 detainees who have been cleared for release but have nowhere to go. These men have been called the “Guantanamo refugees.” Some of these men are stateless, but most of them simply can’t be returned to their home countries because their lives would be in danger there.
A number of European countries have recently indicated a willingness to take in some of the Guantanamo refugees. But the U.S. must also take some of them.
A group of 17 ethnic Uyghurs from western China have been at Guantanamo almost since its opening. From very early on, they were known to be innocent. In September 2008, a federal court officially cleared them of “enemy combatant” status. In October, Federal Court Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered them released into the U.S, where Uyghur-American families were waiting to take them in. Justice Department lawyers obtained a stay pending appeal to the Court of Appeals. The appeal was briefed and argued in late November. The Government argued that only the President has the power to order the transfer of detainees and their release into the U.S. The appeal has not yet been decided by the Court. As President, Obama should either dismiss the appeal and comply with Judge Urbina’s order or exercise his power as President to bring the Uyghurs to the U.S.
Human rights is getting way twisted
I go by the Bible and a much higher authority.
Terrorists...human rights...sm
I don't think the terrorists were too worried about the human rights of the 9-11 victims.
No, because it's still not equal. Human beings should
nm
No, it's not a human right.....contrary to your beliefs
marriage is supposed to be a gift from God for those that actually understand what that means in the first place. No where in the Bible does it talk about 2 men or 2 women having a relationship as blessed by God, but it sure tells us it is WRONG!
How do you manage to be so screwed up that you don't know the difference between homosexuality and difference in color of skin? Last time I checked, blacks go to school with whites and have for a long time, at least they do in my community.... blacks have every right whites have..... homosexuals have every right we ALL have.
Yes, he made his millions chasing ambulances and driving up all of
x
Feds paying $millions in stimulus checks
Next time you make some colossal blunder at work, here's your excuse: "I was rushed". Apparently, that's good enough for the feds, who have sent around 10,000 checks to dead people...some of whom were never even in the Social Security system. Wonder where they're getting the names?
Of course, we knew that the fraud, abuse and waste would be gargantuan since the government has never been able to handle our money without fraud, waste and abuse.
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/your_money/consumer/090514_Dead_People_Get_Stimulus_Checks
It's a little thing called human rights!
What makes you think Americans deserve more rights than human beings from other countries? The phrase all men are created equal applies to the entire human race not just Americans.
Bush Administration is Spying on TENS OF MILLIONS of Americans
NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls |
Updated 5/11/2006 10:38 AM ET
By Leslie Cauley, USA TODAY
The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: The NSA record collection program
It's the largest database ever assembled in the world, said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is to create a database of every call ever made within the nation's borders, this person added.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made — across town or across the country — to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated Monday by President Bush to become the director of the CIA, headed the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005. In that post, Hayden would have overseen the agency's domestic call-tracking program. Hayden declined to comment about the program.
The NSA's domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged. Last year, Bush said he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop — without warrants — on international calls and international e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. Warrants have also not been used in the NSA's efforts to create a national call database.
In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. In other words, Bush explained, one end of the communication must be outside the United States.
As a result, domestic call records — those of calls that originate and terminate within U.S. borders — were believed to be private.
Sources, however, say that is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers' names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA's domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.
Don Weber, a senior spokesman for the NSA, declined to discuss the agency's operations. Given the nature of the work we do, it would be irresponsible to comment on actual or alleged operational issues; therefore, we have no information to provide, he said. However, it is important to note that NSA takes its legal responsibilities seriously and operates within the law.
The White House would not discuss the domestic call-tracking program. There is no domestic surveillance without court approval, said Dana Perino, deputy press secretary, referring to actual eavesdropping.
She added that all national intelligence activities undertaken by the federal government are lawful, necessary and required for the pursuit of al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorists. All government-sponsored intelligence activities are carefully reviewed and monitored, Perino said. She also noted that all appropriate members of Congress have been briefed on the intelligence efforts of the United States.
The government is collecting external data on domestic phone calls but is not intercepting internals, a term for the actual content of the communication, according to a U.S. intelligence official familiar with the program. This kind of data collection from phone companies is not uncommon; it's been done before, though never on this large a scale, the official said. The data are used for social network analysis, the official said, meaning to study how terrorist networks contact each other and how they are tied together.
Carriers uniquely positioned
AT&T recently merged with SBC and kept the AT&T name. Verizon, BellSouth and AT&T are the nation's three biggest telecommunications companies; they provide local and wireless phone service to more than 200 million customers.
The three carriers control vast networks with the latest communications technologies. They provide an array of services: local and long-distance calling, wireless and high-speed broadband, including video. Their direct access to millions of homes and businesses has them uniquely positioned to help the government keep tabs on the calling habits of Americans.
Among the big telecommunications companies, only Qwest has refused to help the NSA, the sources said. According to multiple sources, Qwest declined to participate because it was uneasy about the legal implications of handing over customer information to the government without warrants.
Qwest's refusal to participate has left the NSA with a hole in its database. Based in Denver, Qwest provides local phone service to 14 million customers in 14 states in the West and Northwest. But AT&T and Verizon also provide some services — primarily long-distance and wireless — to people who live in Qwest's region. Therefore, they can provide the NSA with at least some access in that area.
Created by President Truman in 1952, during the Korean War, the NSA is charged with protecting the United States from foreign security threats. The agency was considered so secret that for years the government refused to even confirm its existence. Government insiders used to joke that NSA stood for No Such Agency.
In 1975, a congressional investigation revealed that the NSA had been intercepting, without warrants, international communications for more than 20 years at the behest of the CIA and other agencies. The spy campaign, code-named Shamrock, led to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was designed to protect Americans from illegal eavesdropping.
Enacted in 1978, FISA lays out procedures that the U.S. government must follow to conduct electronic surveillance and physical searches of people believed to be engaged in espionage or international terrorism against the United States. A special court, which has 11 members, is responsible for adjudicating requests under FISA.
Over the years, NSA code-cracking techniques have continued to improve along with technology. The agency today is considered expert in the practice of data mining — sifting through reams of information in search of patterns. Data mining is just one of many tools NSA analysts and mathematicians use to crack codes and track international communications.
Paul Butler, a former U.S. prosecutor who specialized in terrorism crimes, said FISA approval generally isn't necessary for government data-mining operations. FISA does not prohibit the government from doing data mining, said Butler, now a partner with the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington, D.C.
The caveat, he said, is that personal identifiers — such as names, Social Security numbers and street addresses — can't be included as part of the search. That requires an additional level of probable cause, he said.
The usefulness of the NSA's domestic phone-call database as a counterterrorism tool is unclear. Also unclear is whether the database has been used for other purposes.
The NSA's domestic program raises legal questions. Historically, AT&T and the regional phone companies have required law enforcement agencies to present a court order before they would even consider turning over a customer's calling data. Part of that owed to the personality of the old Bell Telephone System, out of which those companies grew.
Ma Bell's bedrock principle — protection of the customer — guided the company for decades, said Gene Kimmelman, senior public policy director of Consumers Union. No court order, no customer information — period. That's how it was for decades, he said.
The concern for the customer was also based on law: Under Section 222 of the Communications Act, first passed in 1934, telephone companies are prohibited from giving out information regarding their customers' calling habits: whom a person calls, how often and what routes those calls take to reach their final destination. Inbound calls, as well as wireless calls, also are covered.
The financial penalties for violating Section 222, one of many privacy reinforcements that have been added to the law over the years, can be stiff. The Federal Communications Commission, the nation's top telecommunications regulatory agency, can levy fines of up to $130,000 per day per violation, with a cap of $1.325 million per violation. The FCC has no hard definition of violation. In practice, that means a single violation could cover one customer or 1 million.
In the case of the NSA's international call-tracking program, Bush signed an executive order allowing the NSA to engage in eavesdropping without a warrant. The president and his representatives have since argued that an executive order was sufficient for the agency to proceed. Some civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, disagree.
Companies approached
The NSA's domestic program began soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the sources. Right around that time, they said, NSA representatives approached the nation's biggest telecommunications companies. The agency made an urgent pitch: National security is at risk, and we need your help to protect the country from attacks.
The agency told the companies that it wanted them to turn over their call-detail records, a complete listing of the calling histories of their millions of customers. In addition, the NSA wanted the carriers to provide updates, which would enable the agency to keep tabs on the nation's calling habits.
The sources said the NSA made clear that it was willing to pay for the cooperation. AT&T, which at the time was headed by C. Michael Armstrong, agreed to help the NSA. So did BellSouth, headed by F. Duane Ackerman; SBC, headed by Ed Whitacre; and Verizon, headed by Ivan Seidenberg.
With that, the NSA's domestic program began in earnest.
AT&T, when asked about the program, replied with a comment prepared for USA TODAY: We do not comment on matters of national security, except to say that we only assist law enforcement and government agencies charged with protecting national security in strict accordance with the law.
In another prepared comment, BellSouth said: BellSouth does not provide any confidential customer information to the NSA or any governmental agency without proper legal authority.
Verizon, the USA's No. 2 telecommunications company behind AT&T, gave this statement: We do not comment on national security matters, we act in full compliance with the law and we are committed to safeguarding our customers' privacy.
Qwest spokesman Robert Charlton said: We can't talk about this. It's a classified situation.
In December, The New York Times revealed that Bush had authorized the NSA to wiretap, without warrants, international phone calls and e-mails that travel to or from the USA. The following month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group, filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T. The lawsuit accuses the company of helping the NSA spy on U.S. phone customers.
Last month, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales alluded to that possibility. Appearing at a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Gonzales was asked whether he thought the White House has the legal authority to monitor domestic traffic without a warrant. Gonzales' reply: I wouldn't rule it out. His comment marked the first time a Bush appointee publicly asserted that the White House might have that authority.
Similarities in programs
The domestic and international call-tracking programs have things in common, according to the sources. Both are being conducted without warrants and without the approval of the FISA court. The Bush administration has argued that FISA's procedures are too slow in some cases. Officials, including Gonzales, also make the case that the USA Patriot Act gives them broad authority to protect the safety of the nation's citizens.
The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., would not confirm the existence of the program. In a statement, he said, I can say generally, however, that our subcommittee has been fully briefed on all aspects of the Terrorist Surveillance Program. ... I remain convinced that the program authorized by the president is lawful and absolutely necessary to protect this nation from future attacks.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., declined to comment.
One company differs
One major telecommunications company declined to participate in the program: Qwest.
According to sources familiar with the events, Qwest's CEO at the time, Joe Nacchio, was deeply troubled by the NSA's assertion that Qwest didn't need a court order — or approval under FISA — to proceed. Adding to the tension, Qwest was unclear about who, exactly, would have access to its customers' information and how that information might be used.
Financial implications were also a concern, the sources said. Carriers that illegally divulge calling information can be subjected to heavy fines. The NSA was asking Qwest to turn over millions of records. The fines, in the aggregate, could have been substantial.
The NSA told Qwest that other government agencies, including the FBI, CIA and DEA, also might have access to the database, the sources said. As a matter of practice, the NSA regularly shares its information — known as product in intelligence circles — with other intelligence groups. Even so, Qwest's lawyers were troubled by the expansiveness of the NSA request, the sources said.
The NSA, which needed Qwest's participation to completely cover the country, pushed back hard.
Trying to put pressure on Qwest, NSA representatives pointedly told Qwest that it was the lone holdout among the big telecommunications companies. It also tried appealing to Qwest's patriotic side: In one meeting, an NSA representative suggested that Qwest's refusal to contribute to the database could compromise national security, one person recalled.
In addition, the agency suggested that Qwest's foot-dragging might affect its ability to get future classified work with the government. Like other big telecommunications companies, Qwest already had classified contracts and hoped to get more.
Unable to get comfortable with what NSA was proposing, Qwest's lawyers asked NSA to take its proposal to the FISA court. According to the sources, the agency refused.
The NSA's explanation did little to satisfy Qwest's lawyers. They told (Qwest) they didn't want to do that because FISA might not agree with them, one person recalled. For similar reasons, this person said, NSA rejected Qwest's suggestion of getting a letter of authorization from the U.S. attorney general's office. A second person confirmed this version of events.
In June 2002, Nacchio resigned amid allegations that he had misled investors about Qwest's financial health. But Qwest's legal questions about the NSA request remained.
Unable to reach agreement, Nacchio's successor, Richard Notebaert, finally pulled the plug on the NSA talks in late 2004, the sources said.
Contributing: John Diamond
Germany, who killed millions of Jews wants to prosecute Rumsfeld.
That makes sense.
I'm gonna have the big one. Human Events quoted on the L board! NM
You have it opposite! It's HUMAN rights at stake... gosh! duh
nm
A look into JM's first marriage...sm
While John McCain was a prisoner, his wife Carol never lost hope. During his incarceration as a prisoner of war, Carol was involved in a horrific car accident that almost took her life, having to go through about 20 operations in hopes that she would walk again. While her husband was gone, Ross Perot paid her medical bills that were not covered by John's government insurance. When he got back from Vietnam and saw the shape she was in, no longer a beautiful slim model, and quite disabled, he started carousing and ended up meeting Cindy his present wife who was young, beautiful and rich. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1024927/The-wife-John-McCain-callously-left-behind.html
NO. Marriage is between a man
x
Marriage
Marriage is between a man and a woman. If gays want to have civil unions, that's perfectly fine with me but what they have is not and never will be a marriage. It's only a few squeaky wheels that everyone gives all the attention to. There are FAR MORE people in this country that are opposed to gays wanting to call their unions a marriage than are okay with it. In the last couple of decades, everyone tries to be so PC and not step on anyone's toes to the point we just let everything pass as okay, when it is not.
We let abortion laws pass when there are far more who oppose abortion. We let gays think they have the right to marry when there are far more people who are adamantly against it. It is my business when everyone runs all over the majority of us just to pacify the few who just like to push the envelope on everything. Gays have rights just like me. No one is ever happy with what they have. Gays can adopt children just like anyone and those children are theirs forever....just like anyone else. They want their partner to come to the hospital when they're sick, they can list their name as the next of kin just like anyone else and that has to be honored by the hospital. All this garbage they throw out there about their rights is just that, garbage and hooplah to get their agendas pushed.
Flame all you want....
Marriage
is between a man and a woman. Same sex people will never be married, just as they can't ever have sexual intercourse. Beam me up Scottie.
Various Bush members enjoy profit from human suffering.
Two articles below:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-bucky23mar23,1,7624344.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
From the Los Angeles Times
Bush's Uncle Earned Millions in War Firm Sale
An SEC filing shows William H.T. Bush collected about $1.9 million in cash, plus stock valued at $800,000, from the deal.
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2006
WASHINGTON — As President Bush embarks on a new effort to shore up public support for the war in Iraq, an uncle of the commander in chief is collecting $2.7 million in cash and stock from the recent sale of a company that profited from the war.
A report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows that William H.T. Bush collected just under $1.9 million in cash plus stock valued at more than $800,000 from the sale of Engineered Support Systems Inc. to DRS Technologies of New Jersey.
The $1.7-billion deal closed Jan. 31. Both firms have extensive military contracts.
William Bush was a director of Engineered Support Systems. Recent SEC filings show he was paid cash and DRS stock in exchange for shares and options he obtained as a director.
Before DRS purchased it, Missouri-based ESSI experienced record growth as a result of expanded U.S. military contracts — many to supply U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The contracts, some awarded on a no-bid basis, include a $77-million deal to refit military vehicles with armor for use in Iraq.
Other ESSI products used in the war include radar and detection services, field medical stations and field electrical generator units.
SEC filings show that two federal investigations of ESSI are underway. One inquiry involves a stop order from the government on the field generators. The order was issued because the units didn't operate properly.
The generator contract was a major source of revenue. SEC files show that ESSI did not tell stockholders about the stop order until last June, about seven months after it was issued.
During the interim, several ESSI executives, including Bush's uncle, cashed in stock and stock options worth millions of dollars, the filings show.
According to one recent filing, the SEC and the U.S. attorney in St. Louis are investigating the delayed disclosure and other matters.
Unnamed members of the ESSI board and corporate officers have been subpoenaed in the inquiry, according to documents.
SEC filings show that William Bush, 67, exercised options on 8,348 shares of ESSI stock on Jan. 18, 2005, about two months after the stop order was issued and six months before it was disclosed. He collected about $450,000 in cash.
Bush, known as Uncle Bucky in the president's family, joined ESSI's board in 2000, several months before his nephew became president.
He heads a St. Louis investment firm and is the youngest brother of former President George H.W. Bush.
He declined to comment Wednesday. However, in an interview last year, he said he played no role in ESSI's winning federal contracts.
I don't make any calls to the 202 [Washington, D.C.] area code, he said.
Patricia Williamson, a spokeswoman for DRS, would not comment on the status of the federal investigations.
The company has said it is cooperating in the probes, which also involve an ESSI insurance contract.
_________________________________________________________________
March 22, 2006, 11:58PM
Former first lady's donation aids son
Katrina funds earmarked to pay for Neil Bush's software program
By CYNTHIA LEONOR GARZA
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle
Former first lady Barbara Bush donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund with specific instructions that the money be spent with an educational software company owned by her son Neil.
Since then, the Ignite Learning program has been given to eight area schools that took in substantial numbers of Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Mrs. Bush wanted to do something specifically for education and specifically for the thousands of students flooding into the Houston schools, said Jean Becker, former President Bush's chief of staff. She knew that HISD was using this software program, and she's very excited about this program, so she wanted to make it possible for them to expand the use of this program.
The former first lady plans to visit a Houston Independent School District campus using the Ignite program today to call on local business leaders to support schools and education.
The trip to Fleming Middle School is intended to showcase Bush's commitment to education for both Houston-area and New Orleans evacuee students, according to a press release issued Wednesday by Ignite.
Fleming, which has more than 170 New Orleans students, was one of eight area schools chosen by the Harris County Department of Education to receive a donated COW, or Curriculum on Wheels, multimedia program after Hurricane Katrina.
Neil Bush founded Austin-based Ignite Learning, which produces the COW program, in 1999.
Becker said she wasn't at liberty to divulge how much money the Bush family gave to the hurricane funds, but said the rest of their donation was not earmarked for anything.
Nationally, some other donors also specified how they wanted their donations spent, Becker said.
For example, one man wanted his money to go to Habitat for Humanity but via the former presidents' fund. Nearly $1 million has been raised for the local fund and more than $120 million for the national.
Regarding the fact that Bush's earmarked donation also benefited her son's company, Becker said, Mrs. Bush is obviously an enthusiastic supporter of her son. She is genuinely supportive of his program, and has received many letters from educators who support it. Bush honestly felt this would be a great way to help the (evacuee) students.
Barbara and Neil Bush presented the donated programs to Houston-area schools this winter.
Districts that received the free curriculum include Houston, Alvin, Katy, Pearland and Spring and the New Orleans West charter school.
There are 40 Ignite programs being used in the Houston area, and 15 in the Houston school district, said Ken Leonard, president of Ignite.
Information about the effectiveness of the program, through district-generated reports, was not readily available Wednesday, according to an HISD spokeswoman.
Two years ago, the school district raised eyebrows when it expanded the program by relying heavily on private donations.
In February 2004, the Houston school board unanimously agreed to accept $115,000 in charitable donations from businesses and individuals who insisted the money be spent on Ignite. The money covered half the bill for the software, which cost $10,000 per school.
The deal raised conflict of interest concerns because Neil Bush and company officials helped solicit the donations for the HISD Foundation, a philanthropic group that raises money for the district.
HISD school principals decide for themselves whether to spend their budgeted money on Ignite.
Leonard said that in the past six to eight months, the company has hired national sales representatives across the country — in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Nevada — in hopes of expanding beyond Texas. Currently, about 80 percent of the company's customers are from Texas.
Last year, Neil Bush reportedly toured former Soviet Union countries promoting Ignite with Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky.
According to the Times of London, Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider now living in Britain, is wanted on criminal charges in Moscow accusing him of seeking to stage a coup against President Vladimir Putin.
The purpose of today's event is to showcase everyone's efforts in helping the hurricane evacuee students who ended up in Houston, Leonard said.
We have a role, but we're not the leader in this, Leonard said. He also acknowledged that his company will benefit from the former first lady's visit.
Barbara Bush is expected to observe both teachers and students using the Ignite Learning program while touring classrooms, according to the Ignite press release.
During a short reception, teachers and students will give testimonials about the program and Bush will encourage community business leaders to have a stronger presence in supporting schools and education, the press release said.
The free-standing instructional tools that are not dependent on the Internet. They include a built-in computer, projector and speakers and come pre-loaded with science and social studies courses.
cynthia.garza@chron.com
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Houston & Texas
This article is: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/3742329.html
This is where I don't understand Palin at all...she preaches about preserving human life but ....
when it comes to innocent wildlife, innocent soldiers and civilians in Iraq being killed it's okay.
I think her doctrine is shoot first, ask questions later.
I really truly believe she is as they say a *cocky wacko*.
Switzerland is nice and backward, try there? How can you be afraid of human rights?
nm
Makes you wonder, with technology growing faster than the human mind...sm
something is bound to crash! I think my kids are probably responsible for about half of those text messages, thank goodness for unlimited!!
Too bad we can't develop the technology to come up with a decent government!
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