Local politics

(Yeah, you know, ‘’flyover country.’’

As part of the stimulus package, President Obama rescued our recent police academy graduating class.  The City had run out of bucks and Mayor Michael (Don’t Question My Manhood*) Coleman threatening to lay these 25 recruits off – one week short of graduation.   The stimulus package provided the money to let them graduate and to let them enter their probationary period on the street.

The president even spoke at the graduation ceremony 03/06/2009 and said in part:

So for those who still doubt the wisdom of our recovery plan, I ask them to talk to the teachers who are still able to teach our children because we passed this plan. I ask them to talk to the nurses who are still able to care for our sick, and the firefighters and first responders who will still be able to keep our communities safe. I ask them to come to Ohio and meet the 25 men and women who will soon be protecting the streets of Columbus because we passed this plan. (Applause.) I look at these young men and women, I look into their eyes and I see their badges today and I know we did the right thing.

These jobs and the jobs of so many other police officers and teachers and firefighters all across Ohio will now be saved because of this recovery plan -- a plan that will also create jobs in every corner of this state. Last week, we announced that Ohio would receive $128 million that will put people to work renovating and rebuilding affordable housing. (Applause.) On Tuesday -- on Tuesday I announced that we'd be sending another $935 million to Ohio that will create jobs rebuilding our roads, our bridges, and our highways. (Applause.) And yesterday, Vice President Biden announced $180 million for this state that will go towards expanding mass transit and buying fuel-efficient buses -- money that will be putting people to work, getting people to work. (Applause.) 

There was much more self-congratulatory oratory, the link is: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/03/obamas_remarks_at_columbus_pol.html

What’s wrong with this picture?  Well, the City is still broke.  A 25% income tax ballot proposal was defeated in the May primary.  Mayor Coleman now says that unless it is passed when it is put back on the ballot in August, 250 public safety jobs (police and fire) will be eliminated.   So much for saving the recruit class of  2009!

Why is it that the first thing a politician (and I include Republicans along with Democrats - Coleman just happens to be a Dem) does when he wants money is threaten vital services?  Coleman insists that this is not a power play.  But, of course, whenever a politician says he is not lying I have only to watch his lips.  If they are moving, I know he is full of it.  We all can think of dozens of  less-crucial departments or programs that could more easily be cut, but that would not have the emotional appeal that jeopardizing citizens’ lives by cutting police and fire services. 

Another issue on the ballot was for the parks system, a bond issue to operate existing parks as well as acquire lands and  build several new ones.   The issue passed, but should we really be spending money on new parks when THE CITY IS OUT OF MONEY??  No accident that both expenditures were on the same ballot issue.  Had we been given the choice of voting on the operating and construction funding separately, the outcome may have been different.  Had the issue been defeated, the City could have threatened to close existing parks and put the issue back on the August ballot. 

*Don’t Question My Manhood/ great moments in radio

In spring 2005 Columbus made national news (difficult as that is to imagine) over the story of a mentally-challenged girl who was sexually molested by several boys in a public school.  What made this a scandal, is that the school and school system, rather than report this to the police, covered it up.  When the story broke, Glenn Beck gave it lots of air time, asking why Michael Coleman, as mayor of Columbus, had done nothing about it.  Coleman (foolishly) agreed to go on the air to discuss it.  (Operating strictly by memory here, I am not sure if a transcript of the full interview can be obtained anywhere, but it really was a side-splitter.)  As I recall, Coleman said running the school board was not in his job description....

Beck, 41, said he wanted to talk to Coleman because he assumed the mayor would be as ''outraged as I am.'' Instead, he said, when Coleman got on the air, ''all I heard was blah, blah, blah. He was being a politician. . . . I wanted to talk to him as a dad, not as a politician.''

In the interview, Coleman and Beck continually talked over and past each other. The result was verbal chaos.

As Beck began one question by saying, ''I’m asking you as a man and a father...'' Coleman cut him off and said, ''Don’t question my manhood. Don’t you ever question my manhood.'' Coleman later said he misheard the question.

Link to Columbus Dispatch article:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2005/04/22/20050422-A1-05.html

• Local politics - This just in from Columbus, OH
  • One gets the impression Hizzoner - A.Nonymous

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paper that our wonderful governor (who has almost bankrupted our state) thinks he may be chosen for the Secretary of Transportation or Energy. But have no fear....he promises us he will remain our governor until 2011.

Please, beg the O not to offer the job to him or he will do the same thing to the country as he did to our state. Our state is in worse shape than before he took over. He has not kept 1 promise to us except that he would get casinos in here to help with property taxes and yet, we have yet to see our taxes lowered.

it looks like they may have changed some of the voting locations..not sure when.  Check out website below to make sure she went to the right place.

http://www.azsos.gov/election/polling_places.htm

Hope this helps.

US is deploying anti-missle weapons to Hawaii in case N.Korea aims their newest long range missle towards Hawaii on July 4. Hopefully, Alaska is armed to the hilt.

That maniac needs to go.

HIDDEN  ENEMY :

HSUS – The Humane Society of the United States

Reptile breeders should feel pride in the progress they’ve helped achieve over the past several decades.  We’ve unraveled many of the mysteries of inducing our animals to reproduce in captivity, and have made ‘Captive-Bred’ ( = 'CB' ) a common adjective in the hobby and industry.  CB applied to herps is now understood to reflect ‘quality’ and ‘hardiness’ as pets.  The percentage of CB herps available today dwarfs what we had just ten years ago, and is already making up a significant proportion of herps sold in pet shops. 

Just as it seems obvious to us close to the herp industry that this natural evolution is proceeding well, new threats to our freedom to keep herps looms in the form of three ‘new’ enemies – the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), The Fund For Animals, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).  The PETA are presently under scrutiny by the F.B.I. as a terrorism network because of their admission of funding extremists who have destroyed several facilities by fire.  These closely-aligned organizations have remained largely hidden from our notice until recently.  They have now set their sights on the reptile hobby and trade, their ultimate goals being to stop it completely. 

The HSUS is a familiar group to most people.  Its name seems to imply it all – humane treatment for animals.  In the past, the group took in abandoned cats and dogs, prosecuted farms that allowed livestock to starve, and went after people who mistreated animals in some way.  It created animal shelters, promoted spay-neuter programs, and developed modern euthanasia protocols.  We all applauded the old HSUS efforts and supported it with our donations.  We believed in what it stood for and helped make it a huge and powerful organization. 

The HSUS was wildly successful in its efforts.  The public was educated and abuse cases dwindled.  Nowadays, it’s headline news when a rare case of neglect or other atrocity against animals is uncovered and prosecuted.  Anyone who may have allowed care of an animal in their custody to become substandard is now frightfully aware of the consequences of such unacceptable behavior. 

Why is this seemingly worthy organization a problem now?

Since 1954, the HSUS has grown into a huge bureaucratic organization with 200+ employees and well over $200,000,000 (by 2005) in their bank accounts.  The money is stock-piled, and not one dollar of it is used to help the many ‘Humane Society’ shelters in cities across America .  The HSUS long ago separated itself from all the smaller regional societies around the country, sharing no funding at all with them now.  You are doing nothing to help your local community animal shelter by donating money to the Humane Society of the United States ! 

The HSUS got fat and prosperous capitalizing on our concern for the plight of homeless animals by bombarding us with tear-jerking fundraising campaigns.  Its assets naturally attracted humaniac extremist groups like PETA that wished to tap into the war chest of funds.  Radical animal rights proponents thoroughly infiltrated the HSUS and instilled their idealistic views as representing the whole organization’s doctrine.  Then a subtle ‘coup’ occurred in 1973, warranted by the changing leadership because “the costs of running a local animal control operation [was] drawing off funds needed elsewhere”.  (< That quote is from the HSUS’ own website!)   They literally declared that supporting the small Humane Society shelters across the U.S. was 'stealing' the money needed to pursue their own new humaniac agendas.

The HSUS split away completely, dropping financial support of all the smaller state ‘Humane Society’ groups.  But they did it quietly to leave everyone with the logical impression they were now just the national headquarters coordinating all ‘their local chapters’.  They have purposely done nothing to erase that illusion of ‘umbrella organization’ to insure receiving all the same donation monies you thought were still supporting your home town animal shelters.  The HSUS’s coffers swelled because they didn’t have to share the wealth anymore.  It was a pretty sneaky and wildly successful move on their part!

The HSUS grew into a rich monster that basked in the glory of its past accomplishments of conquering cruelty to animals.  But with that war largely won, the ‘new’ HSUS had a different agenda to set its sights on.  Most importantly, it had to continue evoking sympathy donations from the public to keep the money flowing in.  Creating a new, visible enemy became a necessity.  They chose to refocus on non-traditional pets largely because the ranks of people in the bird, reptile and fish hobbies / industries were less unified, easier targets.  This is why reptile-keeping has come under attack.  We’re the new excuse – the new bad guys – to keep their paychecks coming in steadily.

In its distorted view (and the published rhetoric it distributes to back it), reptiles are totally unsuitable as pets.  The HSUS preaches that nearly all reptiles suffer shortened life spans when kept in cages.  It goes so far as to include all captive-bred herps in that appraisal, but not through sheer ignorance. 

The HSUS’s clever strategy is to focus the public’s attention on isolated problems it can capture in pictures or on video to invoke sympathy, then imply that those disturbing images represent the norm in the entire industry.  Recognizing the huge progress in herpetoculture over the past couple decades would not strengthen the gloomy ecological scenario it wants people to remember when filling out those donation checks.  The HSUS purposely ignores captive breeding success and how it is rapidly replacing the need for some wild-caught herps.  It's crucial the public stay duped into believing that stopping reptile-keeping is the only way to protect animals in nature.  The HSUS needs this manufactured image to focus public condemnation and thus assure continued funding of their efforts.

Another HSUS approach is to scare us into believing that reptile-related Salmonella has reached plague proportions.  Its well-paid advertising staff uses the craftiest psychology to twist facts and statistics and to publicize the ‘huge’ health threat herps pose.  It knows such tactics weigh heavily on parents’ minds, hoping those frightened parents will prohibit their children from having herps at all. 

Just how big a problem is Salmonella anyway?  Bill and I do not know, or even know of, anyone who has ever contracted Salmonella from reptiles in their entire lives.  We don’t even personally know of any Salmonella cases, period, and we know and meet lots of herp keepers!  We don't doubt that it happens occasionally, but the HSUS is blowing public health fears all out of proportion to achieve their animal rights goals.

Unlike the old HSUS, the new PETAphile leaders have declared total war on all pet keepers, intending to end the practice of owning pets completely.  They’ve stated that goal repeatedly, though they try to subtly disguise the true, hidden agenda so not to scare away contributions from cat and dog owners.  On their website’s home page (http://www.hsus.org), they state “Promoting the protection of all animals”.  What they mean is to protect ALL animals from any use by humans - as pets, as food, as leather, for medical research --- EVERYthing!   Don’t let them fool you --- HSUS and PETA are essentially synonymous today.

The HSUS is presently trying to make virtually every act of pet keeping an offense by emphasizing every imperfection in our ability to draft new species into captivity / domestication.  They subtly bombard schools with free 'animal information' that carries their propaganda, preaching their private agenda to children so their 'conservation message' is taken to heart early.  When indoctrinated while young and impressionable, they hope those children will support the HSUS as future voters / donators.  The HSUS is no longer composed of soldiers for a noble cause.  They’re more like mercenaries who must create an enemy to assure their continued employment.  The modern HSUS is an animal rights organization masquerading as an animal welfare organization.  Supporting them is like supplying terrorists with money to hurt us.

The HSUS published this book {>>>} in 2001 - a persuasive political ploy disguised as a 'scientific report'.  It was freely distributed to all U.S. governmental regulatory bodies to sway them to help their cause.  This is how donation money sent to the HSUS is put to 'good' use.  The last paragraph of the entire 'study' sums up their position:      "Finally, we recommend that [government] regulatory bodies put an end to the reptile trade:  State and local authorities are encouraged to ban the commercial collection of reptiles to protect wild populations of reptiles and ban the sale of reptiles as pets to the general public in order to protect human health..."

For more info on the dark side of the HSUS and PETA, go to http://www.animalscam.com .  Or read the book The Hijacking of the Humane Movement: Animal Extremism by Patti & Rod Strand.

IMPORTANT NOTE:   Don’t abandon the local Humane Society animal shelters in your own community – they’re still doing their commendable work as always. 

We have not suddenly become political activists.  This exposé is just an honest response to the attack the HSUS initiated upon all herp keepers.  We hope it may convince you to spread the word to friends and family.  Avoid doing anything that benefits the Humane Society of the United States, the reptile hobby and industry's new sworn enemy.  

- - -  Kathy Love / CornUtopia   &  Bill Love / Blue Chameleon Ventures

who waited outside for 5-6 hours in freezing temps just to save maybe $50.  Lord have mercy.  I guess I'm thankful I don't need or want anything enough to do that!!

You're right about the me-me-me and it makes me sick.  People will kill each other for a dollar!! 

theonion.com

Today Now!: How To Pretend You Give A S**t About The Election

There are so many funny ones at this site it was hard to decide on one!  You'll have to supply the 2 letters above which were refused.  What could they be?!

People who think Governor Sarah Palin didn't handle some "gotcha" questions well in a couple of interviews show no interest in how she compares to the Democrats' Vice Presidential candidate, Senator Biden.

Joe Biden is much more of the kind of politician the mainstream media like. Not only is he a liberal's liberal, he answers questions far more glibly than Governor Palin— grossly inaccurately in many cases, but glibly.

Moreover, this is a long-standing pattern with Biden. When he was running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination back in 1987, someone in the audience asked him what law school he attended and how well he did.

Flashing his special phony smile, Biden said, "I think I have a much higher IQ than you do." He added, "I went to law school on a full academic scholarship" and "ended up in the top half" of the class.

But Biden did not have a full academic scholarship. Newsweek reported: "He went on a half scholarship based on need. He didn't finish in the 'top half' of his class. He was 76th out of 85."

Add to Obama and Biden House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and you have all the ingredients for a historic meltdown. Let us not forget that the Roman Empire did decline and fall, blighting the lives of millions for centuries.

To find out more about Thomas Sowell and read features by other Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com. Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His Web site is www.tsowell.com.

It is very sad that Obama's grandmother passed.

For what it is worth....I don't criticize him for not stopping his campaigning.  He did stop earlier to go and see her, and I feel like she would want him to continue.

At any rate, my prayers for his family in what has to be a very difficult time.

...you're coming from, and it brings back a sad but very funny memory.

My mom died in 1982, and after the viewing, my cousin's husband's sister (no relation to me), whom I had never even met previously, came up to the minister, where my father and I were standing, and very seriously and sincerely thanked him for such a beautiful "urology."  My dad kicked my shoe a little bit, and all I could do was just immediately excuse myself because I knew if I looked at him, I wouldn't be able to NOT laugh.

Knowing my mother, she would have done the same thing -- kick my shoe a little bit -- as if to say, "Did you HEAR that?!"

I've always felt that humor truly does provide good medicine, and on what was undoubtedly one of the saddest days of my entire life, it injected itself in a most unlikely source and time in a way I'll never forget.

As far as Norm Crosby, I remember him well and will always relate to and appreciate his humor. 

...you're coming from, and it brings back a sad but very funny memory.

My mom died in 1982, and after the viewing, my cousin's husband's sister (no relation to me), whom I had never even met previously, came up to the minister, where my father and I were standing, and very seriously and sincerely thanked him for such a beautiful "urology."  My dad kicked my shoe a little bit, and all I could do was just immediately excuse myself because I knew if I looked at him, I wouldn't be able to NOT laugh.

Knowing my mother, she would have done the same thing -- kick my shoe a little bit -- as if to say, "Did you HEAR that?!" 

I've always felt that humor truly does provide good medicine, and on what was undoubtedly one of the saddest days of my entire life, it injected itself from a most unlikely source at a time and in a way I'll never forget.

As far as Norm Crosby, I remember him well and will always relate to and appreciate his humor. 

I am in a position to buy a new car (not going brand new, but 2008) and pay CASH for it.  After doing much research on the internet and deciding on the car I wanted, I then proceeded to find the "best" deals in a 150-mile area from my home.  Well, the 2nd best price actually came from the dealer that is only 20 miles from me, so I went there to talk to them.

Told them I was paying cash and asked if they could do a better deal to match the other dealership price about 50 miles away (mind you, this is a CHRYSLER dealership) if I wrote them a check and left with the car that day.  They said no, that the only way they made any money on cars was through financing and getting kickbacks so that the price they had was what I had to pay.

Now, if cars are not selling and people do not have any money to buy and banks are not financing right now, don't you think the smart thing would have been to match that other price and take my cash instead of letting me walk away?  That seems to me to be just greedy and just about shows you why the country is in the shape it is in. 

It seems as if they are saying if I can't make $100, I ain't gonna take the $90!!!

reality check... I don't usually post here on the political forum, I prefer a bigger board.  You seem to be a big fish in a small pond, whereas, I prefer to be a small fish in a big pond... fresher ideas and less bullying from the likes of big fish like you.

I dont believe in PUSHING my ideas on others.  I dont believe in killing our young people, I do NOT believe in George W. Bush.

Peace.

You nailed it when you said business.  However, if a conservative had said the same thing you and Lurker just stated you would have disputed that.  Liberals swear up and down Murdoch is a conservative Republican, but the truth is Murdoch is all about Murdoch and what sells.  His politics is business.

“This is a time when we have to do away with our party politics and we have to act as Americans,” he said as fellow Republicans converged on their convention city to nominate him for the White House.

Wow, what a concept: Act as Americans. 

I think he's got something there.  I know, I know, your guy didn't think of that one first so it doesn't count.  I thought O was about the change?  Change your bashing into something constructive.  Now that would be refreshing.