Aug 28, 2008 | 2:45 PM
Category:
Political
During this season of political competition and
political conventions it is easy to focus more on the future than on
the Presidency of George W. Bush as it nears its end.
Historians and scholars will tell many different stories about the
Presidency of G.W. Bush in the future, but what if any lasting effect
will it have on our nation and its people?
If you were to write about the Presidency of George
W. Bush, what would you include as its most significant accomplishment
and its most significant failure or weakness?
Aug 26, 2008 | 3:34 PM
Category:
News
Almost an hour after the FAA "computer glitch" that resulted in the
grounding of many commercial aircraft, news organizations that
contacted the Department of Homeland Security were told that the
Department didn't know what the problem was.
Illegal immigrants continue to cross our borders, ID theft, especially in
Florida, has skyrocketed, and airport security has been shown to be
plagued with problems.
We have had numerous incidences of our food
supply being contaminated, dog food contamination, children's products
tainted with lead, etc. and even unsafe water sources in some areas of the country have been found.
How much confidence do you have in the Department of Homeland Security?
With a budget of more than $46 billion for 2008, should we expect more or less effectiveness?
Is anyone being held accountable?
Aug 19, 2008 | 7:09 AM
Category:
News
It was widely reported yesterday that John McCain was in his limo on the way to the interview at least for the first half hour of Obama's interview.
This was admitted by interviewer Rick Warren who had indicated that McCain was isolated in a "cone of silence" during the ENTIRE interview so that he would not have prior knowledge of the questions or Obama's answers.
Of course limos generally have both TVs and radios, which would have allowed McCain to tune in to the interviews and be unfairly prepared to provide the best possible answers......a definite unfair advantage although McCain denies having done so.
McCain's excellent performance and response to the questions surprised even his strongest supporters. It sounded more like a speech to the audience and the answers from McCain were uncharacteristically quick.
So the question is what should be done about it? Even the story itself is being buried by some news agencies, and what we see from McCain's people are denials. Meanwhile Obama's campaign has reacted politely giving the benefit of the doubt to McCain.
Who should be held accountable for this blunder and misleading of the public/viewers....Rick Warren or John McCain?
Aug 8, 2008 | 6:38 PM
Category:
Political
As rumors go, this one is pretty wild. Of course everyone by now has heard about Hillary's discontent along with hubby Bill. Whether they will go ahead and allow Hillary to be placed up for nomination at the Democratic Convention, is probably the most current angle.
But, the latest rumor has them out for even more revenge against the machine of the Democratic Party.
I am talking about the possibility of Hillary becoming McCain's running partner.........his choice for VP. It could mean that Hillary would have to switch parties, but perhaps not.
It would certainly seem to be the biggest nightmare possible for Obama........but could it possibly be true?
Jul 28, 2008 | 4:04 PM
Category:
News
Given the increasing amount of influence that lobbyists have on our government and the importance of a strong economy for ensuring a high standard of living for Americans, could it be time to disband Congress and replace the Presidency with a CEO/COO to run the area formerly known as the U.S.A.?
The CEO/COO would be responsible to a board comprised of designees from the largest multinational corporations.
Jul 28, 2008 | 8:24 AM
Category:
Political
It appears as though there will be a record deficit again in 2009 as the economy falters, regardless of who is elected to the Presidency.
To bring two difficult and long wars to an end and turn around an economy with huge budge debt, trade deficit, etc.in four years is a pretty tall order for anyone.
Given the wars, slowing economy, housing/credit crises etc., will the next President be able to affect enough meaningful positive change in one term to enable him to be re-elected?
Jul 22, 2008 | 3:09 PM
Category:
News
No doubt most people by now have heard about T. Boone Pickens' energy plan.
But the question is: Will our government listen and take action to decrease our dependence on fossil fuels? Not so....it seems.
According to information from The Congressional Budget Office, Energy Information Administration, Public Citizen in the July/August issue of Public Citizen News, in 2007 the federal government spent $5.8 billion on all federal renewable energy and conservation programs, compared to $30 billion on subsidies to the fossil fuel and nuclear industries.
About all that I have heard so far from our government is a "chant" to allocate more land and off shore areas for drilling by the oil companies. Shouldn't our government pay a little more attention to people outside of the oil business?
Jul 22, 2008 | 10:38 AM
Category:
Political
The battles over environmental issues, especially "global warming" and
"climate change have been raging for several years now and they have
become confusing if not tiresome to most Americans. The
environmentalist have been called tree huggers and are generally
identified as Democrats while Republicans are often portrayed as
anti-environmentalists.
While neither one of these characterizations hold to be strictly
accurate, the offerings on both sides of the arguments are often
successful in obscuring or avoiding the facts. As is often said about
Washington DC politics, things are not always about what they appear to
be about.
Such is the case in these arguments about pollution, global warming,
etc. Sure, greenhouse emissions, etc. are undoubtedly resulting in
pollution. But the real national security issue actually causing the
most concern behind those large, heavy doors in the Rayburn building is
beyond the "simplistic" arguments over global warming and pollution.
Rather, they are about how to deal with our problems with immigration.
On the surface they seem rather straightforward when considering the
large number of illegals from Mexico, but there is more to this story
than meets the eye.
The overriding concern is how our efforts to curb pollution will affect
immigration, both legal and illegal. Obviously our borders are porous
and containment on either side of our borders is next to impossible.
However, again there is more to this issue than meets the eye.
Consider this. The population of China is about 1.3 billion people and
growing rapidly. Already one-fourth of the country has become desert
and three-fourths of its forests have disappeared. Its rivers are
contaminated and its natural resources are running out as a result of
pollution and the demands of a more affluent population.
India, much like China has 1.13 billion people and largely because of untreated sewage has little uncontaminated land or water to support the growing number of people.
As you can surmise, many of those people in China and India as well as people in other highly polluted countries will be looking for a good, clean place to live and many of them are experiencing income growths that will enable them to travel and relocate. Obviously a clean United States will be attractive to those masses.
It is for this reason that the Congress and the Administration needs to be especially careful about the decisions that they make regarding Climate Change, Global Warming, water pollution, etc. Decisions that result in keeping our country clean and relatively undamaged from pollution could be our undoing, resulting in even larger numbers of people immigrating to the U.S. from around the world.
So if you oppose illegal immigration, you might also want to be more supportive of the anti-environmental movements. It may turn out that big business and big government actually knows what is best for the welfare of our country.
Place your trust in those who know.
Jul 15, 2008 | 2:13 PM
Category:
News
The President tries to restore consumer confidence by stating that he "sees" a growing economy, while at the same time we are observing a melt-down in the financial sector, large firms suddenly going broke, corruption in big business and government, a falling stock market, 4 million people losing their homes, good paying jobs disappearing, a large trade deficit, exploding national debt, the worst wholesale inflation of food and energy in 27 years, two wars that continue to burden our economy and devastate our military, a political system that is broken, a public education system that is in trouble, social security taxes that have been misused, abuses in Medicare, an illegal alien problem, an increasing drug trafficking problem, unsecured borders, etc.
Is it simply a lack of consumer confidence or is it also a lack of confidence in our leaders?
What will it take to restore your confidence?
Jul 12, 2008 | 6:26 AM
Category:
Political
More and more companies are using psychological testing as a screening device for potential employees. It has been found that a person's mental health is as important as their physical health in meeting the requirements of some jobs.
Should psychological testing be required of all candidates for public office with the general results being released to the public prior to the election?
Jul 11, 2008 | 7:59 AM
Category:
News
According to an Associate Press article written by Seth Borenstein, the "Value of an American Life ain't what it used to be." Reportedly the Environmental Protection Agency decided in May that the "value of a statistical life" is $6.9 million in today's dollars.... a drop of nearly $1 million from just five years ago."
The article goes on to point out the effects that this devaluing could have on cost-benefit analysis, which in other words is a determination about whether certain actions to save human lives is worth the expenditure that is required. Of course the implications of such determinations are profound.
Do you feel that your life is worth less than it was five years ago?
Should our government use the statistical value of a life for making all relevant decisions about government spending?
Jul 10, 2008 | 1:28 PM
Category:
Music
The week-end musician fills an important void in the music business. Those are the folks that play the weddings, parties, etc. that might otherwise not be able to afford the higher cost of full-time union musicians/bands.
The other day I was talking to some of those musicians who perform around Central Florida and was told that they are not accepting bookings unless they pay considerably more in order to cover the high price of gasoline for travel that may be as much as two or three hours round trip. I was told that some of them have actually lost money playing their last couple of engagements due to the high price of gas.
Few people seem to give much thought about what a disappearance of the week-end musician would mean to our society.
Do you think that their disappearance would have a noticeable impact?
Jul 4, 2008 | 5:06 PM
Category:
Faith
Christians believe in heaven as a glorious place to be for eternity......no troubles, love beyond anything that we have known, streets paved with gold, etc.
So why is it that most Christians are so reluctant about leaving immediately? In other words, they claim to want to go to Heaven, but just not today. Perhaps they still need to pack?
Is it a lack of a profound faith in an important element of their religion?
If so, how can they criticize other people who demonstrate profound faith in the elements of their religions?
Jul 4, 2008 | 1:14 PM
Category:
News
There are several sources on the web (google) reporting a soon to be released report from the
World Bank regarding the cost relationship of food prices and the use
of products such as corn in the production of biofuels.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gz6DCk0CcH1N8kQ8Hyz
pUVx7kz2A
The following statements are found in the article on the above link as well as others today.
"Biofuels have caused world food prices to increase by 75 percent,
according to the findings of an unpublished World Bank report published
in The Guardian newspaper on Friday."
"...a senior World Bank economist assessed that contrary to claims by US President George W. Bush, increased demand from India and China has not been the cause of rising food prices."
The cost increase of using corn to produce ethanol as a gasoline additive is said to be closer to 75 percent rather than the 3 or 4 percent cited by our government.
Are you willing to continue to see soaring food prices and reduced gas mileage in order to keep adding corn based ethanol to our gasoline, or should the President roll back his ethanol mandates?
Jun 30, 2008 | 5:41 AM
Category:
Weather
A year after the Supreme Court ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate green house gases/climate change/global warming, here is what happened. This should put to rest the hysteria regarding global warming.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jun/29/president-v
acuum/
