I know Some Moving to N.M.

Hey folks,

I’m a little upset. I know some people who are now going to be moving to New Mexico. Yup, as soon as they read this. You know there has been the debate forever on if drugs should just be legalized. The argument is it will cut down on crime, empty some much needed space in our courts and jails, and be a good thing all the way around

I told you during one of those discussion, not sure if it was here or elsewhere, that the government would find a way to make money on it as well. Of course. Well, here is a case in point. According to the AP -Law requires N.M. to grow its own pot By DEBORAH BAKER, Associated Press Writer

New Mexico has a new medical marijuana law with a twist: It requires the state to grow its own.

The law, effective Sunday, not only protects medical marijuana users from prosecution — as 11 other states do — but requires New Mexico to oversee a production and distribution system for the drug.

"The long-term goal is that the patients will have a safe, secure supply that doesn't mean drug dealers, that doesn't mean growing their own," said Reena Szczepanski, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Mexico.

No, that means the Government get’s the money. What would be wrong with growing their own? Other than the fact if they do, they Government cannot cash in.

The state Department of Health must issue rules by Oct. 1 for the licensing of marijuana producers and in-state, secured facilities, and for developing a distribution system.

The law was passed in March and signed by Gov. Bill Richardson, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Other states with medical marijuana laws are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Maryland's law doesn't protect patients from arrest, but it keeps defendants out of jail if they can convince judges they needed marijuana for medical reasons.

Connecticut's governor vetoed a medical marijuana bill recently.

The distribution and use of marijuana are illegal under federal law, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 in a California case that medical marijuana users can be prosecuted.

Faced with that dilemma, the health department has asked state Attorney General Gary King whether its employees could be federally prosecuted for running the medical marijuana registry and identification card program, and whether the agency can license marijuana producers and facilities.

"The production part is unprecedented. ... No other state law does that," said Dr. Steve Jenison, who is running the program for the health department. "So we're trying to be very thoughtful in how we proceed."

In the meantime, however, patients must obtain their own supplies.

Talk about the government controlling every aspect of your lives. Now they will be suppling your drugs. Now I do not know how many of you are for legalizing Pot, to me, it just a herb that has been used for years that is a lot less dangerous than some LEGAL stuff out there. I do not use it, but I understand the concept of those in need for pain. So why not let them grow it themselves? It all comes down to the universal answer in many cases. Money.
Peter

Continuing Discussion of Death and Choices

Hey folks,

Welcome back to the continuing discussion of death and choices. I will be honest with you. When I first read the article I shared with you back on June 17, 2007, I did so in a joking and dismissive manner. I understood the meaning behind the article was to further the lie called Global Warming. It really was. Well, here you go. Green in Death.

What I did not really take into consideration, was that many folks out there truly care about this topic. I have always seen death simply, as a part of life. We are born, then we die. Life is the journey that takes place in between.

Well, through my style of writing, and my attitude towards the Chicken Little crowd out there, I seemed to have had offended Dr. Billy Campbell. He took time out to come here to the OPN to talk about his side of it, Dr Billy Campbell Seems To Be Offended.

Then, we made nice with each other after my clarifying of my position on this. {Smile} But then I keep getting more and more people asking me about what am I going to do when I die. I have said several times I was leaning towards Cremation.

Since this seems to be an issue of interest to a vast number of you out there, I felt the need to share the latest in this discussion. Someone that posted under Anonymous sent me this.

I kind of agree with you all... each person should chose the best possible memorial for him/her, while the green burial does protect and leave natural spaces that continue to revitalize the environment.

There are other alternatives however that you might find more suitable Pete and d.s. I found them here in this documentary, pretty interesting. I believe Billy is in the doc as well, which really showcases his overall purpose in the green burial industry. Really is interesting: Lasting Imagines.

Thank you whoever you are for sending us the information. I really think I will probably purchase the entire thing. It’s only $12.99 plus shipping. But I encourage all of you that may be interesting in what to do, check this out. If you click on the boxes on the right, you get clips from the Documentary. I do believe that our friend Dr. Billy is in it as well. I encourage you to watch the “trailer.” I truly never knew there were so many different options out there. Some are pretty interesting. The following is what appears on this site.

Synopsis

You know the saying ”death and taxes....,” but tax time comes only once a year and death comes approximately ninety six times per minute.¹ What will be done with you when your minute arrives? Enter Lasting Images, a feature documentary taking a peek at the lighter side of contemporary choices in human remains disposition.

Traditional, six feet under burials are still the first choice among Americans today, so four months were spent following students at a Mortuary Science School filming the beginning to end process of Traditional Burial, and gathering information regarding non-traditional methods of human disposal and memorials.

Then it was on to Cremation, the second most popular choice today. The filmmakers drove all across the US to not only document the numerous ways people use the ashes of their loved one to honor the lighter side of their lives, but also to film an actual cremation.

Next the growing alternative Green movement was explored.
Cast & Crew
director: Hammond Hendrix
producer: Joan Hendrix

No I do not know these people. No I’m not making money advertising for these people. I really and truly found this to be interesting. Since it seems many OPNers and others out there are interested in this topic. This is truly interesting information to share.

This also brings me to one thing that I find to be of the utter most importance. PUT YOUR WISHES IN WRITING Make a Living Will, an actual Will, what to do with you and your stuff. Put it in writing. Have it made LEGAL. Do it NOW While you are well, and of sound mind.

This is something much more important for those of you with kids. You do not want your death to tear the family apart. You do NOT want others to decide what to do with those that you love the most. Make the arrangements now, put them in writing. Make sure many know of your intentions. Legalzoom.com may be an option for you to check out.

I hope you enjoyed this video and the concept of the other options you have out there as much as I did. Thank you again. See you all tomorrow.
Peter

Acceptance Based Solely on the Color of Skin Discrimination

Hey folks,

Happy Friday to you. Yesterday was a GREAT day. We killed the Illegal Alien Amnesty bill. It was also a great day when it comes to racism and discrimination. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that acceptance of someone based solely on the color of their skin IS discrimination and racism. Even if that skin color is white.

According to the AFP -Outrage as Supreme Court dents affirmative action in US schools

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Supreme Court's conservative majority flexed its muscles Thursday by dismantling a key plank of affirmative action programs that promote racial diversity in US schools.

Provoking outrage from Democrats and civil-rights campaigners, the nation's highest court found that school authorities cannot use race alone in deciding the mix of their student populations.

By five to four, the justices ruled in favor of white parents whose children were denied places at their nearest schools in Seattle, Washington, and the Kentucky city of Louisville because of such admission policies.

Simply because the school districts may seek a worthy goal doesn't mean that they are free to discriminate on the basis of race to achieve it, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority decision.

Finally, someone told the TRUTH.

The decision could affect hundreds of US districts that try to give preference to black and other ethnic-minority children, if a school is over-subscribed and is deemed to have enough white children already.

Of course this was a BAD day for the LWL.

Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said the ruling was appalling, turning a landmark anti-segregation ruling of the 1950s upside down.

If this isn't judicial activism, I don't know what is, he said, reflecting Democratic suspicion of a court that, under President George W. Bush, has tilted markedly to the right.

Yeah like Affirmative Action, Roe vs Wade, and others are NOT judicial activism. Right?

Brenda Wright, legal director for the voting rights organization Demos, said ethnic-minority children in poorer areas would be condemned to languish in depressed schools.

The narrow Supreme Court majority has done a grave disservice not just to educational equity but to our democracy as a whole, she said.

But backed by the Bush administration, the aggrieved parents argued that the admission policies were just as discriminatory as the racial segregation long enforced in southern schools after the abolition of slavery.

That segregation was struck down in the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling of 1954, a watershed moment in the historic civil rights movement.

In dissenting opinions, members of the court's liberal minority expressed their passionate disapproval of Thursday's ruling.

Told you who was having a bad day. {Smile}

This is a decision that the court and the nation will come to regret, justice Stephen Breyer wrote.
The last half-century has witnessed great strides toward racial equality, but we have not yet realized the promise of 'Brown.'

The court's longest-serving justice, John Paul Stevens, accused his conservative colleagues of standing history on its head.

It is my firm conviction that no member of the court that I joined in 1975 would have agreed with today's decision, he wrote.

This is because the court is starting to INTERPRET the Constitution and Law, and not CREATE it. They are doing their job, instead of furthering a cause.

In 2003, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld race-based admissions policies at the University of Michigan Law School, but said that race must be only one of several factors considered by school authorities.

That decision went through on the swing vote of liberal justice Sandra Day O'Conner, who was replaced last year by the conservative Samuel Alito. Chief Justice Roberts is another recent addition to the court on Bush's nomination.

We knew that the confirmation of Chief Justice Roberts and of Justice Alito would be a setback for civil rights, but it's painful to watch years of progress undone so recklessly, said People For the American Way Foundation president Ralph Neas.

Roberts wrote that permitting racial balancing as a compelling state interest would justify the imposition of racial proportionality throughout American society, contrary to the constitutional right to equal protection.

Again, they are doing their job, NOT furthering a cause. If you tell me I cannot do something based on the only fact that I look “White,” then you are discriminating against ME. You cannot have equality base on a government founded and backed racist policy. I love this statment.

The court's only black justice, Clarence Thomas, a conservative opponent of affirmative action, backed the majority. What was wrong in 1954 cannot be right today, he wrote.

But Justice Anthony Kennedy, while backing the majority, left the door open to some race-based admissions while stressing that other demographic factors, plus special talents and needs, should also be considered.

Of course. But that is NOT what was happening. What was happening was “Your White, you cannot go here.”

Then I absolutely love the first paragraph of this story by the AP -Dems say march to racial unity not over By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer 41 minutes ago

A historically diverse field of Democratic presidential candidates — a woman, a black, an Hispanic and five whites — denounced an hours-old Supreme Court affirmative action ruling Thursday night and said the nation's slow march to racial unity is far from over.

{Laughing} Yes I know, we still have discrimination and racism in this country. But just like the Illegal Alien thing, we already have laws to deal with it. We do not need someone to create bad laws to further bad causes. Of course the Democratic Candidates are going to politicalize this to try to get the Black votes.

"We have made enormous progress, but the progress we have made is not good enough," said Sen. Barack Obama, the son of a man from Kenya and a woman from Kansas.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first female candidate with a serious shot at the presidency, drew the night's largest cheer when she suggested there was a hint of racism in the way AIDS is addressed in this country.

"Let me just put this in perspective: If HIV-AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34 there would be an outraged, outcry in this country," said the New York senator.

What an completely idiotic statement.

In their third primary debate, the two leading candidates and their fellow Democrats played to the emotions of a predominantly black audience, fighting for a voting bloc that is crucial in the party's nomination process.

One issue not raised by questioners, the war in Iraq, dominated the past two debates. Queries about AIDS, criminal justice, education, taxes, outsourcing jobs, poverty and the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina all led to the same point: The racial divide still exists.

Notice this? Read that again. “One issue not raised by questioners, the war in Iraq,” Did you get it? The “questioners” the MMD {Mass Media Drones} was simply asking what they we TOLD to ask. They are furthering an agenda that Republicans are racists, bigots, Homophobs, ETC.

"There is so much left to be done," Clinton said, "and for anyone to assert that race is not a problem in America is to deny the reality in front of our very eyes."

But you cannot fix it by creating and Federally backing Racism.

While the first two debates focused on their narrow differences on Iraq, moderator Tavis Smiley promised to steer the candidates to other issues that matter to black America. In turn, the candidates said those issues mattered to them.

"This issue of poverty in America is the cause of my life," said John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee.

{Laughing} So that’s why you give so much to the Black community? That’s why you live in the homes, drive what you do, fly around in the Privet Jets, get $400.00 dollar hair cuts? You know, if you took $400.00 and bought sandwiches, went down to the inner city USA, you could feed a lot of truly poor. {Sign}

OK, enough of this. It was TRULY a great day yesterday. You spoke, the Government heard you. The Supreme Court heard you. Government is working. For the people, by the people. Not for the Minority with deep pockets. Remember though folks, like I warned you yesterday. All this can be destroyed if in 08, you elect to keep the Looneys in charge, and chose to elect a Looney into the White House. Your voice and the progress we have made is gone. There will be NOTHING you can do to stop these loons then.
Peter

I Wonder If the MMD Will Report THIS

CHICAGO, June 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a historic move, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released the expert review comments and responses to its latest assessment of the science of climate change. The IPCC report is the primary source of data for Al Gore's movie and book titled "An Inconvenient Truth."

Many of the comments by the reviewers are strongly critical of claims contained in the final report, and are directly at odds with the so-called "scientific consensus" touted by Gore and others calling for immediate government action. For example, the following comment by Eric Steig appears in Second Order Draft Comments, Chapter 6; section 6-42:

In general, the certainty with which this chapter presents our understanding of abrupt climate change is overstated. There is confusion between hypothesis and evidence throughout the chapter, and a great deal of confusion on the differences between an abrupt "climate change" and possible, hypothetical causes of such climate changes.

"It is now abundantly clear why Al Gore will not accept our debate challenge. The supposed scientific consensus on global warming is pure fiction. Hopefully, the public release of comments and responses will enable the debate over global warming to turn to facts and less fiction," stated Joseph Bast, president of The Heartland Institute, a national nonprofit think tank based in Chicago.

The Heartland Institute has been running ads in national newspapers calling on Al Gore to debate Lord Christopher Monckton, a prominent global warming "skeptic." Starting today, the institute says it is now including Dennis Avery, an economist and coauthor of a book on global warming that is on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list, who Gore has also refused to debate.

There is NO Global Warming. There is now apparently NO Consensus. {Laughing} Remember the petition signed by 17,100 basic and applied American scientists, two-thirds with advanced degrees, saying that it’s a scam? Now some of Gore’s own Scientist are calling him out?

Do not buy this garbage folks. I have been warning you over and over again that this is just about money and power. They attempted to make this a trend. The only problem is, the trend did not take.

Hey, just a quick programming note, if you will, tomorrow at 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time, I will be posting a special post. It is the continuation in the discussion of death and choices. I have a video to share with you that tells you of other choices you have when you are gone. This has been a topic that has generated a lot of interest so we will continue tomorrow night. See you in the AM
Peter

You Did IT, Again

Hey folks,

''Today, Republicans in the Senate had an historic chance to act in the interests of the American people, but chose not to. Although the immigration bill before the Senate was far from perfect, it would have served as a starting point to address this critical issue for our nation.

During the entire process, newly elected Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate have been committed to fixing a problem that past Republican Congresses have ignored for years. The President had an obligation to the American people to persuade his fellow Republicans to pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so.

Instead, Republicans in the Senate blocked a bill that attempted to fix our nation's dysfunctional immigration system. In doing so, they have failed the American people.

Our immigration system needs to honor the promise of America and recognize the enormous contributions that immigrants make to our nation. But it must do so in a way that makes our nation safer, protects all workers, and restores the rule of law.'' Traitor Pelosi.

First, 15 Democrats voted against it. But of course this is Bush’s fault. {Laughing} Even though he made us all SICK with his obsession of getting this passed.

Make no mistake about it folks. YOU did this. YOU killed this bill, again. Let’s hope they do not try to bring this back again. According to AP -Senate blocks immigration bill By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago

The Senate drove a stake Thursday through President Bush's plan to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants, likely postponing major action on immigration until after the 2008 elections.

After the stinging political setback, Bush sounded resigned to defeat.

"Legal immigration is one of the top concerns of the American people, and Congress' failure to act on it is a disappointment," he said after an appearance in Newport, R.I. "A lot of us worked hard to see if we couldn't find common ground. It didn't work."

There was no effort to find common ground. You wanted AMNESTY. We said no. It really was that simple.

The bill's Senate supporters fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and clear the way for final passage of the legislation, which critics assailed as offering amnesty to illegal immigrants. The vote was 46 to 53 in favor of limiting the debate.

Some senators in both parties said the issue is so volatile that Congress is unlikely to revisit it this fall or next year, when the presidential election will increasingly dominate American politics.
Bush appeared glum as he spoke. His negotiators had expressed optimism the vote would go their way — or, at least be closer.

"Congress really needs to prove to the American people that it can come together on hard issues," Bush said. He turned attention to other his other goals in Congress this year, including energy, health care and balanced-budget initiatives.

Break,

Voting to allow the bill to proceed by ending debate were 33 Democrats, 12 Republicans and independent Joe Lieberman, Conn. Voting to block the bill by not limiting debate were 37 Republicans, 15 Democrats and independent Bernard Sanders, Vt. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., did not vote.

They speak.

Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole, R-N.C., said many Americans "don't have confidence" that borders, especially with Mexico, will be significantly tightened. "It's not just promises but proof that the American people want," Dole said.

But the bill's backers said border security and accommodations to illegal immigrants must go hand in hand.

"Year after year, we've had the broken borders," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "Year after year, we've seen the exploitation of workers."

Because year after year YOU do not FIX them.

After the vote, he said: "It is now clear that we are not going to complete our work on immigration reform. That is enormously disappointing for Congress and for the country." Kennedy, a chief proponent of the bill, said, "we will be back. This issue is not going away."

Let’s hope not. This is why 08 is so important folks. Picture a Looney controlled House and Senate, and a Looney controlled President. I guarantee you this bill will be back faster that you can blink and will pass.

But before the vote, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told colleagues the political climate almost surely would not allow a serious reconsideration until 2009 or later. It would be highly unlikely, she said, "in the next few years to fix the existing system ... . We are so close."

Translation time. Wait until we have no opposition. Look for an even more increased attack on Talk Radio. They are very vindictive people. Watch the push to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Watch for a push by the Mass Media Drones to attack Republicans running for President and start praising the Democrats. They will now try any and everything they can to get Hillary in there.

Get this.

All the Democratic presidential candidates in the Senate voted to end debate and advance the bill. Among the Republican candidates, only Sen. John McCain of Arizona voted to keep the measure alive. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., at first voted with McCain, but switched his vote when it was clear the bid to end debate would fail.

{Laughing} McCain needs to just hang it up now. He’s done. Brownback? I think he is done now also.

Sessions said on the Senate floor after the vote that Americans "are not mean-spirited, but they are concerned about a lawful system of immigration."

DeMint told reporters, "I think the only victory here is for the American people and, symbolically, a government of the people and for the people. The people responded to this issue in a very emotional and just a very engaged way, which changed the minds of many people here in the Senate."

DeMint said he hoped "we'll proceed with the security and enforcement aspects of this bill, and that will pave the way of how we solve some of the other problems."

ABSOLUTELY!

Great job again. Remember, no matter how they try to spin this. YOU did this. We won this one. If by some odd chance in the near future they try to bring it back? We will beat it again. That is, however, as long as you do not vote the Looneys to retain power, and a Supreme Leader Wannabe into office in 08. If this happens, Amnesty is only the beginning of so much worse. There will be nothing you can do about it then.
Peter

Today Is An Important Day for Immigration Bill

Hey folks,

Today is the day, they voted to close the Amnesty Bill from any further amendments on Tuesday. They debated the amendments that were added before that Wednesday. Today, is to close all debate.
According to CNN -Immigration bill survives Senate challenges

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A delicately crafted immigration reform bill emerged largely unscathed from a day of legislative wrangling in the Senate on Wednesday, with supporters beating back a number of potentially fatal amendments in what one lawmaker likened to "trench warfare."

The Senate began working through a list of 27 amendments to the bill, which Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said would come up for a final vote by the end of the week.

Proponents won a major victory with defeat of an amendment removing the bill's most controversial feature -- a path to legalization and eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country, which critics charge amounts to amnesty.

“I think most people will recognize that citizenship is the most precious gift America can provide," said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri, the sponsor of the amendment. "There are many of us who believe it should not serve as a reward to those who broke the law."

But if the President signs this bill folks, they are LEGAL. It doesn’t matter if they are citizens. They are here LEGALLY. It is STILL amnesty with word play. That is all this STILL is folks. Do not be fooled.

Senators voted 56-41 to table his amendment, effectively killing it. However, in a sharp illustration of the political heartburn the "amnesty" debate is causing Republicans, Bond's proposal was supported by 33 of the Senate's 49 GOP members, along with eight Democrats.

Also defeated Wednesday was an amendment by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, that would have required adult illegal immigrants to return to their home country within two years in order to apply for a new type of visa that will allow them to stay in the United States indefinitely.

NO ONE is going home.

Senators also turned back two Democratic amendments, from Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, that would have made it easier for immigrants to bring family members from their home countries to the United States.

They still can.

By a 79-18 vote, senators shot down an amendment by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, that would have limited the legalization process to illegal immigrants who have been in the country at least four years, rather than covering all of them in the country at the end of 2006.

EVERYONE of them get LEGAL. Today is the second big vote. According to the AP-Immigration bill faces crucial vote By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer

Conservative Republican senators and a handful of Democrats are trying to put a final knife in President Bush's plan for legalizing millions of unlawful immigrants.

A broad immigration bill, embracing what critics call amnesty, survived a series of unfriendly amendments Wednesday. Supporters pointed to the bill's tighter borders and workplace rules to keep it alive.

Both sides agreed the crucial vote occurs Thursday. Supporters must gain 60 votes in the 100-member chamber to limit debate and clear the way for a roll call on final passage, perhaps by Friday. Anything less will likely doom the legislation until a new president and Congress take office in 2009.

Today is the day. Now is the time to increase, not decrease, your calling, writing, and telling congress, it is simple. “You vote for this bill, you lose all future votes from us.” In essence, you vote Yes for this bill, you are out. Period. You will NEVER be voted for by the American people again.

Right now, there are some on both sides that are not happy.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was among those disappointed Wednesday. The Senate voted 55-40 to reject his amendment that would have made it easier for some immigrants to obtain visas for family members left behind in their home countries.

"This action does nothing to allay my concerns about the increasingly right-wing tilt to these proceedings, and it makes it more difficult to vote in favor of invoking cloture on the bill," Menendez said, referring to Thursday's crucial vote to limit debate.

This is NOT Roight wing, Left Wing, politics. This is RIght and WRONG. NOBODY wants this bill. NO ONE except a small number of absolute looneys on both sides. The American people do NOT want this bill.

According to Reuters -Senate heads for crucial immigration vote

The Senate heads for a make-or-break vote on Thursday on President George W. Bush's plan to overhaul immigration laws after Senate leaders battled to fend off efforts by opponents to derail the bill.

The ultimate fate of the bill remained in doubt as the Senate prepared to decide on Thursday whether to bring debate to a close and move toward a final vote on the controversial legislation that would legalize millions of unlawful immigrants.
This is not over yet folks. They voted to debate amendments. They did. Today is the day to watch. This is STILL an amnesty bill. No other way to look at it. It must be stopped. YOU must be heard. If they pass this today, I guarantee you a vote on Friday. They may even vote later today for final passage to make sure YOU do not get to your “representative” before the final vote.

Folks, plain and simple. Do not give up. This is an important moment. NOW is the time that will kill the careers of ANY Senator that votes for this Amnesty bill. You need to make sure that they KNOW this before they vote.
Peter



Sources;
CNN -Immigration bill survives Senate challenges
AP-Immigration bill faces crucial vote
Reuters -Senate heads for crucial immigration vote

Update On Benoit

Hey folks,

The more and more information that keeps coming in reference to the Benoit tragedy. It becomes more and more heart breaking and confusing every step of the way. Check out this

Powered by

AOL Video '>video. I’ll be back a little later or tomorrow. Don’t worry folks, I’ll get back to the normal stuff soon. I will also update you on this situation if anymore pertinent information becomes available.
Peter

Peace To The Benoit Family, Wrestlers and Fans

Hey folks,

I got some very disturbing news yesterday. Now I understand that some of you will not understand why I am commenting on this. You fall into one of three categories of people.

People that just do not get it. Do not like it at all. Think that Professional Wrestling is a joke.

Those that are true fans.

Those that understand and respect what these people do.

I fall into the last two. As I have talked about before, I grew up around Professional Wrestling. I even did it for a time for fun. I get it. I understand what these people go through just for the shear LOVE of the business. What they put their bodies and minds through on a daily bases for the sole purpose of entertaining you.

Some of you hate Professional Wrestling. I get that. You think it’s nothing more than a soap opera for men. You think the whole thing is fake and there’s no point to it. I have news for you. Is it scripted? In a way. Are there story lines? Yes. But let me hit you in the head with a steal chair. Let me pick you up and drop you through a table. Climb up on top of a 15 foot high steel cage and let me throw you off right through the announce table below. When you come out of the hospital, then you can tell me how fake it is.

I could give you a list of names of Pro Wrestlers that have lost everything in the name of the business. They are on the road over 320 days a year. They live in hotels. Hulk Hogan loves to tell the story that when he was in his prime, He wrestled in Madison Square Garden in NYC, then got on a plane and when to California to wrestle again on the same night. Sometimes these guys, wrestle two or three times a day.

Between serious injuries, including loss of life, loss of marriages, friends, family, and any resemblance of a normal life, very few people make it to a Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and Chris Benoit status. That is just fact.

I love this business. I had the privilege to meet and get to know some of these people. I respect the hell out of them for what they do. I had nothing but the utmost respect for Chris Benoit.

Here is a guy that is not the biggest dog in the pack. Standing only about 5' 10" to 6 even, weighing in at 235 pounds, he ALWAYS fought up hill. 19 years he did what you either do or do not do, gave himself, heart and soul to this business. He was the United States Champ, Tag Team Champ, along with a few others, and at Wrestle Mania 20, he became the World Heavy Weight Champ. I was never more proud of him than I was that night. His dream realized. This would be like YOU becoming the CEO of whatever it is you do. It was a great night.

But then yesterday, I got this news. Chris, his wife Nancy, and their son Daniel, were found dead in their home yesterday morning. This truly broke my heart folks. It also is devastating to those that knew and loved him.

The WWE was following a story line, {A Stupid one I thought} where The WWE owner Vincent McMahon’s character Mr. McMahon died in a limo explosion. Last night on Raw, they were suppose to do a three hour, fictitious tribute to Mr. McMahon. Instead, to my surprise, they broke from the normal taboo of sharing real life, and opened with Vince telling the audience about the discovery of Chris and his family, and turned it into a REAL three hour tribute to Chris Benoit.

ABC News reported this last night. According to ABC -Wrestling Champ Chris Benoit Found Dead With Family

Wrestling star Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, and their 7-year-old son, Daniel, were found dead in their suburban Atlanta home Monday. The deaths are being investigated as a possible suicide and double homicide, authorities told ABC News.

Lt. Tommy Pope of the Fayette County Sheriff's Department told ABC News that Benoit had missed several appointments over the weekend, leading concerned parties to ask police to do a "welfare check." When sheriffs arrived at the Benoits' home, they found the wrestler, his wife and their son dead.

There were no signs of gunshot wounds or stabbing, according to Pope. Authorities are not ruling out other causes, such as poisoning, suffocation or strangulation. Pope told ABC News that his department is looking at this situation as a "possible double murder, suicide."

Pope said "the instruments of death were located on scene," but he would not specify what those instruments are or where in the house the bodies were found. Pope added the department is "not actively searching for any suspects outside of the house."

An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. However, it could be weeks before there is a result.

I will be following this one folks. I will let you know what I find out. If you are not a wrestling fan, sorry. I have to see this one through. Chris touched a lot of lives, and left many great memories. I for one would like to know what happened. I would like to know HOW it happened. I think we need answers on this one.

May the Benoit family, fans, and friends, receive the peace they need in this time of loss. May we ALL get the answers needed for closure on this devastating loss. The WWE issued this statement.

"Chris was beloved among his fellow superstars, and was a favorite among WWE fans for his unbelievable athleticism and wrestling ability. He always took great pride in his performance, and always showed respect for the business he loved, for his peers and toward his fans. This is a terrible tragedy and an unbearable loss. WWE extends its sincere condolences and prayers to the Benoit family and loved ones in this time of tragedy."

I will see you later or tomorrow.
Peter

Quick IWA Update. Judge Loses Pants Again.

Hey folks,

Not to much time tonight, but I just wanted to stop by and update you, incase you missed it, our Idiot of the Week two weeks ago, loses his idiotic lawsuit.

According to CNN -Judge tosses $54 million suit over missing pants POSTED: 2:26 p.m. EDT, June 25, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A judge in the District of Columbia has dismissed a case against a dry cleaner who was sued for $54 million in damages over a pair of missing pants.

Roy L. Pearson, an administrative law judge, originally sought $67 million from the Chung family, owners of Custom Cleaners. He claimed they lost a favorite pair of his suit trousers and later tried to give him a pair that were not his.

Custom Cleaners did not violate the city's Consumer Protection Act by failing to live up to Pearson's expectations of the "Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign displayed in the store window, Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled.

This guy definitely deserved the IWA. He really is an idiot.

At a news conference in front of Custom Cleaners, Soo Chung said through an interpreter that she was "very pleased" with the verdict, adding that she and her husband have no plans to move back to Korea.

That is great news.

When asked if she would accept Pearson as a future customer, Soo Chung said through her translator, "If he wants to continue to use our services, then yes, they would accept him as a customer."

They are better people than I. I also love this.

In a 23-page finding of fact, Bartnoff wrote: "A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's unreasonable demands or accede to demands that the merchant has reasonable grounds to dispute."

Pearson had "not met his burden of proving that the pants the defendants attempted to return to him were not the pants he brought in for alteration," the judge concluded.

Bartnoff awarded court costs to the Chungs, who have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the case. They are attempting to have their attorney's fees paid by Pearson.

"Judge Bartnoff has spoken loudly in suggesting that, while consumers should be protected, abusive lawsuits like this will not be tolerated," said the Chungs' attorney, Chris Manning. "Judge Bartnoff has chosen common sense and reasonableness over irrationality and unbridled venom."

There is something you do not see everyday. I’m glad the Chungs got justice. I’m glad that Judge Idiot has to pay the court case. I hope that someone looks into removing him also. This guy seems to be not so well. It was a good day for justice today.
Peter

A Sense Of Reality From Clinton, Looneys Not Happy


Hey folks,

I cannot believe what I just read. A sign? A sense of reality? Supreme Leader Wannabe Clinton? You read right.

All the serious front runners on the Democrat side are promising universal healthcare. We all know that, that means socialized medicine. We all know that would destroy the BEST healthcare in the world. Ours. It would turn healthcare in this country into that like third world countries. Lines, no quality control, few would receive it, and many will die. Why do you think many come here seeking medical help. Many from countries WITH universal healthcare.

Socialized Medicine is just another way for government to control your day to day lives. Clinton tried it once before. It FAILED miserably because people found out what it was TRULY all about. So NOW, she is singing a different tune. The looneys are not happy about that. According to the AP -Clinton cautious on health care reform By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer

When it comes to health care reform, Hillary Rodham Clinton epitomizes the old adage, "once burned, twice shy."

As first lady in the early 1990s, she tried to reshape the nation's health care system — an audacious effort that collapsed under its own complexity, Republican opposition and the Clintons' unwillingness to seek compromise with lawmakers.

"I still have the scars to show for it," she tells voters now, promising a more consensus-based approach to health care reform if she is elected president.

But that newfound caution has also come with a price. While rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards have both laid out sweeping health care reform plans with estimated costs attached, Clinton has so far proposed only modest changes to the existing system while avoiding the vexing question of how to provide coverage for all.

Because it would be called what it is, socialized medicine.

With some 47 million Americans lacking health insurance, the issue has become an urgent priority for Democratic primary voters and for organized labor, a major party constituency. Activists say the time for caution is long past and they want answers from Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.

"One of the problems with being last out of a gate is that it's hard to be seen as leader," said Robert Borosage, president of Campaign for America's Future, a liberal think tank advocating universal coverage. "She has a lot of credibility for taking scars the last time, but she's got a lot of doubters, too. She needs to step up to the bat."

The Looneys. They really want to be controlled? No. They think they will aid in the control. But they are too stupid to realize that if this country becomes a communist country, they will have NO power whatsoever. A tyranny dictates one person control.

The final plan, more than 1,300 pages long, was decried by Republicans and health care interest groups as socialized medicine and government intervention run amok. The Health Insurance Industry of America ran a devastating $30 million television ad depicting a middle class couple — "Harry and Louise" — puzzling over the plan's complexities and worrying about losing the right to choose their own doctors.

The plan was declared dead in late 1994, just weeks before midterm elections that would hand Republicans control of both the House and Senate. Democrats blamed their losses in part on the health care debacle, and Bill Clinton spent his remaining years as president battling a Republican majority on Capitol Hill.

It was and IS socialize medicine. This is why she KNOWS it will not be welcomed at this time. After she was to win and become the President, I would be willing to bet she would go right back to it. With the LWL controlling the House and Senate, there would be no stopping it. But right now, she is trying to compete with the golden boy Obama, and Robin Hood Edwards.

She began last month with a speech on reducing health care costs. Among other things, she called for enhanced computerized medical record-keeping and encouraging insurance companies and providers to emphasize prevention of illness, rather than treatment.

Her second address, on improving health care quality, will come later this summer.

Whatever she proposes will be immediately compared to the Edwards and Obama plans, both of which have been generally praised by activists. But analysts say Clinton can take advantage of her late entry in the debate by combining the best elements of her rivals' plans while avoiding the points that have drawn criticism.

"After the searing experience she's had on health care, she's intent on reassuring voters she's a moderate Democrat on the issue," Yale University political scientist Jacob Hacker said. "I just fear her campaign policy folks are trying to come up with a perfect mix, threading the needle between left and right."

Central to Edwards's plan is a so-called "individual mandate," requiring everyone to have health insurance the way most states require drivers to have auto insurance. Employers would have to insure their workers or pay into a government program that would provide coverage.

Edwards has estimated his plan could cost as much as $120 billion per year, paid for by repealing tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000. The hefty price tag has raised eyebrows and prompted Clinton to be openly skeptical about investing even more tax money into a dysfunctional system.

Like Edwards, Obama's plan retains the employer-based insurance system and creates a public plan to expand coverage. But his plan does not include an individual mandate, leading critics to say it falls short of offering truly universal coverage.

Notice how this keeps saying praised by activists, and those critics of Obama, are the ACTIVISTS. We are talking a very small group of looneys here. Those that probably either have or do not need healthcare already. But they know what is best for YOU.

Universal healthcare is bad. Talk to those in Canada. Talk to those in Europe. Talk to those that HAVE it. They will tell you, it is BAD. If we, as a nation, adopt a universal healthcare system, we will destroy the best healthcare in the world. We all already pay for those without insurance NOW. They go into the Hospital, get treated, we foot the bill. We need reform, but reform is NOT universal healthcare.

But as always, be careful. She is also trying something from the 06 play book. Come across as a moderate. Come across as someone reasonable, able to talk with, and win. Then you can be who you are AFTER you get into power. Look at congress now, compared to when they were running. Do not be fooled again. The cost is too high.
Peter

IWA Sunday 062407

The Power of Ignorance

Hey folks,

It’s SUNDAY! Time for the IWA. This week it is more important to talk about the reason WHY our winner this week is the winner. You know the old saying, that in life there are leaders and followers. The sad truth is, most are followers. Most people are hungry. They are searching for something to believe in. Something to make them feel worth something. An answer to the age old question, “Why am I here.” The meaning of life. The fact that they matter.

This is why I have said many times, that if you do not know the truth, you will believe anything. Understanding what truth is, will protect you from all the lies out there. A lot of times, in a lot of different situations in life, learning what the truth is, is simple. Accepting it is what is hard.

This never ending search for the meaning of life, or more importantly, the individual meaning, has lead many people down the road of personal destruction. It has destroyed families. It has created voids that some are more than happy to fill for their own personal gain. This is how we see the rise of Dictators, loss of freedoms, and cults. They usually happen with roaring applauds, and great cheer.

The individual feels that there must be more. They are not happy with their life. They seek out something to fill the void. Someone comes along and tells them what they want to hear. They have the way to happiness, peace, freedoms. They will bring the seeker to a place no one else can take them to. Here is the critical moment.

If the seeker then, listens to the one willing to fill the void. HEARS what they actually say. Research it out themselves to see if it is true. Search their own feeling on the matter. {Every person has a natural sense of logic, truth, and right from wrong. Some understand how to use this more than others.} They could find that the one attempting to fill the void is being truthful. If not, then they could fine they are being lied to, and spare themselves a great deal of pain and loss.

But in most cases, the seeker hears what the seeker wants to hear. In some cases, they even ignore that little voice in the back of their head saying “Don’t believe it.” They then blindly follow whatever, and wherever their new leader takes them. By the time they realize it, it’s too late.

Well, here is a case in point. According to Iaferica.com-Virgin Mary visionary 'strong' - mom

Benoni visionary Francesca Zackey was handling criticism of her ministry "very well", her mother Perit Zackey said on Wednesday.

Zackey has come under fire for allegedly instructing the devout to look into the sun to see the Virgin Mary.

The 17-year-old has been inundated with people seeking prayer and healing since she claimed to have started seeing visions of the Virgin Mary some weeks ago.

Now of course the Catholic Church is looking into this. According to this article.

The SA Council of Churches (SACC) on Tuesday expressed doubt over claims by the teenager that she had seen the Virgin Mary.

"I doubt it very much... We know that people in desperate situations search for answers from God. The God that we know reveals himself in a meaningful manner," said SACC general secretary Eddie Makue.

But this seems to be the very start of a cult.

Francesca was "happy", her mother said late on Wednesday afternoon.

She said her daughter was not home and that she had stopped granting media interviews.

"She is carrying on with her prayers," said her mother who refused to even come to the gate of the family's home in Alphen Park, in Benoni.

A computer generated, laminated notice was attached to the pedestrian gate.

Between two images of the Virgin Mary, it read "Greetings family and friends.

"Thank you for visiting the home of 'Our Lady of the Ray.

"Please note the following times for prayer and spiritual healing: Monday and Wednesday 3pm until 5pm and 7pm until 9pm, Saturday 2pm to 6pm.

Thank you and God bless you, Francesca."

Hear is where logic, truth, right and wrong, come into play. Someone tells you that if you look directly into the SUN, you will see the Virgin Mary? We all know, we have all been told, that if you look directly into the sun, you could indeed go blind. So what did our winner this week do? You got it.

Zackey reportedly advised a Gauteng woman, Amal Nassif (37), earlier to look at the sun, and if she had faith, the Virgin Mary would appear.

Nassif stared at the sun for about a minute and lost her sight.

"I can't seen anything. There is a large dark blind spot," she was quoted as saying.

Congratulations Ms Nassif, you are the Idiot of the Week. Did you not realize that religion and faith are supposed to OPEN your eyes? Not make you blind. Now I now that people will blame the 17 year old guru. But truly, who is the most foolish, the fool, or the fool that follows him or her.
Peter

H.S Video Game and Computer Addiction

Hey folks,

Happy Sunday to you. In the Health and Science segment this week? OK, we now all have an excuse. Another addition into the “Not My Fault” arena. Yet another blow to self responsibility. This is going to be good for me. Now I can say, hey, I know I’m on the computer a lot, but “It’s Not My Fault” I’m sick. There are no shortages of help out there for this either. Just type in Computer Addiction in your search engine, sit back, and see for yourself.

According to the Seattle Times -Is video game addiction a psychiatric disorder? AMA report seeks to declare it one By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO — The telltale signs are ominous: teens holing up in their rooms, ignoring friends, family, even food and a shower, while grades plummet and belligerence soars.

The culprit isn't alcohol or drugs. It's video games, which for certain kids can be as powerfully addictive as heroin, some doctors contend.

{Laughing} HEROIN?

A leading council of the nation's largest doctors' group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment.

STOP!!! Read that again.

A leading council of the nation's largest doctors' group wants to have this behavior officially classified as a psychiatric disorder, to raise awareness and enable sufferers to get insurance coverage for treatment.

MONEY and psychobabble. That is ALL this is about.

In a report prepared for the American Medical Association's annual policy meeting starting Saturday in Chicago, the council asks the group to lobby for the disorder to be included in a widely used mental illness manual created and published by the American Psychiatric Association.

AMA delegates could vote on the proposal as early as Monday.

It likely won't happen without heated debate. Video game makers scoff at the notion that their products can cause a psychiatric disorder. Even some mental health experts say labeling the habit a formal addiction is going too far.

Not for those seeking more money. Psychobabblologists, Drug companies, ETC. Get this.

Up to 90 percent of American youngsters play video games and as many as 15 percent of them — more than 5 million kids — may be addicted, according to data cited in the AMA council's report.

That is a big windfall of cash flowing in if they can tap into it.

Joyce Protopapas of Frisco, Texas, said her 17-year-old son, Michael, was a video addict. Over nearly two years, video and Internet games transformed him from an outgoing, academically gifted teen into a reclusive manipulator who flunked two 10th grade classes and spent several hours day and night playing a popular online video game called World of Warcraft.

"My father was an alcoholic ... and I saw exactly the same thing" in Michael, Protopapas said. "We battled him until October of last year," she said. "We went to therapists, we tried taking the game away.

"He would threaten us physically. He would curse and call us every name imaginable," she said. "It was as if he was possessed."

So you have a brat. You are the parent. Take the video game away, computer away, then say DEAL WITH IT. {Sigh} Idiot

Proof it’s about money?

When she suggested to therapists that Michael had a video game addiction, "nobody was familiar with it," she said. "They all pooh-poohed it."

Last fall, the family found a therapist who "told us he was addicted, period." They sent Michael to a therapeutic boarding school, where he has spent the past six months — at a cost of $5,000 monthly that insurance won't cover, his mother said.

A cost of $5,000 monthly. The rest of this goes on to tell you horror stories. Kids not showering, playing for 12 hours straight, depressed, ETC. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS? I know this is a hard concept, but your kids only do what YOU allow them to do. How about being a parent.

Then just this morning I see this from Health Day -Video Game Overuse May Be an Addiction: Experts By E.J. Mundell HealthDay ReporterFri Jun 22, 7:02 PM ET

Dr. Martin Wasserman, executive director of MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, helped spearhead the new proposal, which has resulted in a 10-page report submitted to the AMA by the group's Council on Science and Public Health.
"The concern came up because one of our psychiatrists here in Maryland was seeing older people who were losing their social contacts," specifically because of their overuse of video games, Wasserman said. "It was ruining their family life. So, it was not unlike gambling addictions or alcohol, where it was having a profound impact on the lives of individuals."

How about IED, Shopaholic, The most OVER diagnosed {Disorder} ADD? Let’s just throw these together and say NOTHING is our fault. OH WAIT they actually have some guidelines forming.

The new AMA report defines "heavy game use" as two or more hours a day, but Wasserman, a pediatrician, said addictions are best defined by their impact on an individual's life and psyche.

"Basically, you're using a disproportionate amount of time on the video game, and it's what you are thinking about even when you're not on the video game," he said. "And even though it's having negative consequences for you in school or your family situation, or it's taking a disproportionate amount of your money, you still continue to do it. You spend less time with your friends or in other social things."

YES! Do not throw your money away on the video games, give it to US. Hi. My name is Peter. I have CAD, {Computer Addition Disorder.} It’s not my fault. Just drug me, tell me it’ll be ok..
Peter

The Good News Keeps Coming. What Is Going On?

Hey folks,

The good news keeps on coming. The surge is working seemingly better than expected. So my question is, what is going on? Why are we all of a sudden hearing this. From Reuters -U.S. and Iraq forces kill 90 al Qaeda in offensive By Alister BullSat Jun 23, 12:19 PM ET

U.S. and Iraqi forces say they have killed 90 al Qaeda fighters around Baghdad during one of the biggest combined offensives against the Sunni Islamist group since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in roadside bomb attacks in and around the capital on Saturday, underscoring a warning from military commanders that U.S. casualties are likely to mount as more troops are put in harm's way.

Remember the President said that August may be the bloodiest month so far. I was wondering why he specified August. Perhaps they have advanced the plan. Now I did catch a few stories today of the 7 soldiers the were killed by a roadside bombing. But 90 enemies?

U.S. air strikes on Saturday killed seven suspected al Qaeda fighters in Tikrit in Salahuddin province and near the city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are taking part in simultaneous offensives in provinces around Baghdad to deny al Qaeda militants sanctuary in farmlands and towns from where they launch car bomb attacks and other violence.

In the capital, Iraq's parliament voted to cut its summer vacation by a month to focus on passing laws Washington views as crucial to healing Iraq's deep sectarian divide. Lawmakers said the current session would be extended until the end of July.

The move is likely to be welcomed by U.S. President George W. Bush, although the bills have yet to be presented to parliament for debate.

The laws include those on sharing revenues from Iraq's huge oil reserves more equitably, holding provincial elections and allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to the government and military.

As I reported to you before.

The U.S. military said on Saturday that 55 al Qaeda militants had been killed in Operation Arrowhead Ripper, a key plank of the combined offensives, which began in and around the city of Baquba in Diyala province on Tuesday.

Another 28 militants have been killed in separate operations in the past several days in Diyala, north of Baghdad, the U.S. military has said. U.S. officials say al Qaeda is trying to spark all-out sectarian civil war in Iraq.

In the worst attack against U.S. soldiers on Saturday, four were killed when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle northwest of Baghdad. The military did not say whether they had been taking part in the offensive. Three others were killed in roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad and Tikrit.

And THAT is what many others are focusing on.

U.S. soldiers have been tightening their cordon around al Qaeda fighters holed up in Baquba, advancing carefully through streets lined with roadside bombs and booby-trapped houses.

Baquba is an al Qaeda stronghold that has also become a sanctuary for militants escaping a four-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad.

Colonel Steve Townsend, commander of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, told local Iraqi political and military leaders in Baquba that progress was being made.

"I believe the initial stage of the operation will be completed in another three to five days," Townsend said at a building that serves as a joint command centre for U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The overall offensive around Baquba is expected to last many weeks. U.S. military commanders have said the combined operations were taking advantage of the completion of a build-up of U.S. forces in Iraq to 156,000 soldiers.

The surge is working. The War is NOT lost. But Shhh, don’t tell Traitor Reid. Is someone at Reuters going to be in trouble for reporting all this good news? I have to wonder.

The picture I used of Col Steve Townsend is directly from Blog-Ah by The 3rd Stryker Brigade. Check it out. Instead of just listening to people sitting in offices telling you what is happening. Go there and check it out from THOSE THERE.

OK, now I’ll see you all tomorrow {Smile} Really, I’m done today.
Peter

The Attack On Talk Radio, AKA YOUR Voice Continues

Hey folks

Probably the last one today. But I have to comment on this. I have been telling you about this outright assault on free speech by those that do not want any opposition heard. Why are they going after talk radio? Simple. The mass media, no longer has the monopoly on what you hear, see, or learn. They use to. But it’s gone.

You see, they report and ignore what they are told to. Before about 1986, all was well. You got what you got, most believed what they heard. But now, thanks to Rush, Sean Hannity, and many more lessor more locally known talk show hosts, you get the TRUTH. They back it with FACTS. They PROVE what they say. So of course, the LWL and the MMD want their power and control back.

Check this out from AP -Talk shows influence immigration debate

AP -Talk shows influence immigration debate By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 2 minutes ago

Immigration has supplanted Iraq as the leading issue on television and radio talk shows, complicating the prospects of a Senate bill desperately wanted by President Bush.

Conservative talk radio's impact on the immigration debate reached new heights last week, with one host effectively writing an amendment for when the Senate returns to the imperiled bill this week.

National talk show hosts have spent months denouncing the bill as providing amnesty for illegal immigrants. Some top Republicans who support the legislation have defied the broadcast pundits. Others GOP lawmakers have tried to placate them, even to the point of accepting their ideas for amendments.

Because it IS amnesty.

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the key conservative negotiator behind the compromise bill, told reporters Friday that California-based radio host Hugh Hewitt "had several ideas" that "we are trying to include" in amendments to be offered in an upcoming series of crucial votes.

Hewitt, a conservative who has criticized many aspects of the bill, had Kyl as a guest on Thursday and asked: "Does the bill provide for any separate treatment of aliens, illegal aliens from countries of special concern?"

Kyl replied: "It's going to, as a result of your lobbying efforts to me."

I never heard of this guy. But I might have to look into who he is a little bit more. Here it is, the now infamous statement.

Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., told reporters last week, "Talk radio is running America. We have to deal with that problem." Some hosts, he added, do not know what is in the lengthy bill.

The comments incensed conservative talk show hosts who generally had supported Lott over the years.

Lott is "upset that the American people got right into the middle of the conversation over the problem with illegal aliens and it didn't turn out all that well for the pro-amnesty forces," Atlanta-based talk show host Neal Boortz wrote on his Web site.

"If Trent Lott and his other buddies up on the Hill aren't listening to 'talk,' then what are they listening to? The answer is either their wallet or their legacy."

EXACTLY! I have heard of Boortz. I like him. {Smile}

Radio host Rush Limbaugh asked his audience: "What are we going to do about Mississippi Senator Trent Lott?"

Lott's treatment contrasted sharply with that given to Kyl. In a column posted on his Web site, Hewitt called Kyl "perhaps the single most effective and principled conservative in the United States Senate."

Trent Lott and anyone else that does not do the right thing in reference to this bill, is out. And it IS just that simple. It’s time they need to realize this. Then this article attempts to further the lie that this will be effective in securing the boarders, blah, blah, blah.

"Talk radio and talk TV are most effective when there's an immediate action pending," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania, who is an authority on media and politics. "It's a classic instance of mobilization with all the pieces in place and it's sure to have an effect."

Rush has what, 22 million listeners in any given 15 minute segment? Sean is second. Fox? A lot. Of course it has an effect. When you tell people the TRUTH, they react to it.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a leading opponent of the bill, said in an interview that "talk radio has had a significant impact on this issue."

A frequent guest of Dobbs, Hewitt and other conservative hosts discussing immigration, Sessions said, "I think people have learned more from talk radio than from reading the newspapers."

They learn the TRUTH. This is the point. Of course they learn more.

As for Lott, Sessions said: "I can't imagine what Trent was thinking. Maybe his mouth was moving and his brain was in neutral."

{Laughing}

Michael Harrison, editor of the talk show industry magazine Talkers, said immigration has replaced the Iraq war as the most discussed topic and has led many conservative hosts to show more loyalty to the anti-amnesty issue than to the Republican Party.

"I think talk radio should be credited with possibly saving the American people from George Bush's immigration bill," Harrison said, adding that he and his magazine are nonpartisan.

Some Republicans who recently announced their opposition to the bill said constituent concerns were their main reason. But they acknowledged the intensity of talk radio hostility in their states.

"Neal Boortz, he popped us pretty good," said Lindsay Mabry, a spokeswoman for Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., who shifted from qualified support to opposition to the bill in recent days. She said Chambliss consulted with Boortz on immigration even though the senator was not an on-air guest during the debate.

This is why they want to shut it down folks. You want to know what the American people are thinking? What we are saying? What we believe? Look at the numbers. Compare the Mainstream News outlets to Fox. Compare Conservative talk radio to Liberal talk,,never mind, you can skip that one.

This is why the push for the “Fairness Doctrine.” This is why the push to silence talk radio. YOU MATTER. You have the power, regardless of what the MMD tell you. Keep up the good work. Keep calling. Keep your voices being heard. See you all tomorrow.
Peter

Analysis Of the President’s Address on Immigration

Hey folks,

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week, Senate leaders introduce drevised legislation on comprehensive immigration reform. I thank leaders from both parties for their bipartisan effort to fix our immigration system so it can meet the needs of our Nation in the 21st century.

You mean revive the bill that MOST Americans wanted to stay dead. That legislation?

As the Senate takes up this critical bill, I understand that many Americans have concerns about immigration reform -- especially about the federal government's ability to secure the border. So this bill puts the enforcement tools in place first. And it means more Border Patrol agents, more fencing, more infrared cameras and other technologies at the border. It also requires an employee-verification system based on government-issued, tamper-proof identification cards that will help employers ensure that the workers they hire are legal.

This is all GREAT! So, separate it. Do this FIRST, then we will trust you to do the rest. As long as it does not include amnesty.

Only after these enforcement tools are in place will certain other parts of the bill go into effect. To make sure the government keeps its enforcement commitment, the bill includes $4.4 billion in immediate additional funding for these border security and worksite enforcement efforts.

And enforcing the laws we have had for years is no possible WHY?

The bill also addresses other problems with immigration enforcement. Right now, our laws are ineffective and insufficient. For example, crossing the border illegally carries weak penalties. In addition, participation in illegal gangs is not enough to bar admission into our country. And when we cannot get other countries to accept the return of their citizens who are dangerous criminals, in most cases our government can only detain these aliens for six months before releasing them into society.

Dangerous criminals that congress voted to ALLOW to receive legal status the first time around. As for weak? WRONG. We catch them, they go home. {Sigh}

This is unacceptable. The bill before the Senate addresses these problems. Under this bill, those caught crossing illegally will be permanently barred from returning to the United States on a work or tourist visa. Under this bill, anyone known to have taken part in illegal gang activity can be denied admission to our country. And under this bill, we will be able to detain aliens who are dangerous criminals until another country accepts their return.

{Laughing} Am I the only one that get’s this? They will be barred from coming here legally? They are not here legally NOW.

These enforcement measures are a good start. Yet even with all these steps, we cannot fully secure the border unless we take pressure off the border. Hundreds of thousands of people come here illegally because our current work visa program does not match the needs of a growing and dynamic economy. To discourage people from crossing our border illegally, this bill creates an orderly path for foreign workers to enter our country legally to work on a temporary basis.

Pure and unadulterated BUNK!

With this program in place, employers will have a practical system to fill jobs Americans are not doing -- and foreign workers will have a legal way to apply for them. As a result, they won't have to try to sneak in. And that will leave border agents free to chase down drug dealers, human traffickers, and terrorists.

Notice how they have stopped saying, “Jobs Americans will NOT do?” Now it’s “Job Americans are not doing.” Maybe because they are all taken by illegal aliens? Just a thought

Once the border security and worksite enforcement benchmarks are met, the bill will resolve the status of 12 million people who are now in our country illegally. Under this bill, these workers will be given an opportunity to get right with the law. This is not amnesty. There will be penalties for those who come out of the shadows. If they pass a strict background check, pay a fine, hold a job, maintain a clean criminal record, and eventually learn English, they will qualify for and maintain a Z visa. If they want to get a green card, they have to do all these things -- plus pay an additional fine, go to the back of the line, and return to their country to apply from there.

{Laughing} I can’t take it. They become LEGAL as soon as you sign the bill. They pay NOTHING. DO Nothing. They are legal. If legal, then how can you then later say, you have to leave? No one seems to want to answer that.

This bill provides an historic opportunity to uphold America's tradition of welcoming and assimilating immigrants and honoring our heritage as a Nation built on the rule of law. We have an obligation to solve problems that have been piling up for decades. The status quo is unacceptable. We must summon the political courage to move forward with a comprehensive reform bill. By acting now, we can ensure that our laws are respected, that the needs of our economy are met, and that our Nation treats newcomers with dignity and helps them assimilate.

This is completely false. Completely. It is NOT American tradition to grant AMNESTY to those who chose to invade our country, steal SS numbers from lawful citizens, steal money from the government, rape, murder, and disregard our laws in general.

I urge members of both parties to support comprehensive immigration reform. By working together, we can pass this good bill -- and build an immigration system worthy of our great Nation.

This is NOT a good bill. This is a bad bill. Call it whatever you want Mr. President, it is still amnesty. We will not accept it.
Peter