molson_golden2002

Rudy would win the general election in a landslide, IMO

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/i...332990520070304 Hopefully this will speed our departure from Iraq. All those worries that this total disaster will spread beyond the borders is hopefully leading to people trying to prevent that, without our help. Too bad we are not more actively involved in diplomacy over there

You got it backwards. I like Rudy and want to see the Social Conservatives get the stuffing knocked out of them. I'd vote for Rudy over Hillary anyday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17435176/site/newsweek/ How will the social Conservatives react to this? Pro-choice, doesn't want to lock gays away in institutions and ran around on his wife/wives. I see a big pillow fight coming in the GOP

1) Doesn't matter. They don't have to go directly towards health care to help pay for the added burden to the government for paying for expanded health care. Paying into the general fund is fine, because more will be taken out of it. 2) No, you just said taxes are theft. But at least you are starting on a new theme--are far as I'm familure with--of the income tax being the agent of our distruction. Sweet! And I really don't see why you have to basically have a stroke every time you reply to me. Take is easy man. Life is too short to get flustered so easily and so often. BTW, do you still think we should abolish the FDA?

I'd love to means test health care! But it wouldn't fly. I'd imagine the fat tax wouldn't fly either, as wouldn't a fast food sin tax, which does make sense on many fronts. But all taxes are bad, so I guess not

Well, health care is extremely important. Life and death. Its as important as war to people who need it. So you can just dismiss its need, but obiously most people don't. Hopefully it can be done as cheaply as possible using both public and private health care methods. But it is clear we will have something more than we have now

The cost of health care has many people nervous and want something done. Have they thought about the long term consequences? Probably not. Its pretty much that simple.

Oh, sorry. I think you need to register to read it, but whatever: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/02/washington/02poll.html?hp

From today's NYtimes:

Wow! First off, I never called you any names at all in my reply. You are dreaming up insults to be outraged, I guess. Secondly I only offered a silly reply because your post was silly. You went off on some rant that had nothing at all to do with the story, my position on it or anyone else's postion associated with the story. Who has said more money was needed for this situation? No one. You made that up just like you made up my insulting you. Do you know what the scarecrow was in the Wizard of Oz? He was a strawman. Much like your arguments. I said fire the guy, not pay him more money. Stick to the facts. Maybe if you would do that you wouldn't get so hung up on people thinking they are smart or not.

I'd say the biggest difference here would be that jobs created through tax dollars, whether in government jobs or through contracting, allow the workers to go home at night instead of taking them back to jail. You understand the difference, ya?

Actually you have it all wrong. This is something else we can blame the press for. Bad news like this is all that the press cares about. What about little Johnny who passed is test with a 90 in that same class where the fight happened? Did the press report that? No! They hate Bush to much to report that!

Think of the problems of government controlled labor would create. Its just a bad idea

Enough to make them move there and do the work.

Ya, those welfare people just can't wait for jobs to open up! Real go getters they are

Where are the Americans who were supposidly lining up to take these jobs? Now farms have to turn to prison labor to farms to work. What a joke http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...-home-headlines DENVER — Ever since passing what its Legislature promoted as the nation's toughest laws against illegal immigration last summer, Colorado has struggled with a labor shortage as migrants fled the state. This week, officials announced a novel solution: Use convicts as farmworkers. The Department of Corrections hopes to launch a pilot program this month — thought to be the first of its kind — that would contract with more than a dozen farms to provide inmates who will pick melons, onions and peppers. Crops were left to spoil in the fields after the passage of legislation that required state identification to get government services and allowed police to check suspects' immigration status. "The reason this [program] started is to make sure the agricultural industry wouldn't go out of business," state Rep. Dorothy Butcher said. Her district includes Pueblo, near the farmland where the inmates will work. Prisoners who are a low security risk may choose to work in the fields, earning 60 cents a day. They also are eligible for small bonuses. The inmates will be watched by prison guards, who will be paid by the farms. The cost is subject to negotiation, but farmers say they expect to pay more for the inmate labor and its associated costs than for their traditional workers. Advocates on both sides of the immigration debate said they were stunned by the proposal. "If they can't get slaves from Mexico, they want them from the jails," said Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, which favors restrictions on immigration. Ricardo Martinez of the Denver immigrant rights group Padres Unidos asked: "Are we going to pull in inmates to work in the service industry too? You won't have enough inmates — unless you start importing them from Texas." Farmers said they weren't happy with the solution, but their livelihoods are on the verge of collapse. "This prison labor is not a cure for the immigration problem; it's just a Band-Aid," farmer Joe Pisciotta said. He said he needed to be sure he would have enough workers for the harvest this fall before he planted watermelons, onions and pumpkins on his 700-acre farm in Avondale. But he's not thrilled with the idea of criminals working his fields. "I've got young kids," he said. "It's something I've got to think about." Pisciotta said he hoped the program highlighted what he viewed as the absurdity of Colorado's position — dependent on immigrant labor but trying to chase migrants away. He said the people leaving were not just those who entered the country illegally. "Some of them have said, 'We think our paperwork is in order, but how about if it's not and we get caught on a glitch,' " he said. Ever since the Democratic-controlled Legislature took a tough turn on immigration, the new requirements have worried those in the country legally and illegally. Immigrant advocates allege that some sheriffs have authorized deputies to pull over Latino drivers on supposed speeding violations and ask them whether they are in the country legally. And more stringent requirements put into effect last year made it harder to get a driver's license. Numerous U.S. citizens, including the daughter of a state legislator, were refused licenses because they lacked proper proof of citizenship. A judge has since ruled that the requirements must be revised. Social service agencies say they have discovered few illegal immigrants on public assistance since the laws were passed. Immigrant and business groups agree that the heated rhetoric has led to an exodus of Latinos — though no one is sure how many. Businesses including carwashes and construction firms have complained of a worker shortage.

Thanks for thinking about me, but I'm donating all my free time to a more nobel cause: http://www.answersingenesis.org/museum/

Yes, but its not hard to understand why people wouldn't want their kids in the Buffalo school system

After watching Stafford, Kaleta and company play, I'm am very unexcited about seeing our new player. The Kids are Alright!

From today's Buffalo News: By DONN ESMONDE Plan an assault, attack a student and take out a teacher as collateral damage. In a sane district, six students - each with a history of trouble - would never again set foot in that school. In Buffalo, they walked back into the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts escorted by the superintendent. Actions need to have consequences. If they don't, then good kids are victims, teachers are humiliated, and rules are useless. According to Performing Arts teachers, the returning six were greeted by friends with high-fives. Superintendent James Williams' response to a November assault at Performing Arts gave logic a beating. Six seniors plotted with friends to divert school security. Then they attacked a targeted student in chemistry class. Teacher Bob Kurasiewicz was badly hurt in the melee. School officials believe he will retire rather than return - costing kids an excellent teacher and putting a sad punctuation on a fine career. Instead of sending the six to separate schools, or to the discipline-tight alternative school, Williams last week let them return. "It's degrading," Rebecca Felicetta, a special-ed teacher at Performing Arts, said recently at a downtown coffee shop. "None of us feels safe." By bending over limbo-backwards to be sensitive to the insensitive, Williams undercut his teachers, pumped up screw-ups and sent a message that anything goes. "The [six attackers] are being treated like the victims," said Jim Healy, a history teacher who taught all of the six. "Teachers feel that they're on their own, there is no support." As the husband of a Buffalo teacher, although not one working in a classroom, I hear the concerns firsthand. Williams said he acted after the young men's parents showed concern, the community group MADDADs got involved, and a local pastor stepped in. "You talk to students, that's how you change behavior," Williams said. "We don't want these kids out on the street knocking us on the head someday." It is a nice sentiment, if these were freshman first offenders. The six are seniors. A district spokesman told me that "most of them have never been in trouble before." All six were previously suspended - two for having knives and another for fighting a teacher, said teachers union officials. "Why aren't the rights of our [other] 948 students being protected as much as the rights of these six kids?" asked theater teacher Gerry Durak. Put the rights of the wrongdoers first, and you open the door to fear and frustration. And this isn't about race. The victim and six attackers all are minorities, as are most of the school's students. "The message is, there are no consequences," Durak said, "and school is no safe haven." By standing logic on its head, Williams gives a bad rap to a good school. Performing Arts is filled with talented musicians and artists - and teachers who help them to blossom. There now is talk of teachers wanting out and parents pulling their kids. According to Healy, this is the fifth assault this year on a Performing Arts teacher. There is a crying need for discipline across the district. Instead, Williams handed out free passes. Plan a vicious assault and take out a teacher - accidentally or otherwise - and the disciplinary hammer should come down. That is how violent kids change their behavior: Do something way wrong, and you pay a price. The price includes barring the door to the school you disgraced with menace and mayhem. Those are consequences that teach a lesson, that change behavior, that send a message districtwide. Williams sent a different sort of message. I don't know which was worse, the attack in the classroom or the assault on common sense.

What? Military occupation? Civil War? Puppet government? No, looks nothing like Nam, no, not at all.

Wacka!

Does that make him a liberal? Or is he mocking his own assessment of the pre-war situation, even though he was right? Strange post on his part. Sabres are on, I'm out

Iraq is a disaster. Blame Iran Afganistan is a disaster. Blame Pakistan. Why is anyone surprised about this is? Nothing is ever Bush's fault