Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Mel Maki said:

The welcome for the Lockerbie bomber released for "compassionate" reasons is difficult to watch. My link says he should have arrived in a box. Watching our college professor president saying the release was inappropriate wasn't helpful, either.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103326.html

The release was crazy to do and it was disgusting to watch the hero's welcome in Libya, just as the White House said it was. The news reports indicated many of those who hailed his release in Libia were too young to know of him personally so they turned out to hail his "achievement".

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-junk-food-tax23-2009aug23,0,5244082.story
Pay for those extra calories, period. I don't care how many porkers complain or how they have to pay for it. Just do it. Tax 'em extra in North Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama and all the other porker states. Just do it. Now!

Mike Strieber said:

I spent the last week in Scotland on business. As I was working a helicopter flight test and the weather was horrid everyday I had an opportunity to watch the "local" news. I was surprised how in tune they were to US politics. Every broadcast I saw led with US political and economic issues. That was even during the week the UK was bamboozled by Libya and the release of the Lockerbie bomber (they were overwhelmingly against the release BTW). Anyway, it was interesting to see the take on what goes on here. I saw no indication at all of the Obama euphoria many here claim is a feather in his cap (US-Euro relations). It wasn't that negative either but certainly wasn't like our news coverage here that puts him on a pedestal.

Just an observation with no real point.
Mike

BTW, they did copy some things from the Obama economic plan; they have their own version of "cash for clunkers" in the UK. I assume they thought it was a good idea as well.

With respect to news reports elsewhere in the world, my family generally finds coverage to be far more extensive and objective in countries other than our own. My wife, for example, views Russian news reporting on cable and many of the stories are much more in depth than what an American might see on CNN or Fox news.
I suspect the average American is far less informed about events in their own country in comparison to citizens in a number of countries across the globe.

So if you don't like the judge telling you to remove garments interfering with your identity during a name-change, you get to sue 'em? Since when?
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/26/judge-sued-for-allegedly-ordering-woman-to-remove-headscarf/
From what I've seen, this is becomming a trend with respect to the parties involved. Let's hope this frivilous lawsuit gets thrown out of court, along with the hijab...

Anybody else catch John McCain on Larry King Live last night? McCain made me sick. The segment was a tribute to Ted Kennedy and what does McCain do? He turns it into a plug against federal health care overhaul by falsely claiming it funds abortions! Of course none of the proposals do, although I wish they did:
http://www.factcheck.org/2009/07/surgery-for-seniors-vs-abortions/
I mean the guy was purportedly on Larry King Live to pay tribute to the memory of Ted Kennedy as a friend and fellow senator and, instead, everybody gets a boatload of BS.
Geez...

Mike,
My take on it is that there's been a continuing exodus of people from California seeking homes and jobs in Nevada and in neighboring states. I think you're seeing an increase in sales in real estate due to that and low interest rates.

david elosser said:

"On Wednesday, before he addressed a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Reid joined the chamber's board members for a meet-'n'-greet and a photo. One of the last in line was the Review-Journal's director of advertising, Bob Brown, a hard-working Nevadan who toils every day on behalf of advertisers. He has nothing to do with news coverage or the opinion pages of the Review-Journal.

Yet, as Bob shook hands with our senior U.S. senator in what should have been nothing but a gracious business setting, Reid said: "I hope you go out of business.""

"But to fully capture the magnitude of Reid's remark (and to stop him from doing the same thing to others) it must be called what it was -- a full-on threat perpetrated by a bully who has forgotten that he was elected to office to protect Nevadans, not sound like he's shaking them down."

To be honest Mr Frederick, Senator Harry Reid's remark does not surprise me at all. He is the most powerfull man in the Senate, and he has spent his entire career attacking businesses and private citizens like this. And this man claims to be compassionate enough to be in charge of overhauling our health care system. You now see him for what he is, Mr Frederick, I only hope that the rest of Nevada does as well. I hope he goes out of business.

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/56171937.html

David E

Hey, is that the best you can do? The Republicans nearly put the entire world out of business...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090901/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_lockerbie
It's "what's the families thought all along"...

That's the statement from the DAs that successfully prosecuted Pfizer and caused the latter to plead guilty to a criminal count plus paying 2.3 BILLION in settlements:
http://www.comcast.net/articles/finance/20090902/BUSINESS-US-PFIZER-SETTLEMENT/
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125190160702979723.html
http://blog.taragana.com/n/repeat-offender-pfizer-paying-record-23b-settlement-for-illegal-drug-promotions-157859/
In general, attorneys for the government have described how Pfizer "screwed" the taypayers nine ways to Sunday.
IMO, the environment of deregulation, pervasive during 8 years of George W Bush, led to Pfizer doing whatever it wanted whenever it wanted, period. Ditto for Blue Cross in California that reneged and dumped patients who bought their health care plans and then left these patients with huge medical bills for procedures that were approved but were subsequently denied for payment by Blue Cross.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/feb/11/business/fi-bluecross11
IMO, it's what the Republicans and conservatives here in this forum and those in the public just don't get. These companies are NOT your friends nor do they give a rat's butt about you or your health care. Yeah, they are entitled to make a profit but not at your expense. Note that Pfizer will have no trouble absorbing the 2.3 BILLION in losses. Instead of using criminal means, they could have operated honestly and ethically and invested that money in R&D. Every major company has a mission statement and it includes ethical business standards and behavior. Instead, we got the exact opposite from them.
All the more reason and evidence for major health care overhaul and not the minimal and minor changes that Republican congressmen promote that sound good and placate their base. Meanwhile, they support special interests such as Pfizer and other big businesses and promote their agenda while the public suffers as they pull the wool over their eyes...

Mike Strieber said:

I guess they're only bad apples under the Bush administration. Regardless of what the Iraqi government thinks.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32661675/ns/world_news-conflict_in_iraq/
Mike

Mike, It's clear from the article that Blackwater is on their way out and another firm couldn't get it together fast enough to take over. Personally, I'd rather see the money they pay these people go instead to the military in some other manner and let the US armed forces do their job of providing security for US interests at home and abroad. They're trained and skilled to the job and they do well.
I don't understand why the CIA turned to undercover blackwater type ops to do their wet work. I'd really don't care how Al Queda got dead just as long as they got dead but we do have armed forces paid and skilled to do the job.