are they all idiots?

You guys who read my blog are smart, right? I know KRM is, he understands what's going on. Taranis is a smart cookie too. He understands the business I work in. He understands the need for conference centers/resorts.

conference resort = sleeping rooms included (plus catering)

conference center = clients pay a hotel for sleeping rooms and the conference center is not near the sleeping rooms... which means time and travel between center and sleeping rooms and outside catering.

so that means conference resort = more convenient and most of the time less expensive b/c food, beverages, etc are included in the package...

its like the wal-mart supercenter for meeting planners/travel planners, etc. That's who I work for, the "WAL-MART Supercenter for Conferences"

What I'm upset about is these people WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND that if they call off meetings/conferences -IF THEY NEARLY ELIMINATE- the business I work in that it would mean shutting down/crippling other businesses as well. And be another crippling strike to our economy.

I don't normally get all heated up. But people just don't understand that airlines make money, other transportation makes money, local restaurants and other businesses benefit. THE FUCKING COUNTY AND CITY BENEFITS BECAUSE OF THE TAX REVENUE THAT IS GENERATED. those people pay taxes in our cities and counties which gives more money to our schools and roads. They play our Lottos because there is no lottos in thier state so when they are here, they play ours so that gives our state more money!

Do you know who will lose work at my resort?

People who have jobs like setting up the conference room to specifications, the housekeepers that clean the rooms, the front desk personel who checks them in, the cooks in our restaurants, THE OLD MEN WHO WORK DURING THE SUMMER ON OUR GOLF COURSE TO HELP SUPPLEMENT THIER RETIREMENT INCOME, The young men who want an outside job during the summer, the souse chef interning, the old lady who likes kids and works for our child activities program to supplement her income, the assistant who wants to be a teacher and uses our program for extra experience before she goes into the classroom while in college, the massage therapists, the bartenders and pinsetters (we have a bowling alley), i could go on forever.......

Guess who else will lose work?

I can guarantee that over half of the office personnel would be laid off/fired. There wouldn't be a need for so many planners with no companies having meetings so they would go first. And with no meetings there would be no need for 2 of us AR girls so one of us would have to go and there might not be enough work for even 1 us so the other's hours would be cut to parttime instead of fulltime. MAYBE if the person left is lucky they would get to stay fulltime. And all the other people who work in the office, i'm sure they could and would find jobs to consolidate because there would be less to do. So for every 2 jobs consolidated you'd have 1 person laid off.

And how many conference centers/resorts are there?? That's alot of people that would lose thier jobs. That's alot of schools that would lose money. CPS is broke as it is. DO they really need less money??

C'mon stop being idiots! Stop calling for my industry to go up in flames. For it to burn into a pile of rubble that no one would be able to re-build.

We've already lost the Auto Industry, they stopped having thier sales conferences to kick off the new quarters and year ends, etc. That was a huge slice of our revenue.

Not to mention the housing/land market the way it is. We've lost the developers as well. No more developers conventions with builders, etc. That was a nice slice of revenue too. We use to be so busy the 2 of us AR girls we had someone filing for us so we could concentrate on billing and making our clients happy. Now we struggle to find something to do!!

Give us back our developers. Give us back the auto industry and for the love of a healthy economy, don't take away the banks and other investment type firms...

i'm so excited

I just can't hide it. I want I want I want I want I want you to know......

by this time Friday (not to be confused with today friday) we will be in the last leggs (hopefully Drake won't be too much of a pain in the ass) of the 1st part of trip and be VERY close to Dropping off the "kids" at Hephaestus' house.

I hate to brag... but you know I think I deserve my vacation to Florida and the trips between Here and There to visit my Family in ARKANSAS...

On another note: if I didn't know any better I'd have to say that today was one of the worst days ever.

1st off I was informed by HR person that my next check (2 weeks out) would be paper... NOT direct deposited. Why do you ask? Well, I got a new bank account at a National Bank Chain (money back on my purchases, higher interest rate on my savings & CDs... who wouldn't switch?? I'm all for getting more money in my pocket and having a Branch in most states that I visit JUST in case and ofcourse the headquarters are in FLORIDA)

ok, back to my pissy morning... She tells me that my next check will be paper and I can pick it up on Friday from Akira... PROBLEM! I WILL FUCKING BE IN FLORIDA. And even bigger problem... I HAVE DIRECT DEBIT AUTO PAYMENTS ON MY FURNITURE AND INSURANCE. Son of a BITCH! this sucks.

I put in a change request and I do believe I mentioned that I need my DP to STAY in the old bank until the NEW bank started... So Akira (she's my hero) called up Homeoffice and talked to them. They put in an emergency overide so my $$$ will go into the NEW bank *phew* that was scary (I can call and do a telephone transfer if necessary between banks). Savannah said that she would deposit it for me on her lunch break if needed. I <3>"Circus" by the Lovely Britney Spears...

there's only two types of people in the world
the ones that entertain
and the ones that observe

well baby I'm a put-on-a-show kinda girl
dont like the backseat
gotta be first

I'm like the ringleader
I call the shots
I'm like a fire cracker
I make it hot
when I put on a show

I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins
spotlight on me and I'm ready to break
I'm like a performer, the dancefloor is my stage
better be ready, hope that ya feel the same

all eyes on me in the center of the ring
just like a circus
when I crack that whip, everybody gonna trip
just like a circus
don't stand there watching me
follow me, show me what you can do
everybody let go, we can make a dance floor
just like a circus

there's only two types of guys out there
Ones that can hang with me
and ones that are scared
so baby, I hope that you came prepared
I run a tight ship, so beware

I'm like the ringleader
I call the shots
I'm like a fire cracker
I make it hot
when I put on a show

I feel the adrenaline moving through my veins
spotlight on me and I'm ready to break
I'm like a performer, the dancefloor is my stage
better be ready, hope that ya feel the same

all eyes on me in the center of the ring
just like a circus
when I crack that whip, everybody gonna trip
just like a circus
don't stand there watching me
follow me, show me what you can do
everybody let go, we can make a dance floor
just like a circus

let's go
let me see what you can do
I'm running this (like,like a circus)
yeah, like a what (like a circus)

Chorus 2x

admit it, ya'll think this bitch (me) is crazy...

Want to see an industry go up in flames real fast?

Let John Kerry get his way...

This hits home for me because I work for a conference resort and if what he wants succeeds we would lose alot of business and all those people would be out of work...

John Kerry Wants to Ban Conferences | Meetings Podcast:

"Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) has announced plans to introduce legislation that would prevent companies that have received bailout funding from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events. The bill will affect any companies that have received government help under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

“I’m sick and tired of picking up the newspaper and reading about another idiotic abuse of taxpayer money while our country is on the brink,” Kerry said. “Americans who play by the rules are losing their jobs and struggling to pay their mortgages. The companies that came to Congress in desperate need of help to stay afloat become their own worst enemies when they pull stunts like this. It’s an embarrassment that this legislation is necessary, but some companies clearly need a reality check to get their priorities straight so taxpayer money is used to get their house in order and not to pay for lavish parties. Congress has zero tolerance for this kind of excess.”

Companies may seek waivers under the proposal from the U.S. Secretary of Treasury for events that the recipients believe are directly related to business operations. The secretary would have 30 days to respond. Violations will require company CEOs to reimburse the federal government for the cost of the event and pay a US$100,000 fine.

Dear Mr. Kerry

I understand that you are having a knee jerk reaction to companies meeting because of the bad apples out there. But as the Jackson Five sang “one bad apple does not spoil the whole bunch of girls.” It’s insane you are lumping all the industry events and meetings together in one pile for these bail-out companies? We all hate to see companies taking advantage of events and meetings but the companies that are taking money from the taxpayers are the ones that need to meet the most! They need to meet face to face to get things on track in a timely manner.

Does the government still meet in one place or do they do it virtually? Because our country is in a mess of trouble and I think the government has been in charge. And we are still paying them (you)? Are you canceling all government meetings?

Making legislation to not allow any meetings is ludicrous and such a knee jerk reaction makes me cringe. I say this with all due respect but you are piling everything into one. Like grouping people who believe in Islam makes them terrorists; like Governor Palin lumping all the countries in Africa as one country.

You will drive this country down with this sort of legislation. Who do you think makes the money from these meetings? I know! Think about all the people involved with meetings and events? The staffs at the different airlines; baggage handlers; sky caps; taxi drivers; servers; bell men; housekeeping staffs; meeting planners; bartenders, and etc. Yes Mr. Kerry, that money would go back to the taxpayers, stimulating the economy as it was supposed to do!

Mr. Kerry things are bad enough! Don’t help it along with your knee jerk legislation.

I am sure you have several meetings to go to anyway…..

Mike"

What do you think about this mess? ME, I'm afraid for my job more than ever now...

If we can elect a BLACK President

Then Lesbians and Gays should be allowed to be married!!!!

What the HELL is wrong with you, America?? Denying 2 men or 2 women the right to have the same benefits as man/women is WRONG. Especially seeing as how your "so liberal" you vote in a black president.

Those of you who voted against Lesbians and Gays to be married make me sick.

It's All Just a Huge Popularity Contest

It's like being in highschool. The only person who got voted for class president is the person who was the most "popular".

And seeing as how Obama went on MTV and most of his voters were either black or in thier 20s just tells us what really happened.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not hating. I didn't vote for him or McCain. And I didn't vote for Bush (either of them) --I HONESTLY have NOT voted for a Republican OR Democrat since my 1st time to vote and that was for Al Gore. Since he won the popular vote but lost the electorial votes and they gave it all to Bush Jr I figured I didn't matter anyways and decided to go for other folks. Atleast then I was voting for someone without it haunting me.

Last time it was Kucinich. This year, I opted out. I'm not going to play highschool bullshit games.

Give me a person WORTHY of my vote and I'll vote again. Until then: stay out my face with your bullshit politics, America.

work for your candy, damnit!!!

don't let people be lazy fuckers!!!

freakin criminy

are you serious? are you kidding me? wont say the pledge of allegiance and they want him in office?!! that should be a criteria for being our President. If you can't say the pledge of allegiance and you can't..speachless..i can understand the not swearing on a bible, I'm not christian (and i'm not anti christian either so lets just get that out of the way right now) but seriously, the rest of this shit...

oh never mind forget anything i ever said about maybe voting for Obama... Now that It's either Him or McCain I guess I'm either going to abstain from Voting or go for McCain... I can't vote for someone who refuses to do such things as stand by our country and pledge their allegiance to our country.. How in Hades did this man even become a candidate?

I really hope there is someone else on our Ballot, an alternative to McCain and Obama.

I think I'll vote for the Pilot

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain were flying to a debate.

Barack looked at Hillary, chuckled and said, "You know I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy."

Hillary shrugged her shoulders and replied, 'I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy.'

John added, 'That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy.'

Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his copilot, 'Such big-shots back there. I could throw all three of them out of the window and make 156 million people very happy.'

i've been thinking about what i saw last night

and it brings me this question(s):

how can our government OUR PRESIDENT to be specific, think we're all SO much better and need to invade foreign countries, start wars and mess with foreign affairs and "feed thier homeless" and make thier lives so much better when WE have issues in our backyards. families that are homeless on the streets. babys that have no food to eat. women who felt like they had no one else to turn to so they raise thier children in slums and have sex with men for money to feed thier kids.

what about americans? what about our country? quit looking across the ocean for troubles to fix. quit sending our money to them and giving THEM something! give back to our own. help our own homeless and hungry children.

I think i need to help do something about this...how do I go about it. Maybe I should run for president... (when I get old enough) but what do I do, in the mean time?

I never thought I'd say this...

but instead of boycotting election day (which is just stupid, btw) I decided to do some research on the top candidates, it's down to Obama & Clinton for the Democratic nominee (Obama leading) and McCain has clinched the Republican. I've never voted Republican and I thought I was going to...but I think I'm going the route of Obama myself. and that's what I never thought i'd say. I figured that I'd go with Hillary since I liked Bill so much in office. But some of her plans and her ideas, I don't know, just doesn't sound right. I mean, her and Obama have the same stands pretty much on most of the issues but thier METHODs are different. And his methods that he proposes I seem to like alot better and so I guess if I'm gonna vote this year I'm going with a black man. I thought i'd rather see a woman in the office. I know I don't want to see McCain in office he seems just like another GWB to me.

So my whole point is: I'm gonna stay Democratic. And If Obama wins the Democratic Nominee I will vote for him. I think the reason why I was so reluctant to do so before is because he's black. (ok, mixed) and I really wanted Hillary to do better than she has but I've changed my mind.

So there you have it, the one and only comment I'm gonna make on this Presidential Election.

Back to our reguarly shcedule program...

Charlie Daniels: An Open Letter to Reid and Pelosi

Charlie Daniels: An Open Letter to Reid and Pelosi: "The following is from a man The Bull truly admires. (Something that id rare when it comes to entertainers.) Charlie Daniels. He posted the following open letter on his forum on Friday. Sometimes I wonder that if Charlie were to be cut if he would bleed red, white, and blue.

Charlie, you are a true American. I am a life-long fan and have admired you since I met you many years ago in Greenville, SC.

Bull, out.

Posted: Fri Feb 16th, 2007 06:40 pm

An Open Letter to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi

Dear Sir and Madam,
You have said often enough that you don’t believe in the war in Iraq and that you want to bring the troops home. Yet all you do is talk and sign non-binding resolutions which only goes to show that you really don’t mean what you say about ending the war or that you’re just playing political games and in doing so giving aid and comfort to a dedicated enemy.

Now if you’re serious about ending the war you have the means and the votes to do just that. Simply cut off the funding for the troops, bring them all home and the American people can transfer the deed to this war and the ramifications of what you do to the Democrat party and you can live with the results.

You say you support the troops, but that has to be a lie. If you supported them and you truly think the war is wrong, you’d bring them home or either dispense with the poisonous rhetoric and get in behind them and help them get the job done.

You can’t have it both ways. If you support the troops do something. Your party won a majority in both houses, so you have control so take the responsibility."

Wouldn’t it be nice?

Wouldn’t it be nice?: "WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S.PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?

My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed. Since Congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete. "

Innovative Americans

The following in quotes was not wrote by me, but an opinion of a friend of mine in his words. Just sharing.

This sort of thing is why one should never discount the chances of the US to succeed in anything - if the anal retentive pencil-pushers who generally run things will merely avoid screwing things up and simply let their people do the job with that innovative American spirit. We bested Japan in WW II largely because we figured out new ways to do things fast and well (like getting around our very limited ship building capacity in our coastal cities by preassembling large portions of the ship in modular fashion in the Midwest and shipping these large chunks to the coasts for assembly rather than having to fully construct them there from scratch - and thereby getting around the otherwise crippling effect on our Navy arising from the Pearl Harbor attack).

"The Snake Eater
Give our troops the tools our cops have.

BY DANIEL HENNINGER
Thursday, February 8, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST

Subject: A case study of how the U.S. got bogged down in Iraq.

Problem: If a cop in Anytown, USA, pulls over a suspect, he checks the person's ID remotely from the squad car. He's linked to databases filled with Who's Who in the world of crime, killing and mayhem. In Iraq, there is nothing like that. When our troops and the Iraqi army enter a town, village or street, what they know about the local bad guys is pretty much in their heads, at best.

Solution: Give our troops what our cops have. The Pentagon knows this. For reasons you can imagine, it hasn't happened.

This is a story of can-do in a no-can-do world, a story of how a Marine officer in Iraq, a small network-design company in California, a nonprofit troop-support group, a blogger and other undeterrable folk designed a handheld insurgent-identification device, built it, shipped it and deployed it in Anbar province. They did this in 30 days, from Dec. 15 to Jan. 15. Compared to standard operating procedure for Iraq, this is a nanosecond."

Now if we can just get to the point of getting everyone to understand the long term survival necessity of doing the job in this current World War.


Some people have to get over the fact that the US elected GWB twice and focus on the fact that a large and well funded foreign movement wants to institute upon the US a system where women wear Hefty bags after their clitorectomies, gays are summarily executed, and the general run of the mill infidels - these very people being the prime examples - are simply beheaded (and no, that movement is not the Southern Baptist Conference, the Missouri Synod of the Methodists or the Roman Catholic Church). These people have trouble understanding that anyone believes in their religion enough to actually try to implement it - other than the wretched Evangelical Taliban who do such inane things as insisting that parents, in a system where the school can not give a child an Aspirin without consent forms signed in triplicate, ought to be informed before the school counselor takes their teen aged daughter over to Planned Parenthood for an abortion or that Planned Parenthood ought to have to cooperate with authorities in prosecuting the adult males who have impregnated substantially underage girls. It is doubly ironic that these same people are generally highly activist themselves, yet fail to recognize that their activism comes, not simply from greater enlightenment than the inbred, mouth breathing, Bible-thumpers of Jesusland, but rather arises out of their own religious convictions (secular humanism or scientific rationalism or whatever one wishes to call it being every bit as much a faith based belief system as any deity or spiritually oriented religion). and these people are acting upon their religious beliefs in precisely the same manner as they excoriate Christians for doing. It seems to me that, in a worldview where there are not supposed to be any moral absolutes and everyone is free to determine their own moral compass points, the only real "sin: left is hypocrisy; and it is highly ironic that these people can't even see that hey have made rank hypocrisy their very own way of life.

Fw: valentine's

Little Melissa comes home from first grade and tells her father that they learned about the history of Valentine's Day.

 

"Since Valentine's Day is for a Christian saint and we're Jewish," she asks, "will God get mad at me for giving someone a valentine?"

 

Melissa's father thinks a bit, then says "No, I don't think God would get mad. Who do you want to give a Valentine to?"

 

"Osama Bin Laden," she says.

 

"Why Osama Bin Laden," her father asks in shock.

 

"Well," she says, "I thought that if a little American Jewish girl could have enough love to give Osama a Valentine, he might start to think that maybe we're not all bad, and maybe start loving people a little bit.

And if other kids saw what I did and sent Valentines to Osama, he'd love everyone a lot. And then he'd start going all over the place to tell everyone how much he loved them and how he didn't hate anyone anymore."

 

Her father's heart swells and he looks at his daughter with new found pride. "Melissa, that's the most wonderful thing I've ever heard."

 

"I know," Melissa says, "and once that gets him out in the open, the Marines could shoot the fucker."

Public Forum

Not just one State but ALL of them! Any assistance at all.

Death of a Dictator

So, I'm sitting at the bar lastnight, and I hear "Jenny, look on the TV" and I look up and its no longer the LaCrosse games, its news coverage about how CNN was waiting for the Official word of Saddam's death. That he is to be hung.

In silence (except for the Juke Box turned low) we watch the tv. No one is really saying much. This goes on for about 10-15 mins, then cheers ring through out the bar. Its official, he was hung. Comments about the various ways he SHOULD have been executed ringing through the air, but there are veterans with tears in there eyes of joy and a unanimous relief & excitement that the Dictator's life is over. Toby Keith's "Red White & Blue" (see end for lyrics) ring through out the bar: cranked on the Juke and everyone singing.

And there were rounds bought on the house, below the house and for the house! A dictator is dead. Thank-you sweet Justice.

~!~!~!~!~
One of my cousins was sent back over, to Bagdad. Not to long before Christmas. I've always supported our Soldiers and their actions, I havn't always supported our President's. But capturing Saddam was one thing out of this war to help make it a little easier to go on about it, for me personaly. And his death lastnight, makes it worth it a little more. I wish he would have died on American soil, that it would have been our Soldiers giving him his final breath. But he is dead now. And we can't be picky when it comes to those things.

I can't keep track of how many Head Terrorists, etc have been captured, killed, found DOA or whatever. But I do know, that with each one of them that is out of the picture more come into the picture to take the place of the fallen one. Some of these are nastier and meaner the ones before, its inevitable. But I have faith in the Men & Women of America, and I have faith that they will do whatever is necessary
to help bring peace.

JR isn't going out peace the best way, but I can say this, he showed more control than I would have. If I was president when 9-11 happened, I would have sent troops over to air raid and just demolish the whole fucking land. Kill them all and let the gods sort em out. But that's irrational thinking, and it would definatly not be the best way. And who is to say that someone, somewhere wouldn't do the same to us.

And one more thing about Saddam, the Soldiers who captured him, they must have had control of steel to not kill him then & there. I salute you for being the better men & women than he was. Its not always easy being strong, and your the strongest & bravest people I've known, Our Soldiers.

The life and death of Saddam Hussein
By: Rebecca Spitz

Saddam Hussein was executed in Iraq Friday night. Hussein's death caps a long history of power in the Middle East. Saddam Hussein was born April 28, 1937 in the Northern Iraqi City of Tikrit, the son of Sunni Muslim peasants. He married his second cousin and had three daughters and two sons, Uday and Qusay.

Saddam first became involved in the Iraqi Nationalist Movement as a student in the 1950s, joining the Baath Party.

After Iraq's King Faisal was assassinated, Saddam was briefly forced into exile -- first in Syria, then Egypt. He returned when the Baath Party first took control of Iraq in 1963.

After years of turmoil, the party consolidated its hold on Iraq, and Hussein began rising to power. He became a general In 1976 and president three years later. Hussein invaded Iran in 1980, setting off an eight-year war during which Hussein was accused of using mustard gas and chemical weapons.

In March of 1988, he authorized the use of poison gas against the Kurds in northern Iraq. Two years later, Iraq invaded Kuwait -- an action which led to the first Gulf War. Iraq was quickly defeated and faced a decade of UN sanctions, weapons inspections, and even airstrikes by US and British warplanes. Then came the events of September 11.

Saddam Hussein was executed in Iraq Friday night. Hussein's death caps a long history of power in the Middle East. Our Rebecca Spitz takes a look at his life as the Iraqi president and a brutal dictator.

After the campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan, pressure mounted against Hussein. In November of 2002, the UN security council passed resolution 1441, calling for tougher inspections and threatening serious consequences if Saddam refused to comply.

There was one final round of weapons inspections. It turned up no new weapons, but inspectors said the Hussein government was not fully cooperative.

Finally in March of 2003, the US and Britain led an invasion, beginning with a decapitation strike on the dictator and some of his top aides. Baghdad fell within weeks.

In July, Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed by coalition troops and their bodies were shown in public. As the hunt for Saddam continued, many were skeptical the former dictator would ever be found. But that changed on Sunday, Dec. 14 when US Administrator Paul Bremer made an unexpected announcement.

"We got him," he said.

Saddam was arraigned before a judge and went on trial in 2005, charged in the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in 1982. He admitted to ordering trials for the Shiites who were eventually executed. But he insisted it was legal. Through months of court proceedings, Saddam remained defiant, going on hunger strikes and shouting at prosecutors. In November a tribunal announced a guilty verdict for the 1982 killings and sentenced Saddam to hang. That fate was cleared earlier this week, when Iraq's highest court rejected his appeals and ordered that Saddam be hanged within 30 days.

The former Iraqi dictator was executed Friday around 10 p.m. In the final hours of his life, his attorneys did file another appeal, this time in American courts. That's where they argued over who technically had custody of Hussein, whether it was the United States or the Government of Iraq. That appeal was denied.

The Pentagon says Hussein's execution will likely lead to a spike in violence across the country.

Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)
by Toby Keith

American girls and American guys will always stand up and salute;
Will always recognize
When we see ol' glory flying,
There's a lot of men dead,
So we can sleep in peace at night when we lay down our head.

My daddy served in the army,
Where he lost his right eye.
But he flew a flag out in our yard 'til the day that he died.
He wanted my mother, my brother, my sister and me
To grow up and live happy in the land of the free.

Now this nation that I love has fallen under attack.
A mighty sucker punch came flying in from somewhere in the back.
Soon as we could see clearly through our big black eye,
Man we lit up your world like the Fourth of July.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
It's gonna feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

Oh, Justice will be served and the battle will rage.
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage
You'll be sorry that you messed with the US of A
'Cuz we'll put a boot in your ass
It's the American way.

Hey Uncle Sam put your name at the top of his list,
And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
And the eagle will fly,
And there's gonna be Hell,
When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell!
And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you...
Brought to you courtesy of the Red, White and Blue!

Of the Red, White and Blue..
Of my Red, White and Blue...

Soldiers' widows sue for pagan symbols on headstones

MADISON, Wisconsin--The Star of David is OK, as are more than a dozen variations of the Christian cross. Even the atomic whirl used by atheists gets the thumbs-up from the federal government.

But a Wiccan symbol representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit isn't recognized by the federal government for veterans' grave markers.

A federal lawsuit filed Monday accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans because the government does not allow its symbol on headstones in national cemeteries.

"I honestly think there must be some people who don't want to acknowledge that the Wiccan religion should be entitled to the same rights as other religions," said Selena Fox, who is senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wisconsin.

Roberta Stewart, a widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan last year, has waged her own personal war to see the Wiccan pentacle placed on the tombstone of her husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was rebuffed by federal veterans' officials when she sought approval to affix the pentacle to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Nevada, but state officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

Stewart said she had the plight of other families in mind when she decided to file the lawsuit. Joining her are Karen DePolito, of Utah, whose husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a Korean War veteran who died last year; Circle Sanctuary; and Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military personnel based in Geyserville, California.

The lawsuit claims the VA has made "excuse after excuse" for more than nine years for not approving the pentacle, and argues that constitutional rights of freedom of speech, religion and due process have been violated by the department's not acting on requests to allow the symbol.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Madison and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, seeks an order compelling the VA to make a decision.

The VA issued a statement Monday that outlined the procedure under way to create uniform standards under which new symbols can be accepted, but did not comment on the lawsuit itself.

Legal papers filed by attorneys for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group, said it makes no sense for Wiccans to be excluded.

The Army allows Wiccan soldiers to list their faith on dog tags, Wiccan organizations are allowed to hold services on military installations and the Army Chaplains Handbook includes an explanation of the religion, attorneys said.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves "white" or good witches, pagans or neo-pagans. Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.

Hackers Unite... Ranting, Ideas... Terrorists

First of all, here is a wonderful Idea by one of my fave DJs in Arkansas. To express this Idea, here is our emails this morning.

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FROM ME

Hi,

I'm originally from Clarksville, AR and now live in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, IL. Through your streaming radio I am able to listen to the Edge at work here in the burbs. Absolutely love you guys.

Anyways, I was just wanting to say that I think what you said this morning about Hackers gettin into thier Financial stuff and reaking havok is a wonderful idea.

Thanks for being awesome and rock hard
Jenny in the Burbs of Chicago
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FROM TESSA

Hey - thanks for listening!

I'm glad you found merit with my idea!

I think we have a wealth of people here in the US who could do these "terrorists" some damage, and first and foremost are the hackers. Look what a couple of "punk kids" could do with military files? I say whoever the government or police force may have gathered up of these hackers should be offered the chance to work for the public. Give them a portion of whatever they "reroute", and I think many would be jumping at the chance. Extend the offer to the public...see if any other hackers may want to get on board.

It's time for a little Hammarabian justice, if you know what I mean.

Tessa

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She's definatly got something there, I believe. What do you think?

BREAKING NEWS: Terrorist plane plot foiled

10 August 2006
A TERRORIST plot to blow up planes in mid-flight from the UK to the US has been averted.

Scotland Yard said the plan was to detonate explosive liquid devices smuggled onto planes in hand luggage.

Security has now been stepped up across all UK airports and Heathrow has stopped all in coming flights into the airport.

Overnight police have arrested a number of people in London following a counter-terrorist operation lasting several months.

President Bush Delivers Remarks on Stem Cell Research Policy

He is full of shit. Thier not wanting to use those embryos that are still viable and waiting adoption/plantation. they are wanting to use the embryos that are GOING to be destroyed. The ones NO ONE will beable to use anymore or wants to use!

I, as everyone knows, am against Abortion. HOWEVER, I am also for the use of these embryos that are scheduled for destruction to use in stem cell research.

Once again, this just proves how moronic (and this is just my opinion) Bush JR can be.

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President Bush Delivers Remarks on Stem Cell Research Policy: "BUSH: Good afternoon.
Congress has just passed and sent to my desk two bills concerning the use of stem cells in biomedical research. These bills illustrate both the promise and perils we face in the age of biotechnology."

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Let me make a clarification here...the Embryos I speak of are those that are created due to couples not being able to have children on thier own and have used invitro as an option.

FOXNews.com - Presidential Blockades of Stem-Cell Research and Security Clearance

FOXNews.com - Presidential Blockades of Stem-Cell Research and Security Clearance - : "LOS ANGELES - Have you or anyone in your family been touched by Parkinson's disease, diabetes or spinal-cord injuries?

If the answer is yes, you may be one of the 72 percent of Americans who, according to polls released by supporters, favor the very modest legislation now passed by Congress to allow somewhat greater support for embryonic stem-cell research. The legislation, that is, that President Bush vetoed.

Why would a president whose popularity ratings are at historic lows veto legislation supported by close to three-quarters of the country which does no more than allow researchers to work on stem-cell lines created from embryos that would have been destroyed anyway?

Principle, you say. ...

If you can find a principle here, good luck.

The legislation passed by the Senate this week is so limited as to almost be laughable. It doesn't allow scientists to create new embryonic material from a patient's own cells, which may be the most promising route to curing diseases: Such 'embryos' would have no chance of ever growing into a fetus, but could provide the genetic material to help cure the person's disease. But the Senate legislation doesn't allow that."