Happy New Year

The new year is upon us and America has many great opportunities ahead of her. New adventures and new possibilities for our nation to reach for the stars. There are so many new beginnings that we could undertake that our future is very bright. All we have to do is reach for it and it could be our path.

All it takes is the human mind to conceive and it is in fact a possibility to realize the idea is and can be a reality. This works for technology and it also works for world peace. In the last twenty years science has crossed so many barriers and hurdles that the human mind could not believe it possible but we did it.

There are so many things that I hope our worlds greatest minds tackle and solve in the next year. Alzheimer’s disease would be a great start. Losing the minds of our greatest generations no matter what era they lived in is a horror for any family to deal with. Parkinson’s disease would be another one. Muscular Dystrophy would be another one that it would be amazingly euphoric to say that the last case in the world was cured. Or we could look at the energy needs of the world and tackle the simplest question of what is the next level of alternative energy sources other than drilling wells deeper and or in places that harm the environment. Maybe somebody can figure out a plan to the problems of climate change and global warming and find out what we need to do to make sure our children and their descendents are going to be okay.

With the hanging of Saddam Hussein behind us and knowing that one less monster is in the world it has to get better from here. 2007 has to start off better than the troubles of 2006 and the world terrorist situation. Hopefully, all our troops will be coming home for good soon from Iraq but that is up to the man in the White House, President Bush.

Our future is bright, we just have to focus on the right path and move forward. Moving forward is what Americans do. It isn’t worth our time to look back other than to know what mistakes not to make. It is ultimately up to us to do what we need to do so lets just do it. I think we can.

God bless and I hope and pray that your new year brings you many wonderful adventures and prosperity. Great health and wealth to all.

Papamoka

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America Salutes President Gerald R. Ford

With the ceremony and respect a former President of the United States deserves America is laying to rest the man that saved us from the horrors of a former President that lost his way. President Ford was a great statesman and a good friend to many people on both sides of the political isle. In hind sight most political analysts honestly believe that no other politician and leader could have accomplished what he did for the nation.

Now we salute a proud servant and a great American President by saying our last goodbyes with the dignity and respect he and his family deserve.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Dec. 30 — After a ceremony of minimal pomp, a presidential jet bearing the body of Gerald R. Ford soared Saturday morning toward a rising sun and headed for Washington, where the former president will lie in state beneath the Capitol rotunda and be honored with a state funeral.

A 30-car motorcade pulled to the side of an Air Force 747 — one of the planes normally designated as Air Force One when the president is aboard — and was flanked by ceremonial troops from the four branches of the military and the Coast Guard. For this mission, the 747 was designated Special Air Mission 29000 — a reference to the tail number used by all presidential jets.

Mr. Ford’s widow, Betty, 88, was the last family member to emerge from the vehicles and, wearing dark sunglasses against the sunshine and a black dress and blazer, stood on the arm of Maj. Gen. Guy C. Swan III, the commanding general of the joint military task force who has escorted her through the funeral proceedings that began with a private church service on Friday.

(Snip)

More than a dozen family members walked to the aircraft and climbed a staircase to board, but Mrs. Ford returned to the Lincoln Continental sedan that had ferried her to the airport. She was driven to the other side of the plane where, largely out of camera view, she climbed into a wheelchair and was pushed up a ramp to board the plane. - New York Times

I was watching the live coverage of President Ford’s casket arriving at the Capitol on the television this evening and the commentators did a great job at CBS. Recalling facts and quotes of the late President were right on the money for the coverage. Bob Schiefer, who covered President Ford while he was President gave some great anecdotes and comments of the President when he was in office. One fact I did not know was that President Ford and President Carter became close friends after they were both out of office. So much so that they made a personal pact that whomever passed away first that the other would speak at the service for the other. If these two political adversaries could find a friendship then we as Americans need to find the friendships across the isle. Lessons of life I guess.

Our nations nightmare is over. Words that President Ford spoke so many years ago that at the time were just a band aid on the political scene that was America then. This American from the Liberal side of the political isle thanks him for his service and wonders out loud where the Statesman like him are today?

Papamoka

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Looking for Boston's Progressive Talk?

In the nations capitol of liberalism and birth place of patriotism and democrats the voice of Air America was silenced recently by Clear Channel in Boston. Without warning listeners were rudely awoken to a venue change in programming to all Spanish music. Gone are the righteous banter of the Young Turks in the morning drive slot, gone is The Stephanie Miller show and the hillarious content and quick wit of the producers and co-hosts of the show for mid morning. Gone is The Al Franken Show with his comical relief to all of the issues that the right dares to claim sovereinty over. Ed Shultz, the football player with a strong liberal and moral opinion based on reason is gone for the drive home. Randi Rhodes with her in your face attitude towards what is the right path to travel is now silent. Doctor Rachel Maddow, a Massachusette resident and national radio personality is no longer heard in Boston.

There is hope and it has to come from the people listening to Air America on a daily basis. Or for that matter that used to be able to listen to Air America. Below is the request for help. The quest to get our Air America progressive talk radio back has begun.

Our voice, the voice of Boston, Eastern Massachusetts and Providence, R.I. was once at AM1200(WKOX) and AM1430 (WSKS). Now it is silent, and thousands of Progressives in the Boston, Fall River and Providence area are left without an outlet for our political and social thought. While the region has over ten conservative talk radio stations, truly media saturation, the population is left without balance.

At 12noon [on December 21, 2006], Clear Channel changed AM1200 and AM1430 content to Spanish music.

How does the bluest city in the bluest state in the union lose their progressive talk station? Well, lack of passion or dedication to the product/format, lack of local programming, lack of local advertising, a weak radio signal (which Clear Channel boosted AFTER the format change even though Boston Progressive Talk listeners had begged for the advancement for two years), a station basically set to "autopilot" in operations, and deliberate and conscious neglect by Clear Channel are big reasons.

Progressive Talk listeners in the Boston, Fall River and Providence area are large, passionate, dedicated and hungry for a radio station that reflects their thoughts and values. If given a "real" chance a Progressive Talk radio station would flourish.

Loyal listeners are meeting, brainstorming and planning for the future at groups.yahoo.com/group/Save_progressive_radio_boston

Join US!

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Thanks for you help and continued support! Forward this blog to all your friends in New England and across the nation.

Papamoka

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Saddam Hussein is Dead

The Iraqi people tried Saddam Hussein for his crimes against his own people and they hanged him for it. Saddan Hussein is dead. Justice is served with and for the people of Iraq and their own judges and hearings made it so. This will not by any means make our troops mission any easier. The target on the United States Military uniform will be wider and even more defined and I don't like that fact.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three years after he was hauled from a hole in the ground by pursuing U.S. forces, Saddam Hussein was hanged Saturday under a sentence imposed by an Iraqi court, an Iraqi official told NBC News.

The deposed president was found guilty over the killing of 148 members of the Shiite population of the town of Dujail after militants tried to assassinate him there in 1982, during Iraq’s war with Shiite Iran.

Asked if Saddam were dead, the official in the Iraqi prime minister's office said, “Yes, the body of Saddam Hussein is in front of me.” -MSNBC

Even though Saddam was sentenced to death by his own people it will still lash back at America for any given reason. I'm glad the bastard was put to death but I fear for all of our military participants in Iraq.

Papamoka

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Energy From the Wind

In my home I have those energy saving fluorescent soft serve ice cream cone bulbs in all the lamps and lights. When I first started buying them for the house the wife went nuts on me but I was looking at a huge electric bill every month. It is important to me as an individual to use energy efficient household items where ever I can. I went and bought a tank-less gas water heater and had it installed. The endless supply of hot water on demand is awesome when you have five daughters taking showers and your last in line. I bought a wood pellet stove before they were even remotely popular and enjoy endless hours of renewable energy heat. We bought the top of the line front loading energy and water efficient washer and dryer set.

Is the up front cost worth it? I tend to think so. Then again I am a long term thinker when it comes to the cost of my energy use. The month to month cost is by far cheaper to operate than conventional household items. Needless to say I am a huge proponent of electricity generated from the wind.

It’s Free, Plentiful and Fickle

Wind, almost everybody’s best hope for big supplies of clean, affordable electricity, is turning out to have complications.

Engineers have cut the price of electricity derived from wind by about 80 percent in the last 20 years, setting up this renewable technology for a major share of the electricity market. But for all its promise, wind also generates a big problem: because it is unpredictable and often fails to blow when electricity is most needed, wind is not reliable enough to assure supplies for an electric grid that must be prepared to deliver power to everybody who wants it — even when it is in greatest demand. - New York Times

They make some great points in this article but I think that everyone involved is missing the big picture. Energy from the wind is not going to ever replace the main source of power to the electric grid. That is just common sense. Wind power is generated to infrequently to be a reliable source and I know it and so do the electric utilities. This nation or any other will never go completely free of coal, nuclear, natural gas or oil burning power generating facilities. I do have to say that every megawatt of energy created from the wind is better for this nation and the planet.

Carbon dioxide generated by coal, natural gas and oil burning generating plants are a huge contributor to global warming no matter how you look at it. I won’t even mention the problem with nuclear power generation! Wind power cuts that contribution to the atmosphere and the source of the power is free. Much like the family member we all have and love wind power generation is not reliable enough to take the lion share of the task at hand. It was truly never meant to do that and that is a fact.

Papamoka

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Just Thoughts

I read recently that Butterflies only tast with their feet. I'm thankfull that I am not a Butterfly! When I can smell my feet after work I wonder how many butterflies would want to be near me?

This week James Brown passed away. The true Godfather of Soul Music is gone. God bless him and let him rock on in heaven.

President Gerald Ford passed away this week. Not many people give him credit but he alone restored the Predidency of the United States after Nixon. Our nation was lost and he alone gave it back to us. The trust he rebuilt was what we needed. My personal condolences go out to his wife and family. I also thank them for his service to our nation.

Papamoka

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Pulling Out of Iraq… Slowly. Shhh, Don’t Tell Anyone!

Don’t tell anyone that lives in Iraq what I am about to tell you. This is top secret stuff so Mum is the word. The beginning of the end of the War in Iraq has started. Shhhhhhh! Basically, all of them smart political guys on the left side of the isle have a plan that will work to save our nation from the misery that is the War in Iraq and a workable exit strategy. What ever you do, you can not tell anyone that this story was in the New York Times. Wink, wink, wink.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Wednesday it will send about 3,500 troops to Kuwait to serve as a standby force for use in Iraq or elsewhere in the region. The Bush administration is weighing force increases as it considers alternative strategies in Iraq.

The deployment order was sent to a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. -New York Times

In reality there is no way for this President to exit Iraq without politically looking weak. Politically, he has to pull out or the new Congress is going to do it for him. I give President Bush credit for finally listening to the nation and facing his own demons. America is in a catch 22 scenario in Iraq and everyone and every political party around the world is going to blame us for any stance we take. Leave or stay we are screwed diplomatically.

If he had pulled all our forces out once Saddam Hussein was captured and bugged our troops out to Kuwait then he would have gone down in history as one of the greatest Presidents in United States History. Instead he listened to the people chasing the potential dollars of the war and they won his favor. Where are those voices now for the President? I would think they are on speed dial for the Vice President but that is just my own opinion.

Papamoka

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Merry Christmas

From the bottom of my heart I am wishing all of my readers a very warm and heartfelt Christmas holiday. Enjoy the day with your families and remember that you are building memories in those little eyes that will open up all of those presents. This is a great time of the year for building memories and it doesn't get any better than that in life.

I grew up in a large family and one of the youngest so I was at the bottom of the food chain so to speak but my Dad and my Mom always made sure to make room for the baby boy over the objections of my older siblings. It's kind of funny how you don't know about this stuff till the ones you loved so much are gone on to another world.

Christmas is a time for family and friends and you should be with them as much as you can. You really don't need a holiday like this one to do just that but this time of year it is extremely important that you reach out and call your friends and family. Just do it and shut the damn computer off. Life is not inside this idiot box. It's all around you if you just reach for it and grab it!

Merry Christmas to all,

Papamoka

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If the Congress is not Going to Tackle Immigration…

I think that I have said this over and over again. If the Federal Government is not going to tackle immigration then the States and Local community governments will. Passing a city wide resolution against illegal immigrants and in doing so as well against legal immigrants is easy to do by a voice vote behind closed doors. This kind of local reaction opens up the Pandora’s Box Constitutionally, I don’t think this is the way to go.

Farmers Branch, Texas is taking up the issue because they are probably overwhelmed with illegal immigrants and I honestly do not blame the local city council for passing on fines to landlords and businesses for hiring of illegal aliens. They have had enough of being over run.

But, big old hairy butt! They can’t do that according to Federal law no matter what their intentions are at protecting or defending their own community. So the law suites start. Can these small towns and cities afford the future litigation because of the lack of realistic Federal guidelines?

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- The owners of three apartment complexes in this Dallas suburb asked a federal judge Friday to declare unconstitutional a new law that bans renting to illegal immigrants.

Their lawsuit also seeks to keep the city from enforcing the ordinance on Jan. 12, when it is scheduled to go into effect.

Last month, City Council members voted to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, make English the city's official language and allow local authorities to screen suspects in police custody to check their immigration status.
A council member said then he expected the new laws to be challenged in court. - Washington Post

What is the message that America is sending all these folks that are coming here other than “WE DO NOT WANT YOU HERE!” Even if they are doing the jobs that nobody that is educated over the sixth grade in America would do ever! Those dishes at your favorite dining establishment did not wash themselves. The linens that were sent out to be washed were not washed by somebody making a decent living wage but somebody working for half a living wage at a second or third job that nobody else wants to do.

Then you get the nice rich folks in this piece on MSNBC from the Associated Press that evicted the immigrants like cockroaches from their chosen place to practice their faith…

SAN DIEGO - For 20 years, many of the illegal immigrants drawn by jobs in tomato fields have worshipped at an outdoor church, a concrete altar in a canyon where they slept under the shelter of plywood and plastic tarps and bathed in a stream.

Today, however, McGonigle Canyon is overshadowed by multimillion-dollar homes, and police and landowners want the eyesores gone. The squatters and their tree-covered place of worship, which the Roman Catholic church installed in the 1980s, are being expelled in one of the latest skirmishes in the nation’s battle over illegal immigration and homeless squatters’ camps.

“We’re wandering pilgrims once again,” Monsignor Frank Fawcett told about 75 people at a Mass earlier this month. The service was held in a dirt parking lot at the top of the canyon because rain turned the path leading to the altar into thick mud. - MSNBC

Anyone see a pattern here? Who is the new enemy of America today? Is the War on Terror getting old?

What the hell is the game plan to solve this problem we have to keep coming back to over and over again? Going after employers is not the answer. Going after the churches that offer a place to worship your God is not the answer. Going after the Mom and Pop that own a multi family is not the answer. America needs a serious immigration policy and nobody in our nations capitol wants to touch this issue with a ten foot pole. Why is that?

I’m not going to mince words or hide where my position is on this serious issue other than I am concerned for legal and illegal immigrants across our nation. In this nation today this issue of illegal immigration can raise the temperature in any room by ten degrees or more in a matter of seconds. If that happens in civil conversations like here at the Gun Toting Liberal then what is happening at the local bars or clubs where a few ignorant men could come up with a mob mentality and start taking the laws of our land into their own hands? You could put an egg timer on how fast the innocent and the guilty illegal immigrants could be harmed or a worse ending to any given scenario. The end result is not good for either side.

I’m a died in the wool Liberal and I feel for people and not corporations that take advantage of these people. They come here for the bounty that is America and most of them work their butts off at several jobs that nobody else wants. They work not for themselves but for their children be they here or back at home. Isn’t that what you and I do every single day as well? Pick any nationality in America and you have your crime element but that does not mean that all Irish, Italians, Germans, Russians, or any nationality is one hundred percent guilty.

I don’t honestly believe this government can come to a reasonable conclusion when it comes to immigration because the corporations of America will fight it at every level. I’m not talking your Wall Street Journal and NYSE listed corporations but the average size business across America that fuels this nations economy. The small companies that have fifty or less employees. How do you let go trained and experienced employees that as far as you know are legal immigrants? Much like the guy running the machines next to you. Or the gal driving the school bus that picks up your kids every day? What about the guy that does your taxes with the heavy accent that works for your accountant? For that matter the guy or girl with the heavy brogue that serves you the best drinks at your local bar? How do you tell all of them to just get the hell out?

With the heat of immigration in the papers every single day Americas corporations are outsourcing and closing American plants at a rapid rate. Those good paying jobs are going south of the border for a reason. Cheap labor is where the almighty dollar is and if America is closing its doors to it then the plants will continue to move out of the nation. The kick in the teeth is that our own government rewards and gives huge tax credits for any corporation to close a plant in America and move it out of this country. Now that is an immigration policy big business can agree on.

Papamoka

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Personal Stuff

I've been out of touch for a while and my personal life is the reason. As the father of five beautiful girls that loves them all so very much the Mom and Dad are calling it quits. Its a rough time for me and for my wife but we are not ending our life together so to speak. We are still friends and still a family. Our seperation isn't bitter by any sense of the word. We have both just agreed to disagree and move on with our lives. I'll leave it at that.

I will be back shortly with my own thoughts here and there once I get settled in to the new digs. I've offered my oldest a chance to write her thoughts here as well and she isn't a fruit that has fallen far from her Dad's tree.

Keep us as a family in your prayers and we all appreciate your support.

Papamoka