Adding to Death and Taxes Certainties of Life

Picture courtesy of Bennett Funeral Coaches

Benjamin Franklin didn't have it covered when he said that the only certain things in life were Death and Taxes.

In the funeral industry there is a private code of ethics when it comes to caring for the deceased of any family. Respect and dignity is the goal of every funeral home and many families benefit from this service during a very difficult time in their lives. Loosing a child is tragic, it rips the families heart and soul out to bury a child. Love of the child is overpowering to the parent and providing a descent burial is foremost the parents only concern.

That being said, you have the Papamoka Scum Bag Award winner in Springville, Utah. How would you like to show up at your teen age sons grave and find the headstone gone? Words on a stone to some are just that but your child’s name over a grave is just one of the steps in the grief process. To find it was repossessed is just disgusting in my opinion.

Over at the Houston Chronicle they have this piece on head stone repo’s…

Teen crash victim's headstone repossessed over unpaid bill
Associated Press

SPRINGVILLE, Utah — The cemetery headstone for a teenager who died in a car wreck was repossessed after a $750 bill went unpaid.

"That's just business," said Linda Anderson of Memorial Art Monument. "If we give every stone to everybody, we'd be out of business. They'd repossess your car if you didn't make payments."

Brady Conger, 17, and two friends died when their car smashed into a sport utility vehicle a year ago Thursday.

Memorial Art said bills sent to one address were returned, and the business couldn't reach Brady's mother, who apparently had agreed last year to pay the balance. "The end result was that there was absolutely no one who I could talk to about this," owner Mike Anderson said.

Brady's classmates raised money to pay the bill, and the headstone will be installed again this week. - Houston Chronicle

I understand that any business needs to get paid for the services they provide but maybe these folks stepped over the line. This particular industry has no room for mistakes and if the business owner did not do his homework on the customers credit history then the stone should have staid where it should have rested for eternity.

This business owner could have reached out to the church the child was buried under or contacted local charitable organizations if the bill was unpaid. There are far too many avenues of restitution that his headstone company overlooked to even justify yanking the grave marker off of this child’s grave. Churches are not just for worship, they are their to help the people in their congregation. Would you as a parishioner not thrown ten bucks or twenty bucks in a basket if you knew the head stone for a seventeen year old kid was in jeopardy? My personal thanks to his classmates that did the right thing. They are wiser at their age than people give them credit for and I absolutely adore them for paying the bill.

Which brings me to the point of my post. Death and taxes are a given fact of life in these here United States of America but so is the right of a respectful burial no matter your lot in life in these United States of America. Being a Catholic, I know that once a grave is established the consecrated ground can not be disturbed.

Some folks like to bash us Catholics for our belief but I know that my church will not allow any debtors to yank me up out of the ground if my widow and five daughters can’t make the payments on my casket. Stories like this make me proud of my choice of faith.

Papamoka

Bill O'Reilly Attack on Daily Kos

Being one of the largest blog on the internet comes with a price but it also comes with the ability to voice your opinion when the main stream (not the) media like Fox News singles you out. Bill O'Reilly AKA Valdermort is going after the Daily Kos with the backing of the network he works for. Why is Uncle Bill going after Kos you might ask? It has to do with a picture that a commenter posted on the site that was photoshopped. A COMMENTER and not by Kos!

My good friend over at the Gun Toting Liberal pointed this very interesting story out and I highly recommend to all that you read his piece and the main piece that caused the wrath of Bill (Lufa Sponge) O'Reilly.

While Mondays are traditionally, big news days, this one was HUGE; a bad day for a Democrat (Daily Kos - IF O’Reilly’s vow to “take him down” plays out), and a VERY bad day for the Republicans in general, even without O’Reilly’s personal contribution toward their demise… - The GTL

More on this issue later...

Papamoka

Traitor In The Energy Debate? Guilty; With An Explanation

Picture courtesy of www.drilshop.com & Google

This post is courtesy of my very good friend Michael Linn Jones. I highly recommend his site as a daily read. I personally can not thank him enough for letting me post it in its entirety here at Papamoka Straight Talk.

Traitor In The Energy Debate? Guilty; With An Explanation

Scott Tinker has some interesting opinions in the Houston Chronicle concerning Big Oil and conceptions therof. THE CHOICE: BIG OIL OR CHAVEZ? contains some of Tinker’s “myths” and “realities” of oil science and oil politics.

The American public is severely misinformed about energy. A few energy myths:

• American energy independence is possible.
• “Big Oil” companies control gasoline prices.
• “Big Oil” companies make obscene profits.
• We are running out of fossil energy (oil, natural gas and coal).
• There are renewable (clean) alternatives to oil, natural gas and coal available today.
• People will pay more for clean energy.
• The oil industry is a major polluter today.
• Energy efficiency and conservation can solve the problem.

Here are a few energy realities.

• Political spin has little basis in energy reality; talk about energy independence is misleading and naive. America is energy interdependent for the foreseeable future and policies should be made accordingly.
• The cost to transition the transportation infrastructure to nonliquid energies is in the trillions of dollars and will take many decades, even if we implemented a full-scale commitment today.
• Big Oil companies combined control less than 10 percent of the world’s conventional oil reserves. So “Big Oil” cannot control gasoline prices.
• U.S. political leaders beat up on Big Oil with unfounded rhetoric about obscene profits. Big Oil companies, even in the past few “obscene profit years” have typically made less than 10 percent profit annually, which is not very good relative to many other industries. A healthy industry does not exhibit the kind of layoffs and mergers that continue to characterize the U.S. petroleum industry.
• Oil, natural gas and coal provide 86 percent of global energy. Consumers must be prepared to pay for cleaner forms of fossil energy, such as electricity from gasified coal plants that are ready to sequester carbon dioxide emissions underground, and unconventional oil and gas reserves whose exploitation demands more expensive technology.
• Because of its massive pursuit of coal-based power, China must be a major part of any global strategies to reduce carbon emissions.

Now, I don’t subscribe to everything Mr. Tinker puts forth. Or more accurately, what he does NOT say. In a nutshell, Big Oil are too good at lying for their own good. Are they taking advantage of the situation to increase profits? Sure. Is it immoral? In a pure and simple world maybe. But that is not what we inherited, nor what we will leave our children.

Having said that, I must also confess to being wholly unconcerned about oil companies during the boom days of consumers. It IS bad that there have been so many mergers, and I believe competition is greatly stifled by them. On the other hand, when gasoline was flowing into my car at 80 or 90 cents a gallon I wasn’t complaining about how little oil companies were making.

Reading Tinker’s article I had a memory flash, no doubt induced by years of inhaling God knows how many varieties of pollutants. I think it was The Discovery Channel, doing one of its more un-Disneyesque broadcasts showing how life (and death) in Africa really is.

During the wet season there is a large body of water that is teeming with life and it is frequented by animals dependent upon it for sustenance. Then the dry season comes and there are large numbers of hippos and crocodiles jammed together like sardines in an ever-shrinking water hole. Baboons and wildebeasts are regular victims of the crocs as they brave danger to quench their thirst. The hippos bide their time, relieving their boredom occasionally by basically daring a croc to have a go at a young hippo.

Then the rains come again and all is well. Life thrives and the cycle is repeated. You would think the animals might figure out after several million cycles that there might be a better way of getting through the year.

Of course, they are not human. But WE are, and to be honest, since the early 70’s our petroleum lake has shrunk and expanded, in cycles that are not conducive to any form of steady planning of an economy. Let’s face it; we are at the mercy of oil supplies, and I must agree with Tinker somewhat in acknowledging the fact that Big Oil does NOT cartel the supply; nations do. They are NOT our friends, and never will be.

Now, like our African friends with brains the size of walnuts, we await the late Autumn each year….gasoline prices drop, oil prices drop, and all is well again. Then along comes Spring and Summer, and the vultures in the commodities markets prey upon ANYTHING that smells remotely like a quick profit. They are, in many ways, the crocs of the dwindling pond. Used to be it took a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico to drive the market up. Now, a Nigerian oil worker can have a fight with his wife and that is good for $5 a barrel.

We are spoiled in two ways: cheap and constant energy is a birthright. Along with that is the growing realization that hydrocarbons are not all that desirable from an environmental point of view. I am NOT speaking of global warming. I don’t need to. It is still scientifically debatable in my opinion. But, what I’ve seen with my own eyes is not.

Years ago someone who had a small plane took me up for some flying (terror rides I called them). Although in the middle of summer, the pilot explained that once we got above 5,000 feet or so we would escape most of the humidity in the atmosphere.

“Of course,” he said, ” we’ll also have to fly through the ’shit belt’.” Upon inquiry, he showed me. As I scanned the horizon there was this blanket; a brown layer that looks like a dirty stew. It is mostly the byproducts from all those vehicles pumping it out every day. We don’t see it because we’re not normally up there. I am neither a rocket scientist nor a meteorologist, but one doesn’t need to be to figure out that this brown blanket is not exactly good for everyone.

Whatever direction we take in the future it is going to be expensive. But, this is a time for a mixture of JFK’s asking us to ask what we can do for our country and Reagan’s eternal optimism of the American Spirit. As an incorrigible baby-boomer I can say with some firmness that there is little that is NOT possible if this nation…as a nation….puts its mind to it.

It is great political theater to demand that Big Oil be punished through taxation. Leave them be, or confine government action to redirecting their motives for investment.

There is a way to satisfy our energy needs for far into the future. If Big Oil becomes Big Energy, then so be it. As consumers we have eaten our cake and gotten it, too. We can still do so but the cake is going to be a bit more expensive.

In my next post I’ll attempt to expand this by delving into the real sleeper of the future of energy: fusion.

Michael Linn Jones

Things that make you go HMMM?

If time is money then I really do not have enough time on my hands. - Matthew O'Keefe

Papamoka

Smoke and Mirrors to a bad Comb Over?

Picture courtesy of DebbieSchlussel.com

I’m not by any means a great fan of Rudy Giuliani (Me too Republican But…) in the upcoming elections and he continuously reaffirms my sentiment and personal dislike of him. While he is trying his best to scoop up the Republican base, or for that matter what Bush has left of it, he fails to come off even remotely sincere. Rather than offering guidance and hope to the American people he is offering four more years of George W. Bush. More shiny objects over here while he will continue the Bush policy of hiding what he too as President will be doing somewhere else.

In the former Mayor of the Big Apples case it will be a diversion in hair care and the comb over might be straight back, to the right, or to the left. It will not matter what kind of hair cut you want from the Mayor because he is going to do things…”My way”.

Over at the Washington Post they have a great piece on the Mayors comments recently about Democrats being losers for offering something, anything in regards to the Iraq, Afghanistan wars. The reply from Senator Joe Biden was to the point and right for the jugular of Giuliani’s remarks.

On Thursday, during a stop in Houston, Giuliani called Democrats "the party of losers" for demanding a scheduled pullout of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"Democrats have already declared we've lost," the former New York mayor said. "It's really strange. The Democrats want to give our enemies a timetable."

That drew a quick retort from Democratic candidate Sen. Joe Biden.

"It is absurd for Rudy Giuliani to call Democrats 'losers' after five years of failed Republican policies in Iraq," the Delaware senator said in a statement issued Friday.

Biden said cheap shots wouldn't make the United States or its troops any safer.

"Giuliani and the rest of the Republican candidates continue to cling to this administration's failed policy that a strong central government can be propped up in Iraq," Biden said. "If these are the positions he wants to defend, I invite him to debate me on these important topics."

Giuliani sidestepped a question on whether embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign, saying the case has been distorted by partisanship in Washington.

"I think in the last six months it is quite possible the Democrats in Congress have set a record for subpoenas," he said. - Washington Post

Just a general correction for the former Mayor to think about, subpoenas are issued only when there is enough evidence to suggest that the law has been broken. Who were the ones that allegedly broken the laws of our land? Why did they allegedly break the law? I’m pretty sure that you just can’t make stuff up and issue subpoenas like lottery tickets.

What Giuliani is selling the moderates will not or should not buy. He is selling the horror of 9/11 and what it did to the people of his city on that tragic day. Personally, I think he should be ashamed for selling himself off as America’s strongest Mayor in a time of crisis like we all as Americans had on that day. He was not the one to bring America together, President Bush gets some credit for that but the people of America deserve the credit for more so. Together as a nation we all felt the need for revenge at one level or another. That is something none of us can deny. Our nation was aggressively attacked on that day and if you honestly think about it, revenge was in your mind. Eye for an eye was there in the back of your mind eating away at you. Action and reaction to the attack was called for and delivered by somewhat devious ways.

There have been some major mistakes by OUR government in the lead up to this multi front war and the perpetuation of mistakes to cover it up have only divided our great nation further. We need leaders that will speak from the heart and not from any political party play book sent down from the RNC or the DNC. America needs a new leader with fresh ideas and a very much different perspective from our current President. This coming election for our nations President should not be about George W. Bush. It should be about where we as Americans want to go from the point in time when he leaves office.

We can all bitch and moan over what one political candidate says against the other over the past mistakes on both political sides of the isle till the cows come home, or we can look to the future nation we want to pass down to our children. What we need to focus on is our nations future. We can continue down the road of this President or we can choose a path that is better and wiser.

Diplomacy from America is not dead, it has just been put on the back burner for a couple of administrations. We can either send out ten thousand diplomats to talk to nations around the world or propagate the Bush Doctrine of sending more troops to die for a cause that will never end.

Pick one? Peace amongst men by talking or foreign nations living in fear of America? That is the guts of this upcoming Presidential election and “We the People” have the power to make that choice.

Papamoka

Here comes Imus…

Picture courtesy of MSNBC

Coming to a morning radio broadcast near you soon could be the evil wit and forever cranky voice of one Don Imus formerly of CBS Radio and WFAN of New York. Then again he could just be retiring with a hefty bonus package to leave CBS Radio alone. Since I can’t picture the later then I would speculate that he just might be on the air waves soon.

Over at the Boston Herald they have the latest and greatest on the broadcasting future of Don Imus…

Settlement nearing in Imus, CBS talks
By Associated Press
Friday, July 27, 2007 - Updated: 05:28 PM EST

NEW YORK - The legal struggle between Don Imus and CBS Radio is nearing a settlement that would preempt the dismissed DJ’s threatened $120 million breach of contract suit against his former employer, a person familiar with the case said Friday.

While neither Imus’ attorney nor CBS Radio would comment on any aspect of the case, the person _ speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity _ said the two sides were in the process of reaching an agreement.

It was unclear if a deal would return Imus to the airwaves, where he starred for 40 years before his April firing after directing a sexist, racial insult at the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

The possible settlement, first reported Friday in the New York Post, was the latest indication that the Hall of Fame broadcaster’s dramatic broadcasting demise could be reversed. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spearheaded the "Fire Imus" movement, said last week that he would not oppose the 67-year-old DJ’s return to radio. - Boston Herald

Just for giggles and based on this story in the Herald I would bet money on Imus returning to the radio in a heartbeat. If he were to retire and give up the shock jock status it would go against every bone in his body. I honestly can not picture him walking away from it if there is a way for him to reclaim his microphone and head set.

If Imus was going to retire he would have unleashed the $140 million dollar lawsuit on CBS and left it at that. He didn’t and he could have within days of his being fired. That my friends is what a great lawyer like Martin Garbus does in the background to keep his client and CBS Radio out of court.

Papamoka

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Jury Duty Part II

Well I did my jury duty. I happened to have the chance to read my latest paperback but then again they have a television in the jury room so that was a bonus. Nobody was talking to anyone other than pleasantries and it felt more like a wake then a public service adventure.

All of the folks that were called for jury duty were placed in a room that was somewhat devoid of any artwork other than a Walmart special clock that just failed to tick off the minutes. Then the court officer came in and declared war on smokers and anyone with an inkling of needing to leave the room we were somewhat incarcerated in. If any one person left the room, we would be there till after four in the afternoon due to procedures in place to keep the jury pool out of ear shot of any lawyers discussing cases in the halls. Sort of a time out for all of us kids on the jury pool because one of us just might sneak out for a butt. When he asked for a show of hands amongst us only one person raised their hand and he was put to task. "I will be watching you!" The court officer stated as fact.

Just as the morning television talk shows were in full game they killed the television on us to watch one of those Charlie Brown videos of judges discussing the process, what the duty of the jury is and how it all works. I'm sure the woman sleeping at the table heard the teacher from Charlie Brown, Wha, wha wha wha, wha wha wha wha wha....

I forgot to mention the screening process, no cell phones, no electronic devices, and all the rest of logical things like weapons of mass destruction are not aloud in the court house. I emptied my pockets and feared that my bic lighter would be seen as a terrorist weopon but is was not once we were locked down. My wallet and pictures of my kids were rifled through as well as my car keys. Key to key were looked over. I was pissed off when one of the jury members whipped out her lap top and started typing away once we were in the sealed room. Had I known those were okay I would have brought mine.

One of the judges from the court came into the jury room in full robes and thanked us all for attending and serving not just our state but our nations legal system and that impressed me. It was probably the same speech he gives five days a week but it was the first time I have heard it and it made sense. Thank you Judge whatever the hell you said your name was. I so much wanted to ask him while he was thanking me so much for being there where the vending machines were for a soda, a snack, something? I didn't.

End result of my jury service was that I did not get to be on a jury. Damn lawyers scewed me over and settled all of the cases today or had continuences without the need for a jury. From what I now understand this is the case many times in our courts. All of my anxiety for serving on a jury were dealt with by a couple of lawyers making a deal in the halls of justice. Am I wrong to think that our justice system is screwed up? Yes, lawyers are there for their clients but if they are spitting out odds like a Las Vegas gambling house then why am I being called for jury duty?

Have people taken lawyers opinions as judges as a fact they have to face without a trial? Even a trial by a jury is feared by the lawyer? I see a real problem with this and frankly you should too! This is a serious dilemma. Judges in a court of law are lawyers but any lawyer in a court is not a judge. Something isn't right here. How do these lawyers know what any jury would think given any case? What if I had one problem with any given statement in any trial as a jury member? What if I had a problem with the police procedures used in any given trial?

Trusting a lawyer when your interests are at stake is up to you as an individual to say yes or no. Lawyers should be advisors to their clients and not deal makers in the courts of our justice system.

Papamoka

Jury Duty…

I’ve been called to appear for jury duty and unlike many people I am looking forward to it. Many friends and family have told me what I should say to get out of it but that isn’t me. I’d like to be on a jury and see how it really works. It would be an interesting experience and a learning one at that.

So would you lie to get out of jury duty? I promise not to tell anyone what you say but you have to swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Feel free to comment either way… Post anonymous though to protect your identity if you would lie.

What I would love to see from a juror point of view is the lawyers giving their arguments pro and con on the innocence or guilt of the person on trial. Granted I could kill a vacation day and do that any day of the week and sit in the back of the court but being on the jury is different. Two lawyers or if the accused chooses to defend themselves then they have to convince me if the law was broken or if there is reasonable doubt. That is the deliberation that I would have to face if picked as a member of the jury.

I’m wondering if I would be the one person with the question in my mind if the person is guilty or not while the rest of the jury is in the opposing opinion? How do you discuss or argue the points while deciding the fate of another person if you believe one way or the other? This isn’t television where the star points out the obvious. This is real life, real people. Somebody could go to jail or be free. That has me thinking.

I guess I will find out tomorrow.

Papamoka

Professor Fired for being an Idiot?

Picture courtesy of University of Colorado

I should start off by first saying that I think Ward Churchill is a self serving intellectual moron that thinks that there are no consequences for his own words. It comes as no surprise to me that the man was fired not for saying that the victims of 9/11 were Nazis but for negligence in his duty as a professor to his students and college trust.

Over at the New York Times they have this to say about the Professor with an “I am so wicked smart” attitude….

Colorado Regents Vote to Fire a Controversial Professor
By DAN FROSCH
Published: July 25, 2007

BOULDER, Colo., July 24 — After more than two years of public tumult, the University of Colorado Board of Regents voted Tuesday to fire a professor whose remarks about the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks led to a national debate on free speech. But it was the professor’s problems with scholarship that the board cited as the cause for his termination.

The professor, Ward L. Churchill, was dismissed on the ground that he had committed academic misconduct by plagiarizing and falsifying parts of his scholarly research.

The board voted 8 to 1 to dismiss Professor Churchill.

“We wanted to do what was right for this university,” the board chairwoman, Patricia Hayes, said after the vote. “We did not address Professor Churchill’s freedom of speech as part of our discussion.”

The university president, Hank Brown, who recommended that the board fire Professor Churchill, said he deserved to lose his job because he had “falsified history” and “fabricated history.”

At a news conference after the decision, Professor Churchill, who cut a dramatic figure with his mane of gray-black hair, towering frame and dark sunglasses, criticized the process by which he was fired.

“I am going nowhere,” Professor Churchill said. “If there is a question in anyone’s mind to the political nature of the Regents, this should resolve it.”

He continued, “All this did was confirm what it was in the first place about the nature of the academic process and lack of integrity within this institution as a whole.”

Professor Churchill, a tenured faculty member at Colorado since 1991 who became chairman of the department of ethnic studies, caused an uproar when he criticized United States foreign policy in a 2001 essay written shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, characterizing some of the office workers killed in the World Trade Center as “little Eichmanns,” a reference to the Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who helped carry out the Holocaust. - New York Times

Ward Churchill thinks and believes that he is being fired based on his 9/11 statements and it could be argued that he just might be. Being a Professor at the University of Colorado grants you an audience of young minds that are not just there to be coerced into one professors ideology. Those students have parents that want their children educated with the highest of standards in mind. If my children attended the school I would question the professors teaching and the schools leadership based on such remarks.

Yes, Professor Churchill called the victims of 9/11 Nazis which I disagree with entirely for the record. Freedom of speech lets you do that sort of thing here in America. BUTT, (Big Old Hairy Butt) if you or I said that in our daily jobs, would your employer not look into what else you have said in the past? That is what the University of Colorado did and what do you know there just happened to be more than enough evidence to fire him for multiple reasons.

I was trying to think of why the University of Colorado would fire him given the controversy around him and all I can think of is money. This particular university is no different than any other in America and they all rely heavily on repeat business from their own alumni. If the alumni do not support the University with private donations as well as sending their children to the school then it gets real tough to pay the bills to keep the school going?

I’m thinking that Joe Q. Public that owns a corporation called ABC Widgets is not going to want his companies name on the same stationary as a professor that calls one of our nations greatest tragedies a self inflicted wound because they were Nazi’s? This professor was fired for being an idiot that thought he was better than his employer. The interests of his employer have never entered this mans mind in my opinion. Companies fire people that do that all the time and the University of Colorado finally served Professor Churchill his pink slip.

You can’t teach common sense at any school, it has to be learned the old fashioned way.

Apparently, the Professor was a little deficient in that department. Now that he is free and clear of the bonds of the University of Colorado he can scream at the moon what he thinks. In his mind, maybe the moon will listen and bow to his brilliant intellect.

Pack your desk and don’t let the door hit you in the ass Ward!

Papamoka

Follow up article from Newsweek...

Bush-O-Nomics Busted

Picture courtesy of The White House

It isn’t a huge surprise to me that the current trend in home foreclosures is happening given the fact that the lending industry has been left to its own unregulated ways. While President Bush and his crew are waving shiney objects to hide everything they are doing illegally the lending industry is following the same path.

Our nations lending system is broken and it is their own damn fault. Now it is all of our problem as the foreclosure rates go super nova. Welcome back to the Savings and Loan problems of the Reagan era.

I’m not surprised that this dilemma is happening now and neither should the Bush administration. While he has focused most of his limited attention capabilities on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the kids are playing at home and ruining the company store. While the lending industry is loaning out the money as fast as the closing points will rack up the President and his hands off policy has played out. Does it make sense to anyone that you can pay an interest only loan for the first five or ten years and then it jumps up to out of your budget world? Busted!

Over at the LA Times they have this incredible story on homeowners in California being foreclosed in triple digit percentages…

Home foreclosures hit record in California

Riverside County at a new high. In addition, there's a year's supply of houses on the market in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, up from a three-week supply at the height of the boom.

By David Streitfeld, Times Staff Writer11:23 AM PDT, July 24, 2007

A sagging real estate market and tighter lending standards are exacting a rapidly growing toll on Californians, forcing them from their homes in record numbers, figures released today show.

Foreclosures in the state during the second quarter totaled 17,408, up 799% from the same period last year. The current rate handily eclipsed the previous foreclosure peak set in 1996, when the state was in the final throes of six-year slump.

The two eras are sharply different.Back then, the primary culprit was massive defense cutbacks that led to high unemployment. Without a paycheck, people couldn't pay the mortgage.This time, the economy is generally sound but many people have become trapped in loans that are resetting to rates that exceed their ability to pay. Those excesses need time to make their way through the system. - Los Angeles Times

Now will come the wave of former homeowners that realistically never qualified for home loans and yet one lending institution after another collected the profits from writing the loans. Those poorly written loans were sold to the highest bidder and guess who is the highest bidder? Yup, our good government providing the cash for all these corrupt lenders. Soon the government will have to bail out the lending industry for stealing from the people and the Bush circle of home finance is complete. More of your money will go into the Bush funnel of friends to pay the people that actually created the American foreclosure scandal.

Just like we are not getting screwed over at the gas pump, you as the former home owner are not really losing your home. It was just a temporary rental agreement courtesy of just another industry where big money protects big money and you end up homeless. American Tax payers will bail out the lenders but you are ultimately screwed. Thanks W!

Papamoka

You Tube Democrat Presidential Election Debate

Picture courtesy of CNN

For the most part this was the first time that I have ever seen such a great debate because the questions were from real people. I have to give CNN some serious kudos for hosting it and especially the folks that contributed questions to the event through You Tube.

I’m not writing this piece to point fingers at who was for what and who had a better plan for any issue. This piece is about the process and what it takes to learn about the candidates you are leaning towards. This was a debate of the candidates like no other before and it was very informative to the voters.

I’ve always questioned the strict formats of the past Presidential election debates where a panel of reporters or only a moderator is asking the questions. Events like that seem canned to me and questionable and the questions presented to the candidates are not coming from the people but a reporter thinking that they know what people want to hear.

Tonight’s debate on CNN was all about the questions from the people that want to know where every single candidate stands on issues that actually effect them as an individual. Real people, real lives, real questions that the responses from the candidates showed the differences amongst them all.

I learned a lot and frankly I was shocked on some of the candidates answers. It never occurred to me that some of these folks are not totally against building new nuclear power plants. I didn’t know that some of the candidates are against scrapping the current No Child Left Behind educational program for our children. I did not know that some of the candidates are very green when it comes to our nations future energy policy. I did not know that the games played to fund political campaigns are still on and one of the candidates wrote legislation making that kind of political donation reportable.

Part of the process of picking a candidate is not just reading what they stand for but understanding where they stand for any given issue. Tonight it was clear who stood for what on several issues from socialized medicine for all and that includes illegal aliens. Confirming plans to sure up Social Security was an interesting point of the night and once again I learned something new when it comes to the cut off point in personal compensation that you no longer have to contribute to the system. Very interesting answers.

War, the war in Iraq was raised and they all have plans. Mix and match but there is a plan from all to bring our troops home from the Democrats and it was amazing to see how each candidate had a different avenue to accomplish the same objective. Passions were raised in each candidate on how soon it should be done but reality was also inserted into the debate on how soon it could actually be done. I for one did not know before tonight’s debate that the Pentagon has refused to answer questions on any plans for a pull out of Iraq? Does that mean that the Pentagon does not have a plan to get our troops out of Iraq? I don’t have that answer but the main stream media will cue up on that response to a grieving You Tube parent that lost a son in Iraq.

Religion and personal belief in God was raised and it was interesting to see that some of the responses clearly made a defined line in the sand that being President comes with the responsibility to know that church and state can not mix. Even Planned Parenthood had a question about teaching your kids on sex. I thought it was inappropriate but it was a legitimate question. I’m sorry to say but all of the candidates failed the question. When one went on the sexual predator trail they all grabbed onto the trolley car and rode it.

Public schools or private schools for their own children was brought up. Most people would think that the children of the candidates all went to private schools. WRONG! Surprised me too. Some did but it seemed more for personal religious choice, security reasons, and educational choice that every parent has. That leads me to ask the hypocrites if it is wrong to seek a better education for your kids if you as a parent choose to do so? I personally would love to enroll all five of my daughters in a Catholic school system. Does that make my political opinion null and void when it comes to public school education? Space shuttle to Houston, we have an educational system problem.

Winners of the debate tonight, you the voter. Many topics were covered and many questions were raised. I for one am very thankful to You Tube and CNN for hosting it. Tonight was not about canned answers to the media but answers to the people selecting a Democrat for President.

Transcript courtesy of CNN

Papamoka

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Child Predators, Parents Beware

Parents today have to be so much more aware of what their children are doing that it is almost sickening. Children are under attack by anonymous monsters from within your own home and your child’s lost innocence is only a few keystrokes away. While we as parents are laughing at Hollywood’s version of reality on the television our children are being drawn in by people they do not know into a game that they never should be playing. In some cases the game is deadly to the child.

On line predators are monsters without a face that befriend your child and lull them into a false sense of security where the child believes one hundred percent that the new friend knows better than mom or dad. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how they befriend the child. Telling the child that they are right and mom or dad is a jerk is what they want to hear. Telling the child that they should be treated better and should be able to have more freedoms is all part of the deception that leads to a very dangerous path for the child. That is the path that is easiest to travel for scum bag predators of children.

No matter how much you love your children, if they are on line then they can become a target of people without a conscience. Educate your kids on predators. When your kids are asked if they would like some candy on line then you as the parent have to teach them where the exit box is. Not just once but ten thousand times!

Over at the Worcester Telegram they have this Associated Press piece about on line predators of kids…

Governors Tackle Online Predators

By JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press Writer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.— Vigilant parents and well-educated children remain the first line of defense against online predators, even as social networking sites toughen standards and police crack down, experts told a panel of governors Sunday.

Law enforcement agencies are becoming more technologically proficient in the fight against cyberspace child stalkers, New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said. But they alone can't solve a problem so widespread that 1 in 5 kids who use the Internet are believed to have been approached by a predator, she said.

"This is an issue that we're not going to arrest our way out of," Ayotte said during the annual meeting of the National Governors Association.

It's a problem "far bigger than any of us realize," said Gov. Brad Henry of Oklahoma.

Speakers including Miss America, Lauren Nelson, as well as Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer for MySpace/Fox Interactive Media, called for more programs to educate parents and children about how predators operate. - Worcester Telegram

You know what I would love to see? Corporate America stepping up to the plate to fund investigative units in police departments and government agencies to hunt down these sexual offenders. If Night Line can do one show after another on these creeps then why can’t corporate America commit funds to do the same. Night Line has done one television episode after another where they pose as children and all these deviants come out of the wood work. These people are out there and they are on your children’s computer.

Why can we not make this a prerogative to keep our kids safe. Are they not our future or are they just luggage for people to carry around? Do we need to have a police force on the internet to find these idiots that are child molesters? How do we fix this problem and why has it not been nationally addressed?

What Presidential candidate is talking about this issue?

Every single parent in America wants to keep their children safe on line but the numbers are against us. In my house there is only access to the internet by my children when mom or dad are in the room. All of the other computers in the house do not have access to the internet for a reason and that is to keep them safe from the monsters that used to be under their beds. That makes mom and dad a jerk in our children’s eyes but I would rather that fact than the worst case scenario.

It would be nice to see for everyone what happens to sex offenders of children in prison in a statistics format. Break out the numbers. How many get knifed, how many get raped, how many get killed because of the crime they committed. You don’t see enough of that information associated with these kind of stories and your really should. Inmates have kids on the outside and they have their own laws to live by while incarcerated. I’m not saying that anyone accused and sentenced is guilty but the reality of life is that sex offenders against children do not live well while in the big house. Deterrence is the message that needs to be sent out loud and clear to the monsters that have no faces that engage our children on line. That is what the media should be saying loud and clear. Not just this story in the Worcester Telegram but in every story printed nation wide.

Having internet access with children in the house is much like having a gun in the house, if the logical rules of ownership of it are not followed then someone can be hurt or killed by it. Just a thought to think about.

Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring IT ON!

Bush Colonoscopy Findings

Just a few things that might just show up on President Bush’s Colonoscopy…

The section of the Constitution that clearly defines the wording “Do as you damn well please. Washington was supposed to be a King!”

The secret location that Dick Cheney has been hiding in every time the rest of the nation has been in peril.

All of those old signs that used to be in the back window of cars that said “Baby on Board” that were replaced with "My Son is a Marine".

Dick Cheney’s gold watch from Haliburton along with fifteen other solid gold watches from Haliburton engraved with "We love Dick" since he took office.

Top secret plans to invade New Mexico that had to be scrapped when it was discovered by the CIA that they were actually a State. Nasty notes about Bill Richardson were deemed to confidential to repeat.

Global positioning marking systems to clarify where President Bush ass and his elbow are at all times. The units were found to be defective. Who'd of thunk that?

One set of drapes with Dick Cheney’s initials stitched in over the seal of the President.

450,000 imaginary troops that invaded Iraq and the war was won in under 90 days. “Mission Accomplished”. No banners dictating such were found on the cellular level.

Donald Rumsfeld’s real plan to invade Iraq with just ten troops armed with 450,000 X-Boxes.

368,922 beer bottle caps of a brew only made in Wyoming but with a Washington D.C. five cent deposit return printed on them. This finding was sent to the RNC for further anlaysis.

The missing fifth Dentist in that four out of five Dentist survey.

Last but not least 12 million guest workers luggage that just didn’t make it back home.

All kidding aside, I’m hoping that he will get a clean bill of health. If he has been able to stuff so much bull up our ass I’m sure that his own ass has more than enough room for lots more.

I wish this man no ill will and I hope and pray that our President comes through this procedure with flying colors. Colon Cancer is a serious issue in America and after you reach a certain age you should think about having this procedure done. Prevention of Colon Cancer is only done through the procedure our nations President is going to have done. I hope and pray that he can walk away from the procedure with a clean bill of health.

Papamoka

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Dog Fighting Criminal Animals

Picture of Pete courtesy of Pitt Bull Abuse

There can not be enough punishment for the men or dare I say woman that train dogs to fight. This is the ultimate cruelty to animals and there is no way anyone with a rational mind could ever think that this is a sport. I can not imagine the pain and suffering that these poor animals go through to be trained to fight? How much cruelty do they endure endlessly to instill the ferocity and desire to survive when encountered with another animal trained in the same way?

I’m shocked that even an NFL Quarterback has his name linked to this disgusting form of animal abuse and it makes you wonder how sick of a human being he truly is? Is the paycheck from the Falcons not covering the mortgage? Trying to make a few extra dollars on the side to cover college costs or what? What the hell was Michael Vick thinking? One thing that is a fact, his days in the NFL are over and I don’t feel one damn bit sorry for him.

Monsters are supposed to live in children’s closets and not in our adult world. Apparently, they walk amongst us and hidden somewhere near you is a training class run by monsters to bring out the worst in mans best friend.

Over at the Boston Herald they have a great piece on this issue and what the leaders of Mass-a-two-sticks are doing to change the laws and make them tougher on the monsters perpetrating this as a sport…

Pols bite back against dogfights: Gruesome sport called widespread
By Colneth Smiley Jr. and Marie Szaniszlo

Thursday, July 19, 2007 - Updated: 04:15 AM EST

The gruesome nature of the competitive dogfighting that led to charges against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick stunned Boston-area pooch lovers, but it came as no surprise to animal advocates and authorities.

“It’s not just in Atlanta but in every community,” said Scott Giacoppo, MSPCA deputy director of advocacy. “It’s very underground, very secretive. A lot of people attribute this type of activity to urban settings, but it often happens in very affluent communities.”

The largest dogfighting ring in New England - and one of the largest in the nation - began in Hyde Park and ended in Newton, N.H., the posh community the suspect moved to after he discovered he was being investigated. In that case, police raided a two-floor garage that was covered in blood and seized 37 pit bulls, nearly all of whom had battle scars. One was missing his tongue. Another had two broken legs. - Boston Herald

Maybe the State Legislature should make a law that these monsters have to be put in a cage with a pack of these dogs. Not their own dogs but ones that were trained by someone else. I know that that punishment is over the top and probably cruel but how much cruelty have these monsters doled out over the years to innocent animals before they were caught.

If you read the whole article, and I recommend that you do, this is not a poor mans so called sport. This is a very lucrative venue and slapping a small fine and even smaller threat of prison time is not going to make a dent in the participation in this cruel choice of entertainment. There needs to be a very disgusting fine for perpetrators convicted in the training or ownership of animals abused like this and the prison time should be up there with murder. How many animals are dying at the hands of these monsters every single day?

There is not a jury in the nation that would look kindly on this form of animal abuse and that is just how it should be. These are domesticated animals that are trained to be at the most primitive level of survival. When these poor animals do not perform well and loose, their owners revert to the most brutal form of animal abuse the news has ever reported. Men or woman that do this to them are not human in any form of the word.

Papamoka

Must read site for beautiful animals abused by owners that just happen to be Pittbulls

Pitt Bull Abuse

Please link this post or email it to your friends and family to protect these poor animals from future abuse.

Dems Combat Bush over Woman’s Rights

I think that it is a given fact that you will not find Mitt Romney or Uncle Rudi, Super Vet John McCain or any other Republican running for President at a Planned Parenthood convention. Much like President Bush having a hand selected audience the Dems supposedly pulled out all the stops against a women’s freedom of choice but I could not find one iota of information in this article where they talked about the Republican candidates actually running for President.

While this was great fodder for the political press nobody landed a damn punch against any of the Republicans other than George W. Bush? I could not believe my eyes and I had to re-read this piece over and over at the New York Times…

Democrats Attack Bush on Women’s Health Issues
By ROBIN TONER
Published: July 18, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 17 — In a rousing indictment of the Bush administration and the Supreme Court it created, Senator Baracj Obama told a Planned Parenthood convention here on Tuesday that the next election would decide a fundamental question: “What kind of America will our daughters grow up in?”

The speech by Mr. Obama, of Illinois, came on a day when the leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination expressed their commitment to reversing the Bush administration’s approach to abortion rights, judicial appointments, sex education and contraception.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton declared that President Bush had consistently “played politics with women’s health.” She added, “He has chipped away at reproductive rights, and he has worked to turn Washington, D.C., into an evidence-free zone where facts are subordinate to ideology.”

Mrs. Clinton, of New York, argued that the Bush administration and its conservative allies had undermined and underfinanced longstanding education and family planning programs while heavily favoring abstinence education. She added, to cheers, “I want you to know that when I’m president, I will devote my very first days in office to reversing these ideological, antiscience, antiprevention policies that this administration has put into place.”

Mr. Obama, who was repeatedly interrupted by applause, said the recent Supreme Court decision upholding a federal ban on a type of abortion was the beginning of a profound retreat on women’s rights, and should be presented that way to the voters. - New York Times


I don’t know what they were all thinking. This is a political race of a lifetime and these folks are slamming Bush when they should be focused on the Mini-Publicans over on the other side of the ballot. Granted the piece does not give a carbon copy of each candidates speech to the Planned Parenthood convention but no where in it does it say that Romney is Pro Life for now but it might rain tomorrow and he might change his mind. No where does the article list any other candidates position on the other side of the ballot!

Who the hell is writing these peoples speeches and why haven’t the candidates fired them? Get rid of the kid gloves and enter the political arena like you want to win the highest office of the land. Running for President takes some serious guts and it takes calculated risks. If you are going to give a speech to a group that is for all intents and purposes Pro Abortion then point out and state from the opposing party who is not. Point out the logical reasons why a candidate like Mitt Romney flip flops on the issue. Point out that Guliani is a Catholic but in the past and somewhat in the present he is flip flopping on this serious issue.

Most of America already knows President Bush is an idiot, been there and done that the last election cycle. There is a good probability that a Democrat will be elected to the White House but it will not be someone that is screaming the loudest “Me Too!”. I would tend to think that the moderates and centrists of the political parties would like to see some serious points on why one person or party is better than the other before we all have to vote for someone for President.

Show some damn political guts and play the cards you have people. Convince the people in the middle that you have the audacity to call a spade a spade and if the folks over on the other side want to damn you for it then you welcome the free publicity. Winning the hearts of the middle of the political spectrum is an art form woven with comments that you believe in and statements of intentions of perspective. More importantly, fire your speech writers. They missed an opportunity of a lifetime to transfer the message through the candidates mouths to left leaning moderates ears.

Papamoka

Media Hype or Bush being Chicken Little?

I’m not sure if I should wear my bullet proof vest to work tomorrow or just wear a polo shirt? I tend to watch the news and actually READ many different points of view from many different avenues of news information. Which makes me wonder now why I do not trust any information from the main stream media?

If I take them literally I’m going to die tomorrow in a hail of bullets from someone from Iraq or Iran or someone from Al-Kill-You-All. I’m thinking about looking at what Al-Jazeer has to say more than what NBC, CBS, ABC or CNN has to say anymore.

With all the latest hype over attack on our nation any moment I tend to be worried and scared for my five daughters but then again we could all be hit by a meteor that will obliterate our entire species world wide according to some folks in NASA as well. Death, destruction, and absolute fear seems to be what the RNC is selling. Anyone want to buy that and if you do, if you have a coupon will they honor it?

CNN is pushing the Republican message of being very afraid…

By Ed Henry
CNN White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- So let's cut to the chase on the new National Intelligence Estimate: Does it show America is safer today than it was on September 10, 2001 -- or not?

President Bush's top aide on terrorism, Fran Townsend, briefed the press on the NIE Tuesday.

Getting a straight answer is not easy, especially with so many acronyms flying around -- this is an NIE from the DNI (director of national intelligence) that took into account intelligence analysis from the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and ... well, you get the idea.

Then there's the reaction from the White House, which is downright confusing. On the one hand, the White House does not dispute the findings of the report, which declares: "The United States currently is in a heightened threat environment," especially from al Qaeda.

But on the other hand, White House Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend asserts President Bush's claim that al Qaeda "is on the run" is still applicable.

On one hand, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says just days before this report he has a "gut feeling" there could be a summer terrorist attack in America. But on the other hand, Townsend reiterates Chertoff's claim that there's "no specific, credible threat" against the United States right now.

Adding further confusion, this report re-ignites the ferocious debate over whether the war in Iraq took the president's eye off the broader war on terror, a point I pressed hard today in an on-camera White House briefing with Townsend.

(She and I have previously joked good-naturally off-camera about another back-and-forth we had in December 2006, when I asked her to admit that not catching Osama bin Laden is a major failure and she countered that capturing him is merely a "success that hasn't happened yet." Jon Stewart on "Comedy Central" had a field day with that exchange that even White House officials found amusing). - CNN

I’m grabbing the kids and heading to the bunkers. Just like the Vice President we have them all over Worcester. The government built them just after 9/11 to protect all of our citizens in America. I’m sure that you must have them in your town as well or you must not have voted Republican in the last election. Al Qaeda, Ali Baba, and his brother Al Pay ya Back are going to kill us all. President Bush says so and that is good enough for me.

Bullshit!

Even the Iraqi President, Premier, head honcho does not want America in his country anymore. Get our troops home and let the Iraqi people deal with their own family dysfunctions. Let us take our God home and let them define their own religious belief amongst themselves. How they do it should not be up to any American President or political party. It is their damned country and I do mean damned.

Papamoka

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Dude’s I did it Man! Whoohooo!

Picture courtesy of the Houston Chronicle

In the gentleman’s club that is our nations capitol there appears to be a little towel snapping and high fives going on over the latest Republican Senator’s sexual adventures outside of marriage. Much like the High School locker rooms where the guys root and cheer when one of the jocks scores with a girl, apparently, they do the same thing in the Senate.

Locker room high school behavior is somewhat a right of passage to adulthood and something to be expected but in a GOP Senatorial meeting? Applauding a Senator that slept around on his wife with a prostitute is not what I would call family values. Maybe they were cheering his creating another family values?

Over at the Houston Chronicle they have this to say about the sexual exploits of Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana.

July 17, 2007, 12:58PM
Senator returns, dodges sex scandal questions

By CHARLES BABINGTON
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Louisiana Sen. David Vitter returned to the Capitol today, apologizing privately to GOP colleagues but refusing to take reporters' questions about a sex scandal that sent him into seclusion for a week.

The first-term Republican said he wanted to resume his normal Senate schedule, but that proved difficult as news crews camped outside his office and chased him down hallways.

In a private weekly luncheon for Republican senators in the Capitol, Vitter briefly spoke and received a round of applause audible outside the room. Vitter told his colleagues he was sorry for the trouble he had caused them, and thanked them for their messages of support, said a senator who heard the speech and described it on background because of the private nature of the luncheons. - Houston Chronicle

Now that the righteous dude Senator has apologized to his wife and the nation does that mean he is good to go and we can trust him with his message on family values? I honestly think we can. He was caught, he fessed up to his bad behavior and his wife forgives him.

Yup, works for me because I am not critical of people in public service that claim the highest pulpit in the church and the government. I think people are too critical because after all it was just hypothetical supposed high school type sex between a Senator and a lady of age, of the night. (Whoooohoooo!) I have to remember to delete that (Whoooohoooo!) before I post this piece.

Ummm, could he have been experimenting on the behalf of the American people with multiple partners to verify that sleeping around can cause and spread sexually transmitted disease? Maybe he was trying to prove that prostitution does exist in America and now he has video to prove it?

Maybe he was counseling the girls in the service to the DC Madame on the ills of the services they provide and that the private sector is the way to really go to make the big bucks? He could have been providing guidance to K Street agencies that could show them the light… or the green?

Then again he could have been testing the latest military night vision weapon systems on unsuspecting woman of the night. That could be why he isn’t talking to the press. Those sort of things are especially TOP SECRET ya know!

Papamoka

God

Faith in America is not the same as your faith in God. The two things do not mix or even come close to one another’s ability to be more righteous. America is an ongoing experiment and your faith in God is what it is. For some people it is a shield to wear proudly and be comfortable in. For others it is a slap to mans logical ability to find scientific reason behind the facts that we simply exist.

I’m not a bible thumping moron that swears that if you do not believe in my church then you are damned to hell forever and then ten days more. That is not what a loving God would ever do but it is what men will do to one another. There is a very large difference between the two points of ideology.

I can understand the points of people that become atheist and I bare no ill will towards them. Their journey through life is no different from yours or mine and it is a trail they must travel. Free will is what it is and if they choose not to accept the possibility of a higher being then they still have free will. I honestly don’t think that God would look on them worse for their mistakes in life any more than he or she would look at your life or mine.

I have a strong faith in God and I don’t see God as a man or a woman. I see God as total love and acceptance for all of our faults. Some people tell us to fear God and I do not. Some people tell us of the wrath of God but I do not fear that either. Some people look to Jesus as the savior of the Christian faith and he is that to them. Jesus message is no different than that of Mohamed, Buddha or any prophet that walked the earth. In the Christian faith he is the son of God but then again we all are and Jesus did not discriminate.

Jesus showed his love to people not accepted without any reservations because he knew the heart of them. Our lot in life does not matter but how we act today will be our lot in life today to face tomorrow. We can live in fear of our Arab, Suni, Iraqi, Iranian, Lebanese, or Syrian brothers or we can continue to fight for another thousand years over who’s God is greater?

Anger and hate have no place in religion. You can not go to church or the Mosque on Sunday with a clean heart and on Monday declare war on one another.

Forgiveness in America is lost. We have lost our way. We need to get back to being the shining light of the world. That is where America should be. We need to find our way. With God’s grace we can but it will take time.

Papamoka

Broken Hearts from a Broken War Strategy

While the President is insistent that we stay the course with regards to the war in Iraq the base of his political support is fading steadily. What were once strong holds of the Republican Party are becoming opponents to the president in what seems to be a never ending parade of funerals for our fallen sons and daughters.

As the President plays on the peoples worst fears the battle truly being fought does not have a definition to declare the war over. There will never be a signing ceremony where the opposing parties agree to an end of the hostilities. In its place we have an endless loop of a war that has the appetite to continue for generations if so allowed.

Each day the numbers of killed in the war in Iraq have become just that, numbers. To many people these numbers have no faces, families, or friends. Have we as a people become numb to the consistent body count that is on the news every single day? That is not the case in small tightly bound communities where everyone knows everyone not just by a face but by a name, who your family is and more importantly as a friend.

As more Republican Senators and Congressman join the ranks opposed to the war the President will dig in deep wearing his cast iron resolve like a life vest. As his strategy for the war in Iraq sinks below the waves and the president clings to the tip of the mast, the only thing certain is that the strategy that was his ship is in fact sinking.

The days of this President’s personal war in Iraq are coming to an end. Not today, or tomorrow but with the increasing loss of support from Republicans in the Congress, and in the heartland.

Papamoka

New Writers Wanted

I'm looking for some writers on Liberal or Centrist or even Conservative opinions to contribute here at Papamoka Straight Talk. There are no rules or editing by myself on any topic if it is political in nature. You know the site, you have read the pieces I post. Are you up to the challenge?

Posting requirements are at your whim. If you have something to say then post. Cross posting is encouraged on your own site. The pay sucks because I don't make any money off of this blog. So you will not be paid. This is just your avenue to vent and be heard.

You can Google search Papamoka and we are every where. So your voice is not lost if you choose to post here. Sign every piece you write with you own name or nick name. Our site is not huge but we do have many readers from national news agency's to the people in our nations government. This blog and its founder has been linked to by many national sites and we are only getting started.

Email me at papamoka@hotmail.com if you are interested in posting your thoughts and opinions of what is going on in America today! This is a growing blog and if you want to be a part of it then all you have to do is let me know that you want to say your peace. I look forward to hearing from you!

Papamoka

Child Abuse in Mass Continued

This story in the Boston Globe sounded like a trumpet sounding out the call to go to arms and fight the dragon that is the Department of Social Services. That is not the case by any means. This is an extreme case of child abuse and I don’t think anyone will argue with me over that point. DSS when notified does what it has to do to protect the kids.

You actually have to read the entire piece over at the Boston Globe to not fully condemn DSS.

Doctor says DSS sought to send bitten girl home
No bail for pair accused in abuse

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
July 12, 2007

NEW BEDFORD -- A Boston doctor who examined a 3-year-old girl whose upper lip was bitten off said yesterday that hospital staffers had to persuade the Department of Social Services not to send the child home, where her mother had allegedly failed to stop months of physical abuse by her boyfriend.

Five days after the girl was brought to Children's Hospital Boston with black scabs on her mutilated face, DSS proposed sending her home, according to testimony by Dr. Alice Newton during the couple's dangerousness hearing in New Bedford District Court yesterday.
The injuries were so severe, Newton testified, that the girl will never fully recover.

The DSS proposed on April 30 to return the child to her home four months after she first came to the attention of the agency's officials in January, when she was seen at a New Bedford hospital for treatment of a broken tooth and bruises that a physician there called suspicious.

DSS officials said last week that they did not take action in the case in the months following the January hospital visit because they did not find the girl at home on several occasions.

“Snip-a-roo”

In a telephone interview yesterday, DSS spokeswoman Denise Monteiro called the disagreement over the child's release a miscommunication that was quickly cleared up by a conference call that hospital staff requested with DSS. DSS officials had not authorized a plan to send the child home, she said.

Doctors, she said "thought the [DSS] worker was going to pick up the kid and take the kid home, and that was not what was going on," Monteiro said. "That was not the plan. There was no plan to take the child anywhere."

DSS ultimately went into court and, on May 3, obtained legal custody of the girl and her 5-year-old brother. The boy has not shown signs of physical abuse, officials said. – Boston Globe

You really have to keep an open mind when it comes to the modern DSS intervention. When abuse at this level occurs then they will take children from the home and with good cause. I can’t say that I am a big fan of DSS but I am a supporter of what they do for the children abused beyond recognition as the child was in this case.

It is pretty obvious to me that the mother in this scenario was no Mother Theresa or even a reflection of her. This mom was just a womb vehicle with a growing cellular structure that just happened to come through the birth canal and after that point something else was on the television that was more important to pay attention too.

How she choose the boyfriend over the child is beyond my thought comprehension but then again I have five baby girls that I love to no end. Put a speeding out of control bus in their way and I would die trying to get them out of its path. That is just me though.

Was this mom to busy contemplating her navel while her baby girl’s lip was being bitten off? Where were her motherly instincts while the boyfriend was attacking this child like an animal? What kind of person would ever allow that to happen even once?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a die hard liberal, but when it comes to kids and someone abusing them like these two people did, I have no mercy in my soul for them. While one person bit this little girls lip off the other pretended it never happened.

Meanwhile, there is a little girl out there disfigured for life. She is safe now thanks to DSS, and I for one applaud the actions they took. As for Bryan James, the animal that bit this little girls lip off, making him a gelding is not even close to what I would like to do that monster!

Papamoka

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Extreme Child Abuse in Mass

Picture courtesy of Boston Herald

I can not picture in my mind the horror of the child in this Boston Herald story. Put yourself in the mind of this child that is having her mind and body brutally abused by not her father but a boyfriend of her own mother. Then her mother does not report the abuse immediately on her own baby girl? That fact in the mind of this child must have screamed at the darkest part of the human psyche. Multiply it by one hundred in the mind of a child at the hands of an abusive monster that is her mothers boyfriend. Where was this child’s safe place during a time in her life that I am sure was a non stop abuse by this animal? Abuse does not go from zero to sixty to biting a child’s face off. That fact alone makes me wonder if their was a history in this case that the mother did not report as well?

This monster treated this child with such a disgusting act of aggression by biting off her entire upper lip that it was purely animal instinct by him. There is no reason on this earth that would justify such an act by an adult man against a child or any other human being. As an animal that he is I have no problem putting him down like they do dogs that harm people with the same aggressive behavior.

Doctor says bitten 3-year old essentially missing her top lip
By Associated Press
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 - Updated: 06:36 PM EST

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A 3-year-old girl who was allegedly repeatedly bitten by her mother’s boyfriend is permanently disfigured and may have hearing loss, a doctor testified Wednesday.

Dr. Alice Newton, the medical director of the child protection team at Children’s Hospital in Boston, contacted child welfare officials after she examined the girl in May and found bite wounds. She said plastic surgery won’t be enough to make the girl’s lip look normal.

"She is essentially missing her top lip," Newton said during a dangerousness hearing Wednesday in New Bedford District Court. "I’ve never seen a child who is missing her upper lip. - Boston Herald

Vigilante justice is not the way to go but I think people need to know that scumbags like this animal are out there. Your neighbors kids may be at the hands of animals like this and I find it very hard to believe that friends and family never saw the fear in this child’s eyes around this man.

Would you rather drop a dime to the local social services agency to investigate suspected abuse or attend the funeral of a young baby at the hands of an animal like this creep? I would hope that people choose the former and drop a dime.

I can only pray for this child going forward as her life will be marked forever with the loss of her upper lip. Surgery is in this child’s future and hopefully the pain in her eyes and heart will fade over time. Her memory may fade but the abuse will never be forgotten in her mind.

Bryan James should get a life sentence, no other punishment is acceptable in my mind.

Papamoka

Bush Crew Screws Public Health Interests

Picture Courtesy of Google Search

In a perfect world the science tells the truth because facts simply do not lie. Enter the White House and the President and you can choose to ignore the science of facts simply because you sit behind the desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Pick and choose your science issues and dictate to not just the people of America but to the world what you politically want people to hear. Not the scientific facts but the political spin from a political machine.

If President Bush owned a tobacco farm then smoking would be good for you and me. Chuck the scientific facts of medical science out the window and buy a pack of butts for America! I’m just going out on a limb but I believe the President is guilty of the KISS theory, Keep It Simple Stupid. Not for our protection but his own.

Even his own hand picked former Surgeon General Carmona is blowing the horn of science over what the President wants the people to really know. Apparently, the former Surgeon General served at the Presidents will as long as it washed with the politics of the day as he felt it would serve him best.

Over at the New York Times they have this to say about our President and his thought process on what you need to know about medical science as he sees fit…

White House Is Accused of Putting Politics Over Science
By GARDINER HARRIS
Published: July 10, 2007

WASHINGTON, July 10 — Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional committee today that top officials in the Bush administration repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations.

Dr. Carmona, who served as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006, said White House officials would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues because of political concerns. Top administration officials delayed for years and attempted to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand tobacco smoke, he said in sworn testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

He was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of every speech he gave, Dr. Carmona said. He was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings, at least one of which included Karl Rove, the president’s senior political adviser, he said.

And administration officials even discouraged him from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s longtime ties to the Kennedy family.
“I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help those people?’ ” Dr. Carmona said.

The Special Olympics is one of the nation’s premier charitable organizations to benefit disabled people.

Dr. Carmona joins a list of present and former Bush administration officials who assert that politics often trumped science within what had previously been nonpartisan government health and scientific agencies. - New York Times

If you were to take the scenario of the facts that he shut down and dummied up the Surgeon General then what the hell did he do to the folks working for him that were supposed to look out for the Environment? Expand the thought process to other areas like the FDA or the FBI. How about the CIA or the Department of Interior? How many ways can you twist the facts to serve the people you love most?

Anyone have a list of contributors to “W’s” Presidential Library yet? If the science did not work for the friends of Bush then I’m guessing that the President put a gag order out on it.

Some notes on what the Surgeon General is supposed to do if not overruled by the White House...

Duties of the Surgeon General

To protect and advance the health of the Nation through educating the public; advocating for effective disease prevention and health promotion programs and activities; and, provide a highly recognized symbol of national commitment to protecting and improving the public's health;

To articulate scientifically based health policy analysis and advice to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the full range of critical public health, medical, and health system issues facing the Nation;

To provide leadership in promoting special Departmental health initiatives, e.g., tobacco and HIV prevention efforts, with other governmental and non-governmental entities, both domestically and internationally;

To administer the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps, which is a uniquely expert, diverse, flexible, and committed career force of public health professionals who can respond to both current and long-term health needs of the Nation;

To provide leadership and management oversight for PHS Commissioned Corps involvement in Departmental emergency preparedness and response activities;

To elevate the quality of public health practice in the professional disciplines through the advancement of appropriate standards and research priorities; and

To fulfill statutory and customary Departmental representational functions on a wide variety of Federal boards and governing bodies of non-Federal health organizations, including the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the National Library of Medicine, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the American Medical Association.

I'm thinking that the Hippocratic Oath and the Oath of President are like oil and water? Am I wrong?

Papamoka

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