Worcester Blogger Round About Rotary

Papamoka Straight Talk is not for the most part a local Worcester, Mass-A-Two-Sticks (A nickname given what you have left over after all the taxes) blog but I’m finding that there are some great local blog’s discussing real issues that actually are relevant to this site. When it comes right down to it I tried making a difference in my local area but the knock your head against the wall mentality in Worcester is probably the same as in any fairly large city in America. I gave up when the PIP Shelter was shutdown and moved two houses down from my family. We moved for reasons other than the obvious but that is another story for another day.

When you look at the terrorist level on this site indicated by the Bert and Ernie chicklet you could reference the Worm Town Taxi on the local terrorist story about the kid from Winchendon bringing in an empty Memorial Day gun cartridge from the military parade to school. The child was sentenced to the Gitmo of Winchendon and expelled. That’s the war on terror at the local level. How did AlQuida get to this kid? There was no mention of water boarding of the kid from Winchendon but Worm Town Taxi is still working on this story. I’m laying bets the kid was secretly deported to Sutton in some covert undercover CIA day care center where they don’t serve milk and cookies at snack time. I'm joking of course but this kid was just being a kid and showing off something he should have been proud of. I find myself reading Worm Town Taxi just because he offers a glimpse of Worcester you simply can not find anywhere else.

Thanks to Worm Town Taxi I found Pie and Coffee that does a great pod cast week after week. This week was a very interesting 508 broadcast with several Worcester bloggers and I loved it! The folks participating would be the congress and the problematic President would be the lack of the local media and city hall understanding what is really going on. Pick a subject locally and they nailed it with personal thoughts from real people without a political spin going.

Then I had to check out Daily Worcesteria after listening to Pie & Coffee that has a unique point of view that just sees the local paper as the fox in the hen house without a clue as to what the real folks see. If you read the local paper and the editorial page then you see the somewhat right leaning policy of the Worcester Telegram. What I find unique about DW is the community building influence and the honest approach to the issues that ARE Worcester. This site comes down to the people making a difference rather than the politically motivated people moving the city back decades. Loving it! Must read!

My neighbors on the old blog-o-sphere in my hometown have impressed me so much that I added a sidebar of links just for appreciation sake to their local sites. Granted, Jeff from Worm Town Taxi was already there along with I’m From Worcester but I’ll be adding more as the days pass. What I truly enjoy about local bloggers is the passion and conviction of what they are doing. It isn’t about them as an individual as much as it is about informing the community. I’m pretty sure not one of them is making a living at blogging so it comes down to local pride and in that sense they are true leaders. Patriots of days gone by taking the lead and pointing the direction to where we the people should be and how we can get there. Refreshing thoughts in my opinion.

Action and change only happens when people speak up and these folks along with multitudes of other local blogger’s are speaking up loud and clear. Which begs the question of what you the local resident or reader is willing to do to make things change for the better? If you leave it up to someone else to make it happen then don’t complain when the same mess happens over and over again. What will you do to make your voice heard if those in service to you do not listen?

Public service and running for office is not a cave in if you do it to make life better for the people you care about. If you serve to not better your own lot in life but for the people that need you most, it then is in fact true public service much like the Kennedy family has done for decades. I'm convinced that the politicians serving my community are only there because nobody thinks there is anyone better to do the job. Their voices are the only ones you here because they are the only ones talking! Name recognition on the ballot has surpassed the quality of the candidates on the ballot at the local level. Tell me I'm wrong!

Hell, maybe I should run for Teddy Kennedy’s Senate seat just for giggles and see what happens. No offense to Senator Kennedy or his family, I love all that he has done for this state and the American people. I'm just one voice with a political blog focused on national issues with a true sense of Worcester. It would be a true shame to see a political hack fill his seat and waste the chair because they owed favors unspoken in political circles. I would also hate to see another politically incapacitated politician run for it with a personal grudge to pay. How is it that you start that process? I’ll have to look into that. Just a thought. Worcester and this states deserves a true servant of the people and Teddy Kennedy raised the bar pretty high.

The time to dream for the possibilities of America is upon us, now more than ever is your chance to reach for hope and make change possible. It all starts with one voice and nobody can say that it isn't your voice that could make it all possible. Hope is alive in America and it starts with you! What are you willing to do for America and your community?

Anywho, check out all the local blog’s and thanks for doing so. That is the true meat of this post...
Papamoka

McCain Is NOT a GI’s Best Friend

Senator George McCain… I meant to say John McCain, is no longer the die hard friend of the men and woman in the military service to our nation. Lately, it is becoming harder and harder to tell him and George Bush apart so please accept my humble apology for my confusion.

Ask an aged veteran that needs to use the local VA hospital for care and you can pretty much see what the Bush administration really thinks about veteran’s? With all of the funding cuts over the last seven years and the down right cut throat of any veteran that might need long term care were devastated and gnawed to the bone budget wise. Most current veterans leaving military service have a time window that slams shut when it comes to medical benefits. Two years and the veterans leaving service today are screwed. Make no mistake about it, George Bush has no respect or desire to care for our nations military service personnel once discharged with or without injuries. Governor Ed Rendell of PA had it right in this CNN post…

"While we the governors do all we can for our vets and our returning soldiers, our federal government still has the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of our veterans. And that's why I find the president's budget cuts for critical veteran services to be unconscionable."

He maintained that budget cuts include "a $350 million reduction in veterans home funding, which wipes out at least 5,000 veterans' nursing home beds."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: All you eighty plus year old WWII Veterans in nursing homes need to move your disabled lazy ass to the curb you bunch of freeloaders!)

"If the president's proposed budget cuts are enacted, nearly 60 percent of the 1,600 veterans will lose their daily stipend that allows them to stay in our state's nursing homes, literally forcing them out into the cold."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Maybe President Bush and Senator McCain think we should put a rifle in their arthritic eighty year old hands and just air drop them on Baghdad? Wheel chairs and walkers included. Nobody likes a deadbeat right? Works for Haliburton.)

Vet co-payments for prescription drugs were tripled two years ago, Rendell said, and "now the president is proposing to again double those increased co-pays."

(Papamoka Personal Bush/McCain interpretation for those of you that do not speak fluent Republicanese: Are we supposed to support these aging deadbeats forever just because they served in uniform? They were given a spiffy uniform, some free medals for doing some stuff decades ago along with food and shelter while in the military. So how is that relevant to what they have done for us lately?)

"In the midst of a war, when many new men and women will join the legion of veterans, does it really make sense for the president to increase the cost of vets' prescriptions by 100 percent?"

Rendell criticized a proposal calling for a $250 fee "to be paid by every vet wishing to participate in the Veterans Administration health care program. " - CNN

If you still think McCain is our nation’s Veteran’s best friend then you can look at this from the Obsidian Wings…

During a March 2005 Senate budget debate, McCain voted to kill an amendment that would have "increased veterans medical care by $2.8 billion in 2006." That amendment lacked an assured funding stream, but lest one mistake this incident for a maverick's stance against budget-busting, there's more. Just a year later McCain voted against an amendment that would have "increased Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes." Two days after it failed, he voted to kill "an assured stream of funding for veterans' health care that would take into account the annual changes in the veterans' population and inflation to be paid for by restoring the pre-2001 top rate for income over $1 million, closing corporate tax loopholes and delaying tax cuts for the wealthy." That amendment died quietly, forty-six to fifty-four. - Obsidian Wings


John McCain is not a friend of Veteran’s and you can read all the votes he had against legislation over at Donkey O. D. that would have helped veteran’s and active duty people in service to our nation. GI’s don’t have millions to fund a political campaign and George McCain is just another political wing man not caring for his wing man waving the flag and his former military service as an excuse to place himself beyond reproach when it comes to veteran benefits.

It’s getting harder and harder to believe that Senator George McCain… I mean John McCain, is a die hard veteran supporter when most of the legislation presented before the Senate he voted against supporting veteran‘s and enlisted men and woman. Maybe the good old boys over at Haliburton have promised him the keys to the executive wash room if he roles over and plays nice for them.

In the interim, while George McCain… John, is going around the nation dictating that you can not talk about veterans benefits if you never served in uniform it would be interesting to see a list of all the Hawks in the Bush Administration that McCain has joined himself at the hip with. Those brave souls declaring the liars war to be the saving hope for American democracy that also have never worn a uniform. An accusation he used against Senator Barack Obama. We could start with Vice President Cheney and the list grows like the plague from there.

You can click here to see who served and who dodged service and draw your own conclusions.

It would probably be wise advice to Senator George McCain not to be throwing military service in peoples faces when the folks he wants to follow never really served. And yet he is still following the path of Hawks that didn’t serve. His Senate voting record truly does not support vet’s. You can not stump for veteran votes but stab them in the back whenever his supposed Conservative position in politics fit the political day. Either he supports the troops and the long term needs that come up from serving your nation or he does not. The later fits McBush (Dick McCain, George McCain or whoever the hell he has morphed into this week) to a tee!

I'm pretty confident that the only time John Bush... I mean McCain and his bestest friend George Bush only respect veterans when they are in a box and six feet under. Facts don't back up either one of them ever looking out for the troops past or present.

Papamoka

Gas Profits Not High Enough for Exxon

You see it in the papers and news reports all the time that the price of gas at the pump is market driven but that is not the complete truth. All of the good old boys on Wall Street and in the boardrooms of big oil companies would prefer to have you believe that that factoid is the truth. If you believe that the price of gas and oil is market driven then you need to check into your local UFO outpatient clinic. Health insurance is not required.

Traveling the streets of your city and town and you see the prices at the pump proudly posted in big numbers at the curb where neighboring stations are almost always a penny difference per gallon in pricing. That would be simple competition at its basic form. Now travel five miles down the street where you just might see the same name brand gas station but the prices are higher or lower? Did the super tanker trailer truck from the same corporation come from a different distribution facility? Chances are that the same tanker truck delivered the exact same gasoline to both of the gas stations on the same day. Zipping over to the Washington Post you can see what Exxon thinks and how they treat their franchisees.

Peeved at Prices? Don't Blame the Dealer
Awash in Profit, Exxon Fights for Pennies While Raising the Rent

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 25, 2008; Page A01

Now, however, Rezazadeh says she cannot stay in business. Credit-card fees are eating her profit margins. Exxon, which owns the station land, last week handed Rezazadeh a new lease raising her rent about 30 percent over the next three years. She stuck a copy on the window of her station to show customers who are angry about soaring pump prices. Rezazadeh has told Exxon that she cannot make money with the rent that high. Her territory manager's reply, she said, was simple: When you go, leave us the keys. - Washington Post

One of the things I found interesting in this article is the manipulative factor that Exxon has built into its franchise agreement. Every facet of the business is dictated by the Big Oil company down to the exact location as to where you the consumer will grab your favorite candy bar from. That’s no different than being the owner of a Big Burger franchise. But the Big Burger franchise do not have different prices from neighborhood to neighborhood for the same burger and fries do they?

Then there is the mega corporation making ten billion in profits per quarter that manipulates it franchise owners to such a point that supposedly only an eight penny margin is allowed by the Exxon station owner. The only ones making a sizable and excess profit on gasoline at the pump is Exxon. That still isn’t enough cash flowing into Exxon so the stations where they own the land Exxon is allegedly pushing the rental or lease fees up thirty percent simply because they can. That would be similar to those old comedy skits starring Lilly Tomlin as a phone operator where she snorts at the customers complaint and simply states “We are the phone company sir, we can do whatever we want!”

One of the only assumptions you can get out of reading the article is that Exxon sees a bigger piece of the greed pie down at the local franchise level and is slowly pricing them out of business. When one station owner is told by the Exxon district manager to leave the keys for them when they are forced out of business then the writing and business plan is on the wall. Ten billion in profit is not enough for Exxon and they want more!

Pay attention Congress! It’s starting to look like the Exxon Mobil merger was a huge mistake and the all powerful corporation born of that merger has started to eat its young to get even fatter. Time to break out Teddy Roosevelt’s big stick and break up the mother ship.

Papamoka

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McCain Hagee

At this moment I feel bad for John McCain. With his former attitude and denial of the facts when he accepted the endorsement of Reverend Hagee but did not feel himself liable for his comments against we whores of the Catholic faith, he still needed Hagee. He needs that Christian Conservative Evangelical vote. Those folks in George Bush’s back yard and solid support base. Even when Hagee apologized for the comments bashing Catholics, McCain stood by him. It should have raised a flag of concern from the McCain campaign but it didn’t. It wasn’t important enough for McCain, it didn’t matter that millions of Catholic voters still felt offended even if the Catholic League felt the apology full of sincerity. As the D List comedian Kathy Griffin pointed out, the Catholic League is one guy with a computer and does not represent most Catholics. He certainly does not represent this pissed off Catholic!

Then we get Hagee saying that God made Hitler construct the Holocaust because all of the Jewish people in the world needed to return to Israel? Hitler was an instrument of God for the sake of Israel? Now McCain is interested and wants to know more about Hagee? Did he or his campaign not look into Hagee to begin with? Most politicians don’t accept an endorsement unless they are in step with them in the first place. Maybe in the eyes of John McCain it is okay to bash a Catholic because we have all of the monster sex abuse on children issues to deal with but what about a nut job explanation on why Hitler was part of God’s plan?

John McCain thinks that he can walk away from Hagee’s former endorsement but he can not. Now he sits in the same seat as Obama with the need to explain further why he did not know the hate monger that endorsed him. Using the excuse that he didn’t attend his church does not give him an out. This is a Presidential election and if his choice of accepting and endorsement was wrong then what about his choices for the Supreme Court if elected President of the United States?

How many other hate mongering, Catholic and Jew bashing friends does he have in the background that overlooked what was an obvious bad choice?

One thing is certain and that is the fact that this election is going to go negative and it will go negative fast and furious. The Christian Right is losing its voice in government because of blind faith and I don’t have any sympathy for them in that respect. You can flick through every single page of the bible you want but Jesus Christ was never about subjugating the poorest of the poor for the gain of the few.

John Hagee and John McCain are two very different people but they are the same mentality. One is selling the word of God for a dollar and the other is selling his soul for the sake of the office of President. I feel bad for John McCain because he was the voice of reason prior to the George Bush Presidency. Somewhere along the path to today he lost his voice from yesterday.

Papamoka

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Another Republican Exits in Shame

The tote board of Republicans exiting the political field is heavy by one more and this time it’s a Rep from New York. Is it just me or is it more or less a secret that a lot of the folks in the Republican Party are leaving office in disgrace because of the “I am Caesar” mentality? I would think that if you serve in an office in our federal government that you of all people should live to a higher standard. Isn’t that what most politicians run on during any campaign?

Maybe we should all face the facts that nobody is perfect but it seems that there is a little bit more infidelity and indiscretion going on if you have a big old red R next to your name. Maybe the days of Jack Abramoff and the presumption of omnipotence in the Republican Party are over and this is just the tip of the iceberg? Over at the Washington post they have this on the latest political rat to jump ship…

Fossella Decides Not to Run for Reelection
By Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 21, 2008; Page A03

Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) announced yesterday that he will not seek reelection in November, the fallout of a drunken-driving arrest in Alexandria earlier this month that revealed he has a child through a long-standing extramarital affair.

But Fossella said he will finish his term, providing welcome news to Republican leaders who had publicly encouraged his departure. The GOP lamented the prospect of a special election in that district, especially after losing three House seats in such elections since March.

"This choice was an extremely difficult one, balanced between my dedication to service to our great nation and the need to concentrate on healing the wounds that I have caused to my wife and family," Fossella wrote to his constituents.

Fossella, 43, becomes the 26th House Republican to announce an intention either to retire or to seek different office in November. Four others left the House in the middle of this Congress. - Washington Post

It makes you wonder why the Republican Party is the political party to follow if you follow a high moral lifestyle? It appears that many of the good old boy club of the federal government is more about do as I say and not as I do.

People wonder why all of the polling numbers in the primaries are not matching up with the end result of the elections and there is one simple answer to that question. Republicans are jumping ship to the political leaders not selling more of the same mentality. Somehow the Newt Gingrich contract with America was hijacked and in its place was put a contract on America. Give back to America was translated to take from America as much as you can as fast as you can before you get caught.

Decades from now the official truth will be let out on all of the mishaps and injustice during this past decade and the shame will not fall on the left side of the political isle. While politicians think that the people are just sheep, the political process and the new information age is educating the masses at a level never seen before. Eventually, the truth will surface and it is the party that supported the deception that will pay the price. Americans are fickle people like that and the chips land where they land on the side of right over political party loyalty.

Tote board is heavy by one more deceitful Congressman.

Papamoka

Teddy Kennedy and Liberal Ideology

Picture courtesy of Stephan Savoia / AP

With the sad news that Senator Teddy Kennedy is ill, I offer my personal prayers to him, his wife, and his children. I personally don’t know what he will have to go through but I’m sure he will get the best care available. After all he is in and from the so called Mecca of medical science research state. Something he was instrumental in helping to create in the Bay State.

If there is a human medical condition that needed treatment then it was his liberal ideology that worked the government channels over the decades to get the groundwork started in research and eventual treatment. While others were working on bridges to nowhere he was working on the highways of advanced medical science projects here in Massachusetts. Something he spent a lifetime in public service for not just America but the world.

Over at MSNBC they have this on the Senators condition…

NBC News and news services
updated 4:27 p.m. ET, Tues., May. 20, 2008

BOSTON - A cancerous brain tumor caused the seizure Sen. Edward M. Kennedy suffered over the weekend, doctors said Tuesday in a grim diagnosis for one of American politics' most enduring figures.

The Massachusetts Democrat has a malignant glioma in the left parietal-lobe, according to doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, where Kennedy, 76, has been undergoing tests since Saturday after having a seizure at his Cape Cod home.

The usual course of treatment includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy, but Kennedy's treatment will be decided after more tests. - MSNBC

If you have been getting all your news on the Senators condition from television then hold that thought for a second and read on. Senator Kennedy is not dead! He isn’t in a coma or incoherent and out of touch with his faculties. Yes, he has a brain tumor but he’s probably had it for some time now and has been functioning pretty damn well for a 76 year old man. I give his beautiful wife Victoria the credit for his amazing health up to this point and she deserves a ton of credit for that. Behind every great man is a greater woman telling him to knock off the bad boy behavior. To his credit he listened to her. Love is grand like that and with her help he has accomplished so much more than he could have without her.

While I understand that the Senator is sick the fact remains that he is not dead! He has cancer and that is not a death sentence as much as it was even ten years ago. Yes he will have to slow down his schedule but he should have done that ten years ago. Kennedy’s, you can’t talk to them at any age to ever slow down and I’m sure Victoria has been telling him that fact for years and that he can’t be everywhere for everyone all the time. Have you ever known a Kennedy to not be there for anyone?

Back years ago Senator Kennedy helped my father when he was up against a wall of Pentagon double speak. Dad was a proud Veteran of WWII and Korea, a Purple Heart Veteran, a highly decorated man that wanted to just display his medals in a case to pass on to his sons. He had lost his medals in the course of raising seven children for service to his nation. Creating future taxpayers for his nation post war was a challenge and if you know how large families are, stuff just disappears. Everywhere and everyone in the military that Dad wrote to turned up with negative replies for help or no reply at all. At the insistence of his wife, my mother, he contacted Senator Kennedy and thought he would never see his medals ever again. Less than a month later Dad received a box in the mail from Senator Kennedy’s office with all of the medals and ribbons he received during all of his service time. That was the first time that I saw my father cry in front of me, the second was my mothers funeral.

My family lived on a truck driver industry paycheck and had no political influence and yet with this one simple act of kindness or desire to be a true public servant he won the hearts and minds of seven children that are now adults. Public service isn’t always about the big details, sometimes it just about touching one persons heart that wins a lifetime of support. We all feel compassion but Senator Kennedy is the Liberal Ideology of America.

Senator Kennedy will slow down during his treatment just as everyone else that has had cancer and the treatment that goes with it to survive it. Will he survive it? Only God knows that answer. Do I have hope for him? Yes I do! No matter what you see on the television about expected survival rates or prognosis on his chances I still come back to the fact that he is a Kennedy. Teddy Kennedy has never been someone afraid of any challenge in his life and this is just another hurdle to overcome. I wish him luck and prayers with this battle. By all means do not count him out of the political arena by a long shot, but do keep him in your thoughts and prayers. We all need those prayers in these difficult times.

Politically, as cold as it sounds, as Senator Kennedy must wind down the twilight of his years in the Senate and in his life, we must choose a standard bearer that will meet the gold standard example he has set in his lifetime of public service. In that thought process, look to Senator Kennedy to offer the wisdom he holds true to his heart. Who can carry the torch he held and propel his dreams, his brothers dreams, onto the next generation of Americans?

Get well Teddy, we love ya!

Papamoka

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People vs. OPEC

I’m sure that all across corporate America in the executive offices of the CEO’s of all the big oil companies could be heard one phrase today.

“Ut Ohhhhh!”

Congress today passed legislation allowing the creation of banks of lawyers to sue the pants off of OPEC members and investigate price gouging by any company. Of course the Commander in Chief is against this kind of legislation. Who’d of thought that? Over at the New York Times they have this on the subject…

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.

The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.
The legislation also creates a Justice Department task force to aggressively investigate gasoline price gouging and energy market manipulation.

"This bill guarantees that oil prices will reflect supply and demand economic rules -- instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities," said Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who sponsored the legislation. - New York Times

When it comes to the scales of justice here in the States it is basically a foregone conclusion that big oil interest have heavily tipped the scales against consumers. It looks to me like we finally will get a break and the powers that be on the exchange markets that set the market price for oil should start investing in shredders.

I’d be willing to pick up a few document threshers if they would be willing to drop the price of oil down to around fifty or sixty bucks a barrel. If they loan me a hundred bucks to fill my tank then I’ll even deliver the shredders.

Papamoka

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School Buses and Motorists

*****UPDATE: City Councilor Clancy contacted me and forwarded my concerns to the Chief of Police in Worcester. The Mayors office contacted me and forwarded my concerns to the City Manager. The Worcester Police Department contacted me and I talked at length with the Lieutenant in charge of traffic and he will be taking action over a prolonged period of time to make this school bus stop a safer place for all of the kids.

My personal thanks to everyone involved and I thank you all for your emails and phone calls.



I’ve been blessed with five very beautiful daughters and I hope and pray to see each and every one of them grow up to be a strong woman. Some people would call me an over protective Dad because I walk my five, seven and ten year old to the bus stop every morning before I embark on my days adventures. Walking away from the bus stop I know that my girls are safe but if I were not there to witness the traffic blowing the flashing red lights of the girls school bus almost daily I could not write this piece.

Worcester is a fairly large city in New England and the traffic patterns at most intersections offer multiple lanes on both sides of the road. Our section of the road where my kids are picked up on is no different other than a double solid yellow line down the middle of the street. Today scared this dad to death only after I heard what happened.

My twelve year old was late for the bus today and rushed out of the house without most of her school supplies and the raisin toast she just popped out of the toaster. Leaving her books, jacket and homework she boogied out the door with a rush to meet her bus in the hopes that she would not miss it. When a twelve year old has one thought in mind then all other objects in the world are blinded to them when they have to get to where they have to be.

While I was getting her younger sisters from ten to five ready for school I heard the blaring of the school bus horn just down the street. Three houses away my child stopped at the curb to cross a main avenue into the city at the last minute as yet another driver blew through the flashing red lights of her school bus. Had she not stopped she would have been killed by somebody busy on their cell phone or sipping a coffee or paying any kind of attention other than what was going on in front of them. All school kids that have to pass a major road should be taught even as a kindergartener right up to senior year that they need to wait for the school bus drivers instruction when it is safe to cross. Thank God that the blaring horn from the bus stopped my child in her tracks. Something she learned from repeated incidents at the same stop to wait for her bus drivers cue when it was safe to cross this busy intersection. How important could anything be if your car slams into a twelve year old crossing the street for their bus? Could you live with yourself if you did just that? Could you look into the face of a parent of that child and truly be sorry simply because you were texting someone when it happened?

Is our rush to be in control or get where we have to be so ignorant that we would blindly get there at the sake of a child crossing the street to get on a school bus. Is any phone call worth the life of a child running for the bus with red flashing lights? Is anything that important to kill a child because all of the distractions of operating a two or three ton vehicle involve more than watching the road and what is going on during the operation of that vehicle?

As a parent I have contacted my Mayor first, my City Councilor second and the local police third. When it comes to the safety and life of my child I will choose going over everyone’s head each and every single time. At the time that this post was written, my local City Councilor replied and forwarded my email to the Police Chief.

I’ll be watching our local school bus stop for any activity and local enforcement. I’ll also be begging my friend’s in the local area like WormTown Taxi and I’m from Worcester to pick up this post. If this kind of ignorance on traffic rules are happening in my neck of the woods in the third largest city in New England then I’m pretty sure it is happening everywhere.

Who wants a double latte mocha-chino espresso for the road with a by pass school bus flashing reds to go? All jokes aside, this is no joking matter. My children are my world as much as I’m sure that yours are. If you see this happening in your world then speak up and be heard. Be the very angry squeaky wheel and let the oil flow from the folks with the oil can in hand.

If you are reading this post then please email it and pass it on to a friend or family member to protect your kids in your city! One near miss is to many.

Papamoka

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King Abdullah to Bush… Screw You, Again!

On President Bush’s second trip to Saudi Arabia in four months time the King once more is not buying what Bush is selling. President Bush asked the King of Saudi Arabia to raise production to ease concerns over supply and the King basically told him that the Kingdom is meeting the supply needs of its customers and would not increase production. AKA… Go away little boy, you are bothering me and don’t know what you are talking about. Over at MSNBC they have this from the Associated Press on it…

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The White House said Friday that Saudi Arabia's leaders are making clear they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it.
President Bush was in the oil-rich country to appeal to King Abdullah for greater production to help halt rising gas prices in the United States.

But his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Saudi officials stuck to their position that they already are meeting demand.

Gas Snippet…

When Bush met Abdullah in mid-January, the president also asked Saudi Arabia to raise production to ease high prices at the pump. But he got a chilly response to that plea. The kingdom said it would increase production only when the market justified it, and that production levels appeared normal.

Oil prices climbed to a new high Friday, above $127 a barrel. At the pump, gas prices rose to a national average of $3.78 per gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Dem Snip to Da King…

Withhold weapons?

Also, as Bush prepared to leave Washington, Senate Democrats introduced a resolution that would block $1.4 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agrees to increase its oil production by 1 million barrels per day. The Democrats said they introduced the measure to coincide with Bush's trip to send a message to Saudi Arabia that it should pump more oil to reduce the cost of gas for Americans.

High energy costs are a major drain on the U.S. economy, which is experiencing a slowdown that some think is already a recession. Gasoline threatens to go to $4 a gallon this summer. - MSNBC

One of the things I hate to see, even though I detest George Bush, is a foreign nation telling him to screw. As an American it is my right to call him to task for what I believe are political mistakes and somewhat illegal moves on his part. It pisses me off to no end to see the King of Saudi Arabia basically tell the American people to screw. I would love to see a picture of the SOB telling my President “No!” with a smirk on his face. Then I could justify saying that the next time the House of Saud needs our American Military to defend their oil fields against a rogue dictator to go pound sand! Something the oil rich kingdom has plenty of so they will not run out of that commodity as well.

In this same article was a little piece about the stopping the fill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the Democrats pushing it through to Bush’s desk where he will sign the legislation. Something I’ve argued against as a fatal move to the future of our nations energy needs on my post here.

Stopping the SPR is a dumb idea and it fits right into the hand of the Saudi’s. 70,000 barrels a day is nothing to them when they can blink an eye and raise production ten times that amount per day. No, I think we have to face the facts that the Saudi government that used to be a friend to America is no longer a friend. In that respect I have no problem halting all military weapon sales to that former friend.

Makes you think that the boys on the Soprano’s would be better friends than the sheiks and Kings of the Middle East.

Pay attention, Hillary, Barack and Johnny Maverick, the friends your nation had yesterday are only as good as the threat they face from the dictatorship neighbors they have.

In the interest of fairness, if the Saudi’s are meeting the demand of their customers then who are their top customers? Is it China, is it India or Japan? Maybe it would be a wise thought to have an energy summit with the folks that are Saudi Arabia’s best customers and have a little chat? That is what I would do but I’m just a political writer.

Papamoka

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Clinton Strategy and Platform Influence

With the passing of each primary state I’ve been in the tank for Barack Obama for the most part. I’ve written several post’s on why Hillary should get out of the race with my own personal opinion on that subject. (links below)

It’s Over Hillary, Step Aside

Chris Matthews to Hillary, Pack it up!

Hillary Should Bow Out


Since the North Carolina vote I’ve been amazed at how resilient Senator Clinton is when faced with the fact that the numbers and super delegates will just not add up for her campaign for President. One thing I have not done is insult the Senator with derogatory comment or condescending remarks… well calling her the Queen could be complimentary in some respects. Over at the Washington Post they have this on the “Poor Hillary” hype.

Belittled Woman
The Candidate Refuses to Bend, Or Bow Out. Cue Another Chorus of 'Poor Hillary.'

By Libby Copeland
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 16, 2008; Page C01

At some point along the way, Hillary Clinton became "poor Hillary" and it stuck.
She went up against a charmer who once made an audience cheer just by blowing his nose (poor Hillary), and she lost states and delegates and she bet on a filly that died (poor Hillary), and nobody cares that she won West Virginia because it's over, except she can't see it because she's . . .

"Poor Hillary," write the op-ed writers and the bloggers and the newspaper letter-writers. "Poor Hillary's done," writes a gleeful reader in Portsmouth, Va., on Mother's Day. "The Billstone Around Poor Hillary's Neck," reads a New York Daily News headline yesterday. The talk show host Bill Maher has used the phrase, and the occasional CNN anchor, and, of course, the conservative yakkers who like the pure, distilled schadenfreude of those two words.

"Poor Hillary," Sean Hannity said at one point during this never-ending primary. "Running out of money, couldn't pay her staff."

"Bless her heart," said his conservative guest. - Washington Post


This article ticked me off because it was more of a bully in the school yard piece. If you look at the facts, Hillary Clinton should be damn proud of what she has been able to do in this race. No other woman in this nation could have come this far and kept the race so very close. Hillary and her campaign crew should be proud that the issues they care about are front and center and still being debated in the Democrat Party simply because Hillary is still in the race.

If you think politics is as easy as picking a candidate and sticking with them come hell or high water then you would be mistaken. Yes, I am still a large Obama supporter but now I think Hillary Clinton has a very good reason for staying in the race now more than ever. That reason is to use her influence and strength at the convention to form a better Democrat platform that can beat McCain come the general election in November. Without her influence on this race then Barack Obama could become complacent and “Yes We Can” us to death. Personally, I prefer discussion on the issues rather than creative jingles and speeches littered with catch phrases.

Make no mistake about it, even if you are not a Hillary Clinton supporter, Democrats owe her a huge amount of gratitude for staying in this election.

Papamoka

Cross posted at To the Center

Race Relations Be Damned

Listening to talk radio or watching even the network television news you find an avenue of opinions that run contrary to the current trend that favors Hillary Clinton because of the fact that Barack Obama just happens to be a black man. When I was trying to toss down a burger at the local Wendy’s I was shocked to hear the many controversial and frankly racist comments made about Senator Obama that were thrown at his campaign workers by so called residents of West Virginia.

When I woke up this morning it was 2008 and not 1968. Trust me, my five children let me know that fact is true every single day. In 1968 I was five years old and now I have my youngest that is five. In each of their eyes they do not see the color of a persons skin but the heart of the friends they choose. Race is not an issue in their eyes or heart and I thank God above that we as parents have been able to raise them without that ugly personality trait.

America was a very separatist society back before 1968 and in the progress that has been made in all that time since many African American’s have prospered and were finally free to be the potential person that they could become. My child has the potential that is the same as any African American and all they have to do is work for it and earn it. That is the American way. Then you hear the draw back on the polling numbers and reports of whites verse black voters and race lines in the vote and it all disgusts me to the bone. MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX did a non stop reporting of why white people would not vote for Obama in West Virginia and the undertone that I perceived as a viewer was that they were playing the race card simply because one of the candidates is a black man and the other is a white woman. Basically, they labeled everyone that didn’t vote for Obama as a racist.

Today I heard of all kinds of racist incidents that the Obama campaign is facing including a Curious George cartoon with an Obama 08 sign depicting Obama as the monkey. Even Rush Limbaugh is running from the mishap simply because he had no clue as to who Curious George was and why it was associated with Obama. Something I find hard to believe is that Rush was ignorant when he claims every single day that his brain is on loan from God in his broadcast. The character and authors of the Curious George character have been around for over 67 years! Margret and H.A. Rey, Curious George's creators worked on children’s books for decades! Rush apologized when he found out how racist the caller was. Then he banned the caller for life.

We don’t need hate in America for or against fellow American’s in any form, function, or broadcast. It serves no purpose other than to divide us as a people and prove out that ignorance of another human being is not only contagious but full of contempt. In the past decade we have seen separation of American’s based on wealth and this kind of thought on race bashing only serves that style of degradation of our people even further. It’s truly up to you as an individual to say enough is enough.

I’m just guessing but I think there are several different America’s and in parts of our nation there is still a racial problem. All of the MSM made West Virginia sound like the KKK headquarters and frankly that scares me. They single handedly manipulated the race for President into a racial bias and they sold it all across the airwaves and then the newspapers the next day.

My kids will grow up color blind and wear one pink sock and one blue sock to the school of life and if they are happy then so am I. No offense intended to the people of West Virginia that voted on the issues and not the color of a persons skin but the MSM made your state look like the racist capital of the United States.

Papamoka

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Politics, War and Our Troops

At the time that this article is written 4,071 American families have lost a loved one in the war that our nation is in. Many of the kids fighting in this war will eventually face the same politics that our troops in Vietnam faced. As someone writing from a liberal perspective I want it known that my thoughts against the war are not against any of our troops in any single way. They are political thoughts to hopefully bring them all home safe and sound.

As a child I was the son of a WWII Navy veteran that served as a medic attached to the Marines. All of my life I wondered why my father never wanted any of his children to go into the military and follow in his footsteps. It’s an honorable service and for the most part builds a sense of character that one can never appreciate as a civilian. Serving your nation, offering your life in defense of your country and all of the good and bad things it has to offer its people is a greater sacrifice than most people will ever face in a lifetime.

From time to time I can imagine why my father chose to keep his children out of the military. As a medic he had seen the cost of war first hand on many soldiers and marines. Their blood touched his hands first on the battle field and changed his life forever. On Iwo Jima he spoke of the fighting that went on around the clock for days and he finally passed out with exhaustion but found comfort in a large comfortable object and slept for several hours nestled in sleep with his head resting comfortably. That object was a larger than life dead rat but it was the best night of sleep he had in weeks.

In politics today they talk about the war in Iraq as if it is something for somebody else to worry about. Most Americans don’t even think about the war in their day to day lives other than the headlines we read in the papers. Have we become numb to the body count and our children coming home in caskets day after day? Are we ignorant that our kids are still risking their lives every single day in Iraq while we debate politics and personal gripes on healthcare and whom is the best candidate to offer the best solution to Americas future problems?

We as a people need to recognize that our fight for justice over the attacks of 9/11 are over. Our troops need to come home and defend America on the homeland. Our troops need to come back to the land they love and the land they have defended honorably. The mission in Iraq is over. The war is won. That fact is proven by the number of dead of our nations enemy that compares to the sacrifice paid in our own war dead. In some reports the number of Iraqi dead in the war is over one million. Percentages work against any nation willing to attack America ever again. Nut job terrorists hiding behind any nation may not care that in a room of ten terrorists that less than one half of one percent of them will survive. America is not playing around anymore with nut jobs.

Our nation faces an economic crisis that can continue to funnel billions of dollars out of our nations economy to support the efforts in Iraq or it can focus those dollars on the people at home. Bringing our troops home is not accepting defeat in Iraq. Iraq has never in its nations history been stable unless a gun has been held at its peoples heads. America and our military is not about that.

Bringing our troops home is the beginning to the end of the ugly America out to bully the world and the end of the George W. Bush legacy. Now is the time for the olive branch over the sword.

Papamoka

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It’s Over Hillary, Step Aside

One of the things that I admire in Hillary Clinton is her never say die attitude. Running for the Presidency of the United States is the ultimate campaign in politics and the Clinton family knows how much is at risk. Personally, it is a drag on the human spirit knowing that no matter how much you put into it the end result is the votes state by state. In this current process, the Senator from New York has fought the good fight and licked her wounds or celebrated in the few victories she has had. What is the end result that we as Democrats need is one united party. That can not happen with careless remarks based on race from the Senator from New York.

In this election process Democrats from all campaigns have signed up millions of new voters and that in itself is remarkable. Watching the political pundits on the television you would think that the people for Clinton would never vote for Obama and that is simply idiotic thought. This is a primary process within one political party where the two candidates are so close on the issues that for the most part it comes up to tossing a coin in the air in the voting booth for most voters. Heads she wins, tails he wins.

In the general election the difference between John McCain and either Democrat is as vast as the Pacific ocean. Who would logically think that if Hillary Clinton is not the Democrat nominee that the Clinton supporters that are Democrats would vote for McCain? Clinton supporters are just as angry about our government take over by big business and their candidate has the same thoughts as Barack Obama. Democrats will not be crossing party lines in November as much as Republicans will.

That leads to Rush Limbaugh thinking that his personal campaign in Operation Chaos will divide the Democrats using Republican voters to manipulate an election. This is another tool that makes no sense from the right wing. If you happen to be a Republican, would you be willing to change your political affiliation just to help Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama? Changing parties is an act of a political extremist so I don’t see Rush and his bash all Democrats campaign realistically giving fruit to the chaos he would love to spout about on his mega million money making broadcast.

As far as the Clinton campaign goes on, the task of doing so is in the support the campaign gets from donors to the campaign. With the Senator having to give $6.4 Million dollars to her own campaign then the support is not there. If the grass roots of dollars are not flowing in then the race is over for Senator Clinton.

It is not dishonorable for Hillary Clinton to bow out. In her race for the highest office of the land she has brought the truth to a nation in need of many changes and forced all people in the political process to engage in that debate. Hillary Clinton is not out of the political loop if she concedes the race, not by far. With her campaign she drew a new interest in politics by woman and in doing so has changed the face of politics in this nation. No longer will it be acceptable for woman to stand on the sidelines as the world around them changes. In that respect she deserves credit and I thank her for running for President of all of our United States of America.

The time for political healing is now and not later. Our party needs to be one voice, one message, and one party wanting to end the destruction of America at the cost of our middle and lower classes. Something Senator Clinton has campaigned on over and over again. One party united is far better than any joke on a divided Democrat Party on right wing talk radio.

Papamoka

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No Thanks Pastor Hagee

As a Catholic I take serious offense to the accusations of Pastor Hagee who is a buddy to John McCain in the latest race for President of all of the United States of America. While the main stream media has been attacking Barack Obama with his association with Reverend Wright they have taken a pass on the McCain/Hagee connection. As a voter I was just as ticked off at the racist comments by Reverend Wright as most people should be and I was glad to see Obama distance himself emphatically from those thoughts. It was a wise move for someone that wants to represent all of the people of America.

John McCain has no problem other than saying he does not agree with Pastor Hagee but is not refuting his endorsement. When questioned he pulls out an attack on Obama and Wright which I find interesting in the fact that he isn’t willing to face the facts behind Hagee. It comes down to more or less blaming your association to someone else to deflect attention and blaming a tree for jumping out in front of your car. Damn those jumping trees and ecologist for it!

Just for giggles I watched one of Pastor Hagee’s television broadcasts and frankly I wasn’t surprised to hear and see what he had to say. Things I have never herd from any of my Catholic priest during Mass in my entire life. Counterfeit Christians was his topic for the days broadcast and in it he referenced my faith in terms not labeling the Catholic faith as directly linked to Satan but we pretty much have Satan as the basis of our faith. He rambled on about fearing God and that runs counter to my faith and understanding of a loving God. Fearing God is far more important in Pastor Hagee’s thought process if it instills fear in his flock to blindly follow him. Then he went on about the direct connection from a child’s bottom and the brain which was his direct reference of spare the rod and spoil the child aka child abuse.

What surprised me with his sermon was the continual thought that fear of God, fear of Jesus not loving you, fear of not being part of his flock was the only message he had to sell. Then the commercials came on and the guy has books and videos and all kinds of self serving profit making devices working for him to sell God to the people. With the commercial break over he goes on to tell us that following his true spirit with God is the only way to go and that you no longer have free will. Doing God’s will is your only path and those that do not follow that path will never see the gates of heaven. Sounds like a radical terrorist statement to me but I could be wrong. What happened to free will? In my opinion, Hagee equates free will to how much he can fleece from his flock and that is what he is all about. Money first, God second. Someone has to pay for the multi million dollar operation he has built based on fear and Catholic bashing.

Pastor Hagee is nothing more than a guy making a dollar off of the fear of many lost souls. I’m not questioning his followers faith in God or their following of Jesus Christ, I am questioning the false thoughts of a man at the pulpit. Anyone that tells you that his Jesus or his God is better than yours is someone to be very skeptical of. In the words of Pastor Hagee, the devil will unleash many false prophets and that pretty much puts him in the hate game. Go sell your hate aka used cars (no offense to used car sales people) somewhere else Pastor.

In Pastor Hagee’s apology to the media on all of the coverage of his Catholic bashing, I’m sure coverage on the blogosphere at sites like this he absolutely denied that he has ever had a message of hate against Catholics. See the post and video that I put up earlier and judge for yourself. Or you could click here for the video. He refers to the Catholic Church and Hitler in the first few minutes of the video. Hitler only proposed doing what the Roman Church has done for eight hundred years but just more efficiently. In his apology he immediately refers to most Catholics as charity grubbing unclean people in need of his divine intervention five days a week. Well thank you Pastor Hagee! We are an unwashed and unclean people, all of us Catholics. That was very big of you but Catholic Charities all across America works seven days a week and it never ends year to year.

For the record, if Pastor Hagee wants to come after my faith, my church, my church leaders, I will be at their back to defend the Catholic faith. I’m an American Catholic Renegade and my faith is the foundation for my existence. We American Catholic’s have pretty much had enough of money grabbing self righteous idiots declaring that they have intimate knowledge of what God or Jesus Christ is to the modern man. Attack our church doctrine and you attack our purpose for existing on this planet that is never about ourselves. When your declare my God and my Jesus Christ, two of the same religious entities, not accepting me or my children into heaven then you are a false prophet from any religious perspective known to man. Some would call Pastor Hagee a Christian Jihadist. I would have to agree with that. I would prefer the term that John Hagee is a Christian Terrorist. You will never see the gates of heaven if your check does not clear.

Why does John McCain still consider this man worthy to associate his name with by the Hagee endorsement? When asked about it he points the finger elsewhere because his own thoughts betray him for the price of a few votes.

Anyone that calls themselves an American Catholic is not about hate or any form of screw you because you think xyz on any issue. John McCain by not speaking up for Catholics and all of the behind the scene charities that we do is spitting in our faces and does not deserve even one Catholics vote.

If you think McCain would not sell his own soul for the White House then check out what the Gun Toting Liberal has in his latest piece. Rod Parsley, another religious fanatic preaching the end of Islam. McCain has no problem with his endorsement either!

Papamoka

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Bush Feels Your Pain at the Pump?

President Bush today let the American people know that he is right on top of things with the rising gas prices. Then again, no, he really didn’t. But he did acknowledge that it’s a problem for the working class of America. Then again, no, he really didn’t. I’m pretty sure he is really feeling the pain that we are all suffering but I’m also pretty sure that President Bush had his fingers crossed through the whole interview.

Over at MSNBC they had this to say on our distinguished “Deciderer” on the gouging at the pumps…

Bush: No quick fix for gas prices
President troubled by 'tax on working people'; to take look at proposals

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Monday that he's troubled by rising gas prices and will take a look at proposals to relieve the crisis but warned that there is no quick fix.

"It's been a while in the making and it's going to be a while that we solve the problem," Bush said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We're too dependent on foreign oil and we need to be exploring more at home."

Bush said the rising cost of gas "troubles me a lot" because it is "like a tax on the working people."

Snippet…. Wait for the key phase!

He said he understands the pinch for working families and that some people will cut back on summertime travel. The federal tax rebate on the way to taxpayers will help, he said.

"One way to help solve it, of course, is by sending some of the money back. That's what's happening now as we speak. There's a rebate going back to the American people, which should help," Bush said. He reiterated his call for Congress to make permanent the tax cuts enacted during his administration. - MSNBC

This was classic Bush and his shiny object over here while I’m doing something else over here. Does the man think that the entire nation suffers from some form of attention deficit disorder?

Basically, his whole speech or interview could be translated into the following. Blah, blah, blah, gas prices, blah, blah, rebate checks, blah, blah, blah, but leave my tax cuts for the top two percent of income earners alone!

Maybe somebody should explain to the Nit Wit in Chief that the gas crisis is market driven and not a supply problem. Then while they are explaining that they could tell the deciderer that some of that market problem is directly linked to some little scuffle in the Middle East called the Iraq War that he started to settle a personal grudge! 4,000 plus U.S. Military dead but at least the crayon pusher at the White House got the guy that threatened to kill his daddy.

George Bush could care less if you can not afford to fill up your Chevy or Ford to get back and forth to work and why should he? He could care less if your family is about to have the lights shut off because the money is so tight these days that food just might be more important than paying the electric bill. All you people that are on fixed incomes are totally screwed if this sad excuse for an American President has any say in a pay raise of one or two percent in your Social Security check. You folks might as well sell your cars and think about canceling next winters idea about having heat in your home. In his mind your winter heating problem could be fixed by moving your sorry asses south where you don’t need heat in the winter! He is about as compassionate as a freaking rock! You might want to duck because the CEO of XYZ oil has this puppet boy President’s permission to smash all your windows and take all that they want from you.

I’ll be very clear that this President is on the take and his pockets are lined with the tears of the poorest American’s and those tears are not enough for him or his corporate buddies in the oil industry. Ten Billion in profits every three months isn’t enough for the number crunchers, they feed on greed and want more of what you no longer have. By the oil industry I’m also talking about all those fast talking salesman on Wall Street that are riding the fatted calf of oil with no care for their fellow man. Bush and company is all about full speed ahead till the Democrat’s derail the Republican business machine that takes no prisoners.

One has to give the Liar in Chief Bush credit, he has never wavered on the services he could provide to his business friends that put him in the White House. George Bush and Dick Cheney are very loyal to their friends, that is till the special prosecutors come looking. Bye Alberto, bye Scooter, bye…

Papamoka

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Budget Saving Grocery Shopping

This is a first for me as far as writing a pro piece on a corporation but this particular company has saved our family budget week after week. By no means am I getting paid for this piece so throw out all the bias that I am a bought and paid for writer for this grocery market chain company. This opinion writer is not for sale. This is about saving folks some cash when it seems that everywhere you look it is flying out the window with no control of your own.

We have a fairly large family here in New England and with that family there is a very large food budget. You have to eat and anywhere you can save a few dollars is a Godsend to a larger than life family! My first time shopping at Price Rite I was shocked at the prices. Milk and eggs were half the cost at the other super duper chains. Cereal that the kids eat us out of home was more than fifty percent cheaper and if I happened to pick the store brand it was a bigger discount. As far as the kids care, cereal is cereal and we go through a big box every single morning but the savings get better. They just added the zip close bags in family size and the price is unbelievable.

All throughout the store the prices just blow your mind away and one thing that keeps coming to the front of my mind is how badly the mega chains of New England have been ripping my family off. How can a name brand oven stuffer chicken roast (Big name that begins with P and ends with UE) charge $10 to $12 and the same product is at Price Rite for $6? How is it that the same name brand canned vegetables and fruits are half the price at Price Rite? Store name brands even cheaper at 33 cents a can?

Before a Price Rite store opened in my area we were spending easily $300 for food at the mega stores and wondering and hoping that it would last the week or two. We even did the food club stores and bought in bulk but that was becoming ever more costly as time passed. Now we spend half that much and we no longer have the storage space for things we considered luxuries on our trips to the market. Price Rite is the ultimate budget pleaser and you no longer have to look at quick fix noodles as something to feed your kids a couple of nights a week to extend the food money. As for folks on a fixed income and retired, get your fixed income food dollars to Price Rite and it will knock your socks off on the money you have left over.

There is no membership fee to shop there and the only drawback that I see in it is that you can bring your own bags for your groceries or buy them for ten cents each. Thinking about that and the cost to join the mega food discount stores that don’t even offer bags then Price Rite has them beat there!

From the website of Price Rite they are available in Mass, RI, Conn, Penn & New York. According to the website the savings they find are all passed onto their customers by not advertising, they offer no frills, and they find the best deals week after week and pass the savings and products on to their customers. I don’t care how they do it, I know for a fact that my food budget is half what it used to be and for that I am thankful to the folks running this grocery market chain!

Given the multiple number of name brand products you can get at the stores you currently visit it always shocks me at the difference of price that Price Rite has. Spread the word and email your friends that it is worth the trip to save half of your grocery budget to travel to the nearest store to you!

Papamoka

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Denial of Politics

Many of us at one point in time in our lives face denial. Denial that we might have a problem with our relationship with any of our loved ones, denial that we may be the problem simply because that is the easiest route possible without facing the facts. Alcoholism is one of the strongest points possible for denial of a problem you can not fix if you don’t face it head on. Addiction to politics when your entire life is and has been about politics is similar in nature.

One of the things that is most troubling to many moderate Democrats is the fact that we have a virtual 400 pound gorilla in our midst and it isn’t going to go away anytime soon. What is more troubling is the fact that moderate Republicans are also stuck in the same dilemma. While we face the facts that the gorilla is going about its business it is ransacking the house we live in. Declaring the possibility of a fairy tale outcome that only Hollywood could conceive for a made for television movie pushed on political junkies and party loyalists. Still in the back of the room is the simple reality of mathematics that constantly ticks out the numbers that can not lie. Numbers that scream at political reporters and pundits that cross the airways on our televisions and on our internet surfing of the latest news.

With the Democrat Party lining up millions of new voters from state to state it is a given conclusion that no matter who the primary winner in the Democrat race is, that person will be the next President of the Untied States of America. The current office holder made that possible by running a White House in need of fumigation of political thought that was not to strict adherence to the select few.

From this process and primaries comes many wounds when it comes to selecting a candidate for President. Many of the innuendo and hype lodged against a fellow candidate will be used against the winner at the convention. In previous general elections it was proven that if you throw enough mud up on the wall it will eventually stick. Who does that help?

One of the Democrat candidates has to face the fact that they are in denial. That person can continue to think that a negative is a positive or they can face reality. Most likely that person will continue in denial simply because it is the easiest way to continue on in desperation. What happens to the party during this trial of personal denial? How much negative media is to much to throw at your opponent that is in the same party? Does that not serve the same purpose that Karl Rove used against Gore and then against John Kerry? When do you face the headlights of the oncoming vehicle in time to save face and avoid a tragic ending to a brilliant life in politics? Will the divisive politics of the Democrats hand the Republican candidate the White House because the political party is fatally wounded and fractured? That is the question that must be faced by Senator Clinton. Nobody else can answer these questions.

There comes a time when the division of our nation must end and it starts with one person saying enough is enough. Our future of an America as one nation must begin again and it comes with great sacrifice but with honor. Many have died for this country to continue the idea of one American nation. In that respect we need to start the process of one nation all over again that is not based on foreign soils but looking inward at our nations needs to be one again as a people.

Papamoka

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They took steps to end violence and it’s a good thing

This post was borrowed, stolen, hi-jacked from I’m From Worcester with permission.



Last Sunday we went out to the "Taking Steps To End Violence Against Women And Children" awareness walk. This is an annual event held to raise awareness about the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault and to raise money to help Daybreak, The Rape Crisis Center and Girls Inc. in Worcester.

This is a link to some photos of the t-shirt display, above is the video we shot at the event. I spoke with Kim Dawkins, Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Center of Central Massachusetts. I also got some tape of Linda Cavaioli, Executive Director of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts.

The event had a pretty good turn out. I hope that my small contribution of blog posting and vlog will help them raise awareness and support so the next one is even bigger. Speaking of which; this is an annual event so be on the lookout in the spring. They need everyone out there - that means you too.

If you couldn't make it out to walk this year you can still help. These organizations need support year round. They need volunteers, supplies and money so they can keep helping women and children in crisis. Click on the URL's below to find out how you can get involved in a specific organization. Or, go to the Taking Steps web site for information about this event.

There are hotline numbers and URLs embedded in the video. If you know anyone who is being hurt please help them by getting those numbers and web sites to them.
URLs for more information about the organizations:

The Rape Crisis center of Central Massachusetts
YWCA of Central Massachusetts / Daybreak
Girls, Inc.

AND - I think that AK Consulting Services did a great job organizing the event. They did a good job of making an informative and family-friendly event. Despite the very sad reason for the event, it was a fun day.

So - if you missed it this year, get out there next year!

Ok, I'm done telling you what to do with your weekend now. Thanks for listening :-)

***My thanks to Claudia Snell for letting me post this here!***

Papamoka

Cross posted at Raising Kids in America

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Rape Crisis Center, YWCA, Girls Inc, Battered woman, Battered Children, Keep kids safe, Worcester Events, Im From Worcester, Protecting Children, Child Abuse, Broken families, Defense of Woman, Saving kids, Awareness Walk, ending violence