I really don't know in what direction this blog is going to go...So stay tuned and enjoy the ride...
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
AN OBITUARY...
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
HEALTHCARE BILL READ...
A Constitutional Attorney Has Read the Entire H.C. Bill
Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional.
What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business, and put everyone into a government run system.
All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats, and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled by the government.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices.
Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever ccurred, or even been contemplated If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people, and the businesses they own.
The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with! I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authorit granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care..
This legislation also provides for access, by the appointees of the Obama administration, of all of your personal healthcare direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.
You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide...
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance, or if you have private insurance that is not deemed acceptable to the Health Choices Administrator appointed by Obama, there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a tax instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the
5th Amendment.. However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much, out the original ten in the Bill of Rights, that are effectively nullified by this law It doesn't stop there though.
The 9th Amendment that provides: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;
The 10th Amendment states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights...
Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution." If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it, without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation.. If I voted for it anyway, I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat, I suggest they consult the source, the US Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.
Michael Connelly
Retired attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton , Texas
Michael Connelly, Ret. Constitutional Attorney
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional.
What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business, and put everyone into a government run system.
All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats, and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled by the government.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices.
Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever ccurred, or even been contemplated If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people, and the businesses they own.
The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with! I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authorit granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care..
This legislation also provides for access, by the appointees of the Obama administration, of all of your personal healthcare direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.
You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide...
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance, or if you have private insurance that is not deemed acceptable to the Health Choices Administrator appointed by Obama, there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a tax instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the
5th Amendment.. However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much, out the original ten in the Bill of Rights, that are effectively nullified by this law It doesn't stop there though.
The 9th Amendment that provides: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;
The 10th Amendment states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights...
Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution." If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it, without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation.. If I voted for it anyway, I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat, I suggest they consult the source, the US Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.
Michael Connelly
Retired attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton , Texas
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE...
Georgia Department of Agriculture
Tommy Irvin, Commissioner
19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW
Atlanta, GA 30334
www.agr.georgia.gov
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2010
For information contact: Arty Schronce, Yao Seidu or Jackie Sosby at 404-656-3689
Africanized Honeybees Found in Georgia
Entomological tests have confirmed that Africanized honeybees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County last week. News reports say the man accidentally disturbed a feral colony of bees with his bulldozer and that he received more than 100 stings.
“This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia ,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.
Africanized honeybees are a hybrid of African and European honeybees. Because of their extremely defensive nature regarding their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive), they are sometimes called “killer bees.” Large numbers of them sometimes sting people or livestock with little provocation.
The Africanized honeybee and the familiar European honeybee ( Georgia ’s state insect) look the same and their behavior is similar in some respects. Each bee can sting only once, and there is no difference between Africanized honeybee venom and that of a European honeybee. However, Africanized honeybees are less predictable and more defensive than European honeybees. They are more likely to defend a wider area around their nest and respond faster and in greater numbers than European honeybees.
Africanized honeybees first appeared in the U.S. in Texas in 1990. Since then they have spread to New Mexico , Arizona , California , Nevada , Utah , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Louisiana , Florida and now Georgia . Entomologists and beekeepers have been expecting the arrival of these bees in Georgia for several years. There has been an established breeding population in Florida since 2005.
Because Africanized honeybees look almost identical to European honeybees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees’ identity.
Africanized honeybees are the result of an experiment that went awry in Brazil in the 1950s. Researchers were trying to create a honeybee better suited to tropic conditions. A few of the African bees escaped and began hybridizing with European honeybees. The hybrid “Africanized” honeybees (so named because they get their extremely defensive nature from the African honeybee) began colonizing South America and Central America, then Mexico and the U.S.
“ Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity,” said Commissioner Irvin.
“The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honeybees are,” said Commissioner Irvin. “We also want to educate people about what to do in case they encounter a colony of Africanized honeybees. Georgians can visit our website for more information. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service has a publication on Africanized honeybees that is available online (http://pubsadmin.caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/B%201290_2.PDF) or at Extension offices.”
Here is more information from the Georgia Department of Agriculture:
Africanized Honeybees
· Are very defensive of their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive).
· Respond quickly and sting in large numbers.
· Can sense a threat from people or animals 50 feet or more from nest.
· Sense vibrations from power equipment 100 feet or more from nest.
· Will pursue a perceived enemy ¼ mile or more.
· Swarm frequently to establish new nests.
· Nest in small cavities and sheltered areas.
Possible nest sites may include empty boxes, cans, buckets, or other containers; old tires; infrequently used vehicles; lumber piles; holes and cavities in fences, trees, or the ground; sheds, garages and other outbuildings; and low decks or spaces under buildings.
General Precautions
· Be careful wherever bees may be found.
· Listen for buzzing – indicating a nest or swarm of bees.
· Use care when entering sheds or outbuildings where bees may nest.
· Examine work area before using lawn mowers and other power equipment.
· Examine areas before penning pets or livestock.
· Be alert when participating in all outdoor sports and activities.
· Don’t disturb a nest or swarm – contact a pest control company or your Cooperative
Extension office.
· Teach children to respect all bees.
· Check with a doctor about bee sting kits and procedures if sensitive to bee stings.
· Remove possible nest sites around home and seal openings larger than 1/8” in walls
and around chimneys and plumbing.
As a general rule, stay away from all honeybee swarms and colonies. If bees are encountered, get away quickly. Do not stand and swat as this will only invite more stings. If you are stung, try to protect your face and eyes as much as possible and run away from the area. Take shelter in a car or building, and do not worry if a few bees follow you inside. It is better to have a few in the car with you than the thousands waiting outside. Hiding in water or thick brush does not offer enough protection.
What to Do if Stung
· First, go quickly to a safe area.
· Scrape – do not pull – stingers from skin as soon as possible. The stinger pumps
out most of the venom during the first minute. Pulling the stinger out will likely cause
more venom to be injected into the skin.
· Wash sting area with soap and water like any other wound.
· Apply an ice pack for a few minutes to relieve pain and swelling.
· Seek medical attention if breathing is troubled, if stung numerous times or if allergic
to bee stings.
Don’t Forget!
Hives of European honeybees managed by beekeepers play an important role in our lives. These bees are necessary for the pollination of many crops. One-third of our diet relies on honeybee pollination.
People can coexist with the Africanized honeybee by learning about the bee and its habits, supporting beekeeping efforts and taking a few precautions.
Tommy Irvin, Commissioner
19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW
Atlanta, GA 30334
www.agr.georgia.gov
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2010
For information contact: Arty Schronce, Yao Seidu or Jackie Sosby at 404-656-3689
Africanized Honeybees Found in Georgia
Entomological tests have confirmed that Africanized honeybees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County last week. News reports say the man accidentally disturbed a feral colony of bees with his bulldozer and that he received more than 100 stings.
“This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia ,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.
Africanized honeybees are a hybrid of African and European honeybees. Because of their extremely defensive nature regarding their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive), they are sometimes called “killer bees.” Large numbers of them sometimes sting people or livestock with little provocation.
The Africanized honeybee and the familiar European honeybee ( Georgia ’s state insect) look the same and their behavior is similar in some respects. Each bee can sting only once, and there is no difference between Africanized honeybee venom and that of a European honeybee. However, Africanized honeybees are less predictable and more defensive than European honeybees. They are more likely to defend a wider area around their nest and respond faster and in greater numbers than European honeybees.
Africanized honeybees first appeared in the U.S. in Texas in 1990. Since then they have spread to New Mexico , Arizona , California , Nevada , Utah , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Louisiana , Florida and now Georgia . Entomologists and beekeepers have been expecting the arrival of these bees in Georgia for several years. There has been an established breeding population in Florida since 2005.
Because Africanized honeybees look almost identical to European honeybees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees’ identity.
Africanized honeybees are the result of an experiment that went awry in Brazil in the 1950s. Researchers were trying to create a honeybee better suited to tropic conditions. A few of the African bees escaped and began hybridizing with European honeybees. The hybrid “Africanized” honeybees (so named because they get their extremely defensive nature from the African honeybee) began colonizing South America and Central America, then Mexico and the U.S.
“ Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity,” said Commissioner Irvin.
“The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honeybees are,” said Commissioner Irvin. “We also want to educate people about what to do in case they encounter a colony of Africanized honeybees. Georgians can visit our website for more information. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service has a publication on Africanized honeybees that is available online (http://pubsadmin.caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/B%201290_2.PDF) or at Extension offices.”
Here is more information from the Georgia Department of Agriculture:
Africanized Honeybees
· Are very defensive of their nest (also referred to as a colony or hive).
· Respond quickly and sting in large numbers.
· Can sense a threat from people or animals 50 feet or more from nest.
· Sense vibrations from power equipment 100 feet or more from nest.
· Will pursue a perceived enemy ¼ mile or more.
· Swarm frequently to establish new nests.
· Nest in small cavities and sheltered areas.
Possible nest sites may include empty boxes, cans, buckets, or other containers; old tires; infrequently used vehicles; lumber piles; holes and cavities in fences, trees, or the ground; sheds, garages and other outbuildings; and low decks or spaces under buildings.
General Precautions
· Be careful wherever bees may be found.
· Listen for buzzing – indicating a nest or swarm of bees.
· Use care when entering sheds or outbuildings where bees may nest.
· Examine work area before using lawn mowers and other power equipment.
· Examine areas before penning pets or livestock.
· Be alert when participating in all outdoor sports and activities.
· Don’t disturb a nest or swarm – contact a pest control company or your Cooperative
Extension office.
· Teach children to respect all bees.
· Check with a doctor about bee sting kits and procedures if sensitive to bee stings.
· Remove possible nest sites around home and seal openings larger than 1/8” in walls
and around chimneys and plumbing.
As a general rule, stay away from all honeybee swarms and colonies. If bees are encountered, get away quickly. Do not stand and swat as this will only invite more stings. If you are stung, try to protect your face and eyes as much as possible and run away from the area. Take shelter in a car or building, and do not worry if a few bees follow you inside. It is better to have a few in the car with you than the thousands waiting outside. Hiding in water or thick brush does not offer enough protection.
What to Do if Stung
· First, go quickly to a safe area.
· Scrape – do not pull – stingers from skin as soon as possible. The stinger pumps
out most of the venom during the first minute. Pulling the stinger out will likely cause
more venom to be injected into the skin.
· Wash sting area with soap and water like any other wound.
· Apply an ice pack for a few minutes to relieve pain and swelling.
· Seek medical attention if breathing is troubled, if stung numerous times or if allergic
to bee stings.
Don’t Forget!
Hives of European honeybees managed by beekeepers play an important role in our lives. These bees are necessary for the pollination of many crops. One-third of our diet relies on honeybee pollination.
People can coexist with the Africanized honeybee by learning about the bee and its habits, supporting beekeeping efforts and taking a few precautions.
HEALTHCARE...
From: Office of Dr. Martha Boone [mailto:mbadmin@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:31 AM
To: 'Office of Dr. Martha Boone'
Subject: Healthcare
Dear Wonderful Patients,
This email is about the healthcare reform bill.
If you do not want to know my “opinions”, please delete this email now.
90% of my patients ask me what I think. 10% prefer to get their information from the media.
If you want to know what has actually happened to me, my family, and some of my patients, read on.
If you prefer to form your opinions without the input of your doctor, delete now.
There is MUCH “theory” out there about what the healthcare bill will and won’t do for Americans.
I actually took the nine hours to read it. I am VERY, VERY, worried about its content and what it will potentially do to American healthcare.
Let’s talk about what has actually come to pass, so far:
1. Our practice took a 32% pay cut from our most frequently performed procedure. (What small business can take an acute 32% pay cut and stay in business??)
2. Most of my patients who have been informed of their costs for healthcare for 2011 have experienced a 12%-17% increase in their premiums. NOBODY who is middle class has told me that their premiums went down.
My husband works for corporate America and the package that they sent us said,” Your healthcare costs are going up for 2011 directly related to the Healthcare bill.” They did not “sugar coat” it.
3. My tax man has informed me that not only will I pay more for the coverage for my employees, but I will be taxed (for the first time) on the insurance that I do provide for them. He is still in the process of evaluating the details, but he believes that my employees will be taxed (for the first time) on the health benefits that I provide for them. So, rising premiums, I’ll be taxed and they’ll be taxed.
4. The committee that the President has formed to make decisions about what will and won’t be paid for is composed of 95% PEDIATRICIANS. There is not one surgeon, specialist, or expert in the elderly. I cannot understand, at all, how a pediatrician is going to decide what a 65 year old urology patient needs and does not need. That part worries me enormously.
The make up of the committee, alone, leads me to conclude that the health of adults is taking a back seat in priority.
I don’t know about you, but a federal committee telling my doctor what can and can’t be done for me is pretty frightening, to me!
5. Many of my patients are having a harder time getting insurance. The phone calls from people who can’t get coverage has actually gone up.
6. I, personally, know of three medical students who have decided to drop out of med school and pursue other careers as they fear getting a very expensive education and being forced to be a “government” doctor.
7. I know of 19 doctors under 63 who have “quit”. Most of them just could not take the paperwork and decreasing reimbursement.
8. I know of 23 doctors who have stopped seeing Medicare patients due to poor reimbursement and an overwhelming amount of paperwork. The provisions in the healthcare bill will continue to decrease what we are paid and increase the paper work.
9. I have had 100’s of Medicare patients who cannot find a gynecologist who takes Medicare. I have 30-40 patients who have had trouble finding an internist who takes Medicare.
10. PERSONALLY, I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE SCENARIO IN WHICH THE HEALTHCARE BILL HAS IMPROVED THE LIVES OF ANYONE THAT I KNOW.
11. Many of my patients who run small businesses have told me that “they are waiting to hire based on what they see happen with healthcare. If their costs go up too much, they will not hire.” THAT REALLY WORRIES ME.
So, what do I think is going to happen? If we continue as we are, I believe that we are going to a “two tiered” system like they have in the rest of the world. I believe that healthcare for the bottom 10% of people (economically) will improve due to the bill. I think the middle class will see HUGE increases in what they spend in healthcare (both from premiums and from taxation and from loss of coverage for many items). I think the wealthy will have access to the same level of care that the middle class and the wealthy have always had in America.
I think that the Medicare patient is going to see less and less covered and that fewer and fewer doctors will be able to take Medicare.
I do not see any way that the healthcare costs of this nation are going down. I think we will be paying for healthcare instead of taking a vacation.
I think that the lower middle class will be forced into a lower level of care (government run healthcare) as the taxes go up and the premiums go up and the costs to businesses go up. They simply will not be able to afford insurance and a private doctor.
IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT FOR AMERICA???
This is not the time to stay home on voting day. Get out and make your voice heard.
If any of you have had any direct impact to YOU, due to the healthcare bill, I’d like to know. Please only include stories of either positive or negative effects that have happened to you. I don’t need to hear any political theories of what might happen. The media has more than provided that information. I’d like to know of anything that has happened for certain, to YOU.
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE.
DR. BOONE
Gina M. Powell
Practice Manager
Martha B. Boone, M.D., LLC
960 Johnson Ferry Rd., Suite 245
Atlanta, GA 30342
404.705.8366 (phone) 404.705.8314 (fax)
Email: mbadmin@bellsouth.net
Websites: www.femaleurologist.com & www.recurrentuti.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:31 AM
To: 'Office of Dr. Martha Boone'
Subject: Healthcare
Dear Wonderful Patients,
This email is about the healthcare reform bill.
If you do not want to know my “opinions”, please delete this email now.
90% of my patients ask me what I think. 10% prefer to get their information from the media.
If you want to know what has actually happened to me, my family, and some of my patients, read on.
If you prefer to form your opinions without the input of your doctor, delete now.
There is MUCH “theory” out there about what the healthcare bill will and won’t do for Americans.
I actually took the nine hours to read it. I am VERY, VERY, worried about its content and what it will potentially do to American healthcare.
Let’s talk about what has actually come to pass, so far:
1. Our practice took a 32% pay cut from our most frequently performed procedure. (What small business can take an acute 32% pay cut and stay in business??)
2. Most of my patients who have been informed of their costs for healthcare for 2011 have experienced a 12%-17% increase in their premiums. NOBODY who is middle class has told me that their premiums went down.
My husband works for corporate America and the package that they sent us said,” Your healthcare costs are going up for 2011 directly related to the Healthcare bill.” They did not “sugar coat” it.
3. My tax man has informed me that not only will I pay more for the coverage for my employees, but I will be taxed (for the first time) on the insurance that I do provide for them. He is still in the process of evaluating the details, but he believes that my employees will be taxed (for the first time) on the health benefits that I provide for them. So, rising premiums, I’ll be taxed and they’ll be taxed.
4. The committee that the President has formed to make decisions about what will and won’t be paid for is composed of 95% PEDIATRICIANS. There is not one surgeon, specialist, or expert in the elderly. I cannot understand, at all, how a pediatrician is going to decide what a 65 year old urology patient needs and does not need. That part worries me enormously.
The make up of the committee, alone, leads me to conclude that the health of adults is taking a back seat in priority.
I don’t know about you, but a federal committee telling my doctor what can and can’t be done for me is pretty frightening, to me!
5. Many of my patients are having a harder time getting insurance. The phone calls from people who can’t get coverage has actually gone up.
6. I, personally, know of three medical students who have decided to drop out of med school and pursue other careers as they fear getting a very expensive education and being forced to be a “government” doctor.
7. I know of 19 doctors under 63 who have “quit”. Most of them just could not take the paperwork and decreasing reimbursement.
8. I know of 23 doctors who have stopped seeing Medicare patients due to poor reimbursement and an overwhelming amount of paperwork. The provisions in the healthcare bill will continue to decrease what we are paid and increase the paper work.
9. I have had 100’s of Medicare patients who cannot find a gynecologist who takes Medicare. I have 30-40 patients who have had trouble finding an internist who takes Medicare.
10. PERSONALLY, I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE SCENARIO IN WHICH THE HEALTHCARE BILL HAS IMPROVED THE LIVES OF ANYONE THAT I KNOW.
11. Many of my patients who run small businesses have told me that “they are waiting to hire based on what they see happen with healthcare. If their costs go up too much, they will not hire.” THAT REALLY WORRIES ME.
So, what do I think is going to happen? If we continue as we are, I believe that we are going to a “two tiered” system like they have in the rest of the world. I believe that healthcare for the bottom 10% of people (economically) will improve due to the bill. I think the middle class will see HUGE increases in what they spend in healthcare (both from premiums and from taxation and from loss of coverage for many items). I think the wealthy will have access to the same level of care that the middle class and the wealthy have always had in America.
I think that the Medicare patient is going to see less and less covered and that fewer and fewer doctors will be able to take Medicare.
I do not see any way that the healthcare costs of this nation are going down. I think we will be paying for healthcare instead of taking a vacation.
I think that the lower middle class will be forced into a lower level of care (government run healthcare) as the taxes go up and the premiums go up and the costs to businesses go up. They simply will not be able to afford insurance and a private doctor.
IS THIS REALLY WHAT YOU WANT FOR AMERICA???
This is not the time to stay home on voting day. Get out and make your voice heard.
If any of you have had any direct impact to YOU, due to the healthcare bill, I’d like to know. Please only include stories of either positive or negative effects that have happened to you. I don’t need to hear any political theories of what might happen. The media has more than provided that information. I’d like to know of anything that has happened for certain, to YOU.
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE.
DR. BOONE
Gina M. Powell
Practice Manager
Martha B. Boone, M.D., LLC
960 Johnson Ferry Rd., Suite 245
Atlanta, GA 30342
404.705.8366 (phone) 404.705.8314 (fax)
Email: mbadmin@bellsouth.net
Websites: www.femaleurologist.com & www.recurrentuti.com
Sunday, October 24, 2010
IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS...
READ CAREFULLY...........
This is so "Unbelievable"....
In Houston, Texas
Harwin Central Mall: The very first store that you come to when you walk from
the lobby of the building into the shopping area had this sign posted on their
door. The shop is run by Muslims.
In case you are not able to read the sign below, it says
"We will be closed on Friday, September 11, 2009 to
commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Ali"
Imam Ali flew one of the planes into the twin towers.
Nice huh?
Try telling me we're not in a
Religious war!
This is so "Unbelievable"....
In Houston, Texas
Harwin Central Mall: The very first store that you come to when you walk from
the lobby of the building into the shopping area had this sign posted on their
door. The shop is run by Muslims.
In case you are not able to read the sign below, it says
"We will be closed on Friday, September 11, 2009 to
commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Ali"
Imam Ali flew one of the planes into the twin towers.
Nice huh?
Try telling me we're not in a
Religious war!
NEW AMERICAN SYMBOL...
SKUNK
The skunk has replaced the Eagle as a new symbol of
the American Presidency. It is half black, half white
and everything it does stinks like shit!
THE IRISH HALFWIT...
A man owned a small farm in Ireland. The Irish Internal Revenue determined
he was not paying proper wages to his staff and sent an investigator out to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them!", demanded the investigator.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for three
years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board.
"The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free
room and board."
"Then there's the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day and does
about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 a week. He
pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday
night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."
"That's the guy I want to talk to...the halfwit!" said the agent.
"That would be me," replied the farmer.
he was not paying proper wages to his staff and sent an investigator out to interview him.
"I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them!", demanded the investigator.
"Well," replied the farmer, "there's my farm hand who's been with me for three
years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board.
"The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $150 per week plus free
room and board."
"Then there's the halfwit. He works about 18 hours every day and does
about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $10 a week. He
pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of whiskey every Saturday
night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."
"That's the guy I want to talk to...the halfwit!" said the agent.
"That would be me," replied the farmer.
REAL ESTATE SALES TAX TO GO INTO EFFECT 2013 (Part of HC Bill)
Another Obama Nightmare
Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it?
That's $3,800 on a $100,000 home etc.
When did this happen? It's in the healthcare bill. Just thought you should know.
SALES TAX TO GO INTO EFFECT 2013 (Part of HC Bill)
REAL ESTATE SALES TAX
So, this is "change you can believe in"?
Under the new health care bill - did you know that all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of these new taxes don't kick in until 2013 (presumably after obama's re-election).
You can thank Nancy, Harry and Barack and your local Democrat Congressman for this one.
If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax.
This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes.
Is this Hope & Change great or what?
Does this stuff makes your November and 2012 votes more important?
Oh, you weren't aware this was in the obamacare bill? Guess what, you
aren't alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't
aware of it either (result of clandestine midnight voting for huge bills
they've never read). AND, there are a few other surprises lurking.
Why am I sending you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to
every single person in your address book.
People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in
November!
Did you know that if you sell your house after 2012 you will pay a 3.8% sales tax on it?
That's $3,800 on a $100,000 home etc.
When did this happen? It's in the healthcare bill. Just thought you should know.
SALES TAX TO GO INTO EFFECT 2013 (Part of HC Bill)
REAL ESTATE SALES TAX
So, this is "change you can believe in"?
Under the new health care bill - did you know that all real estate transactions will be subject to a 3.8% Sales Tax? The bulk of these new taxes don't kick in until 2013 (presumably after obama's re-election).
You can thank Nancy, Harry and Barack and your local Democrat Congressman for this one.
If you sell your $400,000 home, there will be a $15,200 tax.
This bill is set to screw the retiring generation who often downsize their homes.
Is this Hope & Change great or what?
Does this stuff makes your November and 2012 votes more important?
Oh, you weren't aware this was in the obamacare bill? Guess what, you
aren't alone. There are more than a few members of Congress that aren't
aware of it either (result of clandestine midnight voting for huge bills
they've never read). AND, there are a few other surprises lurking.
Why am I sending you this? The same reason I hope you forward this to
every single person in your address book.
People have the right to know the truth because an election is coming in
November!
NEED WASHING...
A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence.. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.
We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.
The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in 'Mom let's run through the rain,'
she said.
'What?' Mom asked.
'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated
'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain,'
'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said...
'No, we won't, Mom.. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.
This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?
'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain...... We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.
Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore
what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.
'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,' Mom said.
Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.
And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under heaven.
I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them..
If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.
Take the time to live!!!
Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!
We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.
The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in 'Mom let's run through the rain,'
she said.
'What?' Mom asked.
'Let's run through the rain!' She repeated
'No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit,' Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated: 'Mom, let's run through the rain,'
'We'll get soaked if we do,' Mom said...
'No, we won't, Mom.. That's not what you said this morning,' the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.
This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?
'Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'
The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain...... We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.
Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore
what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.
'Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing,' Mom said.
Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.
And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.
Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season
and a time to every purpose under heaven.
I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forget them. Send this to the people you'll never forget and remember to also send it to the person who sent it to you. It's a short message to let them know that you'll never forget them..
If you don't send it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry.
Take the time to live!!!
Keep in touch with your friends, you never know when you'll need each other -- and don't forget to run in the rain!
TIME SPENT WITH DAD
So you take your boy to a ball game...
Good father and son stuff right??
Male bonding, right??
You buy him hot dogs.
He sees the Home Team hit one over the wall!!!!
But......
Will he remember the time spent with you??
Will he remember the taste of the hot dogs???
Will he often think of the boomer home run??
Nah!!!!
What he will he remember is this?
Good father and son stuff right??
Male bonding, right??
You buy him hot dogs.
He sees the Home Team hit one over the wall!!!!
But......
Will he remember the time spent with you??
Will he remember the taste of the hot dogs???
Will he often think of the boomer home run??
Nah!!!!
What he will he remember is this?
TEXAS BEER JOINT SUES CHURCH...
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:37:48 +0000
In Mt. Vernon, Texas, Drummond's Bar began construction on expansion of their
building to increase their business.
In response, the local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from
expanding with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up until the week
before the grand reopening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the
ground.
After the bar burning to the ground by a lightning strike the church folks
were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about “the power of prayer”, until
the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church "was ultimately
responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect
actions or means".
In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or
any connection to the building's demise.
The judge read through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply
and at the opening hearing he commented, "I don't know how I'm going to decide
this, but it appears from the paperwork that we have a bar owner who believes
in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that now does not."
True Story.
In Mt. Vernon, Texas, Drummond's Bar began construction on expansion of their
building to increase their business.
In response, the local Baptist church started a campaign to block the bar from
expanding with petitions and prayers. Work progressed right up until the week
before the grand reopening when lightning struck the bar and it burned to the
ground.
After the bar burning to the ground by a lightning strike the church folks
were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about “the power of prayer”, until
the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church "was ultimately
responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect
actions or means".
In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or
any connection to the building's demise.
The judge read through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply
and at the opening hearing he commented, "I don't know how I'm going to decide
this, but it appears from the paperwork that we have a bar owner who believes
in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that now does not."
True Story.
NEW WAY OF STEALING...
New way of STEALING...
ESPECIALLY LOOK AT SCENE THREE...
Be sure to read Scene 3. Quite interesting.
This is a new one. People sure stay busy
Trying to cheat us, don't they?
SCENE 1.
A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker...
Hmm, 'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.
Everything looked okay - all cards were in place...
A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000!
He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make
the transactions.
Customer care personnel verified that there was no mistake in the system and asked
if his card had been stolen...
'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep -
you guessed it - a switch had been made.
An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet.
The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.
Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier,
he would have to pay the amount owed to them.
How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy?
$9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped?
Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies.
It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!
============================
SCENE 2.
A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card.
The bill for the meal came, he signed it and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along.
Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.
He called the waitress and she looked perplexed.
She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.
All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card.
No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology..
Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours.
Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken
away for even a short period of time.
Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, 'assuming'
that it has to be theirs.
FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!
==========================
SCENE 3:
Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in.
I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my checking
Account.
The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as
he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.
While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialling.
I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture.
He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still
pressing buttons.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was
really going on.
It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing..
He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open.
About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.
Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card.
Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.
Needless to say, I immediately cancelled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlour.
All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be careless.
Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card.
Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.
JUST BE AWARE
Never let your card out of your sight.....check and check again!
Scary isn't it.....
ESPECIALLY LOOK AT SCENE THREE...
Be sure to read Scene 3. Quite interesting.
This is a new one. People sure stay busy
Trying to cheat us, don't they?
SCENE 1.
A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, 'Funny, I thought I locked the locker...
Hmm, 'He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.
Everything looked okay - all cards were in place...
A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000!
He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make
the transactions.
Customer care personnel verified that there was no mistake in the system and asked
if his card had been stolen...
'No,' he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep -
you guessed it - a switch had been made.
An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet.
The thief broke into his locker at the gym and switched cards.
Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier,
he would have to pay the amount owed to them.
How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy?
$9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped?
Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies.
It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!
============================
SCENE 2.
A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card.
The bill for the meal came, he signed it and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along.
Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.
He called the waitress and she looked perplexed.
She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.
All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card.
No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology..
Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours.
Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken
away for even a short period of time.
Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, 'assuming'
that it has to be theirs.
FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!
==========================
SCENE 3:
Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in.
I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my checking
Account.
The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as
he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.
While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialling.
I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture.
He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still
pressing buttons.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was
really going on.
It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing..
He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open.
About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved.
Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card.
Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.
Needless to say, I immediately cancelled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlour.
All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times.
Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be careless.
Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card.
Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.
JUST BE AWARE
Never let your card out of your sight.....check and check again!
Scary isn't it.....
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TRUTH AND FABRICATION...
Does he even know the difference between truth and fabrication?
Now Barack’s father served in WW ll
It must be true as Barack said it in a speech!ï
Is he a compulsive liar?
Were there no reporters who double checked these statements and called the party on this?
They did for everyone else. Why not him?
Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (Obama's father)
Born 4/4/36
Died 11/24/82 at the age of 46
He was 5 years old when WW 2 started, and less than 9.5 years old when it ended.
Lolo Soetoro (Obama's step father)
Born 1935
Died 3/2/87 at the age of 52
He was 6 years old when WW 2 started, and 10 years old when it ended.
One of these guys must have been the youngest Veteran in the war.
Watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4jnlkxOaw
And the media doesn't say anything.
Now Barack’s father served in WW ll
It must be true as Barack said it in a speech!ï
Is he a compulsive liar?
Were there no reporters who double checked these statements and called the party on this?
They did for everyone else. Why not him?
Barack Hussein Obama Sr. (Obama's father)
Born 4/4/36
Died 11/24/82 at the age of 46
He was 5 years old when WW 2 started, and less than 9.5 years old when it ended.
Lolo Soetoro (Obama's step father)
Born 1935
Died 3/2/87 at the age of 52
He was 6 years old when WW 2 started, and 10 years old when it ended.
One of these guys must have been the youngest Veteran in the war.
Watch the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4jnlkxOaw
And the media doesn't say anything.
DANGER OF VACATIONING IN MEXICO...
If she gets up...she's in deep trouble!
Just another danger of vacationing in Mexico!
Just another danger of vacationing in Mexico!
TOUGH YEAR...
It was a tough year, but I made it !!!
But not everyone is as lucky as I am.......
The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"
CEO's are now playing miniature golf..
If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them .
Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.
McDonald's is selling the 1/4 'ouncer'.
Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children's names.
A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .
Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.
Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.
The Mafia is laying off judges.
BP Oil laid off 25 Congressmen.
Congress says they are looking into the Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great!! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear!
And, finally...
I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, and our bleak future, that I called the Suicide Lifeline and was connected to a call center in Pakistan . When I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.
But not everyone is as lucky as I am.......
The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
I ordered a burger at McDonald's, and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"
CEO's are now playing miniature golf..
If the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you have to call them and ask if they mean you or them .
Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.
McDonald's is selling the 1/4 'ouncer'.
Parents in Beverly Hills and Malibu are firing their nannies and learning their children's names.
A truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .
Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.
Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.
The Mafia is laying off judges.
BP Oil laid off 25 Congressmen.
Congress says they are looking into the Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great!! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear!
And, finally...
I was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, my savings, Social Security, retirement funds, and our bleak future, that I called the Suicide Lifeline and was connected to a call center in Pakistan . When I told them I was suicidal, they got all excited, and asked if I could drive a truck.
BLIND COWBOY...
An old, blind cowboy wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake. He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels. After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, "Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?"
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:
1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.
3. I'm a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.
Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy. Do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?"
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "Well, no...not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says, "Before you tell that joke, Cowboy, I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:
1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.
3. I'm a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.
Now, think about it seriously, Cowboy. Do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?"
The blind cowboy thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, "Well, no...not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times."
BATS
This is very timely: the latest newsletter from
The Texas Gardener Seeds said: Put up a bat house to encourage the presence of these shy animals. Bats consume 3,000 or more mosquitoes and other insects nightly, and
bats are less likely to be rabid than dogs are.
Need another reason?
Bats are responsible for up to 95 percent of the seed dispersal essential to the regeneration of forests.
Our planet is populated with plenty of bizarre and astonishing creatures.
Here are three from the Bat Family .....
without the need for resorting to fiction.
Sucker-footed Bat
Red-Winged Fruit Bat
Left-Winged Ding Bat
So 2 out 3 Bats have a useful purpose!
The Texas Gardener Seeds said: Put up a bat house to encourage the presence of these shy animals. Bats consume 3,000 or more mosquitoes and other insects nightly, and
bats are less likely to be rabid than dogs are.
Need another reason?
Bats are responsible for up to 95 percent of the seed dispersal essential to the regeneration of forests.
Our planet is populated with plenty of bizarre and astonishing creatures.
Here are three from the Bat Family .....
without the need for resorting to fiction.
Sucker-footed Bat
Red-Winged Fruit Bat
Left-Winged Ding Bat
So 2 out 3 Bats have a useful purpose!
SEND IN THE CLOWNS: ROY BARNES, TYRONE BROOKS AND MALACHI YORK
Well - this is very long - but interesting -- too bad Nathan Deal chooses not to drag this up against Barnes -- Send it to everyone in GA that you know ---
Vote Early!
Send In The Clowns: Roy Barnes, Tyrone Brooks and Malachi York
by *Bill Knowles, Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Republican Governors’ race of 2010 has been a wild and crazy ride for me. I have chosen not to write about it up until this point as to begin with I was very heavily involved with one campaign. That candidate lost in the primary and now the runoff is history, and I am supporting former Congressman Nathan Deal. Although I have worked for and with other candidates, each candidate has different ideas, platforms and personalities, but they all have one thing in common: In my opinion, they are all better for the people of Georgia than former Governor Roy Barnes. I do not say that half-heartedly or with reservation for a host of different reasons, but the one I have the greatest concern about I’ll be sharing with you in this column. Is it the Georgia flag that he rammed down the throats of Georgians? No. Is it the fact that Georgia was 50th in the nation in education during the Barnes Administration? No. The reason that I cannot even think about another four years of Roy Barnes in the Governor’s Mansion on West Paces Ferry has to do with one person that most Middle Georgians will remember very well: Malachi York, convicted child molester.
For those of you who don’t remember Dwight ‘Malachi’ York, I’ll give you a quick recap of his colorful life. (Much of this is taken from the book “Ungodly” by Bill Osinski, a former writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.) York moved to Eatonton in the early 1990’s and built the Nuwaubian compound called Tama-Re, flush with Egyptian-styled pyramids and armed security. Before leaving his home in New York, York had been a singer with the group Passion, a member of the Black Panthers, plead guilty to raping a 13-year old girl, spent three years in prison for assault, possession of a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest, and had been being convicted of getting a passport with a forged birth certificate. In 1997, York tried to add a nightclub called “Club Ramses” to his existing “empire” when, it was discovered that several building codes had been violated and that no one had obtained a building permit. The Nuwaubians were less than hospitable to the county’s building inspector Dean Adams to say the least. Adams in turn felt it necessary to ask Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills to join him in trying to enforce the code and talk to the builders of the Nuwaubian nightclub. Sills was met with the same hospitality. Eventually, the nightclub would open and Sills would end up shutting it down for the various code violations and an inspection by a fire marshal that deemed it a fire-trap. Let’s fast forward to 1999 when a hearing was set to enforce all of the codes and regulations that York either ignored or did not comply with in building Tama-Re. What would happen in the months and days preceding the court hearing were strange to say the least, especially since each weird event involved former Governor Roy Barnes.
In March of 1999 Sheriff Sills forwarded a letter to then Governor Barnes telling him the problems that he was having with York and the Nuwaubians and warned him about information he had collected about York while in New York prior to his move to Eatonton and wrote to the former Governor that “information we have obtained in the last several months is even worse.” Sills went on to report to Barnes that he believed that the Nuwaubians were trying “to racially divide the citizenry of this county.” He then went on to request a personal meeting with the Governor which fell upon deaf ears mainly due to the fact that Barnes was relying on State Representative Tyrone Brooks of Atlanta for his information regarding York and the Nuwaubians. In a 2007 interview Barnes’ chief of staff Bobby Kahn stated that Barnes was “taking his cues” about York from Brooks; and for good reason, as far as Barnes was concerned: Barnes won the African-American vote by a landslide when he was elected in 1998 and Brooks was one of his biggest supporters. Further, Brooks is and was extremely influential as he is the President of the Georgia Association of Black Officials as well as being a very active member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and according to Brooks’ website “he works every day in the movement towards full political empowerment of African-Americans in the ‘American Body Politic’ trying to register and educate 600,000 unregistered African-Americans in Georgia.” I forgot to mention that Brooks was a very frequent visitor to Tama-Re as well as several GBI agents who used the facilities to fish. Sills would feel it unwise to relay any information to the GBI as he felt there would be leaks back to Brooks for this reason. I asked the former U. S. Attorney Max Wood who prosecuted York if he felt that Sills was justified in not involving the GBI. Wood wrote that “Sheriff Sills probably had the right hunch to keep the GBI out of the loop on this one. He apparently feared that Barnes would interject himself into an investigation at the behest of Brooks. We will never know what might have happened.” (Brooks would later write in an article in the June 22, 2002 issue of The Macon Telegraph, that Sills’ conduct as a law enforcement agent was “insulting and disgraceful” yet told how much of a pleasure it was to work with the Nuwaubians as they lived in “peace and harmony—no cussing, no fussing, no drugs, no alcohol, no tobacco products”. In the same article he would again slam Sills and presumably Max Wood when he writes that he is “tired of unscrupulous white politicians riding the wave of victory on the backs of minorities.” (He could have been talking about his buddy Roy Barnes. He also forgot that the only people being oppressed by York were African-Americans.) Instead of the cooperation from Governor Barnes that Sheriff Sills looked for, Sills was asked, “My God, Howard! Are you going to kill people over building permits?” It was clear to Sills that Barnes put politics over anything else. Apparently Barnes took the word of Brooks in lieu of the local Sheriff who had been investigating the situation. In a January 26, 2003 article in the Macon Telegraph, Sills called Barnes a “political whore”; and for good reason as explained in this article.
A court date was set for June 29, 1999 to decide the code violations and ordinances broken or ignored by the Nuwaubians and Malachi York. A few weeks prior to that, a group of “Georgia Rangers” showed up in Eatonton to help keep order if necessary. Their leader, “Major” Ed Coughenour, himself on parole from North Carolina for embezzlement, had a letter with him given to him by Representative Brooks that stated, “Indeed we are very concerned that county officials in Putnam are trying to force the Nuwaubians into a violent confrontation. Whatever your agency can do to convince the county to just let these people live in peace will certainly be in the best interest of Ga.” And it was signed by the Representative himself. Later, Coughenour and Brooks would have a face-to-face meeting in which Brooks told him that “a white cracker sheriff (is) messing with the Nuwaubians”, and then made it “very clear that the governor’s office was behind them,” meaning Coughenour’s Rangers. He then told Coughenour, “You don’t have to worry; the governor’s office is involved.” Coughenour would later state that he had no reservations about taking the assignment, as “we were under the assumption that we were protected by the Governor of the State of Georgia.” During the same meeting, Coughenour reported that Bobby Kahn entered Brooks’ office and gave Coughenour four tickets valued at $250 apiece to an upcoming Barnes fundraiser, saying “If you can handle this, we’d really appreciate it,” now meaning the situation in Eatonton. Kahn later denied that this happened, however the tickets were found in Coughenour’s possession when he was later arrested. Kahn did later confirm that he gave a copy of the Brooks letter to Barnes along with one of Coughenour’s business cards during a briefing with Governor Barnes about the Putnam County situation.
On the day prior to the hearing, June 28, 1999, Barnes took a more proactive stance in protection of York and the Nuwaubians. I spoke with Eatonton attorney Frank Ford who was the attorney representing Putnam County in the case. He told me that at about 4:00 PM on the 28th he received a call from Barnes. I asked him if he felt that Barnes was trying to intimidate him at all and he said that the whole conversation was an attempt to get Ford to cancel the hearing and in Ford’s words, “Barnes used strong arm tactics” to do so. Ford said Barnes told him, ‘You need to call it off!’” Ford refused to cooperate with the former Governor and would later say, “Can you imagine, the Governor of the State of Georgia calling a lawyer in one of the 159 counties in the state on a zoning matter?” I can’t imagine it either Mr. Ford.
Barnes would also call Sheriff Sills on that day according to Mr. Ford. Sheriff Sills was unavailable for comment as he is working on a case right now, but has agreed to answer my questions about this which I will relay to you in my next column; however here is a portion of a letter written by Sheriff Sills to Milton Nix who was the director of the GBI, just before the hearing on June 29th that will sum up the feelings that the Sheriff has towards our former Governor and his treatment of the case. Sills wrote, “I have the distinct impression that there is at least some reluctance on the part of the executive branch of the state government and its law enforcement personnel in providing assistance here in Putnam County.” He went on to tell Nix how “appalled” he was that there were leaks coming from the Governor’s office regarding a meeting about the situation in Eatonton that Sills had on June 24th in the Governor’s office with Representative Brooks, Bobby Kahn, Penny Brown-Reynolds, who was legal counsel to the governor, and two GBI agents. (According to Bill Osinksi’s book, Barnes had left the office for other business.)
In a few weeks, Georgians will have the opportunity to re-hire Roy Barnes as our Governor. I urge you all to read this column and decide for yourself if he deserves another chance to be our Governor. As I have said, I will continue this column next time with my interview with Sheriff Howard Sills and other facts involving former Governor Barnes and this case. Keep something in mind, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft gave Sheriff Sills a citation for his management of the Nuwaubian case and Max Wood wrote to me that, “there are very few Sheriffs in the country who could have handled a situation like this. Howard Sills deserves every accolade he has received in this matter.” Georgians fired Roy Barnes.
Send In the Clowns: Roy Barnes, Tyrone Brooks, Floyd Griffin and Malachi York - Part 2
By Bill Knowles, Friday October 15, 2010
When I started writing the first part of this column almost a month ago I knew very little about the inner workings of the Malachi York arrest several years ago in Putnam County. Of course I remembered the pyramids in Eatonton on Shady Dale Rd., York’s sensational trial and subsequent conviction. I assumed what most people who looked at this on the surface assumed: law enforcement got the bad guy and our legal system convicted him, all working in perfect harmony. It’s a safe assumption as no law enforcement officers were hurt, the suspect was arrested without incident and put in jail unharmed and the rest of the cult dissipated. What I did not know was the role, or lack of a role as turned out to be the case, that former Governor Roy Barnes played in the saga.
As you read in my last column, then-Governor Barnes stood by and did absolutely nothing to help in the arrest of York by Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, though Sills on repeated occasions asked for Barnes’ help. Sills would at one point even send Barnes a copy of GA Law 45-12-30 which explains the powers the Governor has to prevent violence and maintain order. Barnes apparently chose to ignore it. Though I had read the accounts of the interactions between Sills and Barnes & company in Bill Osinski’s book “Ungodly”, I wanted to hear it for myself, so I contacted Sheriff Sills. After a couple of weeks of email and phone tag, we got together a few days ago for a fantastic discussion.
First and foremost, I wanted to know if Sheriff Sills had read “Ungodly” which in fact he had. I then asked him if it was factual to the best of his knowledge. He told me that “although it’s been several years since I read it, I don’t recall anything in it that wasn’t 100% true.” Since I had used “Ungodly” as the basis for my articles, that was great to hear! I then asked him what he meant by a comment he made in a 2003 Macon Telegraph article in which he called Roy Barnes a “political whore”. Sills responded very candidly when he said, “I was very supportive of Roy when he was a State Senator. He was the ideal legislator. But he was a much better legislator than a Governor. That (expletive deleted) was more interested in maintaining the support from his base of voters that he was in protecting the public safety of the people of Georgia. People forget that before anything else, the Governor is the chief law enforcement officer of the state. Barnes forgot that too; seems like after his election he didn’t give a damn about a Sheriff from a little county like ours.”
Sills went on to tell me that he had written a letter to Governor Barnes March 9, 1999 in which he asked for a personal meeting with him to discuss the situation in Eatonton. In the letter, which I have read, Sills reports to Barnes that he has written a letter to then Director of the FBI Louis Freeh on May 4,1998, then tells Barnes that the Nuwaubians have “repeatedly attacked and slandered my office and me personally for the last eleven months.” He enclosed a copy of the letter to Freeh, along with proof of the slanderous writings of the Nuwaubians. I also have obtained a copy of the letter to Freeh. Sills not only states his concern about the activities of the Nuwaubians, but also states that he is aware of the “extensive criminal activity by members of this group when it was headquartered in Brooklyn. These activities included bank robbery, murder, arson and extortion.” Sheriff Sills’ source for this information was an FBI intelligence report. Sills then went on to tell Freeh that he was “frequently called by the parents of people that are moving here from all over the nation. The parents are extremely concerned about the safety of their children.” At the end of the Freeh letter, Sills begs, “I implore you to direct the full resources of the bureau in investigating this group as I feel their activities not only represent a threat to our community, but represent a threat to the nation itself.” (It has to be remembered that this letter was written while the memory of Waco and Ruby Ridge was still very fresh in the minds of everyone.) Sills told me that “at least the FBI answered my letter. They never really got on the train, but they did answer. Barnes didn’t.”
The next letter Sheriff Sills wrote to Barnes is dated June 20, 1999. He again tells Barnes of his concerns York, the Tama-Re compound and how York has violated or ignored county zoning ordinances. What interests me about this letter is the mention of former State Senator Floyd Griffin. (Griffin is also the former mayor of Milledgeville and is currently running against incumbent Johnny Grant for his old seat back.) Sills sent Barnes a copy of a Nuwaubian newspaper in which there were pictures of Griffin at a Nuwaubian event held on Tama-Re. One picture had Griffin standing directly next to York. Sills then went on to tell Barnes that Griffin attempted to “intervene in support of York and his group early on during the county’s problems,” while Griffin was still a State Senator, and that he went to Griffin and told him that “I didn’t think he was fully cognizant of York’s background and offered to share with him the law enforcement intelligence we had gathered. Mr. Griffin’s response to me, and I quote, was ‘I don’t want or care what intelligence you have.’ Although I was never impressed with Griffin during his tenure in the senate, I was completely shocked that he was openly supporting an individual who was not only a convicted felon, but was conspicuously subversive and advocating sedition.” Further in the letter it is revealed that Barnes is “seriously considering” Griffin for the job as Adjutant General for Georgia. Sills then writes to Barnes “to think that Floyd Griffin could be in direct command of all the military forces of our state is at the least frightening.” (Emphasis added by Sheriff Sills.) I agree Sheriff! (Are you reading Senator Grant???) But what is even more frightening is that Governor Barnes was even considering this clown for that job. (As you can tell, I added him to our list in the title…) Evidently someone had good sense somewhere down the road as Adjutant General isn’t listed on Griffin’s website as one of his positions. I hope the people of the 25th District in Georgia will have the same good sense and keep him unemployed.
Getting back to Barnes, I asked Sheriff Sills if he thought that Ed Coughenour’s story was true (Please refer to Part one) and if he felt that Governor Barnes knew that Coughenour was being dispatched to “keep the order in Putnam County.” Sills told me that he had no reason not to believe Coughenour, especially since phone records showed that there were several calls made between Coughenour and the Governor’s office and that when Sills had searched Coughenour’s home, the tickets to a Barnes fundraiser were found. Sills told me he couldn’t be sure that Barnes knew, but “Penny Brown-Reynolds damn sure knew.” Brown-Reynolds was Barnes Chief Counsel and is now a star of a Judge Judy type of show.
I thought I’d dig a little deeper about Coughenour, so I called him. Unfortunately, the number that I had wasn’t working. But Facebook is an amazing thing and within an hour I was on the phone with him. I asked him how he got involved in the Putnam County situation. He told me that he was at a community meeting trying to legitimize his “Georgia Rangers” and there was some city representative there. The representative suggested a meeting with Tyrone Brooks. It was at that first meeting when Bobby Kahn, Barnes’ Chief of Staff, gave him those tickets. Coughenour told me, “I didn’t even know what the damn things were. I didn’t even know who Roy Barnes was. I wasn’t into political things.” I then told him Barnes was running for Governor again. After he got done laughing, he told me that he didn’t have “any political axe to grind with Barnes. I can give a shit less if he wins or loses. I didn’t even know he was running again.” At the meeting with Brooks, Coughenour told him that he would need some type of letter of introduction or letter of authority if he were going to go to Eatonton, which of course he received. (Again, see part one.) He was also told if any problems came up to call Penny Brown-Reynolds and she would handle it.
When Coughenour went to Eatonton and met Sheriff Sills he told me that he felt the situation was much different than he had been led to believe. He was told that Sills was a “cracker” who was out to divide the races of Putnam County. He in turn called Brown-Reynolds and requested a meeting with the GBI. The meeting happened later that day when, in Coughenour’s words, “five or six GBI agents showed up.” When he went to voice his concerns, he did not realize that then deputy director of the GBI Vernon Keenan would be at the meeting, but he was. (Keenan is now the Director of the GBI.) In a 2007 interview with Bill Osinski, Keenan confirmed Coughenour’s account of what happened. The thing that is amazing to me is that the “Georgia Rangers” got considerable help from the Governor’s office but Sills couldn’t. Keep in mind that Coughenour was and is a convicted felon. But HE had the blessings of Governor Barnes and his administration. Sheriff Sills didn’t.
There were several other things that came out in the various interviews that I conducted that I could not verify, though I tried REALLY hard, and have chosen not to reveal. I’m not Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein. I am however, concerned for my state. I’m concerned that my state will go back into the well of copperas water known as Roy Barnes and drink from it again knowing that it is poisonous. I have shown that Barnes lacks the judgment to govern our state and has allowed himself to be led by the likes of people like Tyrone Brooks, yet ignore the pleas of a decorated law enforcement official, all in the name of votes. Sheriff Sills told me he wouldn’t trust Barnes to “investigate the robbery of a cracker machine” and Ed Coughenour stated that “if the people of Georgia want to reelect Roy Barnes and his entourage they are destined to repeat the past.” I agree wholeheartedly with both.
Former Governor Barnes has been very apologetic in his advertisements telling Georgians that he has learned from his mistakes and that he should have listened more. Some funny things have happened since Barnes started his “Magical Mystery ‘Forgive Me?’ Tour”: he’s called Sheriff Sills three times and has also sent his peeps to try and set up a meeting between the two of them. I find it amazing how the Sheriff has heard more from Barnes now during an election than he ever did throughout the times that Sills needed him the most.
ADDENDUM: In my conversation with Ed Coughenour, I asked him who in the Governor's office he had contacted, as there were phone records indicating that he had called there several times. He said the only person he ever called in the Governor's office was Penny Brown-Reynolds, Barnes' chief counsel.
*Bill Knowles is a lifelong Conservative who got his first taste of the political process at age 9 and has been hooked ever since. Bill has held campaign positions for various local, state and national candidates including President Ronald Reagan, Steve Forbes, and Senator Fred Thompson. Bill writes a bi-weekly column for The 11th Hour Magazine. He and his family live in Macon, Georgia.
Vote Early!
Send In The Clowns: Roy Barnes, Tyrone Brooks and Malachi York
by *Bill Knowles, Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The Republican Governors’ race of 2010 has been a wild and crazy ride for me. I have chosen not to write about it up until this point as to begin with I was very heavily involved with one campaign. That candidate lost in the primary and now the runoff is history, and I am supporting former Congressman Nathan Deal. Although I have worked for and with other candidates, each candidate has different ideas, platforms and personalities, but they all have one thing in common: In my opinion, they are all better for the people of Georgia than former Governor Roy Barnes. I do not say that half-heartedly or with reservation for a host of different reasons, but the one I have the greatest concern about I’ll be sharing with you in this column. Is it the Georgia flag that he rammed down the throats of Georgians? No. Is it the fact that Georgia was 50th in the nation in education during the Barnes Administration? No. The reason that I cannot even think about another four years of Roy Barnes in the Governor’s Mansion on West Paces Ferry has to do with one person that most Middle Georgians will remember very well: Malachi York, convicted child molester.
For those of you who don’t remember Dwight ‘Malachi’ York, I’ll give you a quick recap of his colorful life. (Much of this is taken from the book “Ungodly” by Bill Osinski, a former writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.) York moved to Eatonton in the early 1990’s and built the Nuwaubian compound called Tama-Re, flush with Egyptian-styled pyramids and armed security. Before leaving his home in New York, York had been a singer with the group Passion, a member of the Black Panthers, plead guilty to raping a 13-year old girl, spent three years in prison for assault, possession of a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest, and had been being convicted of getting a passport with a forged birth certificate. In 1997, York tried to add a nightclub called “Club Ramses” to his existing “empire” when, it was discovered that several building codes had been violated and that no one had obtained a building permit. The Nuwaubians were less than hospitable to the county’s building inspector Dean Adams to say the least. Adams in turn felt it necessary to ask Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills to join him in trying to enforce the code and talk to the builders of the Nuwaubian nightclub. Sills was met with the same hospitality. Eventually, the nightclub would open and Sills would end up shutting it down for the various code violations and an inspection by a fire marshal that deemed it a fire-trap. Let’s fast forward to 1999 when a hearing was set to enforce all of the codes and regulations that York either ignored or did not comply with in building Tama-Re. What would happen in the months and days preceding the court hearing were strange to say the least, especially since each weird event involved former Governor Roy Barnes.
In March of 1999 Sheriff Sills forwarded a letter to then Governor Barnes telling him the problems that he was having with York and the Nuwaubians and warned him about information he had collected about York while in New York prior to his move to Eatonton and wrote to the former Governor that “information we have obtained in the last several months is even worse.” Sills went on to report to Barnes that he believed that the Nuwaubians were trying “to racially divide the citizenry of this county.” He then went on to request a personal meeting with the Governor which fell upon deaf ears mainly due to the fact that Barnes was relying on State Representative Tyrone Brooks of Atlanta for his information regarding York and the Nuwaubians. In a 2007 interview Barnes’ chief of staff Bobby Kahn stated that Barnes was “taking his cues” about York from Brooks; and for good reason, as far as Barnes was concerned: Barnes won the African-American vote by a landslide when he was elected in 1998 and Brooks was one of his biggest supporters. Further, Brooks is and was extremely influential as he is the President of the Georgia Association of Black Officials as well as being a very active member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and according to Brooks’ website “he works every day in the movement towards full political empowerment of African-Americans in the ‘American Body Politic’ trying to register and educate 600,000 unregistered African-Americans in Georgia.” I forgot to mention that Brooks was a very frequent visitor to Tama-Re as well as several GBI agents who used the facilities to fish. Sills would feel it unwise to relay any information to the GBI as he felt there would be leaks back to Brooks for this reason. I asked the former U. S. Attorney Max Wood who prosecuted York if he felt that Sills was justified in not involving the GBI. Wood wrote that “Sheriff Sills probably had the right hunch to keep the GBI out of the loop on this one. He apparently feared that Barnes would interject himself into an investigation at the behest of Brooks. We will never know what might have happened.” (Brooks would later write in an article in the June 22, 2002 issue of The Macon Telegraph, that Sills’ conduct as a law enforcement agent was “insulting and disgraceful” yet told how much of a pleasure it was to work with the Nuwaubians as they lived in “peace and harmony—no cussing, no fussing, no drugs, no alcohol, no tobacco products”. In the same article he would again slam Sills and presumably Max Wood when he writes that he is “tired of unscrupulous white politicians riding the wave of victory on the backs of minorities.” (He could have been talking about his buddy Roy Barnes. He also forgot that the only people being oppressed by York were African-Americans.) Instead of the cooperation from Governor Barnes that Sheriff Sills looked for, Sills was asked, “My God, Howard! Are you going to kill people over building permits?” It was clear to Sills that Barnes put politics over anything else. Apparently Barnes took the word of Brooks in lieu of the local Sheriff who had been investigating the situation. In a January 26, 2003 article in the Macon Telegraph, Sills called Barnes a “political whore”; and for good reason as explained in this article.
A court date was set for June 29, 1999 to decide the code violations and ordinances broken or ignored by the Nuwaubians and Malachi York. A few weeks prior to that, a group of “Georgia Rangers” showed up in Eatonton to help keep order if necessary. Their leader, “Major” Ed Coughenour, himself on parole from North Carolina for embezzlement, had a letter with him given to him by Representative Brooks that stated, “Indeed we are very concerned that county officials in Putnam are trying to force the Nuwaubians into a violent confrontation. Whatever your agency can do to convince the county to just let these people live in peace will certainly be in the best interest of Ga.” And it was signed by the Representative himself. Later, Coughenour and Brooks would have a face-to-face meeting in which Brooks told him that “a white cracker sheriff (is) messing with the Nuwaubians”, and then made it “very clear that the governor’s office was behind them,” meaning Coughenour’s Rangers. He then told Coughenour, “You don’t have to worry; the governor’s office is involved.” Coughenour would later state that he had no reservations about taking the assignment, as “we were under the assumption that we were protected by the Governor of the State of Georgia.” During the same meeting, Coughenour reported that Bobby Kahn entered Brooks’ office and gave Coughenour four tickets valued at $250 apiece to an upcoming Barnes fundraiser, saying “If you can handle this, we’d really appreciate it,” now meaning the situation in Eatonton. Kahn later denied that this happened, however the tickets were found in Coughenour’s possession when he was later arrested. Kahn did later confirm that he gave a copy of the Brooks letter to Barnes along with one of Coughenour’s business cards during a briefing with Governor Barnes about the Putnam County situation.
On the day prior to the hearing, June 28, 1999, Barnes took a more proactive stance in protection of York and the Nuwaubians. I spoke with Eatonton attorney Frank Ford who was the attorney representing Putnam County in the case. He told me that at about 4:00 PM on the 28th he received a call from Barnes. I asked him if he felt that Barnes was trying to intimidate him at all and he said that the whole conversation was an attempt to get Ford to cancel the hearing and in Ford’s words, “Barnes used strong arm tactics” to do so. Ford said Barnes told him, ‘You need to call it off!’” Ford refused to cooperate with the former Governor and would later say, “Can you imagine, the Governor of the State of Georgia calling a lawyer in one of the 159 counties in the state on a zoning matter?” I can’t imagine it either Mr. Ford.
Barnes would also call Sheriff Sills on that day according to Mr. Ford. Sheriff Sills was unavailable for comment as he is working on a case right now, but has agreed to answer my questions about this which I will relay to you in my next column; however here is a portion of a letter written by Sheriff Sills to Milton Nix who was the director of the GBI, just before the hearing on June 29th that will sum up the feelings that the Sheriff has towards our former Governor and his treatment of the case. Sills wrote, “I have the distinct impression that there is at least some reluctance on the part of the executive branch of the state government and its law enforcement personnel in providing assistance here in Putnam County.” He went on to tell Nix how “appalled” he was that there were leaks coming from the Governor’s office regarding a meeting about the situation in Eatonton that Sills had on June 24th in the Governor’s office with Representative Brooks, Bobby Kahn, Penny Brown-Reynolds, who was legal counsel to the governor, and two GBI agents. (According to Bill Osinksi’s book, Barnes had left the office for other business.)
In a few weeks, Georgians will have the opportunity to re-hire Roy Barnes as our Governor. I urge you all to read this column and decide for yourself if he deserves another chance to be our Governor. As I have said, I will continue this column next time with my interview with Sheriff Howard Sills and other facts involving former Governor Barnes and this case. Keep something in mind, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft gave Sheriff Sills a citation for his management of the Nuwaubian case and Max Wood wrote to me that, “there are very few Sheriffs in the country who could have handled a situation like this. Howard Sills deserves every accolade he has received in this matter.” Georgians fired Roy Barnes.
Send In the Clowns: Roy Barnes, Tyrone Brooks, Floyd Griffin and Malachi York - Part 2
By Bill Knowles, Friday October 15, 2010
When I started writing the first part of this column almost a month ago I knew very little about the inner workings of the Malachi York arrest several years ago in Putnam County. Of course I remembered the pyramids in Eatonton on Shady Dale Rd., York’s sensational trial and subsequent conviction. I assumed what most people who looked at this on the surface assumed: law enforcement got the bad guy and our legal system convicted him, all working in perfect harmony. It’s a safe assumption as no law enforcement officers were hurt, the suspect was arrested without incident and put in jail unharmed and the rest of the cult dissipated. What I did not know was the role, or lack of a role as turned out to be the case, that former Governor Roy Barnes played in the saga.
As you read in my last column, then-Governor Barnes stood by and did absolutely nothing to help in the arrest of York by Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, though Sills on repeated occasions asked for Barnes’ help. Sills would at one point even send Barnes a copy of GA Law 45-12-30 which explains the powers the Governor has to prevent violence and maintain order. Barnes apparently chose to ignore it. Though I had read the accounts of the interactions between Sills and Barnes & company in Bill Osinski’s book “Ungodly”, I wanted to hear it for myself, so I contacted Sheriff Sills. After a couple of weeks of email and phone tag, we got together a few days ago for a fantastic discussion.
First and foremost, I wanted to know if Sheriff Sills had read “Ungodly” which in fact he had. I then asked him if it was factual to the best of his knowledge. He told me that “although it’s been several years since I read it, I don’t recall anything in it that wasn’t 100% true.” Since I had used “Ungodly” as the basis for my articles, that was great to hear! I then asked him what he meant by a comment he made in a 2003 Macon Telegraph article in which he called Roy Barnes a “political whore”. Sills responded very candidly when he said, “I was very supportive of Roy when he was a State Senator. He was the ideal legislator. But he was a much better legislator than a Governor. That (expletive deleted) was more interested in maintaining the support from his base of voters that he was in protecting the public safety of the people of Georgia. People forget that before anything else, the Governor is the chief law enforcement officer of the state. Barnes forgot that too; seems like after his election he didn’t give a damn about a Sheriff from a little county like ours.”
Sills went on to tell me that he had written a letter to Governor Barnes March 9, 1999 in which he asked for a personal meeting with him to discuss the situation in Eatonton. In the letter, which I have read, Sills reports to Barnes that he has written a letter to then Director of the FBI Louis Freeh on May 4,1998, then tells Barnes that the Nuwaubians have “repeatedly attacked and slandered my office and me personally for the last eleven months.” He enclosed a copy of the letter to Freeh, along with proof of the slanderous writings of the Nuwaubians. I also have obtained a copy of the letter to Freeh. Sills not only states his concern about the activities of the Nuwaubians, but also states that he is aware of the “extensive criminal activity by members of this group when it was headquartered in Brooklyn. These activities included bank robbery, murder, arson and extortion.” Sheriff Sills’ source for this information was an FBI intelligence report. Sills then went on to tell Freeh that he was “frequently called by the parents of people that are moving here from all over the nation. The parents are extremely concerned about the safety of their children.” At the end of the Freeh letter, Sills begs, “I implore you to direct the full resources of the bureau in investigating this group as I feel their activities not only represent a threat to our community, but represent a threat to the nation itself.” (It has to be remembered that this letter was written while the memory of Waco and Ruby Ridge was still very fresh in the minds of everyone.) Sills told me that “at least the FBI answered my letter. They never really got on the train, but they did answer. Barnes didn’t.”
The next letter Sheriff Sills wrote to Barnes is dated June 20, 1999. He again tells Barnes of his concerns York, the Tama-Re compound and how York has violated or ignored county zoning ordinances. What interests me about this letter is the mention of former State Senator Floyd Griffin. (Griffin is also the former mayor of Milledgeville and is currently running against incumbent Johnny Grant for his old seat back.) Sills sent Barnes a copy of a Nuwaubian newspaper in which there were pictures of Griffin at a Nuwaubian event held on Tama-Re. One picture had Griffin standing directly next to York. Sills then went on to tell Barnes that Griffin attempted to “intervene in support of York and his group early on during the county’s problems,” while Griffin was still a State Senator, and that he went to Griffin and told him that “I didn’t think he was fully cognizant of York’s background and offered to share with him the law enforcement intelligence we had gathered. Mr. Griffin’s response to me, and I quote, was ‘I don’t want or care what intelligence you have.’ Although I was never impressed with Griffin during his tenure in the senate, I was completely shocked that he was openly supporting an individual who was not only a convicted felon, but was conspicuously subversive and advocating sedition.” Further in the letter it is revealed that Barnes is “seriously considering” Griffin for the job as Adjutant General for Georgia. Sills then writes to Barnes “to think that Floyd Griffin could be in direct command of all the military forces of our state is at the least frightening.” (Emphasis added by Sheriff Sills.) I agree Sheriff! (Are you reading Senator Grant???) But what is even more frightening is that Governor Barnes was even considering this clown for that job. (As you can tell, I added him to our list in the title…) Evidently someone had good sense somewhere down the road as Adjutant General isn’t listed on Griffin’s website as one of his positions. I hope the people of the 25th District in Georgia will have the same good sense and keep him unemployed.
Getting back to Barnes, I asked Sheriff Sills if he thought that Ed Coughenour’s story was true (Please refer to Part one) and if he felt that Governor Barnes knew that Coughenour was being dispatched to “keep the order in Putnam County.” Sills told me that he had no reason not to believe Coughenour, especially since phone records showed that there were several calls made between Coughenour and the Governor’s office and that when Sills had searched Coughenour’s home, the tickets to a Barnes fundraiser were found. Sills told me he couldn’t be sure that Barnes knew, but “Penny Brown-Reynolds damn sure knew.” Brown-Reynolds was Barnes Chief Counsel and is now a star of a Judge Judy type of show.
I thought I’d dig a little deeper about Coughenour, so I called him. Unfortunately, the number that I had wasn’t working. But Facebook is an amazing thing and within an hour I was on the phone with him. I asked him how he got involved in the Putnam County situation. He told me that he was at a community meeting trying to legitimize his “Georgia Rangers” and there was some city representative there. The representative suggested a meeting with Tyrone Brooks. It was at that first meeting when Bobby Kahn, Barnes’ Chief of Staff, gave him those tickets. Coughenour told me, “I didn’t even know what the damn things were. I didn’t even know who Roy Barnes was. I wasn’t into political things.” I then told him Barnes was running for Governor again. After he got done laughing, he told me that he didn’t have “any political axe to grind with Barnes. I can give a shit less if he wins or loses. I didn’t even know he was running again.” At the meeting with Brooks, Coughenour told him that he would need some type of letter of introduction or letter of authority if he were going to go to Eatonton, which of course he received. (Again, see part one.) He was also told if any problems came up to call Penny Brown-Reynolds and she would handle it.
When Coughenour went to Eatonton and met Sheriff Sills he told me that he felt the situation was much different than he had been led to believe. He was told that Sills was a “cracker” who was out to divide the races of Putnam County. He in turn called Brown-Reynolds and requested a meeting with the GBI. The meeting happened later that day when, in Coughenour’s words, “five or six GBI agents showed up.” When he went to voice his concerns, he did not realize that then deputy director of the GBI Vernon Keenan would be at the meeting, but he was. (Keenan is now the Director of the GBI.) In a 2007 interview with Bill Osinski, Keenan confirmed Coughenour’s account of what happened. The thing that is amazing to me is that the “Georgia Rangers” got considerable help from the Governor’s office but Sills couldn’t. Keep in mind that Coughenour was and is a convicted felon. But HE had the blessings of Governor Barnes and his administration. Sheriff Sills didn’t.
There were several other things that came out in the various interviews that I conducted that I could not verify, though I tried REALLY hard, and have chosen not to reveal. I’m not Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein. I am however, concerned for my state. I’m concerned that my state will go back into the well of copperas water known as Roy Barnes and drink from it again knowing that it is poisonous. I have shown that Barnes lacks the judgment to govern our state and has allowed himself to be led by the likes of people like Tyrone Brooks, yet ignore the pleas of a decorated law enforcement official, all in the name of votes. Sheriff Sills told me he wouldn’t trust Barnes to “investigate the robbery of a cracker machine” and Ed Coughenour stated that “if the people of Georgia want to reelect Roy Barnes and his entourage they are destined to repeat the past.” I agree wholeheartedly with both.
Former Governor Barnes has been very apologetic in his advertisements telling Georgians that he has learned from his mistakes and that he should have listened more. Some funny things have happened since Barnes started his “Magical Mystery ‘Forgive Me?’ Tour”: he’s called Sheriff Sills three times and has also sent his peeps to try and set up a meeting between the two of them. I find it amazing how the Sheriff has heard more from Barnes now during an election than he ever did throughout the times that Sills needed him the most.
ADDENDUM: In my conversation with Ed Coughenour, I asked him who in the Governor's office he had contacted, as there were phone records indicating that he had called there several times. He said the only person he ever called in the Governor's office was Penny Brown-Reynolds, Barnes' chief counsel.
*Bill Knowles is a lifelong Conservative who got his first taste of the political process at age 9 and has been hooked ever since. Bill has held campaign positions for various local, state and national candidates including President Ronald Reagan, Steve Forbes, and Senator Fred Thompson. Bill writes a bi-weekly column for The 11th Hour Magazine. He and his family live in Macon, Georgia.
TOUGH LOVE VS. SPANKING
Most people nowadays think it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of "those moments."
One that I have found very effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride during which I say nothing and give the child the opportunity to reflect on his or her behavior.
I don’t know whether it's the steady vibration from the car, or just the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc.
Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together.
I believe that eye to eye contact during these sessions is an important element in achieving the desired results.
I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.
This works with grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as well.
One that I have found very effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride during which I say nothing and give the child the opportunity to reflect on his or her behavior.
I don’t know whether it's the steady vibration from the car, or just the time away from any distractions such as TV, Video Games, Computer, IPod, etc.
Either way, my kids usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together.
I believe that eye to eye contact during these sessions is an important element in achieving the desired results.
I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique.
This works with grandchildren, nieces, and nephews as well.
FROM A GUY IN GEORGIA
My neighbor is a "lefty" of sorts (Obama bumper stickers, gung-ho
Socialized Medicine, "guns should be banned", etc.). So this past spring
I put this sign up in my yard after one of his anti-gun rants at a neighborhood
Cocktail party.
The sign wasn't up more than an hour before he called the police and wanted
them to make me take down the sign. Fortunately, the officer politely informed
him that it was not their job to take such action without a court order and that
he had to file a complaint "downtown" first, which would be reviewed by the
city attorney to see if it violated any city, county, or state ordinances, which
If there was a violation a court order would be sent to the offending party
(me) to "remove the sign in seven days."
After several weeks he was informed that the sign was legal (by a quarter
of an inch) and there was nothing the city could do, which obviously made
him madder. I tried to smooth things over by inviting him to go shooting
with me and my friends at the hunt club but that seemed to make him even
more angry. I then asked him if he wanted to go to a Tea Party Rally but
again he declined my outreach efforts to bring about a better understanding
between political and social opponents. I am at a loss how to reconcile our
long relationship (notice I did not say friendship), any suggestions would be
welcome.
Maybe I'll ask him if he wants to go deer hunting, which opens up November 1st,
you know, just a bunch of guys running through the woods chasing Bambi,
then sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows and singing our favorite
country songs to the accompaniment of Jake's harmonica (he is a better lawyer
than a harmonica player but don't tell him I told you). I even made him a bumper
sticker and that made him madder than he already was!
Anyway, that's life in our neck of the woods, how about yours?
Socialized Medicine, "guns should be banned", etc.). So this past spring
I put this sign up in my yard after one of his anti-gun rants at a neighborhood
Cocktail party.
The sign wasn't up more than an hour before he called the police and wanted
them to make me take down the sign. Fortunately, the officer politely informed
him that it was not their job to take such action without a court order and that
he had to file a complaint "downtown" first, which would be reviewed by the
city attorney to see if it violated any city, county, or state ordinances, which
If there was a violation a court order would be sent to the offending party
(me) to "remove the sign in seven days."
After several weeks he was informed that the sign was legal (by a quarter
of an inch) and there was nothing the city could do, which obviously made
him madder. I tried to smooth things over by inviting him to go shooting
with me and my friends at the hunt club but that seemed to make him even
more angry. I then asked him if he wanted to go to a Tea Party Rally but
again he declined my outreach efforts to bring about a better understanding
between political and social opponents. I am at a loss how to reconcile our
long relationship (notice I did not say friendship), any suggestions would be
welcome.
Maybe I'll ask him if he wants to go deer hunting, which opens up November 1st,
you know, just a bunch of guys running through the woods chasing Bambi,
then sitting around the campfire roasting marshmallows and singing our favorite
country songs to the accompaniment of Jake's harmonica (he is a better lawyer
than a harmonica player but don't tell him I told you). I even made him a bumper
sticker and that made him madder than he already was!
Anyway, that's life in our neck of the woods, how about yours?
TRUTHS FOR MATURE ADULTS
1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
16. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
18. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters, stay strong!
20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
21. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Don key - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!
23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.
Ladies.....Quit Laughing.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
9. Bad decisions make good stories.
10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
12. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
13. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.
16. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.
17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
18. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?
19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters, stay strong!
20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
21. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Don key - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!
23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.
Ladies.....Quit Laughing.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
WHEN YOU'RE HOLDING THE HAMMER...
If you haven't watched the news too closely you may have missed the story of the Tennessee middle school football coach who was fired for writing this song with one of the football parents, then emailing the following song to his personal email address book which, among many others, included a handful of football players' parents. Obviously, someone objected but where is this guy's freedom of speech?
The song sure hits the nail on the head and I think a few million more people need to watch this on YouTube and take it viral! So get going, watch it and then send it to all your friends.
YouTube - When You're Holding a Hammer (Everything Looks Like a Nail)
The song sure hits the nail on the head and I think a few million more people need to watch this on YouTube and take it viral! So get going, watch it and then send it to all your friends.
YouTube - When You're Holding a Hammer (Everything Looks Like a Nail)
ONE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JEWS AND MUSLIMS
Please do your part to assuring that this message never dies.
The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is ONE BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz
Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1999 - Ahmed Zewai
Economics:
(zero)
Physics:
(zero)
Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad
TOTAL: 7 (SEVEN)
The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is FOURTEEN MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Si nger
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World
Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin
Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Ben jamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Si dney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marc us
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger
Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Si mon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Si mon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Mark owitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel
Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herb ert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Si r Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Ben acerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis
1996- Lu Rose Iacovino
TOTAL: 129!
The Jews are NOT promoting brain washing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims. The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German restaurants. There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing people.
The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.
Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.
Muslims must ask 'what can they do for humankind' before they demand that humankind respects them.
Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it all:
'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."
Benjamin Netanyahu
General Eisenhower Warned Us
It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.
He did this because he said in words to this effect:
'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened'
Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the, 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests who were 'murdered, raped, burned, starved, beaten, experimented on and humiliated' while the German people looked the other way.
Now, more than ever, with Iran , among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
This e-mail is intended to reach 400 million people. Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world.
How many years will it be before the attack on the World Trade Center 'NEVER HAPPENED' because it offends some Muslim in the United States?
The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000; that is ONE BILLION TWO HUNDRED MILLION or 20% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1988 - Najib Mahfooz
Peace:
1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat
1990 - Elias James Corey
1994 - Yaser Arafat:
1999 - Ahmed Zewai
Economics:
(zero)
Physics:
(zero)
Medicine:
1960 - Peter Brian Medawar
1998 - Ferid Mourad
TOTAL: 7 (SEVEN)
The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000; that is FOURTEEN MILLION or about 0.02% of the world's population.
They have received the following Nobel Prizes:
Literature:
1910 - Paul Heyse
1927 - Henri Bergson
1958 - Boris Pasternak
1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon
1966 - Nelly Sachs
1976 - Saul Bellow
1978 - Isaac Bashevis Si nger
1981 - Elias Canetti
1987 - Joseph Brodsky
1991 - Nadine Gordimer World
Peace:
1911 - Alfred Fried
1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser
1968 - Rene Cassin
1973 - Henry Kissinger
1978 - Menachem Begin
1986 - Elie Wiesel
1994 - Shimon Peres
1994 - Yitzhak Rabin
Physics:
1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer
1906 - Henri Moissan
1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson
1908 - Gabriel Lippmann
1910 - Otto Wallach
1915 - Richard Willstaetter
1918 - Fritz Haber
1921 - Albert Einstein
1922 - Niels Bohr
1925 - James Franck
1925 - Gustav Hertz
1943 - Gustav Stern
1943 - George Charles de Hevesy
1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi
1952 - Felix Bloch
1954 - Max Born
1958 - Igor Tamm
1959 - Emilio Segre
1960 - Donald A. Glaser
1961 - Robert Hofstadter
1961 - Melvin Calvin
1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau
1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz
1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman
1965 - Julian Schwinger
1969 - Murray Gell-Mann
1971 - Dennis Gabor
1972 - William Howard Stein
1973 - Brian David Josephson
1975 - Ben jamin Mottleson
1976 - Burton Richter
1977 - Ilya Prigogine
1978 - Arno Allan Penzias
1978 - Peter L Kapitza
1979 - Stephen Weinberg
1979 - Sheldon Glashow
1979 - Herbert Charles Brown
1980 - Paul Berg
1980 - Walter Gilbert
1981 - Roald Hoffmann
1982 - Aaron Klug
1985 - Albert A. Hauptman
1985 - Jerome Karle
1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach
1988 - Robert Huber
1988 - Leon Lederman
1988 - Melvin Schwartz
1988 - Jack Steinberger
1989 - Si dney Altman
1990 - Jerome Friedman
1992 - Rudolph Marc us
1995 - Martin Perl
2000 - Alan J. Heeger
Economics:
1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson
1971 - Si mon Kuznets
1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow
1975 - Leonid Kantorovich
1976 - Milton Friedman
1978 - Herbert A. Si mon
1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein
1985 - Franco Modigliani
1987 - Robert M. Solow
1990 - Harry Mark owitz
1990 - Merton Miller
1992 - Gary Becker
1993 - Robert Fogel
Medicine:
1908 - Elie Metchnikoff
1908 - Paul Erlich
1914 - Robert Barany
1922 - Otto Meyerhof
1930 - Karl Landsteiner
1931 - Otto Warburg
1936 - Otto Loewi
1944 - Joseph Erlanger
1944 - Herb ert Spencer Gasser
1945 - Ernst Boris Chain
1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller
1950 - Tadeus Reichstein
1952 - Selman Abraham Waksman
1953 - Hans Krebs
1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann
1958 - Joshua Lederberg
1959 - Arthur Kornberg
1964 - Konrad Bloch
1965 - Francois Jacob
1965 - Andre Lwoff
1967 - George Wald
1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg
1969 - Salvador Luria
1970 - Julius Axelrod
1970 - Si r Bernard Katz
1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman
1975 - Howard Martin Temin
1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg
1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow
1978 - Daniel Nathans
1980 - Baruj Ben acerraf
1984 - Cesar Milstein
1985 - Michael Stuart Brown
1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein
1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]
1988 - Gertrude Elion
1989 - Harold Varmus
1991 - Erwin Neher
1991 - Bert Sakmann
1993 - Richard J. Roberts
1993 - Phillip Sharp
1994 - Alfred Gilman
1995 - Edward B. Lewis
1996- Lu Rose Iacovino
TOTAL: 129!
The Jews are NOT promoting brain washing children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims. The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics, or blow themselves up in German restaurants. There is NOT one single Jew who has destroyed a church. There is NOT a single Jew who protests by killing people.
The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.
Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.
Muslims must ask 'what can they do for humankind' before they demand that humankind respects them.
Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it all:
'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."
Benjamin Netanyahu
General Eisenhower Warned Us
It is a matter of history that when the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.
He did this because he said in words to this effect:
'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened'
Recently, the UK debated whether to remove The Holocaust from its school curriculum because it 'offends' the Muslim population which claims it never occurred. It is not removed as yet. However, this is a frightening portent of the fear that is gripping the world and how easily each country is giving into it.
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended. This e-mail is being sent as a memorial chain, in memory of the, 6 million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians, and 1,900 Catholic priests who were 'murdered, raped, burned, starved, beaten, experimented on and humiliated' while the German people looked the other way.
Now, more than ever, with Iran , among others, claiming the Holocaust to be 'a myth,' it is imperative to make sure the world never forgets.
This e-mail is intended to reach 400 million people. Be a link in the memorial chain and help distribute this around the world.
How many years will it be before the attack on the World Trade Center 'NEVER HAPPENED' because it offends some Muslim in the United States?
Friday, October 15, 2010
AN OBITUARY...
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has
been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his
birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar
in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his
birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be
remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn’t always fair;
- and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from
school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding
an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job
that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent
to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform
parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and
criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar
in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his
wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
ONCE UPON A TIME...
Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night."
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They created two positions: a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.
Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one Year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cutback." So they laid off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of
the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY..... during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn't think so!
Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency....the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple..and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977,
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT'S 2010 -- 33 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE! (THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?")
33 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah, yes -- good old Federal bureaucracy.
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
Hello!! Anybody Home?
NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER! Take out the trash!!
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They created two positions: a time keeper and a payroll officer, then hired two people.
Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an
Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one Year and we are $918,000 over budget, we must cutback." So they laid off the night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of
the DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY..... during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn't think so!
Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an agency....the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple..and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on 8/04/1977,
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT'S 2010 -- 33 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR. IT HAS 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES; AND LOOK AT THE JOB IT HAS DONE! (THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?")
33 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah, yes -- good old Federal bureaucracy.
NOW, WE HAVE TURNED OVER THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
Hello!! Anybody Home?
NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER! Take out the trash!!
COWBOY SOLUTION...
Cowboy rules for: Arizona , Texas , Oklahoma , Colorado , New Mexico ,
Wyoming , Montana , Utah , Nebraska , Idaho and the rest of the Wild West
are as follows:
1. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.
2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.
3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup
truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust
on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.
4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money
to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15
goes north and south. Pick one and go.
5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines
that are driven only 3 weeks a year.
6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to
understand the concept.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are
comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope
you don't have it up to your ear at the time.
8. Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and
caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.
9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious
holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.
11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can
order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.
12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats,
vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh,
yeah ... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat
... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!
13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over
ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to
shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, the
Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to
watch.
15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks
the fish.
16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music,
anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers!
Refer back to #1!
And there is more............. The COWBOY Solution to save gasoline! OBAMA
wants us to cut the amount of gasoline we use.....
The best way to stop using so much gasoline is to deport 15 million illegal
immigrants!
That would be 15 million less people using our gas.
The price of gas would come down..... Bring our troops home from
Afghanistan to guard the borders....
When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the Border, hand him a
canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Afghanistan ....
Tell him if he wants to come to AMERICA then he must serve a tour in OUR
military....
Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it......
After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended
this country.....
He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal resident.....
This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a
solution for the troops in Afghanistan and the aliens trying to make a
better life for themselves.. ......
If they refuse to serve, ship them to Afghanistan anyway, without the
canteen, rifle or ammo.....
Problem solved.....
Wyoming , Montana , Utah , Nebraska , Idaho and the rest of the Wild West
are as follows:
1. Pull your pants up. You look like an idiot.
2. Turn your cap right, your head ain't crooked.
3. Let's get this straight: it's called a 'gravel road.' I drive a pickup
truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're gonna get dust
on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.
4. They are cattle. That's why they smell like cattle. They smell like money
to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-10 & I-40 go east and west, I-17 & I-15
goes north and south. Pick one and go.
5. So you have a $60,000 car. We're impressed. We have $250,000 Combines
that are driven only 3 weeks a year.
6. Every person in the Wild West waves. It's called being friendly. Try to
understand the concept.
7. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese/pheasants/ducks/doves are
comin' in during a hunt, we WILL shoot it outta your hand. You better hope
you don't have it up to your ear at the time.
8. Yeah. We eat trout, salmon, deer and elk. You really want sushi and
caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.
9. The 'Opener' refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious
holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.
10. We open doors for women. That's applied to all women, regardless of age.
11. No, there's no 'vegetarian special' on the menu. Order steak, or you can
order the Chef's Salad and pick off the 2 pounds of ham and turkey.
12. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats,
vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup! Oh,
yeah ... We don't care what you folks in Cincinnati call that stuff you eat
... IT AIN'T REAL CHILI!!
13. You bring 'Coke' into my house, it better be brown, wet and served over
ice. You bring 'Mary Jane' into my house, she better be cute, know how to
shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.
14. College and High School Football is as important here as the Giants, the
Yankees, the Mets, the Lakers and the Knicks, and a dang site more fun to
watch.
15. Yeah, we have golf courses. But don't hit the water hazards - it spooks
the fish.
16. Turn down that blasted car stereo! That thumpity-thump ain't music,
anyway. We don't want to hear it anymore than we want to see your boxers!
Refer back to #1!
And there is more............. The COWBOY Solution to save gasoline! OBAMA
wants us to cut the amount of gasoline we use.....
The best way to stop using so much gasoline is to deport 15 million illegal
immigrants!
That would be 15 million less people using our gas.
The price of gas would come down..... Bring our troops home from
Afghanistan to guard the borders....
When they catch an illegal immigrant crossing the Border, hand him a
canteen, rifle and some ammo and ship him to Afghanistan ....
Tell him if he wants to come to AMERICA then he must serve a tour in OUR
military....
Give him a soldier's pay while he's there and tax him on it......
After his tour, he will be allowed to become a citizen since he defended
this country.....
He will also be registered to be taxed and be a legal resident.....
This option will probably deter illegal immigration and provide a
solution for the troops in Afghanistan and the aliens trying to make a
better life for themselves.. ......
If they refuse to serve, ship them to Afghanistan anyway, without the
canteen, rifle or ammo.....
Problem solved.....
SATAN...
A few minutes before the church services started, the congregation were sitting in their pews and talking.
Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church.
Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.
Soon the church was empty except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy was in his presence..
So Satan walked up to the man and said, 'Do you know who I am?'
The man replied, 'Yep, sure do.'
'Aren't you afraid of me?' Satan asked.
'Nope, sure ain't.' said the man.
'Don't you realize I can kill you with one word?' asked Satan.
'Don't doubt it for a minute,'
returned the old man, in an even tone.
'Did you know that I can cause you profound, horrifying AGONY for all eternity?' persisted Satan.
'Yep,' was the calm reply.
'And you are still not afraid?' asked Satan.
' Nope,' said the old man
More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, 'Why aren't you afraid of me?'
The man calmly replied,
'Been married to your sister for 48 years.’
Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church.
Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.
Soon the church was empty except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew without moving, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy was in his presence..
So Satan walked up to the man and said, 'Do you know who I am?'
The man replied, 'Yep, sure do.'
'Aren't you afraid of me?' Satan asked.
'Nope, sure ain't.' said the man.
'Don't you realize I can kill you with one word?' asked Satan.
'Don't doubt it for a minute,'
returned the old man, in an even tone.
'Did you know that I can cause you profound, horrifying AGONY for all eternity?' persisted Satan.
'Yep,' was the calm reply.
'And you are still not afraid?' asked Satan.
' Nope,' said the old man
More than a little perturbed, Satan asked, 'Why aren't you afraid of me?'
The man calmly replied,
'Been married to your sister for 48 years.’
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
FROM DA QUEEN...
For only the second time in my adult life, I am not ashamed of my country. I want to thank the hard working American people for paying $242 thousand dollars plus additional expenses for my vacation in Spain.
My daughter Sasha, several long-time family friends, my personal staff and various guests had a wonderful time. Honestly, you just haven't lived until you have stayed in a $2,500.00 per night suite at a 5-Star luxury hotel. We only booked 70 rooms for our friends, staff and family.
Thank you also for the use of Air Force 2 and the 70 Secret Service personnel who tagged along to be sure we were safe and cared for at all times.
Air Force 2 only used 47,500 gallons of jet fuel for this trip and carbon emissions were a mere 1,031 tons of CO2. It costs only $11,500 per hour to operate Air Force 2 and each additional plane for the other members of our party group. These are only rough estimates, but they are close (who's counting?). That's quite a carbon footprint as my good friend Al Gore would say, so we must ask the American citizens to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars and drive less too, so we can lessen our combined carbon footprint.
I know times are hard and millions of you are struggling to put food on the table and trying to make ends meet. I do appreciate your sacrifice and do hope you find work soon. I was really exhausted after Barack took our family on a luxury vacation in Maine a few weeks ago. I just had to get away for a few days. Will write more from Martha's Vineyard where we will spend our sixth vacation this year with more of
our family and friends.
Cordially,
Queen, M. Obama
Thursday, October 7, 2010
CONSERVATIVE VS LIBERAL...
If you ever wondered what side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
If a conservative doesn't like guns, he doesn't buy one.
If a liberal doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn't eat meat.
If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.
If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a liberal is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.
If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.
A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.
If a conservative doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.
Liberals demand that those they don't like be shut down.
If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced. (Unless it's a foreign religion, of course!)
If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.
A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.
If a conservative reads this, he'll forward it so his friends can have a good laugh.
A liberal will delete it because he's "offended."
FATHER AND DAUGHTER...A CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL VIEW POINT...
A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be very liberal, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.
The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between conservative and liberal or progressive or neocon I'm all ears.
She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch conservative, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his.
One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.
The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school.
Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying. Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?" She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus; college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over."
Her father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA." The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back, "That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"
The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the conservative side of the fence."
If anyone has a better explanation of the difference between conservative and liberal or progressive or neocon I'm all ears.
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