I Call BS!

Well, they’re there again today, determined to oust a legally elected government which was actually elected in a special election required BECAUSE the PAD was instrumental in ousting the previous government, and now swears to High Heaven that the current Samak government is ‘corrupt’ and inept.

‘They’re there again today’ means thousands of hoodlums disguised as concerned, law-abiding Thais, until darkness falls OR they transform into mob-mode and run berserk again, as they did last night!

Similar to the ‘Recreate 68′ adolescents, these thug-wannabees display similar spiritual bankruptcy, aiming to disrupt, oust, rid, disobey WHILE claiming citizen rights and representative legitimacy DESPITE the PAD’s role in ousting a previous, legitimate government while on the way to rioting to oust THIS legitimate government!

The right to assemble peacefully to demand the government redress grievances is fine, but howling like moonbanshees and assaulting Thai television-station staff is beyond the definition…

It is NOT a cut-and-dried situation, and if we Call BS! on the PAD, it is solely because the rule by mob that they advocate BY THEIR ACTIONS is manifestly WORSE than governmental ineptitude, occasional nepotism and real (or imagined) corruption!

From Junkfood Science we learn [all emphasis added]:

Compulsory medication and monitoring of diets and lifestyles by the State is now a reality for workers in Alabama who are older or have certain genetic physical characteristics.

Despite efforts to paint this in rosy euphemisms, under a new plan just approved by Alabama’s State Employees’ Insurance Board, if workers don’t agree to be subjected to lifestyle and health screening and blood tests for specific hereditary characteristics, they will be penalized $25 a month or be denied health insurance coverage.

Healthcare decisions will no longer be those for individuals and their personal healthcare providers to make. Workers found to have high BMIs, cholesterol levels, glucose levels, or blood pressures will be required to enroll into wellness programs with their integrated disease management, along with weight loss targeting those with BMIs ≥35, and be given one year to improve, or be penalized $25/month. Those who are thin and have approved numbers will be exempt.

According to the State Employee’s Insurance Board, the program, which will cost taxpayers $1.6 million next year alone, is about improving health and saving insurance costs for the State.

And it gets worse:

The requisite employee “wellness” and weight loss programs have not proven long-term effectiveness, but to put employees at increased risks. Nor to they actually lower healthcare costs. Achieving ideal numbers invariably requires prescription medications and other invasive measures, especially, as has been shown, for those over age 50.

In reality, these health risk factors are primarily measures of genetics and aging, and hence, using them is discriminatory, but hiding behind euphemisms of being about promoting healthy lifestyles.

The full article is here. It will be interesting to watch this progress. Perhaps abject failures of nanny state health care programs in Alabama and Massachusetts will finally get more people to question the wisdom of universal health care.

Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

Washington, D.C. - Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today named Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) its August Porkers of the Month for leading a do-nothing Congress into a five week vacation.

Congress left for its traditional August recess after accomplishing nothing. Of the 106 bills enacted since January, 94, or 89 percent were to name government buildings or lands, extend or make technical corrections to existing laws, or passed either by unanimous consent or with less than 10 dissenting votes. The accomplishments included “Frank Sinatra Day,” National Plumbing Industry Week,” and “National Day of the Cowboy.”

The deadline for passing the 12 annual appropriations bills has been deliberately ignored. Only one of the bills has passed the House, and only four others have been approved by the House Appropriations Committee. In the Senate, nine have been approved by the Appropriations Committee but none have reached the floor. There are two reasons for this failure to act. First, the Speaker and Majority Leader appear to be waiting for the presidential election to decide what to do with these bills, hoping that the winner in November would favor higher spending and more earmarks.

Second, the moratorium on offshore drilling expires on September 30, and it is usually renewed through the appropriations process. However, both Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are opposed to lifting the moratorium. Rather than allowing a vote, they shut down Congress. House Republicans took to the darkened House floor, demanding that Congress go back into session and hold an up-or-down vote to lift the drilling ban.

The Speaker’s first response was to continue her taxpayer-financed vacation to promote her new book. She has since indicated some willingness to consider a vote, but only tied to a larger (and costly) energy package. Majority Leader Reid’s response has been to threaten to shut down the government by refusing to allow any appropriations bills to reach the Senate floor, including a continuing resolution that would allow agencies to operate at the fiscal year 2008 spending levels.

For leaving town after Congress has spent nearly all of its time on frivolous legislation, failing to address critical issues, and threatening a government shutdown, CAGW names Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid its August 2008 Porkers of the Month.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers, government officials, and political candidates who have shown a blatant disregard for the interests of taxpayers.

This obituary appeared in the Vallejo Times Herald on August 16. I’ve deleted all the names. If you want to see who this is about you’ll have to visit the Times-Herald, because this post isn’t about dragging anyone through the mud. It’s about the impact of each of our individual lives on the many lives around us. Think about yours.

1929 - Aug. 7, 2008
XXXX, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met in the afterlife by her husband, XXXX, her son, XXXX, and daughter, XXXX.

She is survived by her daughters [6 names], and son XXXX; grandchildren, [19 names]; great-grandchildren, [21 names]. I apologize if I missed anyone.

XXXX had no hobbies, made no contribution to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed and there will be no lamenting over her passing.

Her family will remember XXXX and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again.

There will be no service, no prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come together in the end to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, GOOD BYE, MOM.

From 2001 to 2007, the area’s population jumped 25 percent. But local government expenditures – adjusted for inflation – grew about 50 percent…On top of that spending, many local governments also accumulated a mountain of debt…

Are we surprised? This is the way most Americans manage their home finances so is it any surprise that, when elected to office, they bring the same habits with them?

Only more so - it’s so much easier to spend someone else’s money…

City governments throughout the Sacramento region spent money at a rate that outpaced population growth during the boom years of this decade – and they’re now living with a sobering morning after.

From 2001 to 2007, the area’s population jumped 25 percent. But local government expenditures – adjusted for inflation – grew about 50 percent to roughly $2 billion, according to a Bee analysis of financial reports from every city in Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado counties.

On top of that spending, many local governments also accumulated a mountain of debt.

Sacramento CPS report in child death was altered

In the 16 days between the time 4-year-old Jahmaurae Allen was beaten to death and Sacramento Child Protective Services publicly released portions of its records, the case file was altered to change the original finding in the case, The Bee has learned.

One early version of the report from the social worker, who began handling an allegation of abuse involving the 4-year-old on June 19, described the allegation as “unfounded,” two sources who read the document told The Bee this week.

Another early version obtained by The Bee described the allegation of abuse of the little boy as “inconclusive.”

But the portions released by CPS to The Bee this week under a new public records law do not reflect either of those findings. Instead, those files indicate the allegation of abuse was “substantiated,” a finding listed as “effective 7/21/08″ – the day Jahmaurae was beaten to death, allegedly by his mother’s boyfriend…

…Robert Wilson, executive director of Sacramento Child Advocates, said Friday he “would sure be interested to see how CPS explains” the different versions of the case file. His office, whose attorneys represent children in dependency court, received the same version from CPS that The Bee was given this week.

Fellmeth, a former prosecutor, said the California government code makes it a criminal offense to alter a public record – even if that record won’t be given to the public. “You’re not supposed to be altering, period,” he said.

The proper way to make changes in public documents is to “overlay, or add the correction – not subtract or erase or alter.”

“You don’t create a new reality,” he said.

A same-sex couple who were married in Fresno County on June 27 – just 10 days after county clerks in California started issuing marriage licenses for gay and lesbian couples – have filed for divorce.

The couple, Theresa Ramirez and Adelita Guajardo, are among more than 100 same-sex couples who applied for a marriage license in the county since June.

Three days after their marriage, Ramirez filed for divorce, court records show. The court petition says there were “irreconcilable differences” between her and Guajardo.

Not to make light of what this couple is going through - they are just learning the hard way that the “piece of paper” that gays have fought so hard for perhaps isn’t what they expected.