Think about this before you hold your son or daughter down and let a doctor stick a needle full of shit in their bodies...
Can Vaccines Actually Cause More Harm Than Good?
Franklin E. Payne, MD
For a half-century, "officials"* have promoted the mass vaccination of the world's population, primarily children. In the United States, recommendations by non-legislative bodies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), have been mandated into state laws by willing legislators who are always ready to promote any action that is for the "good of the children." (Wouldn't you like some laws for the "good of the parents?")
As with any medication, vaccines have side effects, allergies, and unintended effects. These range from slight redness at the site of injection to low-grade fevers, paralysis, and death. The milder reactions are more common, and the more severe reactions are rare. Indeed, the latter are so rare statistically they cannot be distinguished from rare diseases in children that cause the same effects. And, complicating the situation is the fact there is usually no definitive test to determine the cause.
For the most part, the American people have gladly accepted these vaccinations. After all, as parents, they remembered the epidemics of smallpox, diphtheria, polio, and other diseases that crippled and killed by the thousands. They worried a little that their little Johnny or Susie might have one of the rare and severe complications, but that risk was far better than the risk of some epidemic disease.
A few Americans were more concerned. First, all the hoopla about the success of vaccines had to do more with timing than anything else. "Whooping cough, measles, and diphtheria were mostly under control by the end of World War II, when vaccines began to appear."(1) Thus, most of the success attributed to vaccines was their implementation at the time those diseases had already declined dramatically. This decline, however, has been conveniently forgotten (or covered up) to bolster the notion that vaccines dramatically reduce and prevent disease.
Second, evidence began to accumulate that some vaccines might have greater risks than those of the disease against which the vaccine was supposed to protect. Indeed, for one vaccine the evidence was clear in this regard. For the last two decades, the live polio vaccine has been the only cause of polio in children in the United States!
Supporting this belief was that the duration of immunity for vaccines was unknown. Would the person be protected for a few years only to contract a more severe form of the disease later? Because vaccines were introduced shortly after they were researched, all vaccines were mandated without long term evidence of their efficacy or continued immunity.
Third, statistics are based upon populations of people (children). What about an individual? If he is paralyzed or dies from an immunization, that is 100 percent for that individual. The individual must be considered, as well as populations.
In spite of these concerns, the drive toward vaccination programs in American society became a juggernaut. Any critical voice just did not have a chance of being heard in this maelstrom of support. But, cracks began to appear.
In the late 1970s, the swine flu immunization debacle occurred. The swine flu was predicted to sweep around the world, killing and maiming like the black plagues of the Middle Ages. An unprecedented massive and immediate inoculation of Americans was carried out. The swine flu never appeared, but hundreds had crippling diseases from the immunization itself. The question arose, perhaps for the first time, "Is it possible that the good of immunization could be outweighed by its unintended effects?"
But, while some thought immunizations ought to be examined more closely, "officials' " stance on immunizations was unfazed. They had even more immunizations for "the good of the children": mumps, Haemophilus, and hepatitis B. And, so the little darlings did not have to be punctured too often, more and more combinations of vaccines at once were devised. One count has some 33 vaccinations by the time children enter the first grade.
Parents and a few researchers were becoming more concerned. Some childhood diseases (allergies and asthma, for example) were becoming more common in children. Was there a link between these immunizations and the increase of these diseases? A principle of medicine learned early by medical students is that a lot of a good thing (some treatment or drug) often causes more harm than good. Perhaps, immunizations were becoming too much of a good thing.
Not to worry said the "official" establishment. The effects of every disease were more to be feared than the unintended effects of the vaccines. We are promoting what is best for the health of your child.
A Change in Culture and Motivations
But society was evolving, and these changes could not help but find their way into medical practice and preventive medicine. Abortion, the elimination of unwanted, unborn children, became national law and common practice. Every state in the union allowed by law the treatment of minor children for abortion, contraception, and sexually transmitted diseases without parental notification or permission. AIDS became the first politically protected disease because time proven principles of epidemic control for sexually transmitted diseases were not employed.
Relative to immunizations, at least two recommendations came from this cultural milieu. Hepatitis B was epidemic. Something had to be done. Prevention by vaccine was considered the best answer. So, several plans were implemented to vaccinate adults and teenagers. But, the result was that only a small percentage was immunized. Most did not care to be vaccinated and were getting around the nets designed to catch them.
So, where are people, specifically children, almost always predictably present? In the hospital when they are delivered! And, there was a precedent: dousing the eyes with silver nitrate, and later, erythromycin ointment to prevent gonococcal conjunctivitis. Thus, laws were enacted to inoculate newborn babies in the delivery room itself! The few babies who are delivered at home can easily be tracked and immunized also.
(I know an instance in which a lawyer, whose expertise was constitutional law, was unable to prevent his own child from being vaccinated in the delivery room!)
But, there is a powerful cultural agenda in the hepatitis vaccine that has not been present in any previous vaccine: not random exposure to epidemic disease, but the assumption that every child will become sexually promiscuous, an IV-drug user, or a health care worker!
The second recommendation was Hib, vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae B. Hib is a common bacteria of upper respiratory infections in children. Sometimes, it spreads and becomes a more serious life-threatening infection, as epiglotitis, mastoiditis, or meningitis. Usually, a simple course of antibiotics will cure the infections. However, in these more severe infections, hospitalization and intensive care is needed. Thus, the reason for the vaccine.
However, these severe infections are rare, except in those children who attend day care centers. So, vaccination is mostly an attempt to prevent a complication of children being placed where they ought not to be. Admittedly, making a cultural case against Hib is more tentative than with hepatitis B, but it has plausibility.
Even "Officials" Finally Break the Wall of Unity
Complications with three vaccines have caused them to be suspended. 1) Hepatitis B has been found to have a mercury content that is considered unsafe for infants.(2) 2) Live polio vaccine has been stopped because it has become the sole cause of polio, rather than the natural disease itself. 3) Rotavirus vaccine has been linked to intestinal obstruction in infants. This effect is likely from an incomplete testing of the vaccine. This vaccine provides protection against only one cause of diarrhea in children.
Also, in 1998, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) received 11,000 reports of severe complications. This system was implemented some years ago, as evidence mounted that vaccines did have major complications, including death, and to relieve manufacturers of liability from these effects.
So, immunizations are under scrutiny as they have never been before. This close examination is good and past due. Many questions need to be answered and better research on vaccines needs to be carried out.
Christians should remember that the state does have a Biblical role in public health (Leviticus 13-15). However, that authority can be corrupted, as can the state's other forms of authority. The best that can be hoped for is more freedom for parents to decide what immunizations their children receive. While I doubt that "officials" will ever go that far (they "know" better what your child needs than you do), the opportunity to break down the juggernaut of automatic acceptance and implementation of vaccines is present like it has never been before. When the establishment admits its own errors, their citadel is ripe for storming. Let us hope and work towards greater freedom for parents to choose.
Footnotes
* I often place "officials" in quotes because they are either grossly ignorant or they have hidden agendas --- power, money, self-aggrandizement, etc. All these cancel any moral authority they have. Unfortunately, many have legal authority to enforce their tainted opinions.
References
1. Sagan LA. Health of Nations: True Causes of Sickness and Well-being. New York, Basic Books, 1987, p. 68.
2. Terrell HP. Mercurial Logic. Medical Sentinel 2000;5(2):66.
Dr. Payne is editor of Biblical Reflections, P.O. Box 14488, Augusta, GA 30919-0488. E-mail: edpayne@pol.net.
Originally published in the Medical Sentinel 2000;5(2):53-54. Copyright ©2000 Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
Understanding Vaccine Safety: Immunization Remains Our Best Defense Against Deadly Disease
by Michelle Meadows
Smallpox and polio have been wiped out in the United States. Cases of measles, mumps, tetanus, whooping cough (pertussis) and other life-threatening illnesses have been reduced by more that 95 percent. Immunization against influenza and pneumonia prevent tens of thousands of deaths annually among elderly persons and those who are chronically ill. As a result, millions of lives have been saved. But don't let the success of vaccines fool you into thinking we no longer need them. Most vaccine-preventable diseases aren't gone.
Steve Berman, M.D., president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Denver, says he and his colleagues were devastated to recently see an infant die of whooping cough. "This was a case where the family thought the risks of vaccination outweighed the benefits," Dr. Berman says. The baby was exposed to the disease by two older brothers who hadn't been vaccinated.
Vaccines contain a weakened (attenuated) or killed (inactivated) form of disease-causing bacteria or viruses, or components of these microorganisms, that trigger a response by our body's immune system. For example, vaccines stimulate our bodies to make antibodies--proteins that specifically recognize and target the bacteria and viruses against which the vaccines are designed, and that help eliminate them from the body when we encounter them.
Without vaccine protection, we can easily contract and transmit infectious diseases. It may only take one person, whether it's a family member, a neighbor, or a visitor from another country, to start the spread of a disease. And even immunized individuals can be at risk because no vaccine is ever 100 percent effective for everyone. (See "Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule, United States, January-December 2001.)
Most parents believe in the benefits of vaccination, as evidenced by record high childhood vaccination rates, and more and more adults are getting vaccinated against influenza, pneumococcal disease, and tetanus. But some people who need vaccines don't get them for a variety of reasons, including fear of side effects. Lately, a surge of negative publicity focusing on the risks of vaccines--some of which are unproven or inaccurate--has some wondering whether they do more harm than good. But vaccine experts and the overwhelming majority of health-care providers caution consumers against skipping important vaccinations because of an evening news report or a posting on the Internet.
Sometimes such reports contain unsubstantiated or inaccurate information and don't reflect a balanced view of the risks and benefits of a particular vaccine.
The Food and Drug Administration recommends that consumers arm themselves with the facts about the benefits and risks of vaccines, along with the potential consequences of not vaccinating against certain diseases. According to a Washington state-based organization called Parents of Kids with Infectious Diseases (PKIDS), some parents are shocked to learn that children can die of chickenpox and other vaccine-preventable diseases they hadn't considered a threat.
The FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) regulates vaccines in the United States, and works with several other agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study and monitor vaccine safety and effectiveness. New vaccines are licensed only after the FDA thoroughly reviews the results of extensive laboratory studies and clinical trials performed by scientists, physicians, and manufacturers.
For vaccines intended for wide use in healthy populations such as children, clinical testing with careful safety monitoring typically involves thousands of patients before a vaccine is ever licensed. And after a vaccine hits the market, the safety monitoring continues, as does FDA oversight to assure the highest levels of quality control in the vaccine production process.
"We are always monitoring for evidence that might suggest possible problems with vaccines," says Karen Midthun, M.D., director of CBER's office of vaccine research and review. CBER scientists also conduct research to better ensure vaccine safety and to better understand vaccine-related side effects.
A Commitment to Safety
On the surface, it may seem that approaching vaccine safety as a continuous process--always looking into problems and potential problems--implies that vaccines are unsafe. "But it's actually a reflection of our ongoing commitment to safety, and to assuring the prevention of potentially lethal infectious diseases," says Jesse Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., deputy director for medicine at CBER. "It's also the nature of science to seek and implement improvements which make for safer and more effective medical products."
Since 1996, for example, CBER has licensed several acellular pertussis vaccines. Acellular pertussis vaccines use only parts of the disease-causing bacteria and are associated with fewer side effects than the whole cell pertussis vaccines that had been in use. In 1997, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended a switch from using the whole cell pertussis component of the diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP) vaccine to using acellular pertussis vaccines for all five doses in the childhood schedule (see "Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule").
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) sponsored clinical trials for some of the experimental acellular vaccines. "We set out to develop an improved vaccine that would be as effective as the standard whole cell vaccine but cause less extended crying, fevers, and other side effects," says Carole Heilman, Ph.D., director of NIAID's division of microbiology and infectious diseases. CBER scientists also played a critical role by developing methods to evaluate the acellular vaccines, which helped them get to clinical trials faster.
There have been other recent policy changes to improve vaccine safety, including ACIP's 1999 recommendation to change from the use of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the inactivated polio virus (IPV). OPV had been highly effective in controlling naturally occurring polio outbreaks, preventing thousands of cases of paralysis a year. But as a live virus, it mutated in extremely rare cases to cause polio itself. Continued use of OPV resulted in about 10 cases of paralytic polio each year among millions vaccinated and their contacts, according to William Egan, Ph.D., deputy director of CBER's office of vaccine research and review. Switching to the use of IPV eliminated this risk and was appropriate once epidemic polio was controlled.
"There are times when we also take action even when there is just the theoretical potential for harm," Goodman says. Thimerosal, a mercury-containing compound, had been the most widely used preservative in vaccines. Its use in minute amounts helped to prevent bacteria from contaminating multi-dose vials of vaccines and other medicines, protecting against potentially serious infections. But thimerosal has been nearly eliminated from vaccines because of legitimate and growing scientific concerns about the possible effects of mercury on the nervous system, Goodman says.
"In addition, as the numbers of vaccines used in children have increased, small infants who received every recommended vaccine could be exposed to cumulative doses of mercury that exceeded some, but not all, federal guidelines," Goodman explains.
Even though there are no convincing data that show harm because of thimerosal in vaccines, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended moving rapidly to vaccines that are thimerosal-free. The FDA encouraged manufacturers to comply and set the highest priority for its reviews of such products, Goodman says. As a result, all recommended pediatric vaccines available are now thimerosal free or have greatly reduced thimerosal contents. In March 2001, the FDA approved a newly formulated version of Tripedia, a diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTAP) vaccine with only a trace amount of thimerosal.
A Thorough Process
The most common components of vaccines are weakened microbes (disease-causing microorganisms), killed microbes, and inactivated toxins. In addition, subunit vaccines, which only use a part of the bacterium or virus, are increasingly being used.
Manufacturers conduct stringent tests to make sure that cell lines used for producing viral vaccines do not contain adventitious agents (unwanted viruses) such as simian virus 40 (SV40), which was found in some early polio vaccines. These vaccines had been manufactured in kidney cells from simians (monkeys) that harbored SV40. Following its discovery, SV40 was removed from vaccines, and vaccines have been free of the virus since the early 1960s. CBER scientists are developing potentially better methods to detect such infectious agents.
Developing vaccines is a thorough and rigorous process, Egan says. Vaccines are tested for safety on animals first, and then in humans during several phases of clinical trials. The most important clinical trial for the recently licensed vaccine Prevnar involved nearly 40,000 people, equally divided between those who received the vaccine and those who did not. Prevnar was approved to prevent invasive pneumococcal diseases such as meningitis.
A group of FDA scientists reviews data and the proposed labeling of the vaccine, which includes directions for use and information about potential side effects. The committee also reviews manufacturing protocols, conducts its own tests, and inspects the manufacturing facility. The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which includes scientific experts and consumer representatives, can be consulted at any time to review data and recommend action to the agency.
After a vaccine is licensed, the FDA generally requires that manufacturers use validated methods to test samples from each vaccine lot for safety, potency, and purity prior to its release for public use. The FDA also tests selected lots and products to help assure the accuracy of tests conducted by the manufacturers.
Common Concerns
"Most vaccines cause some side effects, but they are usually minor and short-lived like low-grade fever and soreness at the injection site," Midthun says. Serious vaccine reactions--causing disability, hospitalization, or death--are extremely rare but they can happen.
Like any medicine, vaccines carry a small risk of serious harm such as severe allergic reaction. But experts point out that the risk of being harmed by a vaccine is much lower than the risk that comes with infectious diseases.
For example, in 1976, the swine influenza (flu) vaccine was associated with a severe paralytic illness called Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). According to the CDC's vaccine information sheet on the influenza vaccine, "if there is a risk of GBS from current influenza vaccines, it is estimated at 1 or 2 cases per million persons vaccinated, much less than the risk of severe influenza, which can be prevented by vaccination." Each year, flu causes tens of thousands of deaths, mostly among older people. Most people who get the influenza vaccine have no serious problem from it.
And though some people worry about it, you can't get the flu from the flu vaccine, Midthun says. "Just as there are no vaccines that are 100 percent safe, there are also none that are 100 percent effective," she says. "So you may get the flu soon after you received the vaccine, before it could be expected to protect you. It does not mean the shot gave you the flu," she says.
Some live virus vaccines, such as the chickenpox vaccine, can cause mild versions of the disease they protect against, says Goodman. "But this is usually only a serious problem if the patient has a severely compromised immune system." And vaccines are generally not advised for such people. It's important to talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of vaccines, and any concerns you may have, specifically as it relates to you and your family (see "Steps to Take When You Vaccinate"). If you or your child has previously had a significant reaction to a vaccine, that may affect the risk/benefit ratio for the individual and whether that vaccine should be recommended again.
How Reactions Are Evaluated
Before a vaccine is put into standard medical practice, it must be studied in clinical trials of thousands of people, which allows for evaluation of relatively common side effects. For example, a common side effect might occur in one or more of several hundred vaccine recipients. But rare events (fewer than one case in several thousand recipients) aren't usually evident in clinical trials. "Unless you've studied something in a million or more people, you might never see the very rare event or be able to know whether it occurred due to vaccination or simply by chance," Goodman says.
Through the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), jointly operated by the FDA and the CDC to monitor the safety of licensed vaccines, experts look for patterns and any unusual trends that may raise questions about a vaccine's safety once it is used more widely in the population. The FDA continuously reviews and evaluates individual reports, in addition to monitoring overall reporting patterns. The FDA also monitors reporting trends for individual vaccine lots. Most reports come from health-care providers, but anyone can report an unexpected event after vaccination to VAERS. (See "Steps to Take When You Vaccinate" for the VAERS toll-free number.)
VAERS receives 800 to 1,000 reports each month. Because it often can't be determined whether an adverse event occurring after vaccination was actually caused by the vaccination, health-care providers and consumers are encouraged to report any event that might be attributable to a vaccine.
"You don't have to be sure," says Susan Ellenberg, Ph.D., director of CBER's office of biostatistics and epidemiology. "Reporting possible reactions will help identify adverse events that might be truly associated with vaccinations and need further study." But this approach to reporting means that one can't assume that all VAERS reports describe true vaccination reactions.
VAERS is a passive, voluntary reporting system, which means not all adverse events get reported. It also means that many reports are incomplete or even contain inaccurate information because the forms are not filled out by trained personnel. Another problem with interpreting VAERS data is the lack of information on the total number of individuals who received a particular vaccine, making it impossible to estimate the incidence of reported adverse events. It's also often the case that multiple vaccines are given at the same time, further complicating the interpretation of what might have caused the event, Ellenberg says.
Despite these problems, VAERS does contribute in important ways to understanding vaccine safety. VAERS data may suggest the need for more research on certain vaccines. "In this sense, VAERS is a signal generator," Egan says. Recently, VAERS data were instrumental in evaluating RotaShield, a vaccine licensed to protect against rotavirus infection. Rotavirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in children younger than five and can result in severe diarrhea, dehydration, and death. This virus is an especially serious problem in developing nations, where it kills hundreds of thousands of children every year.
Following the vaccine's licensure, VAERS started to receive reports of bowel obstruction in a number of infants who had received RotaShield. Careful review of these reports revealed that the bowel obstruction occurred most often in the first two weeks after RotaShield was administered. As a result, the CDC recommended postponing any further distribution or administration of RotaShield until more data could be collected and evaluated.
The FDA discussed the concerns with the manufacturer, which decided to voluntarily withdraw the product from use. In November 1999, ACIP withdrew its previous recommendation for universal use of the vaccine. At this time, the FDA, NIH, and CDC are still studying the bowel obstruction and RotaShield-associated cases, Egan says. "We continue to look into mechanisms for any serious adverse events. We want to understand why they happen so that we can prevent them from occurring in the future."
The CDC's Vaccine Safety DataLink, which links computerized histories of vaccination to hospitalization records and other medical information for members of eight large managed care organizations, supplements the information in VAERS and permits more rigorous evaluation of possible safety concerns. For example, the system allows researchers to compare how often an adverse event occurs in people recently vaccinated with those not recently vaccinated, to evaluate the likelihood that the vaccine caused the adverse event.
Alleged Associations
Some have looked to vaccines to explain a host of serious conditions that we don't fully understand, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and autism. There have been a number of epidemiological studies of these possible associations, and experts say there is no good scientific evidence at this time showing that vaccines cause these diseases or conditions.
"Physicians give vaccines to children at multiple time points during their development and a lot can happen during that time," says Midthun. She stresses that both the FDA and the CDC take concerns of parents seriously. After careful review of all available information, neither agency has found that existing data support any link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines and autism, a hypothesis that has received considerable publicity over the last year.
The CDC and the NIH recently contracted with the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, to establish the Immunization Safety Review Committee. The independent committee is charged with evaluating nine vaccine safety topics over a three-year span. The possible association of the MMR vaccine and autism was the first topic.
On April 23, 2001, the Immunization Safety Review Committee reported its finding that the current evidence does not favor the hypothesis that there is a link between MMR and autism, and that no changes should be made in the current policy of administering the MMR vaccine. The committee could not rule out the possibility that the MMR vaccine might be linked to autism in some sub-population, and recommended that targeted research in this area be conducted. To date, there is no indication as to whether there is any such subpopulation, or what the genetic makeup or other characteristics of such a subpopulation would be, Egan says.
"It's important that policy decisions about vaccine safety be based on science," says Martin G. Myers, M.D., director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service's National Vaccine Program Office. As vaccine safety research continues, Myers says, we can't afford to lose sight of what life was like before immunization. Vaccination is the reason we don't see the suffering, disability, and death from whooping cough, measles, polio and other infectious diseases like we used to.
"Vaccines are very safe," Myers adds, "but nothing is without risk." Not vaccinating against certain diseases means choosing another type of risk, he says. Myers recalls treating an infant with seizures from tetanus so strong they shook the baby's whole body. These types of seizures and many deaths are preventable by vaccination. And Myers still has an audiotape from the early eighties of a child hacking and gasping for air because of whooping cough. "The child's mother asked me to play it for parents who might be undecided about getting vaccinated." He's also played the tape for medical students and residents. "It doesn't take long before somebody in the room asks me to please turn it off."
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program became effective in 1988. The program is a federal "no-fault" system designed to compensate those individuals, or families of individuals, who have been injured by childhood vaccines. A claim may be made for any injury or death thought to be the result of a vaccine covered under the program. The program is administered jointly by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Department of Justice. For more information, call 1-800-338-2382, or visit www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/vicp.
--M.M.
Steps to Take When You Vaccinate
1. Review the vaccine information sheets that explain the potential risks of each vaccine. Health practitioners are required by law to provide them.
2. Talk to your doctor about whether certain reactions to vaccines can be controlled. For example, fever may be prevented or reduced by taking acetaminophen before or after vaccination.
3. Tell your doctor if you, your child, or a sibling has ever had a bad reaction to a vaccine.
4. Ask your doctor about conditions under which you or your child should not be vaccinated. This might include being sick or having a history of certain allergic or other adverse reactions to previous vaccinations or their components, such as allergies to eggs, which are used to grow influenza vaccines.
5. Report unexpected events after vaccinations to your doctor and to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) at 1-800-822-7967.
--M.M.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
EVEN More Bull
Get off your ass and do something about it.
The one thing that drives me crazy about Americans, are the opinions we all have without real solutions, ask anyone in the country about the gas crises,or oil and you hear tons of opinions,and just plan bloviating no one has the answer's that can put us closer to a solution, some have ideas but fall to the wayside when being subjected to the test they just "most" fall short and at the end of the day, all we have is just a bunch of mouths open and spit flying..it has gone beyond disappointing it boarder lines frustration.
Having said that I don't have any answers, you will not see me on fox network news yelling a screaming to get my useless opinion up in your face, I just shake my head a lot giving the aspirin companies a whole lot of money, all I have are the facts that are presented to me, and I know there is no"quick fix" to these problems that we have all chose to encored until its a huge problem, then we are all forced to see over and over in the news, this is not only about oil its everything that happens from the Iraq war,to oil and hookers being bought with campaign funds to a presidential candidate befriending a racist Paster no one does anything about this till it becomes a media event on FOX.
where are the " think tanks" Americans pride them selfs on free and brilliant thinkers ..OK where are they?? it all comes down to there is no money in free thinking hence the word "free" before we can fix these problems that have gotten so out of hand we need to stop doing somethings in this country.
we need to Stop telling people this is a country of free thinkers and then point our finger at someone who is not afraid to THINK and voice them selfs in anyway,just because they don't think like you do,and share your warped way of thinking you call them unpatriotic, how dare you? the same freedoms that you enjoy are the ones that others cant?? HA.... quit telling people to stop being racist and then show them how many ethnic minorities groups occupy our prison systems and how much a burden it is on the American tax payer,Just how narrow minded are you?? guess what you just did, you killed the hopes and dreams of someone trying to make it in this world by limiting their potential shame on you!!, stop telling people that in the United States there is no limit on how much money you can make as long as you have the "right" education, then put education so out of reach for the poor by doing away with programs for needy Americans by taking away scholarships , and then in a smug voice tell them to get a better education, your an ass!!!! Stop taxing the Hell out a small business owners,that treat their employees like an extended family, then turn around and give huge tax incentives and tax breaks to big companies that treat the people who work and run them like slaves,governed and dictate to them that they are too fat, too thin, too ugly, too short, too tall, and smoke too much, stop telling them that they need YOU, and understand that it is YOU who needs them.
Just stop and fix small problems and then can open your eyes to bigger problems that face us day by day, stop and think before you open your face with your opinion that means nothing more then this blog, then get off your ass and do something about it...America...bullshit is nothing but Bullshit too bad no one hasn't thought of a way to tax that...wait Bush still has a few more months left...
The one thing that drives me crazy about Americans, are the opinions we all have without real solutions, ask anyone in the country about the gas crises,or oil and you hear tons of opinions,and just plan bloviating no one has the answer's that can put us closer to a solution, some have ideas but fall to the wayside when being subjected to the test they just "most" fall short and at the end of the day, all we have is just a bunch of mouths open and spit flying..it has gone beyond disappointing it boarder lines frustration.
Having said that I don't have any answers, you will not see me on fox network news yelling a screaming to get my useless opinion up in your face, I just shake my head a lot giving the aspirin companies a whole lot of money, all I have are the facts that are presented to me, and I know there is no"quick fix" to these problems that we have all chose to encored until its a huge problem, then we are all forced to see over and over in the news, this is not only about oil its everything that happens from the Iraq war,to oil and hookers being bought with campaign funds to a presidential candidate befriending a racist Paster no one does anything about this till it becomes a media event on FOX.
where are the " think tanks" Americans pride them selfs on free and brilliant thinkers ..OK where are they?? it all comes down to there is no money in free thinking hence the word "free" before we can fix these problems that have gotten so out of hand we need to stop doing somethings in this country.
we need to Stop telling people this is a country of free thinkers and then point our finger at someone who is not afraid to THINK and voice them selfs in anyway,just because they don't think like you do,and share your warped way of thinking you call them unpatriotic, how dare you? the same freedoms that you enjoy are the ones that others cant?? HA.... quit telling people to stop being racist and then show them how many ethnic minorities groups occupy our prison systems and how much a burden it is on the American tax payer,Just how narrow minded are you?? guess what you just did, you killed the hopes and dreams of someone trying to make it in this world by limiting their potential shame on you!!, stop telling people that in the United States there is no limit on how much money you can make as long as you have the "right" education, then put education so out of reach for the poor by doing away with programs for needy Americans by taking away scholarships , and then in a smug voice tell them to get a better education, your an ass!!!! Stop taxing the Hell out a small business owners,that treat their employees like an extended family, then turn around and give huge tax incentives and tax breaks to big companies that treat the people who work and run them like slaves,governed and dictate to them that they are too fat, too thin, too ugly, too short, too tall, and smoke too much, stop telling them that they need YOU, and understand that it is YOU who needs them.
Just stop and fix small problems and then can open your eyes to bigger problems that face us day by day, stop and think before you open your face with your opinion that means nothing more then this blog, then get off your ass and do something about it...America...bullshit is nothing but Bullshit too bad no one hasn't thought of a way to tax that...wait Bush still has a few more months left...
Thursday, March 13, 2008
BEWARE OF COMCAST IT'S JUST HORRID
Unlimited Access IS NOT UNLIMITED usage! Comcast enforces a secret limit on your use of its network. See the following article published in WIRED:
Comcast Limits 'Excessive' Bandwidth Consumers
By Scott Gilbertson September 17, 2007 | 9:51:15 AMCategories: networks
[Update: Charlie Douglas, the Comcast spokesperson cited below, contacted Wired News to say that figures given in the GameDaily story were meant only as examples and we have changed the headline to reflect that. Based on talking with Douglas and comments below, the limits for Comcast users appear to be considerably higher than our estimate. However, Comcast continues to say it does not have a hard and fast limit and "excessive use" could be well above, or, in some cases, below the cited figures. As you can see from reading the comments here and elsewhere, the bandwidth considered excessive, varies by location as well. Douglas also said that Comcast calls customers to inform them about excessive use, so if you haven't been called, there's no reason to worry.]
Comcast has revealed some details about its mysterious bandwidth limitations. Previously the company had only said that it would shut down customers who went over what the company considered average use. But given that the company doesn't seem to have a definition of average use, it's difficult to know whether you're in danger of being shutdown.
GameDaily has managed to get a sort of definition out of Comcast, though the limits aren’t actual numbers. GameDaily quotes Charlie Douglas, a spokesperson for Comcast Corporation, who says that Comcast’s definition of “excessive use” is any customer who “downloads the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.”
Obviously Comcast is avoiding the issue by failing to give an actual figure, but this statement does give a ballpark estimate. The standard assumption in the industry seems to be that a song is 3 MB, or at least most MP3 manufacturers seem to use that figure when they talk about storage capacity.
Using that ballpark figure, Comcast’s definition of excessive means that you’re limited to 90 gigabytes a month if you want to keep on the company’s good side. That actually seems like a reasonable number to me, but of course we routinely see comments from folks who’ve been capped by Comcast, so whether or not the company really abides by these figures is open to debate.
And that’s part of the problem isn’t it? It’s tough to abide by the rules when the rules are open to debate. Would it be so hard for Comcast to give a specific number? Apparently the answer is yes. The most likely reason there’s no hard limit is because “too much” bandwidth isn’t a constant. The measurement changes based on the infrastructure limitations of your particular locale, what are your neighbors are doing, and how steady and consistent your high usage periods are.
So while we may not have a hard limit now or ever, take the above statement as a rule of thumb should you be a Comcast customer. And if you’re unhappy with your ISP, have a look at the list of bad ISPs on the Azureus wiki, a handy way to see which companies to avoid, should you decide to switch.
[via Slashdot]
Comcast was caught spying on its users:
Comcast hit with privacy violation lawsuit
By Lisa M. Bowman
CNET News.com
May 24, 2002, 1:25 PM PT
Cable giant Comcast has become the target of a lawsuit alleging the company violated consumer privacy by tracking Web habits. The suit, filed by Michigan law firm Goren & Goren, seeks class-action status on behalf of people whose Web usage was monitored by Comcast earlier this year.
"This is clearly an important issue," attorney Steven Goren said. "If we lose this, they will be able to monitor and, presumably, sell information about where people go on the Internet."
The company came under fire in February for storing detailed information about people's Web surfing habits, including the sites they visited. Although Comcast said the data was only stored in aggregate and not tied to individuals, civil liberties groups, privacy advocates and some lawmakers were outraged.
Comcast eventually succumbed to public pressure and stopped storing the data after doing so for about six weeks. The company Web site still prominently displays a statement from Comcast cable division President Stephen Burke, saying it will no longer store the information, in an effort to reassure customers.
The class-action suit, filed May 17 in U.S. District Court in Michigan, claims the company's data collection practices violated the Cable TV Privacy Act of 1984. Plaintiffs are seeking up to $1,000 for each consumer whose data was tracked.
Comcast has about a million customers, but data apparently was only being collected by customers in a few regions, said Goren, who's not sure yet how many people would be covered by the suit.
Comcast did not immediately return requests for comment.
Comcast can't run a cable network well, much less an Internet Service:
In the past 30 days preceding 12/20/3003 (when I decided to fire Comcast), my Comcast cable and Internet were down three times and Comcast also lost DNS (Internet address service) four times. Without DNS, you need to know the REAL address of, say, Microsoft.com to be 207.46.197.102 and type that in instead of www.microsoft.com. Without DNS, no Internet sites, no e-mail, etc..
Each time Comcast lost DNS, I had to reboot my cable modem, then my home network router, then reset the IP addresses on all running PC's. Pain!!!!
Comcast Technical Support is poor:
Their instructions on setup were wrong, their instructions about what to do during the cutover from @Home to their in-house service was wrong, and even the corrected instructions were wrong. They refused me technical support because I was using a router that they advertised on their website and were selling. Etc., etc..
Comcast can't manage e-mail.
Everyone must be familiar with the massive problems where they lost e-mail service for as long as a week when they took over from @Home in February, 2000. Most are familiar with the repeat problem when they bought ATT Broadband. BUT, their problems continue. Here is an 11/30/2003 post on BroadbandReports.com:
Re: 9:30 PM EDT - Anyone else having email problem
It turns out that last night Comcast went through their accounts and disabled any active email addresses that were attached to an inactive account. We had moved in August, but our email accounts were not properly transferred to our new account when we moved.
I called Comcast tonight and they moved the accounts to the new account number and we're back in business.
Our accounts were inactive for the duration, so all email to us was bouncing.
If you've had a similar event in the recent past, this may have happened to you...
NOTE: The 9:30 PM post drew 4 responses complaining about Comcast mail outages ranging from Zion, IL to Burlington county, NJ. Each was in a different state. This is why I used my own e-mail server.
USER REVIEW: A User In Philadelphia:
Shnay
I used to live in Comcast Country, and their domination there is definitely apparent. And it really does suck. We had so many problems with our cable service, like having CBS, ABC, and NBC, (the free stations) come in all fuzzy (a problem they never got around to solving), that my family ended up switching to DirecTV. I've got some issues with DTV as well, but it's far better than Comcast. A pricey move, but one of the few options you have to get multiple channels if you live around Philly. My brother was the only one really bothered by the lack of sports, so he was out-voted.
As for their Internet service, that's equally bad. They routinely shut it down without explanation, and their e-mail service can be pretty inconsistent. I hated it, but, again, there weren't a lot of options.
Also, although I'm sure every cable company is like this, they never keep appointments. Ugh.
So, yeah, I agree. It really sucks, and their near-monopoly only makes the whole situation more frustrating.
Comcast greatly reduced services when it took over from @Home:
@Home provided free unlimited access to newsgroups as part of its standard package. Although it had a published monthly "cap" of 30 gigabytes of downloads, it did not enforce that. Comcast offers a free 1 gigabyte account with Giganews in its place. At best, this is a 96% DECREASE in service. They did not reduce their prices, however. Since newsgroups are 50% of the knowledgeable Internet users' activity, this amounts to a 48% overall reduction in service. This is a huge hidden price increase!
Three times now we've requested techs come look at our system. The first one, never showed. The second one came over and refused to do the job because the modem was on the floor under a card table with the cisco switch and the vonage router. He told his supervisor that there were a bunch of 16-18 yr old kids getting drunk and high and that he was asked to leave. The reality, 4 people (aside from the technician) were in the house, all over 22 (aside from me but I will be 22 in 6 days) and MAYBE 3 of us had a beer in-hand. Hardly seems like a raging party full of minors. And yes, he was asked to leave. But it was after he said he refused to get down and work on the modem under the table with the rest of the hardware and we called him worthless and told him to go and we'd call for a better tech. The third tech that showed up was quite helpful and polite, but was unable to fix the issue completely.
Now we come to the web-based chat support agents. What a worthless lot. We've probably spoken to 10 chat support representatives in the last 2 weeks and not one of them could give us a straight answer as to why our connection was so bad. They all just kept giving us the same "line speed is not guaranteed" speech and then some random excuse as to why it's not working. We've saved every conversation log.
Hopefully we can endure this for the next month or two before we switch to Verizon FIOS (Fiber-optic to the premesis =] .. lines will be provisioned within 1-2 months). I have to say I am very disappointed with Comcast. They were my first non-dialup connection and I've enjoyed the service every bit until now.
Comcast is taking over the country buying up little cable networks and putting a new spin on charging people, I had comcast when Adephia left the area I was forced to take comcast service and I saw 10 days after the switched that this was going to be hell.
1 comcast has very little people working for them that speck english, and customer service suffers,on a scale fro 1 being best and 10 being worst they top off at 10 1/2 they call at all hours of the night if you are behind a payment.
2 if you are unsatisfied with the service (and you will be) they will show up at your house at 8 pm wanting their box back meaning they have pushed aside all time limits that a company can make you feel like shit if you can't make the payments and will hunt you down work/ home/ gym .
3 the rates for comcast have tripled in less then 5 months what you were paying last year will now cost you a small fortune this year and they brag that its great service and HD compatible with high speed internet...(you pay for this trust me) the high speed internet..hummm you have to pay for what they are calling " power boost" you know what this means? they have watered down the speed of the service and give you only a 1/3 its speed and now to get what you had normally you now have to pay Double for "power boost my ass" ...COMCAST?? ITS COMCOSTLY
Send a letter of discontent to your state senator to have Comcast removed from your state call the better business bureau ,before they buy up all the descent cable companies in your area it truly is the walmart of cable companies they suck bad.
Comcast Limits 'Excessive' Bandwidth Consumers
By Scott Gilbertson September 17, 2007 | 9:51:15 AMCategories: networks
[Update: Charlie Douglas, the Comcast spokesperson cited below, contacted Wired News to say that figures given in the GameDaily story were meant only as examples and we have changed the headline to reflect that. Based on talking with Douglas and comments below, the limits for Comcast users appear to be considerably higher than our estimate. However, Comcast continues to say it does not have a hard and fast limit and "excessive use" could be well above, or, in some cases, below the cited figures. As you can see from reading the comments here and elsewhere, the bandwidth considered excessive, varies by location as well. Douglas also said that Comcast calls customers to inform them about excessive use, so if you haven't been called, there's no reason to worry.]
Comcast has revealed some details about its mysterious bandwidth limitations. Previously the company had only said that it would shut down customers who went over what the company considered average use. But given that the company doesn't seem to have a definition of average use, it's difficult to know whether you're in danger of being shutdown.
GameDaily has managed to get a sort of definition out of Comcast, though the limits aren’t actual numbers. GameDaily quotes Charlie Douglas, a spokesperson for Comcast Corporation, who says that Comcast’s definition of “excessive use” is any customer who “downloads the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.”
Obviously Comcast is avoiding the issue by failing to give an actual figure, but this statement does give a ballpark estimate. The standard assumption in the industry seems to be that a song is 3 MB, or at least most MP3 manufacturers seem to use that figure when they talk about storage capacity.
Using that ballpark figure, Comcast’s definition of excessive means that you’re limited to 90 gigabytes a month if you want to keep on the company’s good side. That actually seems like a reasonable number to me, but of course we routinely see comments from folks who’ve been capped by Comcast, so whether or not the company really abides by these figures is open to debate.
And that’s part of the problem isn’t it? It’s tough to abide by the rules when the rules are open to debate. Would it be so hard for Comcast to give a specific number? Apparently the answer is yes. The most likely reason there’s no hard limit is because “too much” bandwidth isn’t a constant. The measurement changes based on the infrastructure limitations of your particular locale, what are your neighbors are doing, and how steady and consistent your high usage periods are.
So while we may not have a hard limit now or ever, take the above statement as a rule of thumb should you be a Comcast customer. And if you’re unhappy with your ISP, have a look at the list of bad ISPs on the Azureus wiki, a handy way to see which companies to avoid, should you decide to switch.
[via Slashdot]
Comcast was caught spying on its users:
Comcast hit with privacy violation lawsuit
By Lisa M. Bowman
CNET News.com
May 24, 2002, 1:25 PM PT
Cable giant Comcast has become the target of a lawsuit alleging the company violated consumer privacy by tracking Web habits. The suit, filed by Michigan law firm Goren & Goren, seeks class-action status on behalf of people whose Web usage was monitored by Comcast earlier this year.
"This is clearly an important issue," attorney Steven Goren said. "If we lose this, they will be able to monitor and, presumably, sell information about where people go on the Internet."
The company came under fire in February for storing detailed information about people's Web surfing habits, including the sites they visited. Although Comcast said the data was only stored in aggregate and not tied to individuals, civil liberties groups, privacy advocates and some lawmakers were outraged.
Comcast eventually succumbed to public pressure and stopped storing the data after doing so for about six weeks. The company Web site still prominently displays a statement from Comcast cable division President Stephen Burke, saying it will no longer store the information, in an effort to reassure customers.
The class-action suit, filed May 17 in U.S. District Court in Michigan, claims the company's data collection practices violated the Cable TV Privacy Act of 1984. Plaintiffs are seeking up to $1,000 for each consumer whose data was tracked.
Comcast has about a million customers, but data apparently was only being collected by customers in a few regions, said Goren, who's not sure yet how many people would be covered by the suit.
Comcast did not immediately return requests for comment.
Comcast can't run a cable network well, much less an Internet Service:
In the past 30 days preceding 12/20/3003 (when I decided to fire Comcast), my Comcast cable and Internet were down three times and Comcast also lost DNS (Internet address service) four times. Without DNS, you need to know the REAL address of, say, Microsoft.com to be 207.46.197.102 and type that in instead of www.microsoft.com. Without DNS, no Internet sites, no e-mail, etc..
Each time Comcast lost DNS, I had to reboot my cable modem, then my home network router, then reset the IP addresses on all running PC's. Pain!!!!
Comcast Technical Support is poor:
Their instructions on setup were wrong, their instructions about what to do during the cutover from @Home to their in-house service was wrong, and even the corrected instructions were wrong. They refused me technical support because I was using a router that they advertised on their website and were selling. Etc., etc..
Comcast can't manage e-mail.
Everyone must be familiar with the massive problems where they lost e-mail service for as long as a week when they took over from @Home in February, 2000. Most are familiar with the repeat problem when they bought ATT Broadband. BUT, their problems continue. Here is an 11/30/2003 post on BroadbandReports.com:
Re: 9:30 PM EDT - Anyone else having email problem
It turns out that last night Comcast went through their accounts and disabled any active email addresses that were attached to an inactive account. We had moved in August, but our email accounts were not properly transferred to our new account when we moved.
I called Comcast tonight and they moved the accounts to the new account number and we're back in business.
Our accounts were inactive for the duration, so all email to us was bouncing.
If you've had a similar event in the recent past, this may have happened to you...
NOTE: The 9:30 PM post drew 4 responses complaining about Comcast mail outages ranging from Zion, IL to Burlington county, NJ. Each was in a different state. This is why I used my own e-mail server.
USER REVIEW: A User In Philadelphia:
Shnay
I used to live in Comcast Country, and their domination there is definitely apparent. And it really does suck. We had so many problems with our cable service, like having CBS, ABC, and NBC, (the free stations) come in all fuzzy (a problem they never got around to solving), that my family ended up switching to DirecTV. I've got some issues with DTV as well, but it's far better than Comcast. A pricey move, but one of the few options you have to get multiple channels if you live around Philly. My brother was the only one really bothered by the lack of sports, so he was out-voted.
As for their Internet service, that's equally bad. They routinely shut it down without explanation, and their e-mail service can be pretty inconsistent. I hated it, but, again, there weren't a lot of options.
Also, although I'm sure every cable company is like this, they never keep appointments. Ugh.
So, yeah, I agree. It really sucks, and their near-monopoly only makes the whole situation more frustrating.
Comcast greatly reduced services when it took over from @Home:
@Home provided free unlimited access to newsgroups as part of its standard package. Although it had a published monthly "cap" of 30 gigabytes of downloads, it did not enforce that. Comcast offers a free 1 gigabyte account with Giganews in its place. At best, this is a 96% DECREASE in service. They did not reduce their prices, however. Since newsgroups are 50% of the knowledgeable Internet users' activity, this amounts to a 48% overall reduction in service. This is a huge hidden price increase!
Three times now we've requested techs come look at our system. The first one, never showed. The second one came over and refused to do the job because the modem was on the floor under a card table with the cisco switch and the vonage router. He told his supervisor that there were a bunch of 16-18 yr old kids getting drunk and high and that he was asked to leave. The reality, 4 people (aside from the technician) were in the house, all over 22 (aside from me but I will be 22 in 6 days) and MAYBE 3 of us had a beer in-hand. Hardly seems like a raging party full of minors. And yes, he was asked to leave. But it was after he said he refused to get down and work on the modem under the table with the rest of the hardware and we called him worthless and told him to go and we'd call for a better tech. The third tech that showed up was quite helpful and polite, but was unable to fix the issue completely.
Now we come to the web-based chat support agents. What a worthless lot. We've probably spoken to 10 chat support representatives in the last 2 weeks and not one of them could give us a straight answer as to why our connection was so bad. They all just kept giving us the same "line speed is not guaranteed" speech and then some random excuse as to why it's not working. We've saved every conversation log.
Hopefully we can endure this for the next month or two before we switch to Verizon FIOS (Fiber-optic to the premesis =] .. lines will be provisioned within 1-2 months). I have to say I am very disappointed with Comcast. They were my first non-dialup connection and I've enjoyed the service every bit until now.
Comcast is taking over the country buying up little cable networks and putting a new spin on charging people, I had comcast when Adephia left the area I was forced to take comcast service and I saw 10 days after the switched that this was going to be hell.
1 comcast has very little people working for them that speck english, and customer service suffers,on a scale fro 1 being best and 10 being worst they top off at 10 1/2 they call at all hours of the night if you are behind a payment.
2 if you are unsatisfied with the service (and you will be) they will show up at your house at 8 pm wanting their box back meaning they have pushed aside all time limits that a company can make you feel like shit if you can't make the payments and will hunt you down work/ home/ gym .
3 the rates for comcast have tripled in less then 5 months what you were paying last year will now cost you a small fortune this year and they brag that its great service and HD compatible with high speed internet...(you pay for this trust me) the high speed internet..hummm you have to pay for what they are calling " power boost" you know what this means? they have watered down the speed of the service and give you only a 1/3 its speed and now to get what you had normally you now have to pay Double for "power boost my ass" ...COMCAST?? ITS COMCOSTLY
Send a letter of discontent to your state senator to have Comcast removed from your state call the better business bureau ,before they buy up all the descent cable companies in your area it truly is the walmart of cable companies they suck bad.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Jailing Homeless Expensive only in FloridDAH
So I came across this in the paper,and I sat back and wondered what is going on in this State when they focus on Arresting the homeless, and complain how expensive it is for the tax payer to jail these people and in the same breath close shelters that can help people get back on their feet, and refuse to feed the homeless ( west Palm) and the way they think that homeless is a choice your a bum who can't find a job or a drug addicted criminal, not even giving a thought that its a harsh reality for most of the state and country... its simply staggering to my mind, that there are that many dicks living in the state of Florida, the very same people who site folks for having big flags on their homes and try to make lease laws for Cats...thats right cats...beyond staggering. well here it is the news story that set me off tonight, please take note of my comment at the bottom I'm sure that within a few months or weeks or even days it will be removed because someone was offended a redneck who has little or no time other then to buy beer bare footed in a public store or get off his sister who is ovulating to produce more Floridians who think its funny to beat to death homeless people ( it happened just a few months ago) Instead of sitting down and thinking of a solution to end or limit homelessness in this state leading the nation by example, like opening permanent shelters in this state instead they are closing them that will make an even bigger burden on the tax payer by arresting the homeless ...makes you think of the old saying "if you think education is expensive try Ignorance" 98% of Floridians are Ignorant.
Jailing Homeless Expensive
By TODD RUGER, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published: February 25, 2008
SARASOTA - It costs taxpayers about $925 when police arrest a homeless person for drinking beer in public or sleeping behind a church, a Herald-Tribune analysis shows.
Aggressive enforcement of city ordinances targeting the homeless has led to 1,427 arrests over the past three years, costing taxpayers $1.3 million, the analysis shows.
The number of arrests has risen sharply in the past six months, adding to jail overcrowding. As county officials plan a $56 million jail, they considered a special charge to Sarasota each time police arrest someone for public urination, illegal camping, curbside drinking or panhandling.
Police and city officials say it is more expensive to do nothing than make the arrests, which, they say, keep crime down and the downtown area safe and clean for residents, businesses and tourists.
"If you don't feel safe to go downtown, do you think we're going to have downtown businesses? Do you think we'll have a tax base downtown?" asked Sarasota City Manager Robert Bartolotta. "We have ordinances and we're a society of laws, so if we have ordinances, it needs to be enforced."
Bartolotta disputed the newspaper's analysis. He said judges and clerks would be paid, officers would be on the payroll and the jail would operate regardless of how many homeless people are in jail on city violations.
Experts: Analysis Conservative, Fair
Criminal justice experts and a University of South Florida economist say the newspaper's estimate is conservative and fair, as each arrest puts someone in jail and creates another case for the county's courts. That contributes to a higher demand for jail bed space, time from judges and more work for the courts.
"If you elect to trigger this process, this is what it costs us to ramp up to do this," said David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant hired by the county to study ways to reduce the jail population.
National homeless advocates branded Sarasota the nation's meanest city in 2006. A local advocate said money would be better spent building housing and shelters and addressing the root problems of homelessness.
"It's not only the right thing, but the most fiscally responsible thing to do," said Richard Martin, former Sarasota mayor and now executive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness. "We're forced into finding a better model at this point."
The homeless, who are usually too broke to post $120 bail to get out of jail for violating city laws, face two options. They can plead guilty at their earliest opportunity and spend as little as a week in jail, or fight the charge and spend at least 30 days in jail waiting for the next court appearance.
Court officials hold hearings on Fridays to take pleas and get people arrested for minor crimes out of jail in an effort to hold down the jail population.
Together, homeless defendants accounted for more than 200 arrests on misdemeanor charges over the past few years. On Feb. 15, nine of them were at the hearing.
Among them was Jeffrey Gale, 48, who pleaded guilty to an open container charge nine days earlier. He was out of jail two days when he was arrested again on charges of open container and trespassing.
After 45 arrests, Gale is well acquainted with the judge who presided over the hearing, as well as the public defender representing him, the bailiffs guarding him, and the plea deal they would offer.
For the latest open container and trespassing charges, he took a 15-day sentence with credit for time served, meaning he was to get out the next day. Then there is $298 in court costs and fines.
Gale's response: "Wow!"
Gale already owes $6,065 in similar fees and fines. Even if he paid those today, it would be a small dent in the more than $41,000 his arrests have cost taxpayers, according to the Herald-Tribune analysis.
Gale told the judge he is starting to lose track of places he has been ordered to stay away from. The list includes Resurrection House, a day center for the homeless and an alcohol rehabilitation center.
The newspaper's analysis may underestimate costs of arresting the homeless, say criminal justice experts, because it does not include arrests that start with a suspected violation that led to arrests on more serious charges.
For example, the 1,400 arrests tallied by the Herald-Tribune do not include one in which an officer cited a homeless man for panhandling, then found a knife in his pocket and also charged him with carrying a concealed weapon.
Likewise, the newspaper's tally would not include a case in which a homeless person cited for illegal camping was found to have drugs, and was charged for illegal camping and drug possession.
Most of the city's laws that target the homeless were adopted in 2002.
Martin, when he was mayor, called them a "tough love" approach to problems with the homeless.
Police have dedicated an officer to keeping tabs on the homeless and their camps, as well as directing officers not to ignore any infractions. When officers spot a person breaking city laws, they have the discretion to inform them of the rules, issue warnings, or cite them and give them a court date, said police Capt. Bill Spitler. He said officers do not make arrests unless it is the same person breaking the same rules over and over again or the person refuses to stop breaking city rules.
"We don't arrest everybody now, come on," Spitler said. "The people going to jail for these violations, this isn't their first rodeo, cowboy."
And some of the homeless spend a lot more time in jail than others.
Police know Mark E. Saunders by sight and have nicknamed him "John Wayne," though Spitler and another officer could not recall how the nickname originated.
Less than a week after officers cited Saunders for an open container, police found him spreading a beige sheet in the rear entranceway of Church of the Redeemer on Palm Avenue about 2 a.m.
According to an arrest report, Saunders held an open plastic Ice House beer bottle, and told officers he was getting ready to go to sleep. He was charged with breaking the city rules against curbside drinking and camping in public.
Establishments like the church "don't want people sleeping there, they don't want people urinating in their bushes, they don't want to clean up bottles," Spitler said.
Effort Not Working, Advocate Says
Martin, the homeless advocate, said the city needs to rethink its approach.
"It's just not working," Martin said. "Should someone really be arrested for something that would be normal inside a house, but you don't have a house?"
He suggested the city look into ways to keep the homeless out of jail by building subsidized housing to help people recover, or alternative sentences to keep them out of jail.
City Manager Bartolotta said the city is working with the county and judges to create alternative sentencing programs, making ordinance violators clean out parks or the beach instead of sitting in jail.
The county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a jail consultant and new programs to reduce the jail population.
Arrests are a more expensive and less effective solution than shelters or other options because the court system does not address why the person does not have a home in the first place, said Bennett, the consultant the county hired.
Last year, the public defender's office in Broward County stopped representing those arrested for breaking laws in Fort Lauderdale, after studying the issue and finding it was about $30 a night for a shelter bed and $90 or more for a jail bed.
Reader Comments
Posted by ( notsosmart ) on February 25, 2008 at 3:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Give Richard Martin the keys to a Van, fill the Van up on Fridays with the homeless people that got picked up by the police during the week, have Mr. Martin drive the people to the Florida Georgia border. If Mr. Martin deems it necessary, buy the homeless at that border crossing, one way non cancellable bus tickets...........
Report Abuse
Posted by ( LARGO_TOM ) on February 25, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sentence them to work crews for long periods of time where they can help pay for themselves and just perhaps pick up the work ethic.
Report Abuse
Posted by ( signit4bes ) on February 25, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
So is the implication that it costs more to arrest a homeless vs others? Or is it about arresting the employed vs the unemployed? If employed, you get in 'the system' and have to shell out clams. If unemployed than you can't really support 'the machine.'
Report Abuse
Posted by ( situp ) on February 25, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I like the chain gang idea. If their invoice for being a burden to the system is $500 then make them do $500 worth of work for the county/city. I bet they learn real quick that they should follow the rules because they won't want to work and be away from the drugs/alcohol for that long.
Letting them get away with this stuff is not an option regardless of what the bleeding hearts will say.
Report Abuse
Posted by ( paulzpc ) on March 12, 2008 at 11:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WTF?? arrest the homeless for being homeless?? is everyone in Florida too busy banging their sisters and having children that think this way normal?cause the rest on the WORLD know that homelessness is not a choice but a harsh reality for most people not being able to buy a job in this state..my god chain gangs? wow this is why Florida is leading the pack as one of the most Ignorant, most uncaring, selfish interbred people in the entire free world ...are there no prisons!!! are there no work houses!!!!if there is a god he should fold up the United states and empty most of the morons that live here in the pit of fire and gather up the rest as caring humans...shame on you all instead of work houses and prisons stop closing shelters ..florDAH chirst!!!!
Report Abuse
Jailing Homeless Expensive
By TODD RUGER, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Published: February 25, 2008
SARASOTA - It costs taxpayers about $925 when police arrest a homeless person for drinking beer in public or sleeping behind a church, a Herald-Tribune analysis shows.
Aggressive enforcement of city ordinances targeting the homeless has led to 1,427 arrests over the past three years, costing taxpayers $1.3 million, the analysis shows.
The number of arrests has risen sharply in the past six months, adding to jail overcrowding. As county officials plan a $56 million jail, they considered a special charge to Sarasota each time police arrest someone for public urination, illegal camping, curbside drinking or panhandling.
Police and city officials say it is more expensive to do nothing than make the arrests, which, they say, keep crime down and the downtown area safe and clean for residents, businesses and tourists.
"If you don't feel safe to go downtown, do you think we're going to have downtown businesses? Do you think we'll have a tax base downtown?" asked Sarasota City Manager Robert Bartolotta. "We have ordinances and we're a society of laws, so if we have ordinances, it needs to be enforced."
Bartolotta disputed the newspaper's analysis. He said judges and clerks would be paid, officers would be on the payroll and the jail would operate regardless of how many homeless people are in jail on city violations.
Experts: Analysis Conservative, Fair
Criminal justice experts and a University of South Florida economist say the newspaper's estimate is conservative and fair, as each arrest puts someone in jail and creates another case for the county's courts. That contributes to a higher demand for jail bed space, time from judges and more work for the courts.
"If you elect to trigger this process, this is what it costs us to ramp up to do this," said David Bennett, a criminal justice consultant hired by the county to study ways to reduce the jail population.
National homeless advocates branded Sarasota the nation's meanest city in 2006. A local advocate said money would be better spent building housing and shelters and addressing the root problems of homelessness.
"It's not only the right thing, but the most fiscally responsible thing to do," said Richard Martin, former Sarasota mayor and now executive director of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness. "We're forced into finding a better model at this point."
The homeless, who are usually too broke to post $120 bail to get out of jail for violating city laws, face two options. They can plead guilty at their earliest opportunity and spend as little as a week in jail, or fight the charge and spend at least 30 days in jail waiting for the next court appearance.
Court officials hold hearings on Fridays to take pleas and get people arrested for minor crimes out of jail in an effort to hold down the jail population.
Together, homeless defendants accounted for more than 200 arrests on misdemeanor charges over the past few years. On Feb. 15, nine of them were at the hearing.
Among them was Jeffrey Gale, 48, who pleaded guilty to an open container charge nine days earlier. He was out of jail two days when he was arrested again on charges of open container and trespassing.
After 45 arrests, Gale is well acquainted with the judge who presided over the hearing, as well as the public defender representing him, the bailiffs guarding him, and the plea deal they would offer.
For the latest open container and trespassing charges, he took a 15-day sentence with credit for time served, meaning he was to get out the next day. Then there is $298 in court costs and fines.
Gale's response: "Wow!"
Gale already owes $6,065 in similar fees and fines. Even if he paid those today, it would be a small dent in the more than $41,000 his arrests have cost taxpayers, according to the Herald-Tribune analysis.
Gale told the judge he is starting to lose track of places he has been ordered to stay away from. The list includes Resurrection House, a day center for the homeless and an alcohol rehabilitation center.
The newspaper's analysis may underestimate costs of arresting the homeless, say criminal justice experts, because it does not include arrests that start with a suspected violation that led to arrests on more serious charges.
For example, the 1,400 arrests tallied by the Herald-Tribune do not include one in which an officer cited a homeless man for panhandling, then found a knife in his pocket and also charged him with carrying a concealed weapon.
Likewise, the newspaper's tally would not include a case in which a homeless person cited for illegal camping was found to have drugs, and was charged for illegal camping and drug possession.
Most of the city's laws that target the homeless were adopted in 2002.
Martin, when he was mayor, called them a "tough love" approach to problems with the homeless.
Police have dedicated an officer to keeping tabs on the homeless and their camps, as well as directing officers not to ignore any infractions. When officers spot a person breaking city laws, they have the discretion to inform them of the rules, issue warnings, or cite them and give them a court date, said police Capt. Bill Spitler. He said officers do not make arrests unless it is the same person breaking the same rules over and over again or the person refuses to stop breaking city rules.
"We don't arrest everybody now, come on," Spitler said. "The people going to jail for these violations, this isn't their first rodeo, cowboy."
And some of the homeless spend a lot more time in jail than others.
Police know Mark E. Saunders by sight and have nicknamed him "John Wayne," though Spitler and another officer could not recall how the nickname originated.
Less than a week after officers cited Saunders for an open container, police found him spreading a beige sheet in the rear entranceway of Church of the Redeemer on Palm Avenue about 2 a.m.
According to an arrest report, Saunders held an open plastic Ice House beer bottle, and told officers he was getting ready to go to sleep. He was charged with breaking the city rules against curbside drinking and camping in public.
Establishments like the church "don't want people sleeping there, they don't want people urinating in their bushes, they don't want to clean up bottles," Spitler said.
Effort Not Working, Advocate Says
Martin, the homeless advocate, said the city needs to rethink its approach.
"It's just not working," Martin said. "Should someone really be arrested for something that would be normal inside a house, but you don't have a house?"
He suggested the city look into ways to keep the homeless out of jail by building subsidized housing to help people recover, or alternative sentences to keep them out of jail.
City Manager Bartolotta said the city is working with the county and judges to create alternative sentencing programs, making ordinance violators clean out parks or the beach instead of sitting in jail.
The county has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a jail consultant and new programs to reduce the jail population.
Arrests are a more expensive and less effective solution than shelters or other options because the court system does not address why the person does not have a home in the first place, said Bennett, the consultant the county hired.
Last year, the public defender's office in Broward County stopped representing those arrested for breaking laws in Fort Lauderdale, after studying the issue and finding it was about $30 a night for a shelter bed and $90 or more for a jail bed.
Reader Comments
Posted by ( notsosmart ) on February 25, 2008 at 3:51 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Give Richard Martin the keys to a Van, fill the Van up on Fridays with the homeless people that got picked up by the police during the week, have Mr. Martin drive the people to the Florida Georgia border. If Mr. Martin deems it necessary, buy the homeless at that border crossing, one way non cancellable bus tickets...........
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Posted by ( LARGO_TOM ) on February 25, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Sentence them to work crews for long periods of time where they can help pay for themselves and just perhaps pick up the work ethic.
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Posted by ( signit4bes ) on February 25, 2008 at 10:55 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
So is the implication that it costs more to arrest a homeless vs others? Or is it about arresting the employed vs the unemployed? If employed, you get in 'the system' and have to shell out clams. If unemployed than you can't really support 'the machine.'
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Posted by ( situp ) on February 25, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I like the chain gang idea. If their invoice for being a burden to the system is $500 then make them do $500 worth of work for the county/city. I bet they learn real quick that they should follow the rules because they won't want to work and be away from the drugs/alcohol for that long.
Letting them get away with this stuff is not an option regardless of what the bleeding hearts will say.
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Posted by ( paulzpc ) on March 12, 2008 at 11:07 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
WTF?? arrest the homeless for being homeless?? is everyone in Florida too busy banging their sisters and having children that think this way normal?cause the rest on the WORLD know that homelessness is not a choice but a harsh reality for most people not being able to buy a job in this state..my god chain gangs? wow this is why Florida is leading the pack as one of the most Ignorant, most uncaring, selfish interbred people in the entire free world ...are there no prisons!!! are there no work houses!!!!if there is a god he should fold up the United states and empty most of the morons that live here in the pit of fire and gather up the rest as caring humans...shame on you all instead of work houses and prisons stop closing shelters ..florDAH chirst!!!!
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Monday, March 10, 2008
The Econony doing great?? BULLSH*T!!!!
well, the Republicans are telling us that the Economy is doing well, and they all know that things are looking bad for " some " Americans lets look at this shall we.
The latest available unemployment figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) Thursday showed Wabash County’s current jobless rate as 7.4 percent in January. That was up from 6.2 percent the previous month.
The statewide January unemployment rate average was 5.6 percent.Mt. Carmel Economic Development Director Brandi Stennett today said much of the peak in the jobless rate for January and February can be attributed to seasonal drop in the construction trades. The city has several residents employed in those trades with local firms.
According to IDES, Edwards County unemployment is 6.9 percent, up one percent from December.
Neighboring Lawrence County also had 6.9 percent jobless rate in January, up from 5.6 percent.
White County had 7 percent unemployed in January, an increase from 6.2 percent the previous month.
For Wayne County, the latest unemployment figure is 6.8 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month.
Among the highest unemployment rates in the southeastern Illinois region is Saline County, where the January rate was 8.7 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month, according to IDES.
Richland County’s January unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, up 1.3 percent.
Unemployment rates increased across South Florida and statewide in January, but stayed below the national average.
The region's unemployment rate, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, was 4.2 percent, up from 3.6 percent this time last year and 4.1 percent in December, the latest numbers from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show. The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade was 3.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent in January 2006 and unchanged from December. In Broward, it was 4.1 percent, up from 3.4 percent a year ago and 3.9 percent in December.
Palm Beach County had the highest unemployment rate in the region, at 4.8 percent, up from 3.9 percent a year ago and 3.6 percent in December. It had the 33rd-highest rate in the state. Flagler County had the highest, at 7.8 percent.
Florida's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, representing 423,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9.26 million. That rate is up 1 percentage point from this time last year and .1 of a percentage point from December. It is the highest rate since October 2004, which was also 4.6 percent.
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January.
Florida had a net loss of 7,300 jobs in January 2008 when compared to a year ago. Construction employment was down 10.9 percent, with a loss of 69,000 jobs, reacting to declines in the housing market, the report said. Construction losses made up 75 percent of job losses in the state.
Education and health services, up 3.4 percent with 33,800 jobs added, and total government, up 2.2 percent with 24,500 jobs added, accounted for most of the job gains among industries posting positive annual growth.
The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall Metropolitan Division ranked second in the state for year-over-year employment gains, adding 7,200 jobs. It was behind the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which added 7,500 jobs.
Gasoline prices hit new high, seen jumping more
Sun Mar 9, 2008 11:16pm GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.
Gasoline prices are rising sharply as refiners, who have kept prices down in order to compete for sales, become more willing to pass on their higher costs of crude oil, according to an industry analyst on Sunday.
The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was nearly $3.20 a gallon on March 7, up about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations. The price has risen 64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months.
"The price increase was entirely due to the higher costs of crude oil," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.
Although the latest price represents a nominal all-time high, when adjusted for inflation it is a smidgen below the record of $3.18 per gallon reached on May 18, 2007, Lundberg said.
Lundberg said things will likely get worse, with prices at the pump rising 20 to 30 cents per gallon in the next month as refiners begin passing on to customers more of their higher costs for crude oil.
"Should prices indeed rise 20 to 30 cents, they would vastly exceed previous prices on an inflation-adjusted basis," Lundberg said.
Refiners since last spring have deliberately refrained from passing on their higher costs for crude oil, in order to compete for sales, she said.
"But refiner profit margins have become so slim that they will now raise prices to recover their lost margins," said Lundberg. Likewise, she said retailers will also be less willing to hold back from passing on their higher costs to drivers.
Moreover, prices will also rise because of the return to daylight savings time and the approach of warmer weather, Lundberg said.
"Spring demand growth will soak up the current surplus of U.S. gasoline and put more pressure on prices," Lundberg said.
At $3.58 a gallon, the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest latest average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas on March 7, while the lowest price was $2.95 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The average U.S. diesel price was $3.80 a gallon in the latest survey, up 22 cents a gallon from two weeks ago, and $1.02 higher than this time last year.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Richard Chang)
I have an Idea lets take " oh lets say " 87 billion dollars and send it to Iraq , while Bush and his butt buddies pull their fingers out of each others assholes and talk bullshit to the American public,admitting to all of us there "might be a problem" but wait tomorrow is another day ,that means more families homeless more kids going without food and medical and older Americans dieing, Mr Bush you are a lame duck garbage human that sucked off the souls of 911 and gave the American people what come out of your asshole,hard working people that are now "now Unemployed" Americans,that are also now homeless, we can only thank god that your reign of American genocideing is all most to an end we all look forward to the next depression thank you Bush, we are now the " have nots" " the home of the homeless and the land of the richest poor, while you and your administration remained the Haves.
The latest available unemployment figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) Thursday showed Wabash County’s current jobless rate as 7.4 percent in January. That was up from 6.2 percent the previous month.
The statewide January unemployment rate average was 5.6 percent.Mt. Carmel Economic Development Director Brandi Stennett today said much of the peak in the jobless rate for January and February can be attributed to seasonal drop in the construction trades. The city has several residents employed in those trades with local firms.
According to IDES, Edwards County unemployment is 6.9 percent, up one percent from December.
Neighboring Lawrence County also had 6.9 percent jobless rate in January, up from 5.6 percent.
White County had 7 percent unemployed in January, an increase from 6.2 percent the previous month.
For Wayne County, the latest unemployment figure is 6.8 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month.
Among the highest unemployment rates in the southeastern Illinois region is Saline County, where the January rate was 8.7 percent, up 1.2 percent from the previous month, according to IDES.
Richland County’s January unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, up 1.3 percent.
Unemployment rates increased across South Florida and statewide in January, but stayed below the national average.
The region's unemployment rate, which includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, was 4.2 percent, up from 3.6 percent this time last year and 4.1 percent in December, the latest numbers from the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show. The unemployment rate in Miami-Dade was 3.9 percent, up from 3.6 percent in January 2006 and unchanged from December. In Broward, it was 4.1 percent, up from 3.4 percent a year ago and 3.9 percent in December.
Palm Beach County had the highest unemployment rate in the region, at 4.8 percent, up from 3.9 percent a year ago and 3.6 percent in December. It had the 33rd-highest rate in the state. Flagler County had the highest, at 7.8 percent.
Florida's unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, representing 423,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9.26 million. That rate is up 1 percentage point from this time last year and .1 of a percentage point from December. It is the highest rate since October 2004, which was also 4.6 percent.
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January.
Florida had a net loss of 7,300 jobs in January 2008 when compared to a year ago. Construction employment was down 10.9 percent, with a loss of 69,000 jobs, reacting to declines in the housing market, the report said. Construction losses made up 75 percent of job losses in the state.
Education and health services, up 3.4 percent with 33,800 jobs added, and total government, up 2.2 percent with 24,500 jobs added, accounted for most of the job gains among industries posting positive annual growth.
The Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall Metropolitan Division ranked second in the state for year-over-year employment gains, adding 7,200 jobs. It was behind the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area, which added 7,500 jobs.
Gasoline prices hit new high, seen jumping more
Sun Mar 9, 2008 11:16pm GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices have reached a new high of almost $3.20 per gallon and will likely jump another 20 to 30 cents in the next month, worsening the pain of consumers struggling to make ends meet in an economic downturn.
Gasoline prices are rising sharply as refiners, who have kept prices down in order to compete for sales, become more willing to pass on their higher costs of crude oil, according to an industry analyst on Sunday.
The national average for self-serve regular unleaded gas was nearly $3.20 a gallon on March 7, up about 9.44 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations. The price has risen 64 cents per gallon in the past 12 months.
"The price increase was entirely due to the higher costs of crude oil," said survey editor Trilby Lundberg.
Although the latest price represents a nominal all-time high, when adjusted for inflation it is a smidgen below the record of $3.18 per gallon reached on May 18, 2007, Lundberg said.
Lundberg said things will likely get worse, with prices at the pump rising 20 to 30 cents per gallon in the next month as refiners begin passing on to customers more of their higher costs for crude oil.
"Should prices indeed rise 20 to 30 cents, they would vastly exceed previous prices on an inflation-adjusted basis," Lundberg said.
Refiners since last spring have deliberately refrained from passing on their higher costs for crude oil, in order to compete for sales, she said.
"But refiner profit margins have become so slim that they will now raise prices to recover their lost margins," said Lundberg. Likewise, she said retailers will also be less willing to hold back from passing on their higher costs to drivers.
Moreover, prices will also rise because of the return to daylight savings time and the approach of warmer weather, Lundberg said.
"Spring demand growth will soak up the current surplus of U.S. gasoline and put more pressure on prices," Lundberg said.
At $3.58 a gallon, the San Francisco Bay Area had the highest latest average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas on March 7, while the lowest price was $2.95 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The average U.S. diesel price was $3.80 a gallon in the latest survey, up 22 cents a gallon from two weeks ago, and $1.02 higher than this time last year.
(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Richard Chang)
I have an Idea lets take " oh lets say " 87 billion dollars and send it to Iraq , while Bush and his butt buddies pull their fingers out of each others assholes and talk bullshit to the American public,admitting to all of us there "might be a problem" but wait tomorrow is another day ,that means more families homeless more kids going without food and medical and older Americans dieing, Mr Bush you are a lame duck garbage human that sucked off the souls of 911 and gave the American people what come out of your asshole,hard working people that are now "now Unemployed" Americans,that are also now homeless, we can only thank god that your reign of American genocideing is all most to an end we all look forward to the next depression thank you Bush, we are now the " have nots" " the home of the homeless and the land of the richest poor, while you and your administration remained the Haves.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Wait a Minute!! whos the Racist.?
“Dog” the Bounty Hunter Gets His Show Back, Proving it’s OK to be a Racist.
Written by mightyminnow
A&E announced today that it will resume airing the hit reality show ”Dog the Bounty Hunter,” which was taken off the air a few months back after the show’s star, Duane “Dog” Chapman, was exposed as a racist.
Dog’s racism came to light after his son, Tucker, published a recording of his dad repeatedly using the word “nigger” in reference to Tucker’s Black girlfriend. The recording cost Dog his show after A&E started losing advertisers, who probably didn’t want to be associated with such a racist. At the time anyway.
Fortunately for Dog, his period of penance seems to be over and A&E has decided he has done enough apologizing. Apparently, appearing on a bunch of radio and TV programs and expressing remorse for using a racial slur is enough to convince some people that one is not in fact a racist. Who knew.
Here’s the network’s take on their decision to resurrect Dog’s show:
Over the last few months, Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman has taken and continues to take the appropriate steps in reaching out to several African American organizations in an effort to make amends for his private comments to his son which were released publicly. Since the premise of ‘Dog The Bounty Hunter’ is about second chances, we have decided to give him one.”
I love America, home of the second chance, where there are no racists, only people who throw “nigger” around like their lives depend on it. If I had my way, Dog would never be allowed anywhere near a TV camera again. But I’m just a lowly blogger. And I don’t own A&E, which clearly seems to think that being a racist is OK, as long as you spend enough time apologizing not for your racist attitude, but for your choice of words. After all, there’s no such thing as a racist, right? Dog’s not really a racist, is he? He’s just a regular guy who was caught on tape casually using a word that demeans, denigrates, and dehumanizes an entire population. How silly of me to have confused him with a racist!!!
Now, I’m as big a believer in second chances as A&E: I just happen to believe that there should be consequences for holding racist attitudes, which lie at the heart of so many of the divisions and social inequalities that plague our society today. It took Dog a lifetime to become the racist that he is, and I’m pretty sure that spending a few months “reaching out to several African American organizations” is not going to make him less of a racist. But what do I know. I’m not the star of a hit reality show.
Luckily for Dog, his show was popular and I’m sure plenty of people—who have less of a problem with racism than I do—will be happy to start watching it again. But I’m sure few will be happier than A&E executives, whose decision to put “Dog the Bounty Hunter” back on the air probably has little to do with second chances and everything to do with money. Clearly, they think the loss of advertising dollars was too great a price to pay for taking a courageous and principled stance against racism.
Gotta love America.
NOW MY RESPONSE TO THE ASSHOLE WHO WROTE THE BLOG ABOVE...
MR.Mightyminnow, you are a MORON, and clearly you need some attention and a little history lesson others in the past have said the "N" word people in high places that have taken real hard hits because of it,some have even had death threats on their children,and their families and have lost their jobs as well have been black balled from working in their fields again, some of the more resent famous folks are Micheal Richards, "Kramer" and Imus,personally I don't Imus and what he said was not funny,it was at best a real bad failed attempt at garbage humor but thats Imus if you listen to his show thats what he does and he didn't say he was sorry and should have..but now caught in the bullshit of this is " Dawg" Chapman Bounty hunter, but think about this ...in the Dawgs case he was making a call to his son and telling him how pissed he was... it was a personal call to his kid that was taped...Richards was on stage and lost it over a fan that was heckling him and..Imus was on the air and was just plan rude, but Dawg?? no this was wrong on a few different levels, one he shouldn't had used that word but to his defense its like the "F" word that is used in high emotional circumstances when someone is mad or angry its always a word that is used to shock or show someone how emotional you are at the time and often people greet each other on the streets with the "N" word " hey whats up my N*gger? MR MIGHTYMINNOW this word is also used in comedy routines from African Americans thats ok right??!!! this word is losing its meaning as a degrading word against a race, the word N*GGER means nothing its just a word ,but still wrong in this case The Dawg was talking about his sons girlfriend who is in fact African American but if he knew he was he was being taped I am sure he wouldn't had said it, he said it to hurt his SON to shock him...he thought it was a Private conversation he shouldn't have to apologize for being angry we all have said things we don't mean when we are angry, however he should be sorry that his kid is an asshole and sold that tape to the national inquire...
But there is Mark Fuhrman remember him ?,how can we forget him anyone who watches fox network news knows he is on all the time when they need expert analysis on a crime scene or even one taking place and is often seen on Greta " On the Record",but did you forget all the Nasty and Hateful things he said????? and he wasn't angry!!!, talk about The "Dawg" HA...Mark has Imus and Richards beat by a mile in case you don't remember Mark Fuhrman was the lead detective in the OJ trial the reason OJ was found not guilty, cause Mark must have planted evidence he is a racist!!! this is what was released.
On the arrest of a man in the Westwood neighborhood
"He was a n*gger. He didn't belong. Two questions. And you are going: Where do you live? 22nd and Western. Where were you going? Well, I'm going to Fatburger. Where's Fatburger. He didn't know where Fatburger was? Get in the car."
On criteria for stopping cars
"N*gger drivin' a Porsche that doesn't look like he's got a $300 suit on, you always stop him."
On where he grew up in Washington state
"People there don't want n*ggers in their town. People there don't want Mexicans in their town. They don't want anybody but good people in their town, and anyway you can do to get them out of there that's fine with them. We have no n*ggers where I grew up."
On L.A. neighborhoods
"Westwood is gone, the n*ggers have discovered it. When they start moving into Redondo and Torrance. Torrance is considered the last white middle class society."
On the LAPD chokehold
"We stopped the choke because a bunch of n*ggers have a bunch of these organizations in the south end and because all n*ggers were choked out and killed--twelve in ten years."
On changes in the LAPD
"That we've got females...and dumb n*ggers, and all your Mexicans that can't even write the name of the car they drive."
On using suspects to practice martial arts kicks
"I used to go to work and practice movements....I used to practice my kicks.
On police misconduct investigations
"Now, it's funny because guys in Internal Affairs go, `Mark, you can do just about anything. Get in a bar fight. We'd love to investigate just some `good ol boy' beating up a n*gger in a bar."
On brutalizing suspects during interrogations
"Why don't you give them the 77th lie detector test? [The "77th" refers to the LAPD division in South Central L.A. where Fuhrman worked for many years]...And a bunch of guys will laugh--old timers, you know. And then one kid will ask his partner, `what's that?' You choke him out until he tells you the truth. You know it is kind of funny. But a lot of policemen will get a kick out of it."
On attitude toward interrogating Black people
"When you are talking to somebody it is not like you are really listening into their words because you will key on what is the truth and what isn't. First thing, anything out of a n*gger's mouth for the first five or six sentences is a fucking lie. That is just right out. There has got to be a reason why he is going to tell you the truth."
On the destruction of the 77th precinct station
"Leave that old station. Man, it has the smell of n*ggers that have been beaten and killed in there for years."
On taking a suspect "to the baseball diamond."
"We basically get impatient with him being so fucking stupid. Which I thought he was. So I just handcuffed him and went the scenic route to the station. We searched him again and found the gun. Went over to the baseball diamond and talked to him. When I left, Dana goes, `No blood, Mark.' `No problem, not even any marks, Dana.' Just body shots. Did you ever try to find a bruise on a N*gger. It is pretty tough, huh?
On assuming guilt and shooting suspects in the back
"Where would this country be if every time a sheriff went out with a posse to find somebody who just robbed and killed a bunch of people, he stopped and talked to them first. To make sure they had guns. Tried to take them--they shot them in the back. We still should be shooting people in the back. It's just that you've got to hire people who are capable of doing it. And capable of figuring out who the bad guys are.
On assuming guilt and fabricating reasons for making an arrest
Fuhrman: "I didn't arrest him under anything, just took him to the station, ran him for prints, gave them to the detectives to compare with what they've got in the area. I'll probably arrest a criminal that way."
McKinny: "So you're allowed to pick somebody up that you think doesn't belong in an area and arrest him?...
Fuhrman: "I don't know. I don't know what the Supreme Court or the Superior Court says, and I don't really give a shit...If I was pushed into saying why I did it, I'd say suspicion of burglary. I'd be able to correlate exactly what I said into a reasonably probable cause for arrest."
On falsifying evidence
"So if that's considered falsifying a report, and if some hype [junkie], you know says, ah, you know whatever, I shot [up] two days ago, and you find a mark that looks like three days ago, pick the scab, squeeze it, looks like serum's coming out. As if it were hours old. It's a hard find. You just can't find the mark. Cause he's down. His eyes don't lie. That's not falsifying a report. That's putting a criminal in jail. That's being a policeman."
On brutalizing people for speaking Spanish
"We don't speak Spanish here. Work Mexican gangs, and I don't know how to speak any Spanish...When they speak Spanish. `No comprende.' Slap them upside the head. Then they speak English. I'm an English teacher. Just like that. That's police work. And that's being able to pick out the people. That type of treatment is necessary..."
On conduct when working in a Black neighborhood
"You have to be a switch hitter. You have to be able to look at your area and look at how you talk to people. Look at how you deal with things and what you can and can't do even with a criminal. You can't go up in Bel Air, and some guy gives you a hard time in broad daylight, and slap them. `Dammit. I want to know what's going on.' You just don't do that. I mean, it's obvious. But when you work down in the south end, Watts, the metropolitan area, you work skid row. You use your stick more than your mouth. You don't--I mean, you just, you go of course. Don't try to tell people to go there. Go there. You just use your stick. Smack 'em. They'll move. They see no problem with that. They're where they are not supposed to be...."
Fuhrman also describes an incident in an East L.A. housing project where he and other police officers kicked the door down.
"We grabbed a girl that lived there--one of their girlfriends. Grabbed her by the hair and stuck a gun to her head and used her as a barricade. Walked up and told 'em. `I've got this girl. I'll blow her fuck in' brains out if you come out with a gun.' Held her like this. Threw the b*tch down the stairs. Deadbolted the door. Let's play boys...Anyway, we basically tortured them. There was four policemen and four guys. We broke 'em. Numerous bones in each one of them. Their faces were just mush. They had pictures on the walls. There was blood all the way to the ceiling with finger marks like they were trying to crawl out of the room. They showed us pictures of the room. It was unbelievable. There was blood everywhere. All the walls. All the furniture. All the floors. It was just everywhere....So with 66 allegations, I had a demonstration out in front of Hollenbeck station chanting my name. Captain had to take them all into roll call and that's where the internal affairs investigation started. It lasted 18 months. I was on a photo lineup--suspect lineup. I was picked out by 12 people. So I was pretty proud of that....They didn't get any of our unit--38 guys--they didn't get one day. I didn't get one day.... Immediately after we beat those guys, we went downstairs to the garden hose in the back of the place. We washed our hands--we had blood all over our legs....Well, they know I did it. They know damn well I did it. There's nothing they can do about it because we all, most of those guys work 77th together. We came in as gang unit. We were tight. I mean we could have murdered people and got away with it. We were tight. We all knew what to say. We didn't have to call each other at home and say, `Okay.' We all knew what to say.
Well why not give Dawg his show back a second chance? why not!!!,Imus got his job back and Kramer is doing ok and Mark??? well we all know how he is doing, I wonder if Grata from on the record will ask Mark what he thinks of Dawg Chapman getting his job back,that would be interesting to hear a REAL RACIST answer that one, because he proved its ok to be a racist, now didn't he. yup gotta to love America.
Written by mightyminnow
A&E announced today that it will resume airing the hit reality show ”Dog the Bounty Hunter,” which was taken off the air a few months back after the show’s star, Duane “Dog” Chapman, was exposed as a racist.
Dog’s racism came to light after his son, Tucker, published a recording of his dad repeatedly using the word “nigger” in reference to Tucker’s Black girlfriend. The recording cost Dog his show after A&E started losing advertisers, who probably didn’t want to be associated with such a racist. At the time anyway.
Fortunately for Dog, his period of penance seems to be over and A&E has decided he has done enough apologizing. Apparently, appearing on a bunch of radio and TV programs and expressing remorse for using a racial slur is enough to convince some people that one is not in fact a racist. Who knew.
Here’s the network’s take on their decision to resurrect Dog’s show:
Over the last few months, Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman has taken and continues to take the appropriate steps in reaching out to several African American organizations in an effort to make amends for his private comments to his son which were released publicly. Since the premise of ‘Dog The Bounty Hunter’ is about second chances, we have decided to give him one.”
I love America, home of the second chance, where there are no racists, only people who throw “nigger” around like their lives depend on it. If I had my way, Dog would never be allowed anywhere near a TV camera again. But I’m just a lowly blogger. And I don’t own A&E, which clearly seems to think that being a racist is OK, as long as you spend enough time apologizing not for your racist attitude, but for your choice of words. After all, there’s no such thing as a racist, right? Dog’s not really a racist, is he? He’s just a regular guy who was caught on tape casually using a word that demeans, denigrates, and dehumanizes an entire population. How silly of me to have confused him with a racist!!!
Now, I’m as big a believer in second chances as A&E: I just happen to believe that there should be consequences for holding racist attitudes, which lie at the heart of so many of the divisions and social inequalities that plague our society today. It took Dog a lifetime to become the racist that he is, and I’m pretty sure that spending a few months “reaching out to several African American organizations” is not going to make him less of a racist. But what do I know. I’m not the star of a hit reality show.
Luckily for Dog, his show was popular and I’m sure plenty of people—who have less of a problem with racism than I do—will be happy to start watching it again. But I’m sure few will be happier than A&E executives, whose decision to put “Dog the Bounty Hunter” back on the air probably has little to do with second chances and everything to do with money. Clearly, they think the loss of advertising dollars was too great a price to pay for taking a courageous and principled stance against racism.
Gotta love America.
NOW MY RESPONSE TO THE ASSHOLE WHO WROTE THE BLOG ABOVE...
MR.Mightyminnow, you are a MORON, and clearly you need some attention and a little history lesson others in the past have said the "N" word people in high places that have taken real hard hits because of it,some have even had death threats on their children,and their families and have lost their jobs as well have been black balled from working in their fields again, some of the more resent famous folks are Micheal Richards, "Kramer" and Imus,personally I don't Imus and what he said was not funny,it was at best a real bad failed attempt at garbage humor but thats Imus if you listen to his show thats what he does and he didn't say he was sorry and should have..but now caught in the bullshit of this is " Dawg" Chapman Bounty hunter, but think about this ...in the Dawgs case he was making a call to his son and telling him how pissed he was... it was a personal call to his kid that was taped...Richards was on stage and lost it over a fan that was heckling him and..Imus was on the air and was just plan rude, but Dawg?? no this was wrong on a few different levels, one he shouldn't had used that word but to his defense its like the "F" word that is used in high emotional circumstances when someone is mad or angry its always a word that is used to shock or show someone how emotional you are at the time and often people greet each other on the streets with the "N" word " hey whats up my N*gger? MR MIGHTYMINNOW this word is also used in comedy routines from African Americans thats ok right??!!! this word is losing its meaning as a degrading word against a race, the word N*GGER means nothing its just a word ,but still wrong in this case The Dawg was talking about his sons girlfriend who is in fact African American but if he knew he was he was being taped I am sure he wouldn't had said it, he said it to hurt his SON to shock him...he thought it was a Private conversation he shouldn't have to apologize for being angry we all have said things we don't mean when we are angry, however he should be sorry that his kid is an asshole and sold that tape to the national inquire...
But there is Mark Fuhrman remember him ?,how can we forget him anyone who watches fox network news knows he is on all the time when they need expert analysis on a crime scene or even one taking place and is often seen on Greta " On the Record",but did you forget all the Nasty and Hateful things he said????? and he wasn't angry!!!, talk about The "Dawg" HA...Mark has Imus and Richards beat by a mile in case you don't remember Mark Fuhrman was the lead detective in the OJ trial the reason OJ was found not guilty, cause Mark must have planted evidence he is a racist!!! this is what was released.
On the arrest of a man in the Westwood neighborhood
"He was a n*gger. He didn't belong. Two questions. And you are going: Where do you live? 22nd and Western. Where were you going? Well, I'm going to Fatburger. Where's Fatburger. He didn't know where Fatburger was? Get in the car."
On criteria for stopping cars
"N*gger drivin' a Porsche that doesn't look like he's got a $300 suit on, you always stop him."
On where he grew up in Washington state
"People there don't want n*ggers in their town. People there don't want Mexicans in their town. They don't want anybody but good people in their town, and anyway you can do to get them out of there that's fine with them. We have no n*ggers where I grew up."
On L.A. neighborhoods
"Westwood is gone, the n*ggers have discovered it. When they start moving into Redondo and Torrance. Torrance is considered the last white middle class society."
On the LAPD chokehold
"We stopped the choke because a bunch of n*ggers have a bunch of these organizations in the south end and because all n*ggers were choked out and killed--twelve in ten years."
On changes in the LAPD
"That we've got females...and dumb n*ggers, and all your Mexicans that can't even write the name of the car they drive."
On using suspects to practice martial arts kicks
"I used to go to work and practice movements....I used to practice my kicks.
On police misconduct investigations
"Now, it's funny because guys in Internal Affairs go, `Mark, you can do just about anything. Get in a bar fight. We'd love to investigate just some `good ol boy' beating up a n*gger in a bar."
On brutalizing suspects during interrogations
"Why don't you give them the 77th lie detector test? [The "77th" refers to the LAPD division in South Central L.A. where Fuhrman worked for many years]...And a bunch of guys will laugh--old timers, you know. And then one kid will ask his partner, `what's that?' You choke him out until he tells you the truth. You know it is kind of funny. But a lot of policemen will get a kick out of it."
On attitude toward interrogating Black people
"When you are talking to somebody it is not like you are really listening into their words because you will key on what is the truth and what isn't. First thing, anything out of a n*gger's mouth for the first five or six sentences is a fucking lie. That is just right out. There has got to be a reason why he is going to tell you the truth."
On the destruction of the 77th precinct station
"Leave that old station. Man, it has the smell of n*ggers that have been beaten and killed in there for years."
On taking a suspect "to the baseball diamond."
"We basically get impatient with him being so fucking stupid. Which I thought he was. So I just handcuffed him and went the scenic route to the station. We searched him again and found the gun. Went over to the baseball diamond and talked to him. When I left, Dana goes, `No blood, Mark.' `No problem, not even any marks, Dana.' Just body shots. Did you ever try to find a bruise on a N*gger. It is pretty tough, huh?
On assuming guilt and shooting suspects in the back
"Where would this country be if every time a sheriff went out with a posse to find somebody who just robbed and killed a bunch of people, he stopped and talked to them first. To make sure they had guns. Tried to take them--they shot them in the back. We still should be shooting people in the back. It's just that you've got to hire people who are capable of doing it. And capable of figuring out who the bad guys are.
On assuming guilt and fabricating reasons for making an arrest
Fuhrman: "I didn't arrest him under anything, just took him to the station, ran him for prints, gave them to the detectives to compare with what they've got in the area. I'll probably arrest a criminal that way."
McKinny: "So you're allowed to pick somebody up that you think doesn't belong in an area and arrest him?...
Fuhrman: "I don't know. I don't know what the Supreme Court or the Superior Court says, and I don't really give a shit...If I was pushed into saying why I did it, I'd say suspicion of burglary. I'd be able to correlate exactly what I said into a reasonably probable cause for arrest."
On falsifying evidence
"So if that's considered falsifying a report, and if some hype [junkie], you know says, ah, you know whatever, I shot [up] two days ago, and you find a mark that looks like three days ago, pick the scab, squeeze it, looks like serum's coming out. As if it were hours old. It's a hard find. You just can't find the mark. Cause he's down. His eyes don't lie. That's not falsifying a report. That's putting a criminal in jail. That's being a policeman."
On brutalizing people for speaking Spanish
"We don't speak Spanish here. Work Mexican gangs, and I don't know how to speak any Spanish...When they speak Spanish. `No comprende.' Slap them upside the head. Then they speak English. I'm an English teacher. Just like that. That's police work. And that's being able to pick out the people. That type of treatment is necessary..."
On conduct when working in a Black neighborhood
"You have to be a switch hitter. You have to be able to look at your area and look at how you talk to people. Look at how you deal with things and what you can and can't do even with a criminal. You can't go up in Bel Air, and some guy gives you a hard time in broad daylight, and slap them. `Dammit. I want to know what's going on.' You just don't do that. I mean, it's obvious. But when you work down in the south end, Watts, the metropolitan area, you work skid row. You use your stick more than your mouth. You don't--I mean, you just, you go of course. Don't try to tell people to go there. Go there. You just use your stick. Smack 'em. They'll move. They see no problem with that. They're where they are not supposed to be...."
Fuhrman also describes an incident in an East L.A. housing project where he and other police officers kicked the door down.
"We grabbed a girl that lived there--one of their girlfriends. Grabbed her by the hair and stuck a gun to her head and used her as a barricade. Walked up and told 'em. `I've got this girl. I'll blow her fuck in' brains out if you come out with a gun.' Held her like this. Threw the b*tch down the stairs. Deadbolted the door. Let's play boys...Anyway, we basically tortured them. There was four policemen and four guys. We broke 'em. Numerous bones in each one of them. Their faces were just mush. They had pictures on the walls. There was blood all the way to the ceiling with finger marks like they were trying to crawl out of the room. They showed us pictures of the room. It was unbelievable. There was blood everywhere. All the walls. All the furniture. All the floors. It was just everywhere....So with 66 allegations, I had a demonstration out in front of Hollenbeck station chanting my name. Captain had to take them all into roll call and that's where the internal affairs investigation started. It lasted 18 months. I was on a photo lineup--suspect lineup. I was picked out by 12 people. So I was pretty proud of that....They didn't get any of our unit--38 guys--they didn't get one day. I didn't get one day.... Immediately after we beat those guys, we went downstairs to the garden hose in the back of the place. We washed our hands--we had blood all over our legs....Well, they know I did it. They know damn well I did it. There's nothing they can do about it because we all, most of those guys work 77th together. We came in as gang unit. We were tight. I mean we could have murdered people and got away with it. We were tight. We all knew what to say. We didn't have to call each other at home and say, `Okay.' We all knew what to say.
Well why not give Dawg his show back a second chance? why not!!!,Imus got his job back and Kramer is doing ok and Mark??? well we all know how he is doing, I wonder if Grata from on the record will ask Mark what he thinks of Dawg Chapman getting his job back,that would be interesting to hear a REAL RACIST answer that one, because he proved its ok to be a racist, now didn't he. yup gotta to love America.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Credit Cards for illegal immigrants
Are you kidding me?? you know its a sad day in the United States when a bank or ANY business that is run and operated In my country on the soil of the very land that lets its people go hungry, homeless with little or no hope of medical Insurance then kicking them in the teeth by insulting a descent hard working American, for Christ Sake! these people are having to decide to eat or go see a doctor!!!, or even go homeless with little or no chance of this getting any better for them so. its crazy and, it NEEDS TO STOP, it makes me very angry to see The Bank of America reaching out to the undocumented Illegal Immigrants who offer nothing to this country but a financial burden for tax payers with higher then normal school enrollments, welfare and food stamps would make perfect sense to me for a BANK to go after their business after all they are not high risks are they??
I am not the only American It also angers many others that have put their very lives into their businesses only to get bent over by a Government with high taxes that offers very little help,a Government,that seems to care more about the money ,or what political party you belong to? then the person ,its a huge mistake to allow the laws that we all have to follow be ignored the very laws that often put the lives of men and womens safety at risk, by letting Illegals do what they want when and where they want and screwing people that actually work and pay taxes in this country, it makes no sense that Americans have to take a back seat to others that are not here legally do not pay taxes and break our laws then retreat back home to their country, thats just insane.
when you go into a bank to cash your check, you are asked for two forms of ID in some states more then not, you are also asked that one of them IDs be a SSN its something we are all asked to do, or is it just people who live, work and are born in this country? Try to get a loan from a Bank without telling them your address or SSN or show any forms of ID this is just not how we do things..try to cancel your account with out that special pin number giving to you by your bank and then there is the all so clever " for securty reasons we need the last four digits of you SSN then combine this with " press one for english" AHHHHH its almost too much to bare, or even understand.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, (R-T), has introduced legislation that would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving credit cards from American financial institutions.
The Photo Identification Security Act would require banks to use what Blackburn calls “secure forms of identification” to obtain credit.
In a statement put out by her office, Blackburn stated that:
Bank of America “has come under fire in response to reports that it allows illegal immigrants access to credit cards without proper documentation.”
“This bill closes a critical loophole that banking institutions have used to circumvent the letter of the law they have used to target illegal aliens as a new source of revenue. It says to banks and illegal immigrants alike, ‘You can’t get a Visa, without a visa.’”
Finally we are seeing some politicians step up to the plate and introduce real legislation that will help stop the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. Marsha Blackburn, (R-T) introduced legislation to prevent illegals from receiving credit cards. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has proposed legislation to block the NAFTA superhighway that would blur our southern and northern borders.
The policy of 'catch and release' is being replaced with a policy of placing illegals in detention centers until they can be properly processed. Proponents of illegals and amnesty are now speaking out against the detention centers. It seems they don't meet the high standards that these lawbreakers deserve.
I am not the only American It also angers many others that have put their very lives into their businesses only to get bent over by a Government with high taxes that offers very little help,a Government,that seems to care more about the money ,or what political party you belong to? then the person ,its a huge mistake to allow the laws that we all have to follow be ignored the very laws that often put the lives of men and womens safety at risk, by letting Illegals do what they want when and where they want and screwing people that actually work and pay taxes in this country, it makes no sense that Americans have to take a back seat to others that are not here legally do not pay taxes and break our laws then retreat back home to their country, thats just insane.
when you go into a bank to cash your check, you are asked for two forms of ID in some states more then not, you are also asked that one of them IDs be a SSN its something we are all asked to do, or is it just people who live, work and are born in this country? Try to get a loan from a Bank without telling them your address or SSN or show any forms of ID this is just not how we do things..try to cancel your account with out that special pin number giving to you by your bank and then there is the all so clever " for securty reasons we need the last four digits of you SSN then combine this with " press one for english" AHHHHH its almost too much to bare, or even understand.
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, (R-T), has introduced legislation that would prevent illegal immigrants from receiving credit cards from American financial institutions.
The Photo Identification Security Act would require banks to use what Blackburn calls “secure forms of identification” to obtain credit.
In a statement put out by her office, Blackburn stated that:
Bank of America “has come under fire in response to reports that it allows illegal immigrants access to credit cards without proper documentation.”
“This bill closes a critical loophole that banking institutions have used to circumvent the letter of the law they have used to target illegal aliens as a new source of revenue. It says to banks and illegal immigrants alike, ‘You can’t get a Visa, without a visa.’”
Finally we are seeing some politicians step up to the plate and introduce real legislation that will help stop the flow of illegal aliens into the United States. Marsha Blackburn, (R-T) introduced legislation to prevent illegals from receiving credit cards. Virgil Goode (R-VA) has proposed legislation to block the NAFTA superhighway that would blur our southern and northern borders.
The policy of 'catch and release' is being replaced with a policy of placing illegals in detention centers until they can be properly processed. Proponents of illegals and amnesty are now speaking out against the detention centers. It seems they don't meet the high standards that these lawbreakers deserve.
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