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From above: "Bombardier Aerospace Inc., a major Canadian jet plane manufacturer with no presence in America’s Midwest . . ." I thought Wichita, KS was considered part of the "Midwest". Learjet, which produces small to mid-size business jets as a wholly-owned enterprise of Bombardier, has its main mfg facility in Wichita. The newspaper might want to clarify what is meant by "Midwest" or "Bombardier" because the initial blanket statement is incorrect.
Sorry rxyrch, I usually go liberterian, but this is one issue that certainly needs addressing. Your right to smoke ends when it mixes in with the air that I have to share with you, so no, you don't have the same rights I do. I am entitlted to breath cigarette-smoke-free air.
There is no other member of the MOD squad (Merchants of Death), the powerful lobby crew of K street, that comes close to tobacco. Nearly 1/2 a million people die each year directly from smoking and it's unknown how many additional deaths occur in second-hand smoke victims.
The country does have some bigger issues than 1/2 million people dying each year due to a preventable addiction, but I don't think you'll get many of the 75% of the population that doesn't smoke to agree with you that public smoking should be ignored.
Watch the slow and painful death of a loved one who smoked for years due to the highly addictive additives placed in cigarettes. It'll change your view. Since most members of congress doesn't have the balls to say 'no' to any bribe - excuse me, political donation - the MOD squad will continue to operate without interference and cigarettes will never be illegal, as they should be. Cigarettes are so loaded with poisons and addictive agents, they could never pass as a 'safe' consumable through the FDA. Yet cigarettes can be purchased by anyone over 18, thanks to the MOD squad contributions.
One final note as a subset of this issue: it's my opinion that any parent who takes their child into a smoking section in any building should immediately be charged with child abuse. Anyone under 18 should not be allowed into smoking sections, such as those in restaurants. It sickens me to see such selfish parents that subject their helpless children to such treatment.
I've been watching this thread for a few days staying off to the sidelines because most of the time, nobody will change anyone else's mind. But a couple of facts are in order for these dyed-in-the-wool Bush backers:
The bulk of the nine-trillion dollar debt this nation has was created by Reagan, Bush and Bush. Check it at http://zfacts.com/p/480.html
There was never a link to Saddam Hussein related to the 9/11 horror. The terrorists were Arabs, the same people that Bush was holding hands with last week. Our young people are dying daily in a country that we had no cause to invade. Hussein = bad man? Absolutely, just as were/are the dictators in various African and Asian countries. But we did not have a personal grudge to settle or significant oil to gain from those places.
Myanmar has suffered huge losses due to the cyclone. The world aid that has been sent is not reaching the needy due to corrupt government officials, but does the US do anything? No. It takes the French - who many Americans belittle for refusing to become part of the Iraq war - to raise a resolution to ensure that supplies are delivered to where they are needed "by any means necessary". That's a war worth fighting, in my opinion. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/2...
Odd, isn't it, bcpeartree, dondill, Firedup, scrubnurse that when Mr. peartree brings forth the hard copy proposal of Obama's plans on May 22 for Familyguy and the others, not a peep arises from any of them. I've actually not made my mind up on which of the three cadidates should be the next president. McCain is not Bush by any stretch, but his war policy is leaning the wrong way for my taste. Hillary? I'm not sure I like this dynasty stuff of Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Clinton, either. But until Mr. peartree sent this link, I too was still concerned about not having any hard evidence about Obama's plans. This will be a big help.
On It's your call, May 14, 2008
It's about time something happens in the neighborhoods. I don't care how fast someone goes on a freeway, if they know how to drive. But residential neighborhoods need to be respected as such. In many areas, there are no sidewalks and people have no choice but to walk along the edge of the street. Idiots roaring by at 40+ in a 25 zone and blowing through Stop signs can't react quickly enough to correct for a mistake. Besides, how much faster are you going to get to that next stop? 3 or 4 seconds? Endangering a pedestrian's life for that is just stupid & selfish. To rxyrch - calling the cops does no good. Remember when Mark Sheehan caught some punks messing with his truck, got their vehicle description and license number? Nothing happened. Cops & politicians don't respond until after a crisis occurs where someone gets injured or killed. These citizens being proactive might help prevent a catastrophe. If states had actual driver's tests, at least 1/2 the people who apply would not receive a license. That would do many great things, but it'll never happen.
On The right to bear radar guns
Bravo Mayor Ken! It's about time someone spoke the truth. If someone wants to quit a city job, there are many people in line willing to take it. Look at some of the publications produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and you'll find that many state & local governments have better pay and better benefits than their private counterparts. That's just wrong. Why should the bosses (taxpayers) make less money than those they employ (public sector workers)? City/state workers want comparability with other city/state workers. The comparability should be for similar private sector workers within their own area.
No-one deserves an automatic pay increase based on some fantasy matrix that was developed (or paid to another company to develop) by the very people who will benefit. Congress has this same type of horse-hockey pay scheme: if they don't vote to defeat a raise proposed by a "citizen's pay committee" then it automatically goes into effect. How many times has it been voted down? Exactly zero.
A public safety tax? This is nothing personal against cops, but we always hear about how great St Joe is, with the low crime rate a significant factor. Why, then, should an area with a low crime rate have the same (or similar) pay as an area with high crime rates? Besides, Mike Strong spent a fortune on 4-wheel drive gas guzzlers, so his raises are rolling around on the streets.
Already-too-high taxes, deficit interest payments, insurance and utility increases, food prices, unneeded subsidies to certain groups combined with ridiculous fuel mandates are already leaving an average worker with little or nothing to spare. New taxes? For public safety or St Joseph School District bullying, it matters not. People can't afford it and they won't vote for it.
On City workers to receive 4 percent pay raise
This was a district-funded appraisal, but what company performed the appraisal? If the appraiser had an agends besides just appraising the land - such as making the appraisal fit the price - there is a possible conflict of interest.
The thing that annoys me the most is the arrogance with which this school administration behaves. "We're going to do this whether you like it or not." That's the message being sent regarding all aspects of the reorganization/building of the schools. Superintendent Smith states that "we're closing schools no matter how the tax vote goes" and Hartigan claims to have had a "quasi-bidding" process - that was not publicized - and that's good enough for you taxpayers. Since this is public money, I wonder if this manner of land selection and purchase is even legal.
In this economy, people don't have the money for property tax increases, not by 4.5%, not by 1%. The school district ought to be fighting with Triumph, as they are reneging on their promise of support to the school district. I've noticed that Patt Lilly has been uncharacteristically quiet on that issue.
With the lead opponent, Ms. Marshall, having a background in Purchasing in an academic setting, I think she has very good credibility regarding this issue. I hope this city council pays attention to her.
On Some residents criticize proposed school site
ckck2008: Did you not bother to read the previous comments? The very first post here is by Susan stating it was SATIRE for those of you who were not able to grasp that without explanation.
On It’s all the farmers’ fault
I find it very interesting that Mr. Bruns and Mr. DeSpain seem to often have their letters printed and I can't get a single thing published. Of course, i've not tried since Sheehan left, so maybe things are different now.
One quick example: A few months back an article was printed questioning why there have been a higher number of motorcycle deaths in MO (and elsewhere) in recent years. My letter explained at least one reason: a study performed in California examined motorcycle fatalities that occurred between 4-wheelers and bikes. It showed that the size of the 4-wheelers has increased (SUVs and trucks) and because of the increased height and weight of those vehicles, bikers are getting hit higher in the torso and head, causing damage to vital organs and the brain, as opposed to the legs and knees before the proliferation of the bigger vehicles. Fairly straight-forward, right? The paper did not see any merit in publishing something factual like that. The paper much prefers tabloid-like sermons of Bruns and DeSpain espousing their views of why God is "punishing" the U.S. We have fallen away from His teachings. We continue to take God out of anything governmental and that's wrong because laws were based on God's word.
So was the U.S. following God's word when the government allowed and even encouraged white settlers to kill Native Americans and steal their land? Was it God's will when the government allowed blacks to be forcibly brought here in horrendous conditions and sold as slaves? Those actions against humanity occurred when the country was brand new, so surely if U.S. law was based on God's word, it must be in the bible somewhere that God says it's okay to kill or own other human beings. Odd, but I see that murder is against the first Commandment. Greed and Sloth, the two main reasons for slavery, are two of the 7 Deadly Sins. If the governemnt condoned these actions, how can anyone say that these laws were written with God's will in mind?
Using the Bruns-DeSpain reasoning of disasters, natural and man-made, our country has been punished many times by God. The Civil War. The Depression. The Dust Bowl. How about World War II? (It wasn't fought here, but we suffered a million American casualties.) And on and on. Bruns and DeSpain spew forth the fire and brimstone rhetoric about how America is being punished. Isn't that also the same vitriol of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church? Hmmm . . . .
On Your Letters, April 6, 2008
“The driver of the passenger vehicle in the southbound lane crossed the center line due to medical reasons." "Mr. Elifrits received a summons for careless and imprudent driving."
It's not bad enough the man suffered an accident due to some type of medical problem, he was issued a ticket, as well. Was the condition preventable? Should Mr. Elifrits have known this was likely to happen, therefore making him negligent and deserving of a ticket? What's the rest of this story?
On 3 injured in head-on collision
Take a look at the following link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.... It's only one of many articles reflecting the environmental concerns regarding ethanol. You pull data from Ethanol.org, I'll pull data from Stanford University. (See above link.)Anyone can prove almost anything with the right statistics. PS - I'll not use the "E" word in whole again in this post since the paper took it upon itself to add a biased link to the word. Nice to find this out after the fact.
Gas prices are cheapest in Missouri, at least in part, for the same reason we have some of the worst highways: Missouri has the 5th lowest gasoline taxes in the lower 48 states. According to AAA, the national cent-per-gallon average tax is 47 cents. Missouri's cpg is 36 cents, only 4 cents higher than the lowest state, Wyoming. Add 11 cpg to bring our taxes to the national average and we get within a dime of the national average pump price per gallon. Iowa's average AAA price per gallon is 3.19. The taxes are only 4 cents higher in Iowa than in Missouri. Take that 4 cents out and the price is still 3.15, a dime higher than Missouri. Missouri's E production capacity is currently 186 Million gallons per year. Iowa has a production capacity of nearly 2 Billion gallons of E each year. If E10 = cheaper gas, why, with 10X the capacity, aren't Iowa's pump prices cheaper than Missouri?
"The process that produces these biofuels also produces by-products that can be fed to livestock, increasing our feed supply." Sorry, but I don't see how taking 56 lbs of corn and turning it into 17 lbs of distiller's grain is "increasing" the feed supply for the farmers who raise cattle, hogs or chickens. Many recent articles in many publications describe the plight of the livestock farmer due to high corn prices.
My point in my original post - and now - is from a libertarian point of view: when a need arises, someone will fill that need. I don't agree with anyone that forces me to pay tax dollars to subsidize a private industry product and then forces me, by law of questionable motive, to buy the product that I've already partially paid for once. If the American public is not willing to change its oil consumption by carpooling, taking public transportation, buying a hybrid or any number of other ways, then we should be ready to pay for that selfishness.
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