A South Carolina man caught on video having sex with a horse was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty for the second time in two years to abusing the creature.
Rodell Vereen was also ordered never to go near the stable where the horse's owner caught him and held him for authorities at shotgun point over the summer. He apologized to the woman and to himself after admitting to buggery at the Horry County courthouse.
"I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I'm sorry for what I've done to myself," Vereen said during Wednesday's court hearing.
Vereen was arrested in July after Barbara Kenley caught him entering the barn at Lazy B Stables in Longs, about 20 miles northeast of Myrtle Beach. She had been staking out the stable for more than a week after setting up a surveillance camera and videotaping Vereen's assault on her 21-year-old horse named Sugar.
Kenley said she became suspicious because her horse was acting strange and getting infections, and she noticed things were moved around the barn and dirt was piled up near the horse's stall.
It wasn't the first time she'd caught Vereen. In late 2007, Kenley found him asleep in the hay after assaulting her horse. For that offense, he also pleaded guilty to buggery, received probation and had to register as a sex offender.
On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Vereen to five years in prison, but he will only have to serve three years behind bars as long as he successfully completes two years of probation. Vereen also was ordered to undergo additional mental treatment after he gets out of prison and was told to stay away from Kenley's stable.
Kenley told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach she was mostly happy with the verdict, but wished Vereen had got more prison time.
"I've been through hell for the last year and it's caused a lot of hardship," Kenley told the newspaper. "There's a lot of ridicule and jokes going around about this thing. And a person can only take so much."
#1
In deacon's neck of the woods, they would just shoot him!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/04/2009 16:40 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Rodell was just trying to be neigh-borly.
Posted by: ed ||
11/04/2009 19:05 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Nah, I'd be arrested and charged ith whatever they could think up, but I wonder if shooting the Mare with a slingshot at exactly the righ moment couldn't get him Trampled? (Lets see you prove it Coppers.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/04/2009 19:05 Comments ||
Top||
#4
He shoulda moved to Washington state - I think I read where it wasn't illegal there.
#7
A guy walks into a bar and offers $100 to anybody that will make his horse laugh. One guy whispers something into the horse's ear and the horse starts to laugh!
The following week, the guy is back in the bar and offers $200 to anybody that will make his horse cry. The guy who won the $100 last week, takes the horse off to the bathroom. The horse returns from the bathroom crying his eyes out!
Amazed the horse owner asked the guy how he did it? The guy says: "The first week, I told the horse I have a bigger dick than him and today I showed it to him!"
[Iran Press TV Latest] The former accountant of convicted con artist Bernard Madoff has pleaded guilty to several charges, including fraud, in connection with his auditing work for Madoff.
David Friehling, 49, had to appear in a Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. He is the third person to plead guilty in the multi-billion dollar fraud.
The accountant, who served as Madoff's outside auditor since 1991, confessed to US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein that he didn't conduct an independent investigation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC as accounting rules required of him.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This guy needs to go away forever. He is the check and balance in this whole system and had to be the large part of the corruption. He was entrusted to audit on behalf of the investors and the US Gov. This guy is ground zero to the fraud. Madoff is a crook, this is the guy that was supposed to protect everyone and let us down!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/04/2009 8:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
As I have always said, "Who audits the Auditors"
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
11/04/2009 10:13 Comments ||
Top||
#1
The following article made the headlines in the news section of my browser today:
75 Percent of Young Americans Are Unfit for Military Duty
"WASHINGTON (Nov. 3) -- Are America's youth too fat, dumb or dishonest to defend the nation against its enemies?
The latest Army statistics show a stunning 75 percent of military-age youth are ineligible to join the military because they are overweight, can't pass entrance exams, have dropped out of high school or had run-ins with the law.
So many young people between the prime recruiting ages of 17 and 24 cannot meet minimum standards that a group of retired military leaders is calling for more investment in early childhood education to combat the insidious effects of junk food and inadequate education.
"We've never had this problem of young people being obese like we have today," said Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
He calls the rising number of youth unfit for duty a matter of national security. "We should be concerned about how this will impact this overstretched Army and its ability to recruit."
Shalikashvili is among dozens of retired generals, admirals and civilian Pentagon officials who have banded together as Mission Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids. The group, which includes former NATO commander and presidential candidate Wesley Clark, will appear with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the National Press Club on Thursday to urge immediate action to reduce dropout rates and improve the physical and moral fitness of the nation's youth.
They will cite research that shows quality early childhood education raises graduation rates by up to 44 percent and reduces the odds of being arrested for a violent crime by age 18.
Douglas Smith of the U.S. Army Recruiting Command said 2008 data shows about three in 10 youths have an initial barrier to enlistment.
Most aren't insurmountable. "If you're overweight, we tell you to come back when you've lost the weight. If you don't score well on the armed forces aptitude test, we suggest you study and take it again," he said.
Between 2004 and 2008, the Army more than doubled the number of "conduct" waivers it granted to would-be soldiers with criminal or misdemeanor records. The loosened standards proved necessary in a time of war and amid a booming economy that forced military recruiters to work overtime to fill the ranks.
The new warnings about a generation of couch potatoes comes just weeks after the Pentagon announced its best recruiting year since the all-volunteer force began in 1974. The economic meltdown and rising unemployment, combined with bigger military bonuses and benefits, enticed hundreds of thousands to enlist despite the inevitability most would be sent to war.
The plethora of would-be recruits allowed the military services to be choosier after years of taking in more high school dropouts and those needing extra physical training to meet weight requirements.
Recruiting may have gotten easier, but "the good times don't stay forever," warned David Segal, a University of Maryland military sociologist. When the economy recovers and young people are able to get jobs or can afford to go to college, the military will be faced with the same out-of-shape, ill-prepared pool of recruits as before.
"Recruiting will get tough again," he said. "The trend line is clear: The youth population is getting less healthy."
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Arab Emirates' city of Dubai is set to appoint female muftis by the end of next year in an unprecedented step that allows women to issue fatwas, or religious edicts, press reports said on Tuesday. That ain't squat. My mother (PBUH) used to issue fatwahs all the time. Usually they started out "You are in big trouble, mister!"
Six Emirati women are being selected for a training program that starts early next year, the National newspaper reported, quoting the Dubai's grand mufti Ahmed al-Haddad as saying.
Haddad issued a fatwa in February authorizing women to become muftis and in May he called on qualified candidates to apply for a training program that includes instruction in Sharia law and legal thought.
"A woman who is learned and trained in issuing fatwas is not limited to her role of issuing fatwas that relate to women only, but rather she is qualified to issue on matters of worship, jurisprudence, morality and behavior," the paper quoted him as saying.
Precisely the matters young Master Pruitt needed fatwa-ing for, I quite strongly suspect.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Honduran Congress on Tuesday requested the opinion of the Supreme Court of Justice, the Prosecutor's Office, the Public Ministry and the Human Rights Commissioner on a political agreement to end the political crisis in the country.
On Friday, representatives of Honduras' de facto leader Roberto Micheletti and those of ousted President Manuel Zelaya signed an agreement for the Honduran Congress to decide whether Zelaya would be restored to power. The agreement also includes the creation of a national reconciliation government.
According to the agreement, the Congress would announce its final decision after considering the opinion of the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice. The Congress said in a statement that they must have the opinion of those institutions "in the times marked by their internal legal frames, taking into consideration the importance and the national interest of the issue."
"Don't call us, Mel, we'll call you ..."
The Honduran Congress consists of 128 deputies, 62 from the right-wing Liberal Party, 55 from the opposition National Party, five from the Democratic Unification party, two from the Innovation and Unity Party, and four from the Christian Democratic Party. To be restored to power, Zelaya needs at least 65 votes.
Also on Tuesday, a truth-finding commission led by former Chilean President Roberto Lagos and U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis arrived in Honduras to oversee the implementation of the political agreement. They were nominated for the task by the Organization of American States (OAS). The mission also includes a representative of the de facto Honduran government, businessman Arturo Corrales, and a representative of Zelaya, Honduran Ambassador to the United Nations, Jorge Arturo Reina.
One of the main points for the commission to consider is point No. 5 in the agreement, which is interpreted differently by both parties. This point gives the Congress the authority to "bring back the ownership of the executive power to its previous state to June 28," when the judicial order coup was carried out against Zelaya.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
American diplomacy 2009 style. Back our enemies and come down hard against our friends.
Weather forecasters blame the "El Nino" weather phenomenon, saying the periodic weather system has markedly reduced rainfall and created drought conditions. Others blame the shortage on poor government management of the country's water resources, while President Hugo Chavez faulted the excesses of capitalism.
Residents of the Venezuelan capital face cuts in water service for as much as 48 hours per week, after the government imposed rationing to stem a 25 percent shortfall in the city's supply, officials said Monday.
Officials said cuts in water service were to be staggered throughout Caracas through the duration of the current dry season, which is not expected to end until May 2010.
Weather forecasters blame the "El Nino" weather phenomenon, saying the periodic weather system has markedly reduced rainfall and created drought conditions.
Others blame the shortage on poor government management of the country's water resources, while President Hugo Chavez faulted the excesses of capitalism.
"What will the rich fill their swimming pools with?" the country's leftist leader asked recently.
"With the water that is denied inhabitants in the poor neighborhoods," he said, blaming the lack of sufficient water on "capitalism -- a lack of feeling, a lack of humanity."
The government recently created a ministry of electricity to help conserve the use of power, which also is in short supply.
Officials also urged the public to employ better conservation practices, like shorter showers and the use of less water when brushing teeth.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
funny how shortages always follow on the heals of a shift to social-ism...
Posted by: abu do you love ||
11/04/2009 1:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I can picture Hugo doing his best Marie Antoinette impression and opining, "Let them drink oil!"
At this rate, the common man in Venezuela will want to string Hugo up for the economic damage the odious little President-for-Life continues to inflict.
#4
Rationing in a socia!ist system, how surprising. Not. Welcome to the future of Obamacare serfs. You think Hugo and his buddies are subject to rationing of the stuff? /rhet question
#8
WHAT, you're telling me they can't dig a well or two where needed?
Or are the "Peasants" Just too used to "Free" and Can't think without orders, too damn lazy?
I needed water so I drilled a well myself, nothing to it, took about one day, then another too seal it and install a pump.
If they're too poor, leave off the pump and draw water by hand, plans are all over the internet.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/04/2009 19:14 Comments ||
Top||
#9
uh huh...drilling a well in downtown Caracas? Care to drink that, or even bathe in it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2009 19:18 Comments ||
Top||
#10
About 2/3 of the northern bit of Venezuela, where all the people are, is semi-arid.
Norwegian energy group Statoil said Wednesday it was selling some of its US offshore oil assets to China's state-owned CNOOC, marking the first step by a Chinese energy major into the US market.
The sale, announced along with Statoil's quarterly results, involves a limited stake for the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in four exploitation licences for deepwater blocks bought in 2007 and 2008.
"On 29 October Statoil signed a farm down agreement with the Chinese company CNOOC involving a number of Statoil's leases in the Gulf of Mexico," Statoil said in its third-quarter earnings statement.
Statoil, which is 67 percent state-owned, declined to disclose the value of the transaction but spokesman Kai Nielsen told AFP that the size of the deal was "very small."
In 2005, CNOOC had to cancel an 18.5-billion-dollar (12.4-billion-euro) deal with US firm Unocal because the politics of a communist country buying key US assets proved too controversial for Capitol Hill.
"It came to signify the general struggle between the US and China," Kurt Barrow, a senior partner at energy consulting firm Purvin and Gertz in Singapore, told AFP at the time.
"CNOOC may have lost the battle but it will not give up the war," Barrow added, illustrating analysts' predictions that the Chinese would take another bid at entering the US market, dominated by American and European companies with more political clout.
The sale announced Wednesday took place in the context of a slowdown in offshore oil exploration caused by the global credit crunch, an environment in which "opposition to Chinese investment may be less likely," the Wall Street Journal said last month.
CNOOC will be acquiring 20 percent of the Tucker prospect and a 10-percent stake on the licences of the Krakatoa, Cobra and Logan blocks, while Statoil will remain the operator of all four blocks.
"In the Gulf of Mexico, it is customary to optimise the portfolio and spread risk involved in exploration drilling efforts," Statoil's spokesman said.
#7
This is beyond unbelievable. Does any environtwit here think the chicoms will be more careful than US firms? It's our resources in our backyard and we are letting them steal them becasue the US government is run by a trans-national, coward. OMG! We are sooooo screwed!
#8
WORLD NEWS > THE CRUDE TRUTH ABOUT WORLD OIL RESERVES.
ARTIC > "OVERFLOWING IN OIL" = Earth is good for likely the whole of the 21st century. Today's "DIFFICULT OIL" will becom TOMORROW'S "CHEAP OIL" DUE TO CONTIN ADVANCES IN CHEAP + MORE ADVANCED OIL EXTRACTION TECHS.
#9
I wouldn't get too worked up about this. It's just a business deal. They're providing capital for a minority (non-operating) interest in some relatively risky prospects. CNOOC is about as capitalist as any western company when it comes to things like this. And China has plenty of dollars they need to do something with.
[Jakarta Post] Nokia Siemens Networks said Tuesday it will lay off up to 5,700 workers globally as part of a move to cut annual costs by euro500 million ($740 million).
The mobile network equipment maker - a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG of Germany - said it will reduce its five business units to three by January, and strengthen its business through partnerships and acquisitions.
The savings program could include cutting 7 to 9 percent of its current global work force of some 64,000 employees, the mobile network equipment maker said.
The company has been hard hit by waning demand in the recession and cited "changes in the global economy and competitive environment" for the cost cuts. It said it will also reduce overheads, expand its portfolio and consider acquisitions "where assets would add scale to existing product areas or customer relationships."
"As our customers make purchasing decisions, they want a partner who engages in issues well beyond a traditional discussion of technology," said Rajeev Suri, the new chief executive officer of Nokia Siemens Networks.
The company, formed in April 2007 by Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, and industrial conglomerate Siemens, saw a 21 percent drop in sales in the third quarter to euro2.8 billion, with an operating loss deepening to euro1.1 billion, from euro1 million a year earlier.
Last month, Nokia upgraded estimates for the global network infrastructure market, predicting a 5 percent fall in euro terms in 2009, but warned that it expects Nokia Siemens' loss in market share to be bigger than its previous forecast of a "moderate decline."
Nokia Siemens' main rivals in the mobile infrastructure industry are global market leader L.M. Ericsson of Sweden and French-American company Alcatel-Lucent.
Nokia's share price fell was almost unchanged at euro8.66 ($12.79) in afternoon trading in Helsinki. In Frankfurt, Siemens stock was down more than 1 percent at euro60.78 ($89.78).
In October, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the company's networks operations should become "a significant part, as it should be, of the profitability of Nokia, and Siemens too," adding that was "room for new thinking here."
Nokia Siemens Networks, based in Espoo just outside Helsinki, is one of the world's biggest makers of wireless networks. It is a 50-50 joint venture of Nokia and Siemens.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
France was trying to avert a crisis of confidence on Tuesday over its new-generation EPR nuclear reactor after regulators in three countries raised questions over control and safety systems. French government officials are expected to contact authorities in the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to assuage concerns as the Gulf state weighs bids in one of the worlds biggest nuclear tenders on offer.
The French companies Areva, designer of the EPR, Total and GDF Suez are among three bidders for a contract to build at least four, and possibly up to six, reactors in the UAE.
One source close to the bidding exercise said the concerns raised this week might have dented Frances image compared with rival US and South Korean bids, although these, too, had experienced problems. It hasnt helped at all especially as one of the key arguments has been that the EPR is safer than all the others, said the source.
The EPR, the worlds first third-generation reactor under construction, is leading Frances international drive in the atomic energy sector. Two are being built in Finland and France.
Paris is expected to defend the French offer by arguing that the safety concerns have been expressed as part of the normal process in building a new nuclear reactor. Officials will insist the concerns have become public only because of Frances transparent safety regime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
Thank you Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II.
For nearly three decades the Berlin Wall was the symbol of the Cold War; it divided a city and in effect the entire country. And then on November 9, 1989 it crumbled and with it Communist East Germany. It was a key event on the path to ending the Cold War.
The Brandenburg Gate - one of Berlin's best known landmarks. Once a stately entryway to the then capital of Prussian kings - by the late 1900's it was part of a grim barrier dividing the city.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, a new conflict was taking shape. The Cold War pitted East against West and nowhere was it more tangible than in Berlin.
It was on this bridge on the outskirts of Berlin that the two sides sometimes met - to exchange spies. Haio Koelling remembers those days. "Yes, I think the exchanges took place right here. The secret agent would be sent out from one military checkpoint to the other - in plain view of both sides," Koellling recalls, "But for us civilians, as of 1961, the bridge didn't exist anymore. We couldn't get close. You could see it from over there, but the Wall blocked it."
The Wall: the defining symbol of Berlin for decades.
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall!" US President Ronald Reagan
It was built in August 1961 by the communist East German government as a physical barrier through the heart of the city. But the Wall encircled all of West Berlin, cutting it off from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany. It was the most tangible part of the larger Iron Curtain - the dividing line between the West and the Soviet bloc to the east. It was the focal point of tension and fears the Cold War might erupt into full blown conflict.
But over time, cracks formed in the communist system, says political analyst Jochen Staadt of Berlin's Free University. "There were some people who knew that the GDR, East Germany is in a bad situation, the economy was going down," Staadt says, "As we now know our secret service they knew a lot about that."
A more obvious signal of change was Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - a reformer at the reins in Moscow. "When Mr. Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union there were signs and one of the most important signs was that people in the Soviet Union started to talk publicly about reunion of Germany," Staadt states.
It sparked a difference of opinion between Moscow and East Berlin. And it was a split western leaders tapped into.
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall," US President Ronald Reagan urged. Change was afoot as President Reagan uttered that now famous challenge in 1987.
Reform movements gained ground within the Soviet bloc and by the summer of 1989 East Germans found a way to the West and peaceful protests spread in East Germany. While western pressure played a part, the key was Mr. Gorbachev, says political analyst Michael Cox of the London School of Economics.
"I think once the Soviet Union, Moscow, Gorbachev and the Politburo have made that decision not to use force then the whole house of cards is bound to come crumbling down," Cox said.
Thank you Ron, Maggie and John Paul for forcing Gorbachev into that decision.
And crumble it did, faster than anyone anticipated - November 9, 1989. The Wall fell and took with it the East German communist government.
But what would happen next was not a foregone conclusion. Negotiations would follow about the new structure of Europe and how Germany would fit in.
"Because don't forget in 1989 and 1990 when Germany unified many Europeans were worried and therefore it was extraordinarily important for very, very complicated diplomacy to engage Germany within Europe and as an Atlantic player," Cox says, "Don't forget that Gorbachev in the end had to say yes."
Germany was reunited -- the Soviet Union was dissolved; the Cold War drew to a close.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Ha, The soviets just won yesterday when the EUSSR constitreaty was signed.
#2
"When Mr. Gorbachev came to power in the Soviet Union there were signs and one of the most important signs was that people in the Soviet Union started to talk publicly about reunion of Germany," Staadt states.
Some how always leaving out East Prussia and Silesia in the conversations. So much for the principle of 'right of return'.
#3
One of the greatest victories of all time for human liberty.
"Thank you Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II."
Amen to that--and credit for an assist to Gorby. Not because he did anything right. His stated objective was to preserve the USSR and its empire--and we should thank him for failing so spectacularly (albeit unintentionally).
Posted by: Mike ||
11/04/2009 11:10 Comments ||
Top||
#4
It t'was the anniversary of 1979 IRAN EMBASSY TAKEOVER + attempted "DESERT ONE" RESOP on CNN this AM.
#5
"Civil war in < 5 years" > I'm expectin as early as Year 2012-2013 myself.
* Year 2010-2012 > ISLAMIST IRAN declares it has NUKULAAR = STRATEGIC WEAPS TECHS.
* Year 2012-2020 [2025 maxima] > UNBCONTROLLED NUC/STRATWEAPSTECHS Proliferation to major RADIC ISLAMIST + aligned EXTREMIST MILTERR GRUPPES.
* Year 2020 and beyond > possible GEOPOL "FINAL CONFLICT" bwtn EAST-WEST = ISLAM VS NON-ISLAM, NUCLEARIZED + includ "MUTUAL DESTRUCTION" Scenarios.
* "GREAT GAME" > STRENGTH IS STRENGTH, WEAKNESS IS WEAKNESS, and AMERICA = AMERIKA, the USA = USSA/USR, should not expect either ENEMY, ALLY, ANDOR NON-ALIGNED TO EXPLOIT SAME TO THEIR OWN ADVANTAGE OR AGENDUM, AND AMER'S DETRIMENT.
SUN TZU > "THE ENEMY" IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WEAKNESS [nor strengths] OF YOUR SHIELD + CAMP. DITTO FOR HOW YOU USE YOUR SWORD.
Lest we fergit, 1990's NET > 9-11 + WOT = WAR FOR OWG-NWO espec PRO-US OWG versus ANTI-US OWG, among other.
VARIOUS NET PERTS + POSTERS > YEAR 2020 AND AFTERWARDS > MAPS OF ASIA + WORLD AS WE + OUR PARENTS, ETAL. KNEW IT MAY LOOK COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, + BE SO WITHIN OUR CURR LIFETIME???
#9
I was thinking about something more along the lines of what he did to Poland, Woozle....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/04/2009 21:49 Comments ||
Top||
#10
In that case, he'll order Israel to 'end the occupation', refuse to meet with Netanyahu (again), bow down to a Saudi king (again)...then he'll play golf and practice his jumpshots.
Another A-Pee article. Click the link to read the rest.
After months spent criticizing Democrats' health overhaul plans, House Republicans have produced a draft proposal of their own. It's much shorter and focuses on bringing down costs rather than extending coverage to nearly all Americans.
A 230-page draft was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. A spokeswoman for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said changes were still being made before the bill would be finalized in time to offer as an alternative when Democrats begin floor debate on their bill, possibly at the end of this week.
#1
why on earth doesn't the government just provide free health care to those who are deemed un-insurable by the health care industry or too poor to pay. They aren't competing with the health care industry, because the health care industry doesn't want them. If we closed the border to mass illegal immigration there would be plenty of money to set up free clinics that anyone in the country legally could use for free. The deal is that few would use them unless they HAD to. That way, anyone could choose to wait and line and have post office style health care. You don't have to bring down the whole system for those who can pay because of those who can not.
#2
If we closed the border to mass illegal immigration...
That's the kicker that won't happen in any manner except lots of talk and no walk. Put it up there with the feds cleaning up Medicare, VA and military health care, and the Indian Health Care. If the national government actually did their job and did it effectively, no one would object to whats being proposed now, but all they've delivered is one mess after another. There is no trust.
#3
"why on earth doesn't the government just provide free health care to those who are deemed un-insurable by the health care industry or too poor to pay."
Too easy. I don't think they want coverage for all. They want to control coverage for all.
Its not about providing health care for all - never was. Otherwise the Dems bill would cover all and not just half of the 'un-insured'.
Its about controlling health care. Once you control health care you have a big stick to control people. See how the Democrats often scare Seniors by threatening their medicare and social security.
How they threaten your children's education whenever something which threatens the unions come up like charter schools, vouchers, etc...
#5
why on earth doesn't the government just provide free health care to those who are deemed un-insurable by the health care industry or too poor to pay.
They do by mandate. It's called the hospital emergency room.
#6
Yep, all those poor were being shuffled off to county and state facilities to get care, so Congress decreed no one could be denied care, without providing any funding to compensate. As a result all those emergency rooms that nearly every hospital had in the 50s, 60s, and 70s disappeared from the landscape except in county and state facilities. So now the poor go to county and state facilities just like the did before the decree, but now have to wait even longer to get attention with everyone else who now crowd the few remaining emergency rooms. If you're looking for something really 'broke' in the health care system, look no further than that and who created it.
yes it is true that many $ billions go to treat illegal immigrants; however, except for counties near the Mexican border this is a relatively minor factor
also, many of these illegal immigrants arrived in the US legally and became illegal only when they overstayed their VISA
thus it would take a decrease in legal immigration as well as illegal immigration to make much of a dent
Posted by: lord garth ||
11/04/2009 9:48 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Because it's not their job. Limited government, remember? Enumerated powers.
I heard a talking head interview the other day in which some spokesman/thing for tort reform said that tort reform alone would reduce healthcare costs in the USSA by over $220 BILLION.
I guess the current healthcare proposal is more about paying off the lawyers for all of the money they throw at the dems than it is about healthcare.
Posted by: James Carville ||
11/04/2009 10:45 Comments ||
Top||
#10
The nearly 2000 page PelosiPalooza creates over 100 new bureaucracies. This isn't a healthcare bill, it's a jobs program for federal patronage.
#11
Hillary tried to push through a health care plan that would turn the system upside down and she got slammed. Remind me again why it is we need an USSR type health care system in place of the one we have.
#12
yes it is true that many $ billions go to treat illegal immigrants; however, except for counties near the Mexican border this is a relatively minor factor
The border is nearly 2,000 miles long and covers 4 states. Los Angeles isn't all that close to the border, yet that county alone has closed more than 2 dozen ERs. Guess it depends on your definition of 'minor'.
#13
I'd check the ER costs for counties with poultry plants, meat processing plants, high agriculture, etc., no matter how far from the border they are. I'd expect your eyes would open re: the cost to you, the taxpayer from illegal care, that the Gov't and open-border jerks (right and left) don't want you to know
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2009 17:59 Comments ||
Top||
#14
also, many of these illegal immigrants arrived in the US legally and became illegal only when they overstayed their VISA
#16
the "past-visa" thing is a minuscule amount of the illegals. Pappy's right
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2009 20:22 Comments ||
Top||
#17
'Visa overstayers' fuel illegal population There's been a lot of talk lately about people who have illegally crossed the Mexican border to enter the U.S. But they represent only about half of the estimated 12million illegal immigrants in this country.
An estimated 4million to 6million are so-called "visa overstayers," foreign nationals who entered the U.S. legally and never went home.
So 1/3 or 1/2 if you believe the 12 million illegal alien figure. I believe it's closer to the 20 million mark than 12.
Posted by: ed ||
11/04/2009 20:43 Comments ||
Top||
#18
the 20 million is lowball pre-latest-exodus. I refuse to believe the number that didn't leave after visa expiration is that much of a factor, consider offspring, illegally-imported relatives, et al
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2009 22:03 Comments ||
Top||
#19
230 effing pages? WTF? Depending on your font and type size, how many pages would the following require:
1) create a national market in health insurance, open to foreign firms as well
2) eliminate state micro-management of health insurance
3) implement radical tort reform
4) establish total federal tax code neutrality on health care and insurance - no preferences, no subsidies (personal AND corporate tax codes)
Perhaps a few other things, all of them directed towards reconnecting consumers and prices in the health care sector.
Ta-dah! For the billionth time in human history, market behavior maximizes welfare and reduces costs. Really, really hard to figure out.
Medicare, Medicaid, VA all require their own fixes to establish solvency.
Oh, about that "universal" coverage thing. Uh, dudes, pretty obvious. Vouchers. Especially in a freed up market, vouchers for health insurance would easily provide more than adequate coverage for the indigent.
Do we build special stores for food stamp beneficiaries? Does federal financial aid for college end up controlling the lives and choices and finances of those who receive no aid? Do we have special stores, homes, and service locations for Social Security beneficiaries?
Uh - no to all the above.
There isn't anything remotely resembling a "crisis" in health care. There are financial problems, entirely the result of regulatory dysfunction. Covering the "uninsured" is as easy as feeding food stamp recipients. You give them chits. They go use them in the real economy. Presto - food security.
[Jakarta Post] The current recruitment process of new civil servants in Central Jakarta is prone to bribery with many brokers claiming they could help applicants secure a job.
"They asked for Rp 100 million per person in return for securing the applicant a job," Anik Amikawati, speaker of the Democratic Party branch of the provincial council, said Tuesday.
Therefore she urged regional governments to be transparent, professional and open during the recruitment process to allow the creation of clean, tough and professional bureaucrats.
This year Central Java needs 20,029 new civil servants. Of that number, 1,243 are for the provincial level, while the rest are for the regency/city levels. Thirteen regencies/cities conduct the selection process by themselves, while another 22 conduct it in coordination with the provincial government.
Until Tuesday, more than 41,000 people had applied for the job online, while thousands more had sent their applications by mail.
Hadi Prabowo, head of the 2009 selection committee, denied there were brokers in the recruitment process. He said the governor had set up a special committee to guarantee transparency in the selection process.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2009 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Ha, "prone" is the biggest understatement i've ever seen in reference to corruption problems in Indonesia! More like "endemic, overrun, hopeless, hapless" and "rife" with bribery. Just try to open a business there.
#3
and conservatives would have won in NY-23 if the GOP!! candidate hadn't siphoned off 5% of the vote and run attack adds against the real conservative candidate. Hoffman only lost by 2% of the vote.
Maine became the 31st state to knock down gay marriage. Hard to blame that one on the Mormons. How's that Obama thing working out for the gay community?
#5
The Obama staff today announced Corzine ran a bad campaign and they tried to help but it was not their fault. The bus even runs over the dead. Christie was better to Corzine in his victory speech than Obama's staff.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/04/2009 8:14 Comments ||
Top||
#6
At least Obama's crew waited until after the election to drive the bus over Corzine. That is a courtesy that they didn't extend to Deeds.
I bet Owens is glad that he didn't have Obama come up to help him campaign, though.
The disappointment of the evening came in a special election for Congress in upstate New York, where Conservative-party nominee Doug Hoffman narrowly lost to Democrat Bill Owens. Local GOP party officials bollixed the race from the beginning by picking liberal Dede Scozzafava. With her campaign sinking beneath the waves, she pulled out last weekend and then capped her disastrous foray by endorsing Owens. Hoffman was a much better choice, and demonstrated the passion that is animating the conservative grassroots on fiscal issues. But, a first-time candidate, he lacked polish and a ready knowledge of local issues. If theres a lesson from the race besides the obvious dont let out-of-touch GOP officials pick liberal congressional candidates it is that conservatives need to run campaigns based not only on their philosophical soundness but on the improved conditions that this soundness can be expected to generate. That was the template for McDonnells huge victory. If his governance delivers on his promises, explicit and implicit, he will be a model for Republicans nationwide.
I think that's probably spot on.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/04/2009 11:06 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Add to that analysis: Hoffman didn't live in the district. He could run and he did, but he didn't live in the district.
I wonder how many voters in NY-23 voted for Owens just because he was local.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2009 11:54 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Also, Owens seems like a pretty reasonable (moderate) candidate, for a Democrat. And likely a more 'moderate' candidate than Scarafazzo (sp) for a number of Reps & Inds. Not that awful far from the kind of candidate the Reps should have run in the first place.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The former accountant of convicted con artist Bernard Madoff has pleaded guilty to several charges, including fraud, in connection with his auditing work for Madoff. 
[Jakarta Post] Nokia Siemens Networks said Tuesday it will lay off up to 5,700 workers globally as part of a move to cut annual costs by euro500 million ($740 million).
France was trying to avert a crisis of confidence on Tuesday over its new-generation EPR nuclear reactor after regulators in three countries raised questions over control and safety systems. French government officials are expected to contact authorities in the United Arab Emirates in an attempt to assuage concerns as the Gulf state weighs bids in one of the worlds biggest nuclear tenders on offer.
[Jakarta Post] The current recruitment process of new civil servants in Central Jakarta is prone to bribery with many brokers claiming they could help applicants secure a job.
