Posts Made By: Brett Wylie

Post San Francisco earthquake..looters were shot to death..deservedly so..the looting stopped.

The reason for such "harsh" action..for just thievery..is because it's not just theft that's involved. The fact that other people may lose their lives, be injured, or be put in danger, because available police/fire/goverment..workers are side tracked by the looting and not able to concentrate solely on rescuing people. The looters rights are "secondary" because they are endangering others by their illegal behavior.

I can see looting for necessary drinking water/food for survival/aid. :S

Someone with diamonds?..ke-bang!

:S

My wife and I..are picking up a Cannondale RT1000 tandem..I'm waiting for one the right size and year to pick up on E-bay. Test riding one, we could maintain 25 mph for the 15 miles into town..and hit near 35 with effort. That's a pretty fast commute. I'll keep a single bike at her office for my alternate trip. My wife loves bicycling as I do..so this fits our lifestyle/nature.

As I'd said earlier..my brother visited his daughter in Sweden for 3 weeks this summer..he did not see one obese person (direct quote) and people were commuting all over heaven and back via bicycle..people in suits..little elderly ladies with scarfs....

This is a national embarrassment. Our national priorities show like dirty laundry out on the line. We spend more money on weaponry then the 11 axis of evil countries combined. Our defense secretary brags about all the weapons he has at his disposal. Our government is blowing billions bringing a "better future" to Iraq..while meanwhile..60% of the population of a major U.S. city sits below the poverty line and can't afford the means to escape a natural disaster of epic proportions.

http://www.truthandpolitics.org/military-US-world.php

Our government says we have the resources to fight in Iraq and help out in NO. But do we have the additional resources to give every American kid a good chance of having a good education, good health care, a chance to grow up in a safe environment without threat of murder, gang rape, extortion, physical threat? Do we have the police, safety, firefighting personnel we need? Are we maintaining our infrastructure adequately? Are we graduating enough kids with advanced degrees..or are we going to continue relying on "imports" for our technical expertise.

IMO we need to get off our oil junkie habit, get out of Iraq and the middle east asap, buy every household a set of solar panels/wind generators and a line-inverter 8) , improve our mass transit and public transportation facilities, lower are international profile overall, and quit trying to tell the rest of the worlds people how to live. We need to spend/keep our money at home, upgrading our own future! Clean our water, clean our air..find energy alternatives. Take care of our environment..including the living creatures we share our local part of the globe with.

What are you saying Darrell? That YOU wouldn't buy a home 3 meters below sea level?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/brf_katrina_helicopter_shooting;_ylt=AtyjytEF_U.BpRqSiz9HZMes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

RE: Societal issues..your positive approval of change via legislation vs. by judicial fiat?..how that process is supposedly an improvement, that is more democratic and/or represents the society at large more accurately, or is justifiably morally correct, I don't know. There is no guarantee. I think overall the courts have made some great decisions which forced the country into being a better place..sometimes not. I can't entirely agree with your assessment of the benefits of legislation vs judicial however. Many times special interest groups, especially if they have large amounts of money to throw around, circumvent popular opinion completely. And sometimes, popular opinion should be circumvented 8O ..I remember very well the polarized racist society of the 50's..and the generally accepted attitudes that supported such views.
eg. Hitler was a mainstream popular politician in Germany!

On the issue of:
The problem with not-allowing abortion is that such prohibition primarily affected the poorer segment of the population. The moderately or darn right wealthy could always afford to fly their "with child" family member overseas if necessary. It was the poor who ended up butchered by hatchet jobs in back-alleys. Therefore, I think the judicial decision to allow abortions was socially correct (acknowledging the unfairness of the prohibition), and making the decision the womans rather then the state has merit, but it still is morally reprehensible especially re: late term fetus.

Didn't we have a tea party in Boston about this kind of stuff happening..where has accountability gone to?

Ahhh..Ray..your just jealous of Ben having that good ole boy time in London...buxom winches and all. There's an old english sailors song that relates a homecoming from three years at sea in which the guys wife is sporting a !new! baby.

A point that has been made concerning progressive taxation..is that the wealthy influence the political process just a mite in their favor.
Also...
You write of tax rates which "dis-incent the entrepreneurial spirit" and say nothing of how the wealthy and large corporations often crush small competitors and steal inventions/ideas.

What 30 million dollar a month salary/package CEO would be "dis-incented from their entrepreneurial spirit" by a modest increase in the taxation rate? I'm being sarcastic of course!

The truth of the matter?...we are seeing an increasing shift of the total nations wealth into fewer hands. This is a worrisome developement for a democracy...especially, as it is well documented, money is a requirement for those seeking some say in the governance of our country. Wealth = increased political power.

If Bush was a true blue (environmentally aware) conservative..fiscally responsible, non-nation building, take care of home first, doesn't think money can solve all our problems, a record of living a highly moral life (really did some service for the country, no (rumor) of cocaine use or alcohol abuse, polite with language and behavior, etc.), and really FOR small federal government and small business...I'd have voted for the guy! This isn't what this guy has stood for. The new Republicans, on the whole, are just rip-off artists in league with banks, corporate CEO's, and their wealthy U.S. & foreign "friends"..like the Saudi's. And just like the Democrats! They speak "concern" for others because they still have to get elected...they "act" otherwise..Barbara Bush's statements..and GWB's statements to his wealthy supporters..show who they are really aligned with.

We need a state/corporation separation clause in the constitution!