From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug  1 00:47:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:47:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Where have all the leaders gone?
In-Reply-To: <F9073FABFE304787BA0C897025CFFA4C@YOURB88038198E>
References: <F9073FABFE304787BA0C897025CFFA4C@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70907312147t4d8305d3xad1a7225d9dc5394@mail.gmail.com>

Sarah.


On 7/31/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>       Wonder why we haven't heard more from him lately? Guess I need to find
> his book and read it..this sounds like it will be interesting..
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       Remember  Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler  Corporation from
> its death throes?  He's now 82 years old and  has a new book, 'Where Have
> All The Leaders  Gone?'.
>
>
>
>       Lee  Iacocca  Says:
>
>
>       'Am I the  only guy in this country who's fed up with what's
> happening? Where the  hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody
> murder! We've got a  gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right
> over a cliff,  we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't
> even clean  up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid  car. But instead
> of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods  their heads when the
> politicians say, 'Stay the  course..'
>
>
>
>
>
>       Stay the  course? You've got  to be kidding. This is  America , not
> the damned, 'Titanic'. I'll give you  a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums
> out!'
>
>
>
>
>       You might  think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and
> maybe I have.  But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country
> anymore..
>
>
>
>
>
>       The most  famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys
> in handcuffs..  While we're fiddling in  Iraq , the    Middle East is
> burning and nobody seems to  know what to do. And the press is waving
> 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard  questions. That's not the promise of the
> '  America ' my parents and yours  traveled across the ocean for. I've had
> enough. How about  you?
>
>
>
>
>
>       I'll go a  step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're
> not outraged.  This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest
> 'C' is Crisis!  (Iacocca elaborates on nine C's of leadership, with crisis
> being the  first.)
>
>
>
>
>
>       Leaders are  made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis.
> It's easy to sit  there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or
> send someone  else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield
> yourself. It's  another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling  down.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       On September  11, 2001, we needed a  strong leader more than any other
> time in our  history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes.
> A hell of a  mess, so here's where we stand.
>
>
>
>
>
>       We're  immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan
> for  leaving.
>
>
>
>
>
>       Obama is  running the biggest deficit in the history of the  country.
>
>
>
>
>
>       We're losing  the manufacturing edge to  Asia , while our  once-great
> companies are getting slaughtered by health care  costs.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       Gas prices  are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent
> energy policy. Our  schools are in trouble due to poor leadership in school
> districts.
>
>
>
>
>       Our borders  are like sieves..
>
>
>
>
>
>       The middle  class is being squeezed every which  way.
>
>
>
>
>
>       These are  times that cry out for  leadership.
>
>
>
>
>       But when you  look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the
> leaders gone?' Where  are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the
> people of  character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I
> may be a  sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the   point.
>
>
>
>
>       Name me a  leader who has a better idea for homeland security than
> making us take off  our shoes in airports and throw away our  shampoo?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       We've spent  billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and
> all we know how  to do is react to things that have already  happened.
>
>
>
>
>       Name me one  leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane  Katrina.
> Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the  response to the
> hurricane or demanding accountability for the decisions  that were made in
> the crucial hours after the  storm.
>
>
>
>
>
>       Everyone's  hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen
> again. Now,  that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.
> Figure out  what you're going to do the next  time.
>
>
>
>
>
>       Name me an  industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we
> can restore our  competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed
> that there  could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese
> car  companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going
> to  do about it?
>
>
>
>
>
>       Name me a  government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down
> the debit, or  solving the energy crisis, or managing the  health care
> problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises  that are eating
> away at our country and milking the middle class  dry.
>
>
>
>
>
>       I have news  for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on
> your asses and do  nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being
> hijacked and our  greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.. What is
> everybody so afraid  of? That some bonehead on NBC news or CNN news will
> call them a  name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a
>  change?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       Had  Enough? Hey, I'm  not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom
> here.  I'm trying to  light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope - I
> believe in America  . In my lifetime, I've had the privilege of living
> through some of    America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some
> of our worst  crises: The 'Great Depression,' 'World War  II,' the 'Korean
> War,' the 'Kennedy Assassination,' the  'Vietnam War,' the 1970's oil
> crisis, and the struggles of recent  years culminating with 9/11.
>
>
>
>        If I've  learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by
> standing on the  sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether
> it's building  a better car or building a better future for our children, we
> all have a  role to play.
>
>
>       Only a few people in the  US know you elected a illegal alien to be
> President! A Muslim at that! And he jumped
>
>       right in destroying the  US from the inside. Osama bin Laden is
> smiling from ear to ear because he is winning the war on terror and you
> helped by voting his man in as President!
>
>       That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a "Call to Action"
> for people who, like me, believe  in  America '. It's not too late, but it's
> getting pretty close. So let's  shake off the crap and go to work. Let's
> tell 'em all we've had  'enough.'
>
>
> Make your  own contribution by sending this to everyone you know and care
> about. It's  our country, folks, and it's our future. Our future is at
> stake!!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug  1 10:15:52 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:15:52 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Somebody who has Obama's number
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908010715y6edebeb9w7f41a5178e45c64f@mail.gmail.com>

Good morning All,

Was reading the Am. Spectator this morning and in the comments below an
article, "Everything that rises must converge" I found this wonderful rant.
If I could rant this well ..... Hell, I'd run for office.

Rik
________________________

Obama's election was simply a chimerical reflection of what many white
Americans (and let's face it; that's what put him over the top) wanted to
see in themselves: An "evolved" nature from which racism has been expunged.

Couple this with liberals' vague, quixotic and callow desire to affirm an
inchoate sense selflessness in public policy that might assuage the base,
primal self-interest that lies beneath their masks of "caring" and, voila,
we have this small, petty, overmatched man occupying what was once the
greatest office in the land.

And these fools ignored copious evidence that, far from being post-racial or
truly seeking of equanimity in politics, Obama is a vain, immature, ignorant
brat with a sense of entitlement, a race-centric chip on his shoulder and an
ill-conceived and incomplete picture of a world he wants to tear down and
rebuild into an adolescent Marxist utopia by sheer force of his self-regard
and ideological momentum.

It is, then, vanity on the part of the electorate and the willingness to
exploit that vanity on the part of his handlers that elevated this cipher to
a position for which he is thoroughly unqualified. He hasn't the character,
the knowledge, the experience, the mettle, the sense of sacrifice or duty,
or even the intelligence, to lead this country anywhere except into the
abyss.

I wouldn't want to put up with this boor if he got up and lectured me at a
PTA meeting for five minutes; the fact that this insouciant and inescapable
pseudo-wisdom emanates from the Oval Office every day is galling.

As if this guy has anything to contribute to the national discourse or to
politics that isn't generic, warmed-over progressive pabulum with a generous
side of grievance.

Here's hoping the foolish liberal elites who still cling to their faith in
Obama and stick to their ideological guns that they will tire of the
pantomime.

If that happens, we'll see this phony bare his teeth and reveal the utter
emptiness that will, ironically, be the ultimate reflection of those who put
him in office.

Here's the article
_________________
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/31/everything-that-rises-must-con

Everything That Rises Must
Converge<http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/31/everything-that-rises-must-con>

By Philip Klein <http://spectator.org/people/philip-klein> on 7.31.09 @
6:09AM

Everybody knew it would happen at some point.

The moment when the fresh pair of shoes got muddied, when people started to
see beyond the fa?ade, and when the curtain was lifted to reveal a tinkerer
pulling levers rather than a wonderful wizard.

We are in the midst of that moment.

Back in January, just after President Obama took the oath of office, Gallup
found <http://www.gallup.com/poll/113962/Obama-Starts-Job-Approval.aspx>that
68 percent of Americans approved of him, compared to just 12 percent
who disapproved. Yet in the past month, those two numbers have been racing
toward convergence<http://www.gallup.com/poll/113980/Gallup-Daily-Obama-Job-Approval.aspx>,
and as of Thursday just 52 percent approved of Obama?s handling of his job,
compared to 41 percent who disapproved.

The story is the same no matter the poll, and the numbers get worse the
deeper one looks into the data. Particularly troubling is that while
Democrats continue to give Obama high marks, he?s losing the independents,
according a poll <http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1559> released on
Thursday by the Pew Research Center, which showed his support among the
group dipping to 48 percent.

There were many points when candidate Obama looked like he was on the ropes,
only to bounce back. But there are significant differences between a
campaign and a presidency.

No matter how bad things got during the campaign, Obama could exploit
frustration with George Bush, and employ the rhetoric of hope and change.
But it?s hard to point fingers when you?re running the show.

Not that this has stopped him from trying. During last week?s prime time news
conference<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/News-Conference-by-the-President-July-22-2009/>,
Obama reiterated that he inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. And in desperate
search for a foil, he used comments by Sen. Jim DeMint and Bill Kristol to
argue that Republicans were blocking health care legislation. Given that
Obama?s budget adds <http://cboblog.cbo.gov/?p=216> an estimated $9.3
trillion to the deficit over 10 years and that Democrats? majorities in
Congress are so large that they could pass anything without a single
Republican vote, neither argument has gained any traction.

Pew found that a minority of 42 percent approve of Obama?s handling of
health care; just 38 percent approve of his stewardship of the economy; and
a mere 32 percent like the way he is handling the budget deficit.

At times, Obama has slipped back into the role of the consummate analyst,
diagnosing the nation?s condition as if he were an outsider who has no power
to change anything. ?[W]e've just become so cynical about what government
can accomplish,? he said during the news conference, falling back on a tired
old campaign theme that he?s
employed<http://spectator.org/archives/2007/08/14/obama-rising>since
his days as a state senator. He added, ?[F]olks are skeptical, and
that is entirely legitimate because they haven't seen a lot of laws coming
out of Washington lately that help them.?  Apparently, he forgot that he?s
been responsible for signing all of those laws.

During the campaign, Obama the salesman could convince people that he would
provide everybody with a brand new luxury car for the price of an old
jalopy. But after selling the American people a $787 billion stimulus
package that has failed to create promised jobs, they aren?t buying his
health care proposals.

After months of White House events, speeches, town hall meetings, and news
conferences touting Democratic health care proposals, support for health
care plans currently being discussed has cratered to 38 percent, while 44
percent now oppose them, according to Pew.

While Obama is known as a talented communicator, it turns out that the more
people hear about the health care plans, the more fiercely they oppose them,
and this is true even if you remove Republicans from the equation. Among
independents who said they?ve heard little or nothing about health care
legislation, just 35 percent opposed; but among those who said they?ve heard
a lot about the proposals, opposition doubled, to 70 percent.

To be sure, just because Obama?s approval ratings have come back down to
earth, it doesn?t mean he?s doomed, as polls are bound to fluctuate over the
course of a presidency. But the key question confronting Obama?s presidency
has been: Will he prove a complete disaster like Jimmy Carter, a politically
successful president who fails to meaningfully advance liberalism like Bill
Clinton, or a transformational liberal leader in the mold of Franklin D.
Roosevelt?

The problem for Obama is that economic news is likely to be mostly bad over
the next several months, suggesting continued downward pressure on his
approval ratings in the near term. And it?s just during this time period
that health care legislation will be moving through Congress. If he fails to
get a health care bill passed this year, his odds of ever doing so decrease
dramatically. Next year is an election year, and after the 2010 midterms,
Republicans are likely to gain more power to block his agenda.

While public perception of Obama will go up and down for the rest of his
time in office, the next few months will largely determine whether he?ll
remake the nation in his image. No wonder he?s in such a rush.


-- 
?The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and
then saying, ?You see, without me, you couldn?t walk.? ?. Harry Browne
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug  1 10:52:06 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 09:52:06 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Some right thinking on healthcare
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908010752l4fb8c28dr1aa096c7d8b12468@mail.gmail.com>

Good morning All, again,

All the hubbub about healthcare, for what???

This guy's solution is quite elegant and I agree, there is a chance, unlike
the the quagmire our messiah is proposing, that it could actually make
things better.

Rik

_________________
My Two-Point Plan for Health
Care<http://spectator.org/archives/2009/07/31/my-two-point-plan-for-health-c>

By Greg Scandlen <http://spectator.org/people/greg-scandlen> on 7.31.09 @
6:07AM

Having been in health care policy for a very long time, I have read
literally hundreds of six-point plans, eight-point plans, and 10-point plans
-- all developed by very sincere and earnest people who think if only the
world would do as they say, it would be a better place.

No doubt they are right. If only the world would conform to their vision,
and if only they could control people's behavior, many problems would be
solved.

Unfortunately, that is the same chain of thought that led to Napoleon,
Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin. I'm not suggesting that health reformers are
all little dictators (though some would like to be), but the whole notion
that a single person, or committee of persons, can sit at a table and plan
the future of hundreds of millions of people is offensive to the ideas of
human dignity, freedom, and sovereignty.

So when a colleague suggested I come up with an alternative, I was
reluctant. He told me it isn't enough to be the "Party of No!" I had to
offer an alternative.

So here is my two-point plan to reform health care in America:

1. Give the money back to the people.

2. Get the hell out of the way.

Perhaps this plan needs some explanation, though it seems pretty simple to
me.

*Point No. 1: Give the money back to the people.*
Every penny that is spent four our health care comes from us, the American
people. There is no other source. The money is taken from us in the form of
taxes, insurance premiums, or lost wages, but it is still our money. And it
is supposed to be used for our benefit.

Over the years we have let insurance companies, employers, and government
agencies use that money because we thought they would do a better job of
spending it than we could. Turns out we were wrong. In fact, they have done
a lousy job of buying health services for us. The services they buy are
overpriced, inconvenient, and of questionable quality. And they take an
administrative cut out of every dollar for doing it. It is simply not a good
deal for us, and we could hardly do a worse job than they have.

Obviously some people do not have any money and need assistance to get the
health care services they need. They, too, should be allowed to choose the
services they prefer. They could be given vouchers to help them do so,
rather than being enrolled in a government insurance plan like Medicaid.

*Point No. 2: Get out of the way.*
This is probably the hardest thing for the elite to do. Everybody's got an
opinion about what everybody else should be doing -- for their own good, of
course. There was once a time when it was considered rude to express those
opinions publicly. No longer. Now perfect strangers feel entitled to tell
everyone else what they should be doing.

If the stranger is just a person on the street, we can ignore him, or tell
him to mind his own business, or punch him in the nose if he gets too
insistent. But when it is the government doing the telling, our options are
limited.

However, if we take responsibility for making our own decisions in health
care, we have to be free to exercise that judgment according to our own
values and priorities.

We have to be free, for instance, to spend our hard-earned money on the
insurance coverage that is best for us and our families. That may or may not
include coverage for in vitro fertilization or for counseling by psychiatric
social workers. It should be our decision, not something mandated by the
state.

We have to be free to choose the best level of deductible for our families.
High deductibles mean lower premiums, and vice versa. We should make our own
decisions on that trade-off.

For that matter, we have to be free to go without insurance coverage if we
want to. We may want to take six months to finish our educations or start a
business. Or we may need to skip coverage for a few months because the car's
transmission needs to be replaced, and we can't get to work without that
vehicle. Why should we need a bureaucrat to give us permission to make that
decision?

In shopping for health care services, we need to be free to spend our money
on the service that delivers the most value. If I have back pain, I might
seek a chiropractor, but if your back hurts, you might prefer an
acupuncturist, and someone else might seek a physical therapist. Who should
care except the person feeling the pain? It's our backs and our money!

If I have heart disease I might want to go to a physician-owned cardiac
hospital instead of the giant Medical Center. Why should Congress get in the
way of that decision?

And on and on. Once we are spending our own money, health care providers
will be eager to get our business. Physicians might offer weekend and
evening hours so we don't have to take time off work. They might start
seeing us at the time of our appointments instead of making us wait for an
hour. If our kid is running a fever late at night, it might be worth paying
$10 to e-mail the doctor to see what we should do, instead of running down
to the emergency room. Or $20 for a phone call.

Some people have told me we can't allow consumers to have money to buy
health care until we educate them about health care. But that's backwards.
Once I have the money, I may pay to educate myself about choices and
options.

My two-point plan would "reform health care" in ways none of us can imagine.
And that is a very good thing. No one could have imagined the Internet and
cell phones 20 years ago. Free people to spend their own money and make
their own decisions and an entirely new world opens up. Just in time.




-- 
?The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and
then saying, ?You see, without me, you couldn?t walk.? ?. Harry Browne
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug  2 09:16:20 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 08:16:20 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Beer Summit
Message-ID: <400985d70908020616n38e526a4sb59ec4287b337d4b@mail.gmail.com>

Who shows the most class in this photo?
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sun Aug  2 10:46:45 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sun, 2 Aug 2009 09:46:45 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Beer Summit
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908020616n38e526a4sb59ec4287b337d4b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908020616n38e526a4sb59ec4287b337d4b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908020746w21fb1eddx7fbbbf8298f8c02e@mail.gmail.com>

Uh .... the stupid one???

(He'd be the one on the left)

:-)

Rik

On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 8:16 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Who shows the most class in this photo?
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug  3 13:08:00 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 12:08:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying Eyes?
Message-ID: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>

The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea, it's
a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo the
insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
deception.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Mon Aug  3 14:58:42 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 14:58:42 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] http://www.nakedemperornews.com/
Message-ID: <54362CD934F64C3D8633B0ADF4A832A2@YOURB88038198E>

Rik,

Where did you find this site:

http://www.nakedemperornews.com/

Ed K
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Mon Aug  3 20:19:26 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 2009 19:19:26 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] http://www.nakedemperornews.com/
In-Reply-To: <54362CD934F64C3D8633B0ADF4A832A2@YOURB88038198E>
References: <54362CD934F64C3D8633B0ADF4A832A2@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908031719h3d8a41e1if07f1d0f4f4135e7@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Don't remember if I found that, or Brad, but here's the address. Looks the
same to me, but it worked when I put in.

http://www.nakedemperornews.com/

Rik

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>  Rik,
>
> Where did you find this site:
>
> http://www.nakedemperornews.com/
>
> Ed K
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 07:55:37 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 06:55:37 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Long Island Tea
Message-ID: <400985d70908040455l384d92a4sc7ed13ef116aed14@mail.gmail.com>

You've probably seen a smattering of MSM news coverage on the
Congressional recess town hall meetings.  They've been getting ugly.
People are pissed off.  The MSM has tried their best to ignore the Tea
Party movement, one network even resorting to an inside joke on air by
using the term "tea baggers" to describe them (a male homosexual act).
 Yet, the Tea Party movement refuses to die just as the original one
in Boston refused to die in 1773. Your POTUS has tried to pretend they
don't exist. The Tea Party event I attended April 15 in Memphis wasn't
a bunch of right-wing nuts, it was a collection of Republicans,
Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and others who had never paid
any attention to politics before in their life.  The people are
speaking out.  Is the Congress listening?

Here's a video of one my favorite bloggers, Pamela Geller, speaking to
a Tea Party gathering in Long Island over the weekend -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Py7-xogd8&feature=player_embedded

One statement she made should resonate with everyone paying attention,
"don't get your news from the MSM".

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 08:28:34 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 07:28:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Joe the Plumber
Message-ID: <400985d70908040528r44b941a9qcca1474f206df482@mail.gmail.com>

".......the feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in
America earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3
trillion even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less
rich now, while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion....."

Think about that for a moment.  You've been had.  Well maybe not you,
but 53% were had.

Brad

-------------------

from the WSJ

    * AUGUST 3, 2009, 8:08 P.M. ET

Teeing Up the Middle Class
Joe the Plumber?s tax vindication is nigh.


Few of President Obama?s 2008 campaign pledges were more definitive
than his vow that anyone making less than $250,000 a year ?will not
see their taxes increase by a single dime? if he was elected. And he
was right, very strictly speaking: It?s going to be many, many, many
billions of dimes.

Asked about raising taxes on the middle class on Sunday on CBS?s ?Face
the Nation,? White House economist Larry Summers wouldn?t repeat Mr.
Obama?s pre-election promise. ?It is never a good idea to absolutely
rule things out no matter what,? Mr. Summers said?except, apparently,
when his boss is running for office. Meanwhile, on ABC?s ?This Week,?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also slid around Mr. Obama?s vow
and said, ?We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically. And
that?s going to require some very hard choices.?

These aren?t even nondenial denials. The Obama advisers are laying the
groundwork for taxing the middle class while claiming the deficit made
them do it.

The liberal establishment is even further along in finally admitting
that Mr. Obama wasn?t, er, telling the truth. A piece in the New York
Times over the weekend declared in a headline that ?the Rich Can?t Pay
for Everything, Analysts Say.? And it quoted Leonard Burman, a veteran
of the Clinton Treasury who now runs the Brookings Tax Policy Center,
as saying that ?This idea that everything new that government provides
ought to be paid for by the top 5%, that?s a basically unstable way of
governing.? They?re right, but where were they during the campaign?


In an editorial on February 26, ?The 2% Illusion,? we wrote that the
feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America
earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3 trillion
even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less rich now,
while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion.

Democrats already plan to repeal the Bush tax cuts, but that won?t
raise enough money. So they?re proposing an income tax surcharge on
?the wealthy,? but that won?t raise enough either. Democrats have no
choice but to soak the middle class because only they have enough
money to finance the liberal dream of yoking the middle class to
cradle-to-grave government entitlements.

Democrats have already taxed the middle class by raising cigarette
taxes to pay for the children?s health-care expansion. They?re also
teeing up average earners with their cap-and-tax energy bill. Mr.
Obama had hoped that cap-and-tax would raise some $646 billion over a
decade, but Democrats in the House had to give most of that away in
bribes to business to pass their bill. To finance ObamaCare, they?re
also proposing another 10-percentage-point increase in the payroll tax
on firms and individuals that don?t purchase health insurance. But
this won?t raise enough money either.

So waiting in the wings is the biggest middle-class tax increase of
them all: a European-style value added tax, or VAT. This tax would
apply to every level of production or service, and it is beloved by
politicians in Europe because it raises so much money so easily
without voters noticing. Ezekiel Emanuel, a White House aide and
brother of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, has advocated a 10% VAT to
finance national health care. Look for a VAT to be one of the
prominent options when Mr. Obama?s tax reform commission issues its
report later this year.

The undeniable reality is that you can?t run a European-style
welfare-entitlement state without European-style levels of taxation on
the middle class (and eventually without low European-style growth and
high jobless rates). It?s looking more and more like Mr. Obama?s
no-middle-class-tax pledge was one of the greatest confidence tricks
in American political history.


From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 09:24:42 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 08:24:42 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaacism!
Message-ID: <400985d70908040624t6afa0dffge26b94c183fad528@mail.gmail.com>

Bill Whittle is a former fighter pilot, current recreational pilot,
Hollywood writer, and political commentator.  You may recall his
article I posted just a few days after Katrina entitled "Tribes". Here
is his latest on racism -

http://tinyurl.com/nh7k46

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 09:40:52 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 08:40:52 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Joe the Plumber
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908040528r44b941a9qcca1474f206df482@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908040528r44b941a9qcca1474f206df482@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908040640l461c30ffm3fbc2f40b8695a04@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Well DUH!!!

A revelation by the new administration .... the rich can't support the whole
world. Hell, I sat down back when Bush was still president and figured that
out in about a half hour, when all the liberals were whining about the Bush
tax cuts. But now, the bill is a hell of a lot bigger and will get bigger
still if the messiah get his way. Whether the rich could cover this isn't
even debatable. It wasn't even close BEFORE this last round of
unconscionable spending.

And of course they want a VAT and a 10% VAT, at that, that's huge!!. They
certainly wouldn't have the balls to put on a straight sales tax. A tax that
would be transparent .... remember transparency??? One of the messiah's
great promises??

If this man is not stopped soon, none of us will have anything left worth
saving.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 7:28 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> ".......the feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in
> America earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3
> trillion even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less
> rich now, while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion....."
>
> Think about that for a moment.  You've been had.  Well maybe not you,
> but 53% were had.
>
> Brad
>
> -------------------
>
> from the WSJ
>
>    * AUGUST 3, 2009, 8:08 P.M. ET
>
> Teeing Up the Middle Class
> Joe the Plumber?s tax vindication is nigh.
>
>
> Few of President Obama?s 2008 campaign pledges were more definitive
> than his vow that anyone making less than $250,000 a year ?will not
> see their taxes increase by a single dime? if he was elected. And he
> was right, very strictly speaking: It?s going to be many, many, many
> billions of dimes.
>
> Asked about raising taxes on the middle class on Sunday on CBS?s ?Face
> the Nation,? White House economist Larry Summers wouldn?t repeat Mr.
> Obama?s pre-election promise. ?It is never a good idea to absolutely
> rule things out no matter what,? Mr. Summers said?except, apparently,
> when his boss is running for office. Meanwhile, on ABC?s ?This Week,?
> Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also slid around Mr. Obama?s vow
> and said, ?We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically. And
> that?s going to require some very hard choices.?
>
> These aren?t even nondenial denials. The Obama advisers are laying the
> groundwork for taxing the middle class while claiming the deficit made
> them do it.
>
> The liberal establishment is even further along in finally admitting
> that Mr. Obama wasn?t, er, telling the truth. A piece in the New York
> Times over the weekend declared in a headline that ?the Rich Can?t Pay
> for Everything, Analysts Say.? And it quoted Leonard Burman, a veteran
> of the Clinton Treasury who now runs the Brookings Tax Policy Center,
> as saying that ?This idea that everything new that government provides
> ought to be paid for by the top 5%, that?s a basically unstable way of
> governing.? They?re right, but where were they during the campaign?
>
>
> In an editorial on February 26, ?The 2% Illusion,? we wrote that the
> feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America
> earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3 trillion
> even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less rich now,
> while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion.
>
> Democrats already plan to repeal the Bush tax cuts, but that won?t
> raise enough money. So they?re proposing an income tax surcharge on
> ?the wealthy,? but that won?t raise enough either. Democrats have no
> choice but to soak the middle class because only they have enough
> money to finance the liberal dream of yoking the middle class to
> cradle-to-grave government entitlements.
>
> Democrats have already taxed the middle class by raising cigarette
> taxes to pay for the children?s health-care expansion. They?re also
> teeing up average earners with their cap-and-tax energy bill. Mr.
> Obama had hoped that cap-and-tax would raise some $646 billion over a
> decade, but Democrats in the House had to give most of that away in
> bribes to business to pass their bill. To finance ObamaCare, they?re
> also proposing another 10-percentage-point increase in the payroll tax
> on firms and individuals that don?t purchase health insurance. But
> this won?t raise enough money either.
>
> So waiting in the wings is the biggest middle-class tax increase of
> them all: a European-style value added tax, or VAT. This tax would
> apply to every level of production or service, and it is beloved by
> politicians in Europe because it raises so much money so easily
> without voters noticing. Ezekiel Emanuel, a White House aide and
> brother of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, has advocated a 10% VAT to
> finance national health care. Look for a VAT to be one of the
> prominent options when Mr. Obama?s tax reform commission issues its
> report later this year.
>
> The undeniable reality is that you can?t run a European-style
> welfare-entitlement state without European-style levels of taxation on
> the middle class (and eventually without low European-style growth and
> high jobless rates). It?s looking more and more like Mr. Obama?s
> no-middle-class-tax pledge was one of the greatest confidence tricks
> in American political history.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
-------------- next part --------------
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Tue Aug  4 10:01:35 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 10:01:35 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] A small voice in South Carolina
Message-ID: <FF7BD2AB46994A3C852BD2FBC89D0FA1@YOURB88038198E>

See:

http://www.nikkihaley.com/

Humm?

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 10:18:57 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 09:18:57 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] A small voice in South Carolina
In-Reply-To: <FF7BD2AB46994A3C852BD2FBC89D0FA1@YOURB88038198E>
References: <FF7BD2AB46994A3C852BD2FBC89D0FA1@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908040718v1ffa6314gaf41345e6dcc49d6@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

RedState has been touting her as Guv for some time.  Here's their latest -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14RUd5-uZP4&feature=player_embedded

Nikki is the first Indian (red dot, not feather) I've ever heard with
a Southern accent.  She was an accounting major so that makes her OK
in my book.

Brad

On 8/4/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> See:
>
> http://www.nikkihaley.com/
>
> Humm?
>
> Ed K

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 12:18:00 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 11:18:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Joe the Plumber
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908040640l461c30ffm3fbc2f40b8695a04@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908040528r44b941a9qcca1474f206df482@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908040640l461c30ffm3fbc2f40b8695a04@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908040918g6d263d35l52e48df3133bbbab@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

This is as good a place as any to report this 'gubment jewel' -

http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Aug09/080309/080309-01.htm

Mo taxes!  What could possibly go wrong?  Ask "Joe the Plumber" about
public officials releasing information in an attempt to destroy a
private citizen for political reasons.  So the 'gubmint' gets access
to all your health records, the IRS already has your financial
records, and now the DOT wants to record EVERYWHERE you drive.
Orwell's imagination wasn't this prolific!

Brad

On 8/4/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Well DUH!!!
>
> A revelation by the new administration .... the rich can't support the whole
> world. Hell, I sat down back when Bush was still president and figured that
> out in about a half hour, when all the liberals were whining about the Bush
> tax cuts. But now, the bill is a hell of a lot bigger and will get bigger
> still if the messiah get his way. Whether the rich could cover this isn't
> even debatable. It wasn't even close BEFORE this last round of
> unconscionable spending.
>
> And of course they want a VAT and a 10% VAT, at that, that's huge!!. They
> certainly wouldn't have the balls to put on a straight sales tax. A tax that
> would be transparent .... remember transparency??? One of the messiah's
> great promises??
>
> If this man is not stopped soon, none of us will have anything left worth
> saving.
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 7:28 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> ".......the feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in
>> America earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3
>> trillion even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less
>> rich now, while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion....."
>>
>> Think about that for a moment.  You've been had.  Well maybe not you,
>> but 53% were had.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> -------------------
>>
>> from the WSJ
>>
>>    * AUGUST 3, 2009, 8:08 P.M. ET
>>
>> Teeing Up the Middle Class
>> Joe the Plumber?s tax vindication is nigh.
>>
>>
>> Few of President Obama?s 2008 campaign pledges were more definitive
>> than his vow that anyone making less than $250,000 a year ?will not
>> see their taxes increase by a single dime? if he was elected. And he
>> was right, very strictly speaking: It?s going to be many, many, many
>> billions of dimes.
>>
>> Asked about raising taxes on the middle class on Sunday on CBS?s ?Face
>> the Nation,? White House economist Larry Summers wouldn?t repeat Mr.
>> Obama?s pre-election promise. ?It is never a good idea to absolutely
>> rule things out no matter what,? Mr. Summers said?except, apparently,
>> when his boss is running for office. Meanwhile, on ABC?s ?This Week,?
>> Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also slid around Mr. Obama?s vow
>> and said, ?We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically. And
>> that?s going to require some very hard choices.?
>>
>> These aren?t even nondenial denials. The Obama advisers are laying the
>> groundwork for taxing the middle class while claiming the deficit made
>> them do it.
>>
>> The liberal establishment is even further along in finally admitting
>> that Mr. Obama wasn?t, er, telling the truth. A piece in the New York
>> Times over the weekend declared in a headline that ?the Rich Can?t Pay
>> for Everything, Analysts Say.? And it quoted Leonard Burman, a veteran
>> of the Clinton Treasury who now runs the Brookings Tax Policy Center,
>> as saying that ?This idea that everything new that government provides
>> ought to be paid for by the top 5%, that?s a basically unstable way of
>> governing.? They?re right, but where were they during the campaign?
>>
>>
>> In an editorial on February 26, ?The 2% Illusion,? we wrote that the
>> feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America
>> earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3 trillion
>> even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less rich now,
>> while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion.
>>
>> Democrats already plan to repeal the Bush tax cuts, but that won?t
>> raise enough money. So they?re proposing an income tax surcharge on
>> ?the wealthy,? but that won?t raise enough either. Democrats have no
>> choice but to soak the middle class because only they have enough
>> money to finance the liberal dream of yoking the middle class to
>> cradle-to-grave government entitlements.
>>
>> Democrats have already taxed the middle class by raising cigarette
>> taxes to pay for the children?s health-care expansion. They?re also
>> teeing up average earners with their cap-and-tax energy bill. Mr.
>> Obama had hoped that cap-and-tax would raise some $646 billion over a
>> decade, but Democrats in the House had to give most of that away in
>> bribes to business to pass their bill. To finance ObamaCare, they?re
>> also proposing another 10-percentage-point increase in the payroll tax
>> on firms and individuals that don?t purchase health insurance. But
>> this won?t raise enough money either.
>>
>> So waiting in the wings is the biggest middle-class tax increase of
>> them all: a European-style value added tax, or VAT. This tax would
>> apply to every level of production or service, and it is beloved by
>> politicians in Europe because it raises so much money so easily
>> without voters noticing. Ezekiel Emanuel, a White House aide and
>> brother of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, has advocated a 10% VAT to
>> finance national health care. Look for a VAT to be one of the
>> prominent options when Mr. Obama?s tax reform commission issues its
>> report later this year.
>>
>> The undeniable reality is that you can?t run a European-style
>> welfare-entitlement state without European-style levels of taxation on
>> the middle class (and eventually without low European-style growth and
>> high jobless rates). It?s looking more and more like Mr. Obama?s
>> no-middle-class-tax pledge was one of the greatest confidence tricks
>> in American political history.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 12:39:26 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 11:39:26 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Joe the Plumber
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908040918g6d263d35l52e48df3133bbbab@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908040528r44b941a9qcca1474f206df482@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908040640l461c30ffm3fbc2f40b8695a04@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908040918g6d263d35l52e48df3133bbbab@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908040939q22cea32cwe893200b6dc8f200@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

This is getting repetitious ...... Well, DUH!!!

Why in the world would we need to create a new way to collect a highway tax.
Especially one as expensive and complicated to start up as this GPS thing
they are talking about???

RAISE THE TAX YOU ALREADY HAVE. Good grief, the road use (fuel) tax is one
of the fairest taxes we have in this country. You pay for what you use. You
use less, you pay less. Poor people can buy a car that runs cheaper so that
they not only pay for less fuel, but pay less taxes too. Why are people
trying to replace this very simple tax with some expensive to implement,
difficult to administer, technology intensive pain in the ass???

Besides, it ain't nobody's business where the hell we go. Somebody ought'a
have a constitutional issue with this GPS thing!!!

Rik

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 11:18 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> This is as good a place as any to report this 'gubment jewel' -
>
>
> http://www.landlinemag.com/todays_news/Daily/2009/Aug09/080309/080309-01.htm
>
> Mo taxes!  What could possibly go wrong?  Ask "Joe the Plumber" about
> public officials releasing information in an attempt to destroy a
> private citizen for political reasons.  So the 'gubmint' gets access
> to all your health records, the IRS already has your financial
> records, and now the DOT wants to record EVERYWHERE you drive.
> Orwell's imagination wasn't this prolific!
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/4/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > Well DUH!!!
> >
> > A revelation by the new administration .... the rich can't support the
> whole
> > world. Hell, I sat down back when Bush was still president and figured
> that
> > out in about a half hour, when all the liberals were whining about the
> Bush
> > tax cuts. But now, the bill is a hell of a lot bigger and will get bigger
> > still if the messiah get his way. Whether the rich could cover this isn't
> > even debatable. It wasn't even close BEFORE this last round of
> > unconscionable spending.
> >
> > And of course they want a VAT and a 10% VAT, at that, that's huge!!. They
> > certainly wouldn't have the balls to put on a straight sales tax. A tax
> that
> > would be transparent .... remember transparency??? One of the messiah's
> > great promises??
> >
> > If this man is not stopped soon, none of us will have anything left worth
> > saving.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 7:28 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> ".......the feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in
> >> America earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3
> >> trillion even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less
> >> rich now, while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion....."
> >>
> >> Think about that for a moment.  You've been had.  Well maybe not you,
> >> but 53% were had.
> >>
> >> Brad
> >>
> >> -------------------
> >>
> >> from the WSJ
> >>
> >>    * AUGUST 3, 2009, 8:08 P.M. ET
> >>
> >> Teeing Up the Middle Class
> >> Joe the Plumber?s tax vindication is nigh.
> >>
> >>
> >> Few of President Obama?s 2008 campaign pledges were more definitive
> >> than his vow that anyone making less than $250,000 a year ?will not
> >> see their taxes increase by a single dime? if he was elected. And he
> >> was right, very strictly speaking: It?s going to be many, many, many
> >> billions of dimes.
> >>
> >> Asked about raising taxes on the middle class on Sunday on CBS?s ?Face
> >> the Nation,? White House economist Larry Summers wouldn?t repeat Mr.
> >> Obama?s pre-election promise. ?It is never a good idea to absolutely
> >> rule things out no matter what,? Mr. Summers said?except, apparently,
> >> when his boss is running for office. Meanwhile, on ABC?s ?This Week,?
> >> Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also slid around Mr. Obama?s vow
> >> and said, ?We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically. And
> >> that?s going to require some very hard choices.?
> >>
> >> These aren?t even nondenial denials. The Obama advisers are laying the
> >> groundwork for taxing the middle class while claiming the deficit made
> >> them do it.
> >>
> >> The liberal establishment is even further along in finally admitting
> >> that Mr. Obama wasn?t, er, telling the truth. A piece in the New York
> >> Times over the weekend declared in a headline that ?the Rich Can?t Pay
> >> for Everything, Analysts Say.? And it quoted Leonard Burman, a veteran
> >> of the Clinton Treasury who now runs the Brookings Tax Policy Center,
> >> as saying that ?This idea that everything new that government provides
> >> ought to be paid for by the top 5%, that?s a basically unstable way of
> >> governing.? They?re right, but where were they during the campaign?
> >>
> >>
> >> In an editorial on February 26, ?The 2% Illusion,? we wrote that the
> >> feds could take 100% of the taxable income of everyone in America
> >> earning more than $500,000 and still have raised only $1.3 trillion
> >> even in the boom year of 2006. The rich are fewer and less rich now,
> >> while the Obama budget is nearly $4 trillion.
> >>
> >> Democrats already plan to repeal the Bush tax cuts, but that won?t
> >> raise enough money. So they?re proposing an income tax surcharge on
> >> ?the wealthy,? but that won?t raise enough either. Democrats have no
> >> choice but to soak the middle class because only they have enough
> >> money to finance the liberal dream of yoking the middle class to
> >> cradle-to-grave government entitlements.
> >>
> >> Democrats have already taxed the middle class by raising cigarette
> >> taxes to pay for the children?s health-care expansion. They?re also
> >> teeing up average earners with their cap-and-tax energy bill. Mr.
> >> Obama had hoped that cap-and-tax would raise some $646 billion over a
> >> decade, but Democrats in the House had to give most of that away in
> >> bribes to business to pass their bill. To finance ObamaCare, they?re
> >> also proposing another 10-percentage-point increase in the payroll tax
> >> on firms and individuals that don?t purchase health insurance. But
> >> this won?t raise enough money either.
> >>
> >> So waiting in the wings is the biggest middle-class tax increase of
> >> them all: a European-style value added tax, or VAT. This tax would
> >> apply to every level of production or service, and it is beloved by
> >> politicians in Europe because it raises so much money so easily
> >> without voters noticing. Ezekiel Emanuel, a White House aide and
> >> brother of Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, has advocated a 10% VAT to
> >> finance national health care. Look for a VAT to be one of the
> >> prominent options when Mr. Obama?s tax reform commission issues its
> >> report later this year.
> >>
> >> The undeniable reality is that you can?t run a European-style
> >> welfare-entitlement state without European-style levels of taxation on
> >> the middle class (and eventually without low European-style growth and
> >> high jobless rates). It?s looking more and more like Mr. Obama?s
> >> no-middle-class-tax pledge was one of the greatest confidence tricks
> >> in American political history.
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> freedom
> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
> the
> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 13:50:31 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 12:50:31 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>

The man is lying out his ass!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded

Brad

On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
> what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
> Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
> but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea, it's
> a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo the
> insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
> whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
> ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
> deception.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
>
> Brad
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 14:08:10 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 13:08:10 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it, he's
gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of the
real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't possible.
Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to the
worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.

If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let people
pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch the
prices drop with it.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> The man is lying out his ass!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea, it's
> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo the
> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
> > deception.
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
> >
> > Brad
> >
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 14:45:43 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 13:45:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70907291514g348c958do75f34b1be4d59953@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70907300530i261844erf1a7b9b469be6d70@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

This article (from National Review) once again raises the question of
how good an environmental policy is "Cash for Clunkers".  The science
is pretty well settled on this, not that science (or common sense)
matters to these folks.

Brad

-------------

The Billion-Dollar Car Crash
By the Editors

?Oh Lord, won?t you buy me a Mercedez Benz,? Janis Joplin once
warbled. The Lord, presumably, has other things on His mind, but Uncle
Sam is happy to pitch in for a new Benz under the incontestably
harebrained ?Cash for Clunkers? program, which already has run through
its first billion dollars and which the solons in Washington may dump
more billions into.

Cash for Clunkers was sold as a greenish stimulus for the suffering
car-sales business. If your old car is sufficiently thirsty for
gasoline, and the new one is sufficiently thrifty, the federal bursary
will dispense to you either $3,500 or $4,500 under the program. Which
is to say, one set of Americans will be taxed to the tune of several
thousand dollars to subsidize the new-car purchases of another set of
Americans, on the condition the cars purchased are the sort of cars
that the Obama administration and its congressional allies prefer that
Americans purchase. The credit is good for cars up to $45,000, meaning
that an entry-level Benz qualifies for a federal handout, but the
Porsche Cayman is just out of the reach of would-be automotive welfare
queens. Your old car goes out to Monster Joe?s Truck and Tow to get
mashed ? it is not to be resold, though some of it may be recycled.

There are many kinds of stupidity involved in Cash for Clunkers, but
let us address the two big ones: environmental stupidity and economic
stupidity.

First the environmental issue. Driving cars consumes energy, it is
true, and producing that energy leads to pollution, as energy
production always does. Cash for Clunkers subsidizes the switch from
relatively fuel-inefficient cars to relatively fuel-efficient ones,
but driving is not the only energy-consuming activity related to
automobiles. Producing new cars takes a lot of energy, too.
Manufacturing a new Toyota Prius, to take one example dear to the
hearts of Obama-voting conspicuous green consumers from Seattle to
Madison, uses the equivalent of burning about 1,000 gallons of
gasoline. If Washington really wanted to encourage energy savings, it
would subsidize the purchase of fuel-efficient used cars ? as Wired
magazine pointed out in a 2008 article (?Go Green: Buy a Used Car,
It?s Better Than a Hybrid?), a 1994 Geo Metro gets mileage as good as
the Prius?s without incurring the 13 million BTUs of energy necessary
to build a new one. So it is far from clear that Cash for Clunkers
will produce net environmental benefits.

More obvious, and more galling, is the economic stupidity. If we could
stimulate the economy by destroying consumer goods and replacing them
with more expensive greenwashed alternatives, then we should all go
burn down our houses and have Washington subsidize new ones with solar
panels on the roofs and maybe little wind turbines out back. But
neither an individual, nor a family, nor a nation is able to build
wealth through the wanton destruction of assets, even if some of those
assets are 1994 Chevy Blazers with 140,000 miles on the odometer.
Frederic Bastiat, in his famous essay, ?What Is Seen and What Is Not
Seen,?  takes the case of a broken window:

    Suppose that it will cost six francs to repair the damage. . . .
The glazier will come, do his job, receive six francs, congratulate
himself, and bless in his heart the careless child. That is what is
seen. . . . It is not seen that, since our citizen has spent six
francs for one thing, he will not be able to spend them for another.
It is not seen that if he had not had a windowpane to replace, he
would have replaced, for example, his worn-out shoes or added another
book to his library. . . . The window having been broken, the glass
industry gets six francs? worth of encouragement; that is what is
seen. If the window had not been broken, the shoe industry (or some
other) would have received six francs? worth of encouragement; that is
what is not seen.

What we have in Cash for Clunkers is a billion dollars? worth of newly
broken windows.

The House already has approved $2 billion more for this witless
exercise, and Obama?s secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, is
pressing the Senate to bless this buffoonery before the August recess.
Oh, Lord, Washington ? give us less Janis Joplin, more Frederic
Bastiat, and no more Cash for Clunkers.


On 7/30/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey .... how'd the gov't know I wanted to buy that guy a new truck.
>
> That question wasn't in the American Community Survey.
>
> Rik
>
> On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 7:30 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Go figure!
>>
>> http://www.startribune.com/business/51943937.html?page=1&c=y
>>
>> Do you really want these people in charge of your health care?
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 7/29/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Finally, I time something right!  Two months ago the local VW dealer
>> > had plenty of inventory and they were heavily discounting to move
>> > cars.  Plus, the diesels qualify for a $1300 tax rebate.  What I found
>> > interesting about the following article was that Germany takes August
>> > off -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/logky3
>> >
>> > Does this mean Mexico takes August off as well?  How about Chattanooga
>> > when the new VW plant there comes on line?  What a novel concept, why
>> > doesn't the whole US just go on vacation until we run out of inventory
>> > of everything, and then the recession is over!
>> >
>> > Brad
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> ?The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and
> then saying, ?You see, without me, you couldn?t walk.? ?. Harry Browne
>


From ekroposki at charter.net  Tue Aug  4 15:23:03 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:23:03 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] circulating the internet #1
Message-ID: <A9663C6AE1E343EFBCE50831351E92BE@YOURB88038198E>

see:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3678-Baltimore-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m5d5-Update-from-Oklahoma
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 15:23:51 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 14:23:51 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70907291514g348c958do75f34b1be4d59953@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70907300530i261844erf1a7b9b469be6d70@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908041223r4a54d88cg19038c8b36ba4203@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Well, call me a patriot. I saw the CFC program for the waste that it is and
voluntarily passed on my share of the free bucks .... not wanting to be part
of the problem.

When will our handlers see that the way to end up with a stable, sustainable
economy going forward is to work down this debt (both public & private) and
get back to investing money we actually have (savings)?? You can't
re-inflate a bubble once it has popped. Forcing me to buy a new car, that I
may or may not need, may or may not be able to afford and certainly will get
no use of is only prolonging the misery. Further, how many cars will NOT be
sold next year because of this foolishness today??? What are they gonna do
then?? Short term thinking at it's finest!!!

Rik

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> This article (from National Review) once again raises the question of
> how good an environmental policy is "Cash for Clunkers".  The science
> is pretty well settled on this, not that science (or common sense)
> matters to these folks.
>
> Brad
>
> -------------
>
> The Billion-Dollar Car Crash
> By the Editors
>
> ?Oh Lord, won?t you buy me a Mercedez Benz,? Janis Joplin once
> warbled. The Lord, presumably, has other things on His mind, but Uncle
> Sam is happy to pitch in for a new Benz under the incontestably
> harebrained ?Cash for Clunkers? program, which already has run through
> its first billion dollars and which the solons in Washington may dump
> more billions into.
>
> Cash for Clunkers was sold as a greenish stimulus for the suffering
> car-sales business. If your old car is sufficiently thirsty for
> gasoline, and the new one is sufficiently thrifty, the federal bursary
> will dispense to you either $3,500 or $4,500 under the program. Which
> is to say, one set of Americans will be taxed to the tune of several
> thousand dollars to subsidize the new-car purchases of another set of
> Americans, on the condition the cars purchased are the sort of cars
> that the Obama administration and its congressional allies prefer that
> Americans purchase. The credit is good for cars up to $45,000, meaning
> that an entry-level Benz qualifies for a federal handout, but the
> Porsche Cayman is just out of the reach of would-be automotive welfare
> queens. Your old car goes out to Monster Joe?s Truck and Tow to get
> mashed ? it is not to be resold, though some of it may be recycled.
>
> There are many kinds of stupidity involved in Cash for Clunkers, but
> let us address the two big ones: environmental stupidity and economic
> stupidity.
>
> First the environmental issue. Driving cars consumes energy, it is
> true, and producing that energy leads to pollution, as energy
> production always does. Cash for Clunkers subsidizes the switch from
> relatively fuel-inefficient cars to relatively fuel-efficient ones,
> but driving is not the only energy-consuming activity related to
> automobiles. Producing new cars takes a lot of energy, too.
> Manufacturing a new Toyota Prius, to take one example dear to the
> hearts of Obama-voting conspicuous green consumers from Seattle to
> Madison, uses the equivalent of burning about 1,000 gallons of
> gasoline. If Washington really wanted to encourage energy savings, it
> would subsidize the purchase of fuel-efficient used cars ? as Wired
> magazine pointed out in a 2008 article (?Go Green: Buy a Used Car,
> It?s Better Than a Hybrid?), a 1994 Geo Metro gets mileage as good as
> the Prius?s without incurring the 13 million BTUs of energy necessary
> to build a new one. So it is far from clear that Cash for Clunkers
> will produce net environmental benefits.
>
> More obvious, and more galling, is the economic stupidity. If we could
> stimulate the economy by destroying consumer goods and replacing them
> with more expensive greenwashed alternatives, then we should all go
> burn down our houses and have Washington subsidize new ones with solar
> panels on the roofs and maybe little wind turbines out back. But
> neither an individual, nor a family, nor a nation is able to build
> wealth through the wanton destruction of assets, even if some of those
> assets are 1994 Chevy Blazers with 140,000 miles on the odometer.
> Frederic Bastiat, in his famous essay, ?What Is Seen and What Is Not
> Seen,?  takes the case of a broken window:
>
>    Suppose that it will cost six francs to repair the damage. . . .
> The glazier will come, do his job, receive six francs, congratulate
> himself, and bless in his heart the careless child. That is what is
> seen. . . . It is not seen that, since our citizen has spent six
> francs for one thing, he will not be able to spend them for another.
> It is not seen that if he had not had a windowpane to replace, he
> would have replaced, for example, his worn-out shoes or added another
> book to his library. . . . The window having been broken, the glass
> industry gets six francs? worth of encouragement; that is what is
> seen. If the window had not been broken, the shoe industry (or some
> other) would have received six francs? worth of encouragement; that is
> what is not seen.
>
> What we have in Cash for Clunkers is a billion dollars? worth of newly
> broken windows.
>
> The House already has approved $2 billion more for this witless
> exercise, and Obama?s secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, is
> pressing the Senate to bless this buffoonery before the August recess.
> Oh, Lord, Washington ? give us less Janis Joplin, more Frederic
> Bastiat, and no more Cash for Clunkers.
>
>
> On 7/30/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hey .... how'd the gov't know I wanted to buy that guy a new truck.
> >
> > That question wasn't in the American Community Survey.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 7:30 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Go figure!
> >>
> >> http://www.startribune.com/business/51943937.html?page=1&c=y
> >>
> >> Do you really want these people in charge of your health care?
> >>
> >> Brad
> >>
> >> On 7/29/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Finally, I time something right!  Two months ago the local VW dealer
> >> > had plenty of inventory and they were heavily discounting to move
> >> > cars.  Plus, the diesels qualify for a $1300 tax rebate.  What I found
> >> > interesting about the following article was that Germany takes August
> >> > off -
> >> >
> >> > http://tinyurl.com/logky3
> >> >
> >> > Does this mean Mexico takes August off as well?  How about Chattanooga
> >> > when the new VW plant there comes on line?  What a novel concept, why
> >> > doesn't the whole US just go on vacation until we run out of inventory
> >> > of everything, and then the recession is over!
> >> >
> >> > Brad
> >> >
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ?The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and
> > then saying, ?You see, without me, you couldn?t walk.? ?. Harry Browne
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Tue Aug  4 15:33:57 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:33:57 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] For Rik
Message-ID: <BE3118B75A9E4300AB3A8953CB7D581F@YOURB88038198E>

Rik,

For your use:

http://georgia-arms.com/location.aspx

Ed K
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Tue Aug  4 15:17:15 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:17:15 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
Message-ID: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>

So what is this that the Obama Administration will not release statisitics on the "Cash for Clunkers " program because it shows that the consumers bought Hondas, Toyotas and everything but GM and Chrysler.

Anybody got a copy on story?

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 16:09:04 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:09:04 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908041223r4a54d88cg19038c8b36ba4203@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70907291514g348c958do75f34b1be4d59953@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70907300530i261844erf1a7b9b469be6d70@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041223r4a54d88cg19038c8b36ba4203@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041309u644f801n5aaeeecf68321de9@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Zactly!

Some of these folks were probably driving "clunkers" because that's
all they could afford, and some like me drove them because they had
better things to do with their money. The ones who could barely afford
a clunker now have a hefty bank note to service.  That just means they
won't be buying other things.  Care to bet how many of these newly
sold cars get re-possessed?

These eco-warrior idiots (ditto congress-critters) don't understand
the first thing about economics 101.  My employer is slowly retiring
gas-guzzling 727's but only after they've flown the last hour of
utility out of them. You can buy a lot of jet fuel for the cost of a
new airplane.  When we do get a new airplane, we work it as hard as we
possibly can, burning just as much total fuel as before but covering
more territory.  Do ya think some of these people might drive more
and/or use less public transportation with their new fuel-sippin'
rides? My boss man is also the industry leader in converting to
diesel/electric hybrid trucks, using bodies that have worn out their
drive-train and need overhauling anyway.

I'm thinking with all these used pick-ups being destroyed, my 95 Dodge
1/2 ton should be going up in value soon.  Being the patriot I am,
I'll sell it to some hard working Mexican tradesman in a few months
for a profit.

Brad
On 8/4/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Well, call me a patriot. I saw the CFC program for the waste that it is and
> voluntarily passed on my share of the free bucks .... not wanting to be part
> of the problem.
>
> When will our handlers see that the way to end up with a stable, sustainable
> economy going forward is to work down this debt (both public & private) and
> get back to investing money we actually have (savings)?? You can't
> re-inflate a bubble once it has popped. Forcing me to buy a new car, that I
> may or may not need, may or may not be able to afford and certainly will get
> no use of is only prolonging the misery. Further, how many cars will NOT be
> sold next year because of this foolishness today??? What are they gonna do
> then?? Short term thinking at it's finest!!!
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:45 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Rik,
>>
>> This article (from National Review) once again raises the question of
>> how good an environmental policy is "Cash for Clunkers".  The science
>> is pretty well settled on this, not that science (or common sense)
>> matters to these folks.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> -------------
>>
>> The Billion-Dollar Car Crash
>> By the Editors
>>
>> ?Oh Lord, won?t you buy me a Mercedez Benz,? Janis Joplin once
>> warbled. The Lord, presumably, has other things on His mind, but Uncle
>> Sam is happy to pitch in for a new Benz under the incontestably
>> harebrained ?Cash for Clunkers? program, which already has run through
>> its first billion dollars and which the solons in Washington may dump
>> more billions into.
>>
>> Cash for Clunkers was sold as a greenish stimulus for the suffering
>> car-sales business. If your old car is sufficiently thirsty for
>> gasoline, and the new one is sufficiently thrifty, the federal bursary
>> will dispense to you either $3,500 or $4,500 under the program. Which
>> is to say, one set of Americans will be taxed to the tune of several
>> thousand dollars to subsidize the new-car purchases of another set of
>> Americans, on the condition the cars purchased are the sort of cars
>> that the Obama administration and its congressional allies prefer that
>> Americans purchase. The credit is good for cars up to $45,000, meaning
>> that an entry-level Benz qualifies for a federal handout, but the
>> Porsche Cayman is just out of the reach of would-be automotive welfare
>> queens. Your old car goes out to Monster Joe?s Truck and Tow to get
>> mashed ? it is not to be resold, though some of it may be recycled.
>>
>> There are many kinds of stupidity involved in Cash for Clunkers, but
>> let us address the two big ones: environmental stupidity and economic
>> stupidity.
>>
>> First the environmental issue. Driving cars consumes energy, it is
>> true, and producing that energy leads to pollution, as energy
>> production always does. Cash for Clunkers subsidizes the switch from
>> relatively fuel-inefficient cars to relatively fuel-efficient ones,
>> but driving is not the only energy-consuming activity related to
>> automobiles. Producing new cars takes a lot of energy, too.
>> Manufacturing a new Toyota Prius, to take one example dear to the
>> hearts of Obama-voting conspicuous green consumers from Seattle to
>> Madison, uses the equivalent of burning about 1,000 gallons of
>> gasoline. If Washington really wanted to encourage energy savings, it
>> would subsidize the purchase of fuel-efficient used cars ? as Wired
>> magazine pointed out in a 2008 article (?Go Green: Buy a Used Car,
>> It?s Better Than a Hybrid?), a 1994 Geo Metro gets mileage as good as
>> the Prius?s without incurring the 13 million BTUs of energy necessary
>> to build a new one. So it is far from clear that Cash for Clunkers
>> will produce net environmental benefits.
>>
>> More obvious, and more galling, is the economic stupidity. If we could
>> stimulate the economy by destroying consumer goods and replacing them
>> with more expensive greenwashed alternatives, then we should all go
>> burn down our houses and have Washington subsidize new ones with solar
>> panels on the roofs and maybe little wind turbines out back. But
>> neither an individual, nor a family, nor a nation is able to build
>> wealth through the wanton destruction of assets, even if some of those
>> assets are 1994 Chevy Blazers with 140,000 miles on the odometer.
>> Frederic Bastiat, in his famous essay, ?What Is Seen and What Is Not
>> Seen,?  takes the case of a broken window:
>>
>>    Suppose that it will cost six francs to repair the damage. . . .
>> The glazier will come, do his job, receive six francs, congratulate
>> himself, and bless in his heart the careless child. That is what is
>> seen. . . . It is not seen that, since our citizen has spent six
>> francs for one thing, he will not be able to spend them for another.
>> It is not seen that if he had not had a windowpane to replace, he
>> would have replaced, for example, his worn-out shoes or added another
>> book to his library. . . . The window having been broken, the glass
>> industry gets six francs? worth of encouragement; that is what is
>> seen. If the window had not been broken, the shoe industry (or some
>> other) would have received six francs? worth of encouragement; that is
>> what is not seen.
>>
>> What we have in Cash for Clunkers is a billion dollars? worth of newly
>> broken windows.
>>
>> The House already has approved $2 billion more for this witless
>> exercise, and Obama?s secretary of transportation, Ray LaHood, is
>> pressing the Senate to bless this buffoonery before the August recess.
>> Oh, Lord, Washington ? give us less Janis Joplin, more Frederic
>> Bastiat, and no more Cash for Clunkers.
>>
>>
>> On 7/30/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Hey .... how'd the gov't know I wanted to buy that guy a new truck.
>> >
>> > That question wasn't in the American Community Survey.
>> >
>> > Rik
>> >
>> > On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 7:30 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Go figure!
>> >>
>> >> http://www.startribune.com/business/51943937.html?page=1&c=y
>> >>
>> >> Do you really want these people in charge of your health care?
>> >>
>> >> Brad
>> >>
>> >> On 7/29/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > Finally, I time something right!  Two months ago the local VW dealer
>> >> > had plenty of inventory and they were heavily discounting to move
>> >> > cars.  Plus, the diesels qualify for a $1300 tax rebate.  What I
>> >> > found
>> >> > interesting about the following article was that Germany takes August
>> >> > off -
>> >> >
>> >> > http://tinyurl.com/logky3
>> >> >
>> >> > Does this mean Mexico takes August off as well?  How about
>> >> > Chattanooga
>> >> > when the new VW plant there comes on line?  What a novel concept, why
>> >> > doesn't the whole US just go on vacation until we run out of
>> >> > inventory
>> >> > of everything, and then the recession is over!
>> >> >
>> >> > Brad
>> >> >
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > ?The government is great at breaking your leg, handing you a crutch, and
>> > then saying, ?You see, without me, you couldn?t walk.? ?. Harry Browne
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Tue Aug  4 15:53:52 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:53:52 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
References: <400985d70907291514g348c958do75f34b1be4d59953@mail.gmail.com><400985d70907300530i261844erf1a7b9b469be6d70@mail.gmail.com><6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1D0857FE8B2A4B9CA6945BCB53B0B5FB@ebsoffice>

Brad,

In addition to not buying into the whole G-W fiasco, I was horrified to read 
how the clunkers are destroyed.  In order to prevent reselling the clunker 
for parts, the engine is seized up as follows:

    He drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles 
and
    gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved
    the car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a 
glass-like
    substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.

How can a society think that this kind of action will help avoid an 
environmental crisis.  Destroying viable transportation vehicles in the name 
of fossil fuel savings is impossible to justify.  Even if energy usage is 
curbed by the process, of which I am highly doubtful, a Columbia prof summed 
it up nicely:

    Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School?s Center for Climate
    Change Law, said in a statement that the cash-for-clunker program is not
    a cost-effective way to reduce fuel use or greenhouse gas emissions. Any
    energy savings, he said, could take several years to realize, 
considering the
    time it takes the fuel savings from a new car to exceed the energy cost
    used to make it.

What are we doing?  Stimulating the automobile economy?  This is lunacy!

Mike


Original article (NYTimes) follows:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/dealers-race-to-get-their-clunkers-crushed/?hp

July 31, 2009, 2:13 pm
Dealers Race to Get Their Clunkers Crushed
By Katharine Q. Seelye

The White House and Congress may be giving the ?cash for clunkers? program a 
reprieve, but one can?t help wondering how many dealers and customers will 
have the confidence to go forward at this point. Things sound like a total 
mess in the showrooms.

?There is absolute frustration across the board,? Alex Kurkin, a lawyer 
based in Miami who represents several car dealerships, tells The Lede today. 
?As of this morning, they?re not really confident about any deals, and no 
one can give them advice about what they should be telling their customers.?

One thing still not clear is how many older cars have actually been sold and 
scrapped with the original $1 billion, and how many more the new $2 billion 
will be able to cover. Mr. Kurkin tells us that the government Web site 
where dealers are supposed to register their deals has been crashing, and 
the dealers haven?t been able to plug in their information.

We spent a couple of days earlier this week following the whole complex 
program, from dealer to scrap heap, and found twists and turns in it that 
are making it a nightmare now for everyone involved.

The program requires that the clunkers be put out of service for good, so 
dealers must destroy the engines on cars that are traded in. We watched this 
process yesterday at the DCH Paramus Honda in Paramus, N.J. It is quite 
laborious and potentially dangerous. And it certainly is final.
Nick Clites, who is in charge of used cars for the dealership, was prepping 
a 1988 BMW 535IS, with 214,000 miles on the odometer, for its death. He 
drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles and 
gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved the 
car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a glass-like 
substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.

So here is one question: With the program now on shaky ground, even with a 
new infusion of money, what consumer and what dealer will risk rendering an 
engine irretrievably unusable?
Well, as it turns out, a lot of them are doing so, because unless the 
dealers can prove to the government that they have killed the engines and 
scrapped the cars, the government will not reimburse them for the $3,500 or 
$4,500 discount that they have given the customer on a new, more efficient 
vehicle.

Barry Magnus, the general manager of DCH Paramus Honda, told us he was owed 
more than $80,000, and he wondered if he would ever see it. The government 
has said it would take 10 days to reimburse the dealers, but that was before 
the program apparently ran out of money and devolved into chaos Thursday 
night.

Today, dealers are frantically trying to move the old trade-ins to the scrap 
heap so that they can get reimbursement before the money tap shuts off. 
Until they can certify that the car has been decommissioned, they cannot 
submit their paperwork to be repaid.

?Oh my God, what a mess today,? Sally Ann Maggio, who co-owns Hackensack 
Auto Wreckers, also in New Jersey, said on Friday. We visited her 
car-crushing business on Thursday. She didn?t think much of the program to 
begin with.

Ms. Maggio said she generally makes her profit by reselling the engines, the 
most valuable parts of the cars she takes, but that?s not posible with the 
cars coming to her because of the cash for clunkers program, because they 
have been rendered unusable. That cuts down the salvage value of the cars ? 
and the incentive for salvage yards and wreckers to take them ? to almost 
nothing, considering the time and energy they must spend in going to the 
dealer, towing back the dead cars, removing the engines, crushing the bodies 
and shipping them to a metal scrap shredder and recycler.

And, of course, the process reduces the supply of used engines for people 
who can?t afford to buy a new car and come to the salvage yard looking to 
fix up old ones.
In any case, Ms. Maggio said, dealers are ?hitting the panic button? today.
?We have been overwhelmed with phone calls from the dealerships,? she said. 
They have already killed the engines, and want her to pick up the heaps.

And on hearing the news that the government might be pumping more money into 
the program, she said, they are stepping up the process. ?They?re worried 
that the new money might last only two days,? Ms. Maggio said. ?But until it?s 
scrapped and the paperwork is done, it?s not a done deal,? she said. ?They?re 
driving me crazy.?

Mr. Kurkin, the lawyer in Miami, said that many dealers are attaching 
clauses to their sales agreements, saying that if the government money does 
not come through, the customer will have to make up the difference.

?If a dealer doesn?t have a separate document addressing this possibility, 
the dealer will likely have to eat it,? Mr. Kurkin said. ?I certainly see a 
lot of litigation over this.?

Dealers Step In | 7:43 p.m.
While the government?s ?cash for clunkers? program may be stalled at a 
yellow light, a group of private auto dealers is stepping into the breach.

The group, made up of about 50 of the nation?s biggest dealers, who sell 
both foreign and domestic makes, are hoping to capitalize on the popularity 
of the ?cash for clunkers? program with their own ?automotive stimulus 
program,? but with looser requirements.

?So many customers were so close to qualifying,? but their cars did not meet 
the government requirement of getting less than 18 miles per gallon, said 
Brian Benstock, general manager of Paragon Honda, Paragon Acura of Brooklyn, 
and one of the participating dealers. Still, he said, the government program 
was clearly successful, which is why it ran out of money. On Friday, the 
House voted to add $2 billion to the program; the Senate is to vote next 
week.

Set to run for 12 weeks, the dealers? plan requires that the clunkers being 
traded in have been registered and insured by the owner for just six months, 
half the government?s requirement. It also allows customers to trade in 
their clunkers for used cars, not just new ones.

?Clunker customers would like the option of going from a 15-year-old car to 
a 5-year-old car,? Mr. Benstock said. The government plan requires that the 
customer buy a new car that gets at least 4 more miles per gallon than the 
clunker; the dealers? plan says only that the replacement car be more 
fuel-efficient, so it could get just one more mile per gallon.

That may help sales, but is likely to do little for the environment. But 
experts said the government plan would do little for the environment either.

Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School?s Center for Climate Change 
Law, said in a statement that the cash-for-clunker program is not a 
cost-effective way to reduce fuel use or greenhouse gas emissions. Any 
energy savings, he said, could take several years to realize, considering 
the time it takes the fuel savings from a new car to exceed the energy cost 
used to make it.


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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 16:15:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:15:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>
References: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041315k4426d9c5v4917975523a4eb17@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Latest on the story below.  The Ford Focus is the one the
administration is touting but it is built all over the world - great
little car, you see a lot of them in China.  You would have to look at
an individual sticker to see how "American" it is.  Honda = Ohio,
Toyota = Kentucky, Hyundai = Alabama.  And yes, the two 'gubment'
companies may not be doing so well with the program.  But how would we
know?  The "most transparent" government ever isn't revealing the
data.

Brad

--------------

Obama administration withholds data on clunkers
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, Associated Press Writer Brett J. Blackledge,
Associated Press Writer 1 hr 24 mins ago

WASHINGTON ? The Obama administration is refusing to quickly release
government records on its "cash-for-clunkers" rebate program that
would substantiate ? or undercut ? White House claims of the program's
success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for
$2 billion to boost car sales.

The Transportation Department said it will provide the data as soon as
possible but did not specify a time frame or promise release of the
data before the Senate votes whether to spend $2 billion more on the
program.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday the government would
release electronic records about the program, and President Barack
Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration. But the
Transportation Department, which has collected details on about
157,000 rebate requests, won't release sales data that dealers
provided showing how much U.S. car manufacturers are benefiting from
the $1 billion initially pumped into the program.

The Associated Press has sought release of the data since last week.
Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, said the agency will provide the data requested as
soon as possible.

DOT officials already have received electronic details from car
dealers of each trade-in transaction. The agency receives regular
analyses of the sales data, producing helpful talking points for
LaHood, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and other officials to use
when urging more funding.

LaHood said in an interview Sunday he would make the electronic
records available. "I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't do
it," he said.

LaHood, the program's chief salesman, has pitched the rebates as good
for America, good for car buyers, good for the environment, good for
the economy. But it's difficult to determine whether the
administration is overselling the claim without seeing what's being
sold, what's being traded in and where the cars are being sold.

LaHood, for example, promotes the fact that the Ford Focus so far is
at the top of the list of new cars purchased under the program. But
the limited information released so far shows most buyers are not
picking Ford, Chrysler or General Motors vehicles, and six of the top
10 vehicles purchased are Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.

LaHood has called the popular rebates to car buyers "the lifeline that
will bring back the automobile industry in America." He and other
advocates are citing program data to promote passage of another $2
billion for the incentives -- claiming dealers sold cars that are 61
percent more fuel efficient than trade-ins.

LaHood also said this week that even if buyers aren't choosing cars
made by U.S. automobile manufacturers, many of the Honda, Toyota and
Hyundai cars sold were made in those companies' American plants.

But there's no way to verify his claims without access to DOT's data.

Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has argued against quick
approval of $2 billion for the program because little is known about
the first round of $3,500 and $4,500 rebates.

"We don't have the results of the first $1 billion," McConnell
spokesman Don Stewart said. "You don't have them. We don't have them.
DOT doesn't have all of it. We'd hate to make a mistake on something
like that."

On 8/4/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> So what is this that the Obama Administration will not release statisitics
> on the "Cash for Clunkers " program because it shows that the consumers
> bought Hondas, Toyotas and everything but GM and Chrysler.
>
> Anybody got a copy on story?
>
> Ed K


From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 16:53:17 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:53:17 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <1D0857FE8B2A4B9CA6945BCB53B0B5FB@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70907291514g348c958do75f34b1be4d59953@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70907300530i261844erf1a7b9b469be6d70@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0907300824y57b2f506y66e1719d5db0a40@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041145v2eb8faa7lae12bacfa410fd7e@mail.gmail.com>
	<1D0857FE8B2A4B9CA6945BCB53B0B5FB@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041353k1a9f17ja2e7f905826f239a@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

If you really wanted to do some good with this subsidy money, spend it
on a free tune-up for every car over 5 years old - it would be good
for the environment, good for the repair industry, the parts industry,
etc., and cost a helluva lot less money.  But that wasn't the point of
this boondoggle, was it? After almost 4 years of watching post-Katrina
government screw-ups, you'd think I'd be immune to silliness like
this. But no, the DC idiots never cease to amaze me. What happened to
that idea of eliminating foreign oil imports by inflating our tires?
Surely that wasn't campaign BS, was it?

Here's what happened in STL today when the co-sponsor the bill tried
to hold a press conference at a Ford dealership (can't imagine why he
didn't pick a GM or Chrysler dealer).

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=181775

Watch the video.  It may be slow loading.  KSDK's server is being
swamped from the nation wide attention.

Brad

On 8/4/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> In addition to not buying into the whole G-W fiasco, I was horrified to read
> how the clunkers are destroyed.  In order to prevent reselling the clunker
> for parts, the engine is seized up as follows:
>
>     He drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles
> and
>     gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved
>     the car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a
> glass-like
>     substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.
>
> How can a society think that this kind of action will help avoid an
> environmental crisis.  Destroying viable transportation vehicles in the name
> of fossil fuel savings is impossible to justify.  Even if energy usage is
> curbed by the process, of which I am highly doubtful, a Columbia prof summed
> it up nicely:
>
>     Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School?s Center for Climate
>     Change Law, said in a statement that the cash-for-clunker program is not
>     a cost-effective way to reduce fuel use or greenhouse gas emissions. Any
>     energy savings, he said, could take several years to realize,
> considering the
>     time it takes the fuel savings from a new car to exceed the energy cost
>     used to make it.
>
> What are we doing?  Stimulating the automobile economy?  This is lunacy!
>
> Mike
>
>
> Original article (NYTimes) follows:
> http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/dealers-race-to-get-their-clunkers-crushed/?hp
>
> July 31, 2009, 2:13 pm
> Dealers Race to Get Their Clunkers Crushed
> By Katharine Q. Seelye
>
> The White House and Congress may be giving the ?cash for clunkers? program a
> reprieve, but one can?t help wondering how many dealers and customers will
> have the confidence to go forward at this point. Things sound like a total
> mess in the showrooms.
>
> ?There is absolute frustration across the board,? Alex Kurkin, a lawyer
> based in Miami who represents several car dealerships, tells The Lede today.
> ?As of this morning, they?re not really confident about any deals, and no
> one can give them advice about what they should be telling their customers.?
>
> One thing still not clear is how many older cars have actually been sold and
> scrapped with the original $1 billion, and how many more the new $2 billion
> will be able to cover. Mr. Kurkin tells us that the government Web site
> where dealers are supposed to register their deals has been crashing, and
> the dealers haven?t been able to plug in their information.
>
> We spent a couple of days earlier this week following the whole complex
> program, from dealer to scrap heap, and found twists and turns in it that
> are making it a nightmare now for everyone involved.
>
> The program requires that the clunkers be put out of service for good, so
> dealers must destroy the engines on cars that are traded in. We watched this
> process yesterday at the DCH Paramus Honda in Paramus, N.J. It is quite
> laborious and potentially dangerous. And it certainly is final.
> Nick Clites, who is in charge of used cars for the dealership, was prepping
> a 1988 BMW 535IS, with 214,000 miles on the odometer, for its death. He
> drained the oil, then donned a silky blue protective suit, goggles and
> gloves and poured a sodium silicate solution into the engine. He revved the
> car, and within a few seconds, the solution hardened into a glass-like
> substance, the engine seized up and the car was dead.
>
> So here is one question: With the program now on shaky ground, even with a
> new infusion of money, what consumer and what dealer will risk rendering an
> engine irretrievably unusable?
> Well, as it turns out, a lot of them are doing so, because unless the
> dealers can prove to the government that they have killed the engines and
> scrapped the cars, the government will not reimburse them for the $3,500 or
> $4,500 discount that they have given the customer on a new, more efficient
> vehicle.
>
> Barry Magnus, the general manager of DCH Paramus Honda, told us he was owed
> more than $80,000, and he wondered if he would ever see it. The government
> has said it would take 10 days to reimburse the dealers, but that was before
> the program apparently ran out of money and devolved into chaos Thursday
> night.
>
> Today, dealers are frantically trying to move the old trade-ins to the scrap
> heap so that they can get reimbursement before the money tap shuts off.
> Until they can certify that the car has been decommissioned, they cannot
> submit their paperwork to be repaid.
>
> ?Oh my God, what a mess today,? Sally Ann Maggio, who co-owns Hackensack
> Auto Wreckers, also in New Jersey, said on Friday. We visited her
> car-crushing business on Thursday. She didn?t think much of the program to
> begin with.
>
> Ms. Maggio said she generally makes her profit by reselling the engines, the
> most valuable parts of the cars she takes, but that?s not posible with the
> cars coming to her because of the cash for clunkers program, because they
> have been rendered unusable. That cuts down the salvage value of the cars ?
> and the incentive for salvage yards and wreckers to take them ? to almost
> nothing, considering the time and energy they must spend in going to the
> dealer, towing back the dead cars, removing the engines, crushing the bodies
> and shipping them to a metal scrap shredder and recycler.
>
> And, of course, the process reduces the supply of used engines for people
> who can?t afford to buy a new car and come to the salvage yard looking to
> fix up old ones.
> In any case, Ms. Maggio said, dealers are ?hitting the panic button? today.
> ?We have been overwhelmed with phone calls from the dealerships,? she said.
> They have already killed the engines, and want her to pick up the heaps.
>
> And on hearing the news that the government might be pumping more money into
> the program, she said, they are stepping up the process. ?They?re worried
> that the new money might last only two days,? Ms. Maggio said. ?But until
> it?s
> scrapped and the paperwork is done, it?s not a done deal,? she said.
> ?They?re
> driving me crazy.?
>
> Mr. Kurkin, the lawyer in Miami, said that many dealers are attaching
> clauses to their sales agreements, saying that if the government money does
> not come through, the customer will have to make up the difference.
>
> ?If a dealer doesn?t have a separate document addressing this possibility,
> the dealer will likely have to eat it,? Mr. Kurkin said. ?I certainly see a
> lot of litigation over this.?
>
> Dealers Step In | 7:43 p.m.
> While the government?s ?cash for clunkers? program may be stalled at a
> yellow light, a group of private auto dealers is stepping into the breach.
>
> The group, made up of about 50 of the nation?s biggest dealers, who sell
> both foreign and domestic makes, are hoping to capitalize on the popularity
> of the ?cash for clunkers? program with their own ?automotive stimulus
> program,? but with looser requirements.
>
> ?So many customers were so close to qualifying,? but their cars did not meet
> the government requirement of getting less than 18 miles per gallon, said
> Brian Benstock, general manager of Paragon Honda, Paragon Acura of Brooklyn,
> and one of the participating dealers. Still, he said, the government program
> was clearly successful, which is why it ran out of money. On Friday, the
> House voted to add $2 billion to the program; the Senate is to vote next
> week.
>
> Set to run for 12 weeks, the dealers? plan requires that the clunkers being
> traded in have been registered and insured by the owner for just six months,
> half the government?s requirement. It also allows customers to trade in
> their clunkers for used cars, not just new ones.
>
> ?Clunker customers would like the option of going from a 15-year-old car to
> a 5-year-old car,? Mr. Benstock said. The government plan requires that the
> customer buy a new car that gets at least 4 more miles per gallon than the
> clunker; the dealers? plan says only that the replacement car be more
> fuel-efficient, so it could get just one more mile per gallon.
>
> That may help sales, but is likely to do little for the environment. But
> experts said the government plan would do little for the environment either.
>
> Michael Gerrard, director of Columbia Law School?s Center for Climate Change
> Law, said in a statement that the cash-for-clunker program is not a
> cost-effective way to reduce fuel use or greenhouse gas emissions. Any
> energy savings, he said, could take several years to realize, considering
> the time it takes the fuel savings from a new car to exceed the energy cost
> used to make it.
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
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> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 16:56:07 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 15:56:07 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] For Rik
In-Reply-To: <BE3118B75A9E4300AB3A8953CB7D581F@YOURB88038198E>
References: <BE3118B75A9E4300AB3A8953CB7D581F@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908041356h1ee2a2b6m1c12df511f467382@mail.gmail.com>

Thanks ed.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 2:33 PM, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>  Rik,
>
> For your use:
>
> http://georgia-arms.com/location.aspx
>
> Ed K
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 18:30:58 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 17:30:58 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] What, Me Worry?
Message-ID: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>

Are these guys paranoid?

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

Before you go to the link, read this excerpt -

      "Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White
House, we?re asking for   your help. If you get an email or see
something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy,
send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."

Hell, all anyone has done is play old YouTube videos of Dear Leader.

First we get "Cash for Clunkers" which makes about as much sense as
melting pots and pans to make steel in backyard furnaces during Mao's
Great Leap Forward, now we get the Cultural Revolution's updated
version of the Red Guard.  What are they going to do?  Sick the IRS on
us?

Forget that idea, you don't know what they might do.  After all,
didn't Timmy say this weekend that "desperate times call for desperate
measures"?

Brad


From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 18:34:09 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 17:34:09 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers
In-Reply-To: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>
References: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908041534p3e06246ai262cf87920145bc2@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Here's an update -

http://tinyurl.com/q7nw8d

Brad

On 8/4/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> So what is this that the Obama Administration will not release statisitics
> on the "Cash for Clunkers " program because it shows that the consumers
> bought Hondas, Toyotas and everything but GM and Chrysler.
>
> Anybody got a copy on story?
>
> Ed K

From bill at effros.com  Tue Aug  4 19:03:05 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:03:05 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Electric Cars
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908041534p3e06246ai262cf87920145bc2@mail.gmail.com>
References: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E>
	<400985d70908041534p3e06246ai262cf87920145bc2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A78BE29.7060007@effros.com>

Suggested Warning Sticker for Electric Cars:

"If you get stuck in a traffic jam, turn off the A/C!" (Or heat, 
depending on where you live.)

B.



Brad Haslett wrote:
> Ed,
>
> Here's an update -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/q7nw8d
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/4/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>   
>> So what is this that the Obama Administration will not release statisitics
>> on the "Cash for Clunkers " program because it shows that the consumers
>> bought Hondas, Toyotas and everything but GM and Chrysler.
>>
>> Anybody got a copy on story?
>>
>> Ed K
>>     
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>   
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From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Tue Aug  4 19:43:54 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2009 19:43:54 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Electric Cars
References: <687A3DE9179843AF8E558A0FB38B3198@YOURB88038198E><400985d70908041534p3e06246ai262cf87920145bc2@mail.gmail.com>
	<4A78BE29.7060007@effros.com>
Message-ID: <DA68008D7DD741C6843331B5719B146E@ebsoffice>

Turn off AC?  That's a mighty long extension cord.

Mike
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bill Effros 
  To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:03 PM
  Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Electric Cars


  Suggested Warning Sticker for Electric Cars:

  "If you get stuck in a traffic jam, turn off the A/C!" (Or heat, depending on where you live.)

  B.



  Brad Haslett wrote: 
Ed,

Here's an update -

http://tinyurl.com/q7nw8d

Brad

On 8/4/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
  So what is this that the Obama Administration will not release statisitics
on the "Cash for Clunkers " program because it shows that the consumers
bought Hondas, Toyotas and everything but GM and Chrysler.

Anybody got a copy on story?

Ed K
    _______________________________________________
SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette

  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
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  http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette


--
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 2557 of my spam emails to date.
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug  4 20:47:22 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 08:47:22 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Kudos to the President
Message-ID: <400985d70908041747s416c449du40188f7329fa176e@mail.gmail.com>

Congratulations are in order for the President!  Good job, and thank
you for the safe return of our citizens from North Korea. Sorry about
that catering issue we got sideways about circa 1984.

You know things are bad when I miss having Bill Clinton in the White House.

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 08:54:44 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 07:54:44 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] What, Me Worry?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908050554k6ba58482tf5d8063488cab774@mail.gmail.com>

It gets better, now comes this ad -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtTBkxvBq88&feature=player_embedded

Now here's the real irony, most of the people attending these "health
care townhall meetings" find out about them by robo-calls from the
Congressmen's own mailing list. If there really is a VRWC (vast right
wing conspiracy) I think I would have received my check and invitation
by now.  The Tea Party movement is a real grass roots effort with no
leader, no organization, and no party affiliation.  Go to one and see
for yourself.  Republican members of Congress have been booed off the
stage and are seldom invited (and few dare attend).

So, the White House wants you to report on "casual conversation".
Yeah, you bet your ass these "mobs" are angry.  Here's a newsflash;
they're just getting warmed-up!

Brad

On 8/4/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Are these guys paranoid?
>
> http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/
>
> Before you go to the link, read this excerpt -
>
>       "Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White
> House, we?re asking for   your help. If you get an email or see
> something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy,
> send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."
>
> Hell, all anyone has done is play old YouTube videos of Dear Leader.
>
> First we get "Cash for Clunkers" which makes about as much sense as
> melting pots and pans to make steel in backyard furnaces during Mao's
> Great Leap Forward, now we get the Cultural Revolution's updated
> version of the Red Guard.  What are they going to do?  Sick the IRS on
> us?
>
> Forget that idea, you don't know what they might do.  After all,
> didn't Timmy say this weekend that "desperate times call for desperate
> measures"?
>
> Brad
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 09:59:40 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 08:59:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy gets
it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There oughta be
a law.

Rik
_______________

http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3


Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4, 2009 14
Menachem-Av 5769

* Utopia versus freedom*

By Thomas Sowell







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 *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price of
freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of freedom
is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the
world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political savior,
then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating the
catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or "social
justice."


If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public nor the
Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making massive
changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and out of
the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in Washington.


Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising in the
fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who claims to
be able to "solve" our "problem."


If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions," each
causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way lies a
never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers' money
and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live your own
life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.



*FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*

*Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists
regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
** *

Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our freedom.
This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not yet
faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and don't
have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.


Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable part
of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must bear
with infirmities until they fester into crimes."


But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some people
think they should, then their answer is to set up a government bureaucracy
to either control insurance companies or replace them.


If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than some
people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual track
record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is of no
interest to those who think this way.


Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is so
expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in the
business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians than to
mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the slightest
regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of insurance.


If insurance covered only those things that most people are most concerned
about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be much
lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after mandate.


Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover annual
checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur once a
year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.


But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially with
somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws adding
things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
government involvement in medical care are already talking about extending
insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving shrinks and
hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.


There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke said
long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the most
tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared to
kiss your freedom goodbye.



On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brad,
>
> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it, he's
> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of the
> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't possible.
> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to the
> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.
>
> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let people
> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch the
> prices drop with it.
>
> Rik
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The man is lying out his ass!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea, it's
>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo the
>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
>> > deception.
>> >
>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
>> >
>> > Brad
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 10:22:04 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 09:22:04 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908050722k4d1742bcvd3bc7d5dd01af7e9@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Sowell does get it!  Americans are stupid if they don't. The people in
the Congress who are going to save us "little people" have a different
set of rules for themselves.  Here's today's news (which IS great news
for General Aviation -below). What was that old expression?  "Do as I
say, not as I do?", or something like that. I'll have to do the math
on the hourly fuel burn of a Gulfstream versus a "clunker". I can tell
you off the top of my head, they burn a shit-load of fuel.

Brad

----------

August 05, 2009

House Orders Three Jets
"Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers
for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing
about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.

"But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air
travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for
the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top
government officials and Members of Congress."

The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but
the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own
discretion.



On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy gets
> it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There oughta be
> a law.
>
> Rik
> _______________
>
> http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3
>
>
> Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4, 2009 14
> Menachem-Av 5769
>
> * Utopia versus freedom*
>
> By Thomas Sowell
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [image: Printer Friendly
> Version]<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3?printer_friendly>
>
> [image: Email this
> article]<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/templates/email2.php?article_title=Utopia+versus+freedom&article_author=Thomas+Sowell++&article_date=August+4%2C+2009&article_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishworldreview.com%2Fcols%2Fsowell080409.php3&sent=false&ccMe=no>
>
> [image: Share and bookmark this
> article]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=bljolkov>
>
>
>
>  *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price of
> freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of freedom
> is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the
> world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political savior,
> then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating the
> catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or "social
> justice."
>
>
> If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public nor the
> Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making massive
> changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
> decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and out of
> the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in Washington.
>
>
> Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
> specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising in the
> fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
> question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who claims to
> be able to "solve" our "problem."
>
>
> If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions," each
> causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way lies a
> never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers' money
> and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live your own
> life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.
>
>
>
> *FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*
>
> *Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
> Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists
> regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
> here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
> ** *
>
> Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our freedom.
> This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not yet
> faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
> something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and don't
> have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.
>
>
> Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable part
> of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must bear
> with infirmities until they fester into crimes."
>
>
> But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
> infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some people
> think they should, then their answer is to set up a government bureaucracy
> to either control insurance companies or replace them.
>
>
> If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than some
> people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual track
> record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is of no
> interest to those who think this way.
>
>
> Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is so
> expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in the
> business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians than to
> mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the slightest
> regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of insurance.
>
>
> If insurance covered only those things that most people are most concerned
> about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be much
> lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after mandate.
>
>
> Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover annual
> checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur once a
> year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
> purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.
>
>
> But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially with
> somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws adding
> things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
> government involvement in medical care are already talking about extending
> insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving shrinks and
> hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.
>
>
> There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke said
> long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the most
> tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
> University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared to
> kiss your freedom goodbye.
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Brad,
>>
>> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it, he's
>> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of the
>> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't possible.
>> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to the
>> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.
>>
>> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let people
>> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch the
>> prices drop with it.
>>
>> Rik
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The man is lying out his ass!
>>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
>>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
>>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
>>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea, it's
>>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo the
>>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
>>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
>>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
>>> > deception.
>>> >
>>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
>>> >
>>> > Brad
>>> >
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
>> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
>> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> freedom
>> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
>> the
>> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
>> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 10:48:57 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 09:48:57 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908050722k4d1742bcvd3bc7d5dd01af7e9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050722k4d1742bcvd3bc7d5dd01af7e9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908050748h502cffd6u256395b152e48cfa@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Here's a guy who seems to understand what the end results of all this
socialized medicine will be and how and why we will get there.

It's a little long to paste in, but worth a read.

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/the-great-socialist-takeover/

Rik

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> Sowell does get it!  Americans are stupid if they don't. The people in
> the Congress who are going to save us "little people" have a different
> set of rules for themselves.  Here's today's news (which IS great news
> for General Aviation -below). What was that old expression?  "Do as I
> say, not as I do?", or something like that. I'll have to do the math
> on the hourly fuel burn of a Gulfstream versus a "clunker". I can tell
> you off the top of my head, they burn a shit-load of fuel.
>
> Brad
>
> ----------
>
> August 05, 2009
>
> House Orders Three Jets
> "Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers
> for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing
> about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.
>
> "But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air
> travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for
> the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top
> government officials and Members of Congress."
>
> The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but
> the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own
> discretion.
>
>
>
> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy
> gets
> > it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There oughta
> be
> > a law.
> >
> > Rik
> > _______________
> >
> > http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3
> >
> >
> > Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4, 2009
> 14
> > Menachem-Av 5769
> >
> > * Utopia versus freedom*
> >
> > By Thomas Sowell
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [image: Printer Friendly
> > Version]<
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3?printer_friendly>
> >
> > [image: Email this
> > article]<
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/templates/email2.php?article_title=Utopia+versus+freedom&article_author=Thomas+Sowell++&article_date=August+4%2C+2009&article_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishworldreview.com%2Fcols%2Fsowell080409.php3&sent=false&ccMe=no
> >
> >
> > [image: Share and bookmark this
> > article]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=bljolkov>
> >
> >
> >
> >  *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price of
> > freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of
> freedom
> > is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the
> > world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political savior,
> > then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating
> the
> > catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or
> "social
> > justice."
> >
> >
> > If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public nor
> the
> > Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making massive
> > changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
> > decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and out
> of
> > the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in Washington.
> >
> >
> > Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
> > specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising in
> the
> > fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
> > question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who claims
> to
> > be able to "solve" our "problem."
> >
> >
> > If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions," each
> > causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way lies a
> > never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers'
> money
> > and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live your
> own
> > life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.
> >
> >
> >
> > *FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*
> >
> > *Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
> > Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and
> cartoonists
> > regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
> > here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
> > ** *
> >
> > Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our
> freedom.
> > This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not
> yet
> > faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
> > something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and
> don't
> > have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.
> >
> >
> > Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable
> part
> > of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must
> bear
> > with infirmities until they fester into crimes."
> >
> >
> > But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
> > infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some people
> > think they should, then their answer is to set up a government
> bureaucracy
> > to either control insurance companies or replace them.
> >
> >
> > If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than some
> > people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual
> track
> > record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is of
> no
> > interest to those who think this way.
> >
> >
> > Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is
> so
> > expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in
> the
> > business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians than
> to
> > mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the slightest
> > regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of insurance.
> >
> >
> > If insurance covered only those things that most people are most
> concerned
> > about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be
> much
> > lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after mandate.
> >
> >
> > Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover annual
> > checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur once
> a
> > year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
> > purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.
> >
> >
> > But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially
> with
> > somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws adding
> > things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
> > government involvement in medical care are already talking about
> extending
> > insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving shrinks
> and
> > hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.
> >
> >
> > There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke
> said
> > long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the
> most
> > tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
> > University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared
> to
> > kiss your freedom goodbye.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it,
> he's
> >> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of
> the
> >> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't
> possible.
> >> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to the
> >> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.
> >>
> >> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let
> people
> >> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch the
> >> prices drop with it.
> >>
> >> Rik
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> The man is lying out his ass!
> >>>
> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
> >>>
> >>> Brad
> >>>
> >>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
> >>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
> >>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
> >>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea,
> it's
> >>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo
> the
> >>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
> >>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
> >>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
> >>> > deception.
> >>> >
> >>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
> >>> >
> >>> > Brad
> >>> >
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>>
> >>>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> >> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> >> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> >> freedom
> >> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
> >> the
> >> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> >> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> freedom
> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
> the
> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 10:58:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 09:58:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] What, Me Worry?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908050554k6ba58482tf5d8063488cab774@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050554k6ba58482tf5d8063488cab774@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908050758v161627cevf689e06c70ecd0d9@mail.gmail.com>

They caught one already!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bWqcZnrDg

Brad

On 8/5/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> It gets better, now comes this ad -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtTBkxvBq88&feature=player_embedded
>
> Now here's the real irony, most of the people attending these "health
> care townhall meetings" find out about them by robo-calls from the
> Congressmen's own mailing list. If there really is a VRWC (vast right
> wing conspiracy) I think I would have received my check and invitation
> by now.  The Tea Party movement is a real grass roots effort with no
> leader, no organization, and no party affiliation.  Go to one and see
> for yourself.  Republican members of Congress have been booed off the
> stage and are seldom invited (and few dare attend).
>
> So, the White House wants you to report on "casual conversation".
> Yeah, you bet your ass these "mobs" are angry.  Here's a newsflash;
> they're just getting warmed-up!
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/4/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Are these guys paranoid?
>>
>> http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/
>>
>> Before you go to the link, read this excerpt -
>>
>>       "Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White
>> House, we?re asking for   your help. If you get an email or see
>> something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy,
>> send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."
>>
>> Hell, all anyone has done is play old YouTube videos of Dear Leader.
>>
>> First we get "Cash for Clunkers" which makes about as much sense as
>> melting pots and pans to make steel in backyard furnaces during Mao's
>> Great Leap Forward, now we get the Cultural Revolution's updated
>> version of the Red Guard.  What are they going to do?  Sick the IRS on
>> us?
>>
>> Forget that idea, you don't know what they might do.  After all,
>> didn't Timmy say this weekend that "desperate times call for desperate
>> measures"?
>>
>> Brad
>>
>


From ekroposki at charter.net  Wed Aug  5 11:30:08 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:30:08 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who may harm whom?
Message-ID: <2B9AB43990CB4860B4CFD8E49F4F25CA@YOURB88038198E>

Who may harm whom? 

By Walter Williams 

     
     
     
     

     




"No one has a right to harm another." Just a little thought, along with a few examples, would demonstrate that blanket statement as pure nonsense. Suppose there is a beautiful lady that both Jim and Bob are pursuing. If Jim wins her hand, Bob is harmed. By the same token, if Bob wins her hand, Jim is harmed. Whose harm is more important and should the beautiful lady be permitted to harm either Bob or Jim are nonsense questions. 

During the 1970s, when Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments came out with scientific calculators, great harm was suffered by slide rule manufacturers such as Keuffel & Esser, and Pickett. Slide rulers have since gone the way of the dodo but the question is: Should Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments have been permitted to inflict such grievous harm on slide rule manufacturers? In 1927, General Electric successfully began marketing the refrigerator. The ice industry, a major industry and the livelihoods of thousands of workers, was destroyed virtually overnight. Should such harm have been permitted and what should Congress have done to save jobs in the slide rule and ice industries? 

The first thing we should acknowledge is that we live in a world of harms. Harm is reciprocal. For example, if the government stopped Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments from harming Keuffel & Esser and Pickett, or stopped General Electric from harming ice producers, by denying them the right to manufacture calculators and refrigerators, they would have been harmed, plus the billions of consumers who benefited from calculators and refrigerators. There is no scientific or intelligent way to determine which person's harm is more important than the other. That means things are more complicated than saying that one person has no rights to harm another. We must ask which harms are to be permitted in a free society and are not to be permitted. For example, it's generally deemed acceptable for me to harm you by momentarily disturbing your peace and quiet by driving a motorcycle past your house. It's deemed unacceptable for me to harm you by tossing a brick through your window. 

In a free society, many conflicting harms are settled through the institution of private property rights. Private property rights have to do with rights belonging to the person deemed owner of property to keep, acquire, use and dispose of property as he deems fit so long as he does not violate similar rights of another. Let's say that you are offended, possibly harmed, by bars that play vulgar rap music and permit smoking. If you could use government to outlaw rap music and smoking in bars, you would be benefited and people who enjoyed rap music and smoking would be harmed. Again, there is no scientific or intelligent way to determine whose harm is more important. In a free society, the question of who has the right to harm whom, by permitting rap music and smoking, is answered by the property rights question: Who owns the bar? In a socialistic society, such conflicting harms are resolved through government intimidation and coercion. 

What about the right to harm oneself, such as the potential harm that can come from not wearing a seatbelt. That, too, is a property rights question. If you own yourself, you have the right to take chances with your own life. Some might argue that if you're not wearing a seatbelt and wind up a vegetable, society has to take care of you; therefore, the fascist threat "click it or ticket." Becoming a burden on society is not a problem of liberty and private property. It's a problem of socialism where one person is forced to take care of someone else. That being the case, the government, in the name of reducing health care costs, assumes part ownership of you and as such assumes a right to control many aspects of your life. That Americans have joyfully given up self-ownership is both tragic and sad. 

From:

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |

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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 12:20:10 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:20:10 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who may harm whom?
In-Reply-To: <2B9AB43990CB4860B4CFD8E49F4F25CA@YOURB88038198E>
References: <2B9AB43990CB4860B4CFD8E49F4F25CA@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908050920k1f7e63aegc5bd34d92babe436@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Thank you!  What a breath of fresh, uh, sanity!  I did a Google search
on Dr. Williams -

http://economics.gmu.edu/wew/

Now it's time to read some of his other good works.

Brad

On 8/5/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> Who may harm whom?
>
> By Walter Williams
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "No one has a right to harm another." Just a little thought, along with a
> few examples, would demonstrate that blanket statement as pure nonsense.
> Suppose there is a beautiful lady that both Jim and Bob are pursuing. If Jim
> wins her hand, Bob is harmed. By the same token, if Bob wins her hand, Jim
> is harmed. Whose harm is more important and should the beautiful lady be
> permitted to harm either Bob or Jim are nonsense questions.
>
> During the 1970s, when Hewlett-Packard and Texas Instruments came out with
> scientific calculators, great harm was suffered by slide rule manufacturers
> such as Keuffel & Esser, and Pickett. Slide rulers have since gone the way
> of the dodo but the question is: Should Hewlett-Packard and Texas
> Instruments have been permitted to inflict such grievous harm on slide rule
> manufacturers? In 1927, General Electric successfully began marketing the
> refrigerator. The ice industry, a major industry and the livelihoods of
> thousands of workers, was destroyed virtually overnight. Should such harm
> have been permitted and what should Congress have done to save jobs in the
> slide rule and ice industries?
>
> The first thing we should acknowledge is that we live in a world of harms.
> Harm is reciprocal. For example, if the government stopped Hewlett-Packard
> and Texas Instruments from harming Keuffel & Esser and Pickett, or stopped
> General Electric from harming ice producers, by denying them the right to
> manufacture calculators and refrigerators, they would have been harmed, plus
> the billions of consumers who benefited from calculators and refrigerators.
> There is no scientific or intelligent way to determine which person's harm
> is more important than the other. That means things are more complicated
> than saying that one person has no rights to harm another. We must ask which
> harms are to be permitted in a free society and are not to be permitted. For
> example, it's generally deemed acceptable for me to harm you by momentarily
> disturbing your peace and quiet by driving a motorcycle past your house.
> It's deemed unacceptable for me to harm you by tossing a brick through your
> window.
>
> In a free society, many conflicting harms are settled through the
> institution of private property rights. Private property rights have to do
> with rights belonging to the person deemed owner of property to keep,
> acquire, use and dispose of property as he deems fit so long as he does not
> violate similar rights of another. Let's say that you are offended, possibly
> harmed, by bars that play vulgar rap music and permit smoking. If you could
> use government to outlaw rap music and smoking in bars, you would be
> benefited and people who enjoyed rap music and smoking would be harmed.
> Again, there is no scientific or intelligent way to determine whose harm is
> more important. In a free society, the question of who has the right to harm
> whom, by permitting rap music and smoking, is answered by the property
> rights question: Who owns the bar? In a socialistic society, such
> conflicting harms are resolved through government intimidation and coercion.
>
> What about the right to harm oneself, such as the potential harm that can
> come from not wearing a seatbelt. That, too, is a property rights question.
> If you own yourself, you have the right to take chances with your own life.
> Some might argue that if you're not wearing a seatbelt and wind up a
> vegetable, society has to take care of you; therefore, the fascist threat
> "click it or ticket." Becoming a burden on society is not a problem of
> liberty and private property. It's a problem of socialism where one person
> is forced to take care of someone else. That being the case, the government,
> in the name of reducing health care costs, assumes part ownership of you and
> as such assumes a right to control many aspects of your life. That Americans
> have joyfully given up self-ownership is both tragic and sad.
>
> From:
>
> http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
>
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 12:35:11 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 11:35:11 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Beer Summit
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908020746w21fb1eddx7fbbbf8298f8c02e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908020616n38e526a4sb59ec4287b337d4b@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908020746w21fb1eddx7fbbbf8298f8c02e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908050935s77a74bbdtd31c36e3007e7a6@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

I found a video of the Beer Summit for those worshipers of St. Barack
of Persecuted Socialists -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0umKaGxkkE&feature=player_embedded

Brad

On 8/2/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Uh .... the stupid one???
>
> (He'd be the one on the left)
>
> :-)
>
> Rik
>
> On Sun, Aug 2, 2009 at 8:16 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Who shows the most class in this photo?
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 13:00:13 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 12:00:13 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908050748h502cffd6u256395b152e48cfa@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050722k4d1742bcvd3bc7d5dd01af7e9@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050748h502cffd6u256395b152e48cfa@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908051000n17bbdd51u58fd6c486eb302c1@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

This is pure gold!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-RzbOMBmRM&feature=player_embedded

Notice all the "too well dressed people" according to Sen. Boxer.  I
smell revolution!

Keep your powder dry.

Brad

On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Here's a guy who seems to understand what the end results of all this
> socialized medicine will be and how and why we will get there.
>
> It's a little long to paste in, but worth a read.
>
> http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/the-great-socialist-takeover/
>
> Rik
>
> On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Rik,
>>
>> Sowell does get it!  Americans are stupid if they don't. The people in
>> the Congress who are going to save us "little people" have a different
>> set of rules for themselves.  Here's today's news (which IS great news
>> for General Aviation -below). What was that old expression?  "Do as I
>> say, not as I do?", or something like that. I'll have to do the math
>> on the hourly fuel burn of a Gulfstream versus a "clunker". I can tell
>> you off the top of my head, they burn a shit-load of fuel.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> ----------
>>
>> August 05, 2009
>>
>> House Orders Three Jets
>> "Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers
>> for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing
>> about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.
>>
>> "But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air
>> travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for
>> the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top
>> government officials and Members of Congress."
>>
>> The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but
>> the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own
>> discretion.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Brad,
>> >
>> > Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy
>> gets
>> > it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There oughta
>> be
>> > a law.
>> >
>> > Rik
>> > _______________
>> >
>> > http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3
>> >
>> >
>> > Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4, 2009
>> 14
>> > Menachem-Av 5769
>> >
>> > * Utopia versus freedom*
>> >
>> > By Thomas Sowell
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > [image: Printer Friendly
>> > Version]<
>> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3?printer_friendly>
>> >
>> > [image: Email this
>> > article]<
>> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/templates/email2.php?article_title=Utopia+versus+freedom&article_author=Thomas+Sowell++&article_date=August+4%2C+2009&article_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishworldreview.com%2Fcols%2Fsowell080409.php3&sent=false&ccMe=no
>> >
>> >
>> > [image: Share and bookmark this
>> > article]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=bljolkov>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >  *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price of
>> > freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of
>> freedom
>> > is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with the
>> > world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political savior,
>> > then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating
>> the
>> > catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or
>> "social
>> > justice."
>> >
>> >
>> > If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public nor
>> the
>> > Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making
>> > massive
>> > changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
>> > decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and out
>> of
>> > the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in Washington.
>> >
>> >
>> > Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
>> > specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising in
>> the
>> > fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
>> > question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who claims
>> to
>> > be able to "solve" our "problem."
>> >
>> >
>> > If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions," each
>> > causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way lies a
>> > never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers'
>> money
>> > and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live your
>> own
>> > life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > *FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*
>> >
>> > *Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
>> > Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and
>> cartoonists
>> > regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
>> > here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
>> > ** *
>> >
>> > Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our
>> freedom.
>> > This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have not
>> yet
>> > faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
>> > something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and
>> don't
>> > have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.
>> >
>> >
>> > Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable
>> part
>> > of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must
>> bear
>> > with infirmities until they fester into crimes."
>> >
>> >
>> > But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
>> > infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some people
>> > think they should, then their answer is to set up a government
>> bureaucracy
>> > to either control insurance companies or replace them.
>> >
>> >
>> > If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than some
>> > people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual
>> track
>> > record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is of
>> no
>> > interest to those who think this way.
>> >
>> >
>> > Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance is
>> so
>> > expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in
>> the
>> > business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians
>> > than
>> to
>> > mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the
>> > slightest
>> > regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of
>> > insurance.
>> >
>> >
>> > If insurance covered only those things that most people are most
>> concerned
>> > about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be
>> much
>> > lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after
>> > mandate.
>> >
>> >
>> > Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover annual
>> > checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur once
>> a
>> > year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
>> > purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.
>> >
>> >
>> > But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially
>> with
>> > somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws adding
>> > things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
>> > government involvement in medical care are already talking about
>> extending
>> > insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving shrinks
>> and
>> > hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.
>> >
>> >
>> > There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke
>> said
>> > long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the
>> most
>> > tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
>> > University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be prepared
>> to
>> > kiss your freedom goodbye.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Brad,
>> >>
>> >> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it,
>> he's
>> >> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of
>> the
>> >> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't
>> possible.
>> >> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to
>> >> the
>> >> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.
>> >>
>> >> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let
>> people
>> >> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch the
>> >> prices drop with it.
>> >>
>> >> Rik
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> The man is lying out his ass!
>> >>>
>> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
>> >>>
>> >>> Brad
>> >>>
>> >>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance, so
>> >>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays Blue
>> >>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite substantial,
>> >>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea,
>> it's
>> >>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo
>> the
>> >>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.  But
>> >>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out his
>> >>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
>> >>> > deception.
>> >>> >
>> >>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Brad
>> >>> >
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they
>> >> cannot
>> >> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
>> >> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> >> freedom
>> >> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and
>> >> reject
>> >> the
>> >> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
>> >> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
>> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
>> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> freedom
>> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
>> the
>> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
>> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 13:11:06 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 12:11:06 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] What, Me Worry?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908050758v161627cevf689e06c70ecd0d9@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050554k6ba58482tf5d8063488cab774@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050758v161627cevf689e06c70ecd0d9@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908051011g35bc5859yf4aaa99d289225c7@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

The latest from M/M on the subject of tea parties.

She's pretty much on the money, as usual.

Rik

__________________
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/05/tea-party-bashers-gone-wild/

Tea Party-bashers gone wild By Michelle Malkin  ?  August 5, 2009 07:01 AM

*Scroll down for updates?*

Tea Party-bashers gone wild
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate <http://www.creators.com/>
Copyright 2009

The activist Left can?t stand competition. Last week in Long Island, NY,
opponents of the Democrats? government health care takeover legislation
outnumbered Obama supporters ten to one. The Tea Party activists toted
American flags and signs that read ?WE CAN?T AFFORD FREE HEALTH CARE? ?
prompting one foe to stalk into the peaceful crowd, gesticulate wildly, and
shout<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/25/video-acorn-affilates-go-nuts-on-tea-party-activists/>unintelligible
threats at the top of his lungs.

The same Democrat Masters of Astroturf who encouraged their followers to use
?in your face?<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/17/politics/p185733D40.DTL&type=politics>tactics
during the campaign season now balk at vocal opposition from their
fiscally conservative neighbors and co-workers. Obama?s architects of Kabuki
town halls have packed public forums with partisan plants. Now, they accuse
opponents gathering at impromptu rallies against the massive health care
takeover legislation (which no one has read) of orchestrating ?manufactured
anger.?<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/04/white-house-dismisses-health-care-protests/?feat=home_headlines>

Unaccustomed to pushback, the wealthy, astro-turfed ground troops for
Obamacare ? underwritten by unions, liberal philanthropists, the AARP,
ACORN, and your tax dollars ? have resorted to projection. As I?ve reported
previously, the single-payer lobby boasts a $40 million budget and a stable
of seasoned political operatives based at 1825 K Street in Washington,
D.C.<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/24/who%E2%80%99s-funding-the-obamacare-astroturf-campaign/>Now,
that cabal is accusing the broad coalition of taxpayer activists,
libertarians, independents, talk radio loyalists, bloggers, and first-time
protesters against socialized medicine of being, yes, wealthy and
astroturfed.

In a comical missive issued Tuesday afternoon, Democratic National Committee
spokesman Brad Woodhouse<http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/04/dnc-hammers-republican-backed-mob-rule/>complained:
?The Republicans and their allied groups ? desperate after
losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol
Hill ? are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing
extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions
about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional
Districts across the country.?

The DNC definition of ?thoughtful:? Sitting silent about the lack of
transparency, deliberation, truth in numbers, and reciprocity on the
Obamacare plan. The DNC definition of incitement: Asking out loud, ?How can
you manage health care when you can?t manage Cash For
Clunkers??<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/02/grass-roots-revolt-in-austin-tx-just-say-no-to-obamacare/>

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, apparently oblivious to the dozens
of well-dressed and well-heeled former lobbyists and influence peddlers
employed by his own boss, derided health care town hall protesters as
the ?Brooks
Brothers brigade.?
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124939676158504833.html>Brooks
Brothers was also the president?s clothes designer of choice on
Inauguration Day. He taunted: ?I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to
what is clearly the AstroTurf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying.?
Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dispatched a memo obtained by
D.C.-based newspaper Human Events assuring Democrats of ?close coordination?
with faux grass-roots groups ?including but not limited to HCAN, Families
USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP, etc.?<http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32987>

But never mind all that.

Some panicked congressional targets of the Tea Party movement have responded
by shutting their offices, closing their blinds, and shooing pesky
constituents off public property. The White House health czar?s office is
mustering up Internet snitches
<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/health-care-czars-office-calls-for-internet-snitch-brigade/>to
report ?inaccurate? blog posts and ?casual conversations? from health care
opponents. And liberal bloggers and cable yakkers are waging their own war
on the Tea Party movement by redefining participatory democracy as
?thuggery? and ?hooliganism.?

Talking Points Memo blogger Josh Marshall bemoaned a fiscal conservative
activist?s memo offering
advice<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/tea-party-town-hall-strategy-rattle-them-stand-up-and-shout.php?ref=fpa>on
how to ?pack the hall..spread out? and challenge a politician early
?to
rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda.? Horrors! ?This
amounts to a sort of civic
vigilanteism,?<http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/which_reporters_will_get_snowed.php?ref=fpblg>Marshall
fretted.

No, showing up at a congressional town hall and booing a talking
points-programmed political hack isn?t ?civic vigilantism.? Throwing rocks,
pouring cement on train tracks, blocking military shipments, smashing
windows, hurling paint, slashing tires, vandalizing businesses, and throwing
shoes are vigilante acts.

That is what the anti-war, anti-free trade, anti-Bush mobsters did over the
last eight years ? and there wasn?t a peep about those brute
tactics<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/this-is-what-mob-rule-looks-like/>from
Obama?s blogging pals.

They sat quietly while Code Pink disrupted hearings on the Hill and harassed
Marine recruiters.

They looked the other way when ACORN illegally broke into
homes<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/20/this-is-our-house-now-acorn-mob-begins-breaking-into-homes/>and
stormed
foreclosure auctions.<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/28/health-hazard-acorn-mob-strikes/>

They gave their tacit approval to self-declared ?bank terrorists? like
Boston housing entitlement organizer Bruce
Marks,<http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/27/meet-a-left-wing-housing-entitlement-thug/>who
show up at the schools of bank executives? children and bullies them
because of their parents? employment in the name of social justice.

Now, the taxpayers footing the bill for Obama?s redistribution of health and
wealth are silent no more ? and the unhinged Left is beside itself. The
?thoughtful? left-wing response to the Tea Party counterinsurgency can best
be summed up by hysterical Hollywood actress Janeane Garafolo, who railed
last week: ?F**ng redneck d**chebaggery. Unmitigated
d**chebaggery.?<http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/aug/01/janeane-garofalo-edinburgh-fringe>

It?s not the town halls that have gone wild. It?s the Tea Party-bashers who
can?t tolerate peaceful, open dissent.


On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> They caught one already!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bWqcZnrDg
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/5/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > It gets better, now comes this ad -
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtTBkxvBq88&feature=player_embedded
> >
> > Now here's the real irony, most of the people attending these "health
> > care townhall meetings" find out about them by robo-calls from the
> > Congressmen's own mailing list. If there really is a VRWC (vast right
> > wing conspiracy) I think I would have received my check and invitation
> > by now.  The Tea Party movement is a real grass roots effort with no
> > leader, no organization, and no party affiliation.  Go to one and see
> > for yourself.  Republican members of Congress have been booed off the
> > stage and are seldom invited (and few dare attend).
> >
> > So, the White House wants you to report on "casual conversation".
> > Yeah, you bet your ass these "mobs" are angry.  Here's a newsflash;
> > they're just getting warmed-up!
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > On 8/4/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Are these guys paranoid?
> >>
> >> http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/
> >>
> >> Before you go to the link, read this excerpt -
> >>
> >>       "Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White
> >> House, we?re asking for   your help. If you get an email or see
> >> something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy,
> >> send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."
> >>
> >> Hell, all anyone has done is play old YouTube videos of Dear Leader.
> >>
> >> First we get "Cash for Clunkers" which makes about as much sense as
> >> melting pots and pans to make steel in backyard furnaces during Mao's
> >> Great Leap Forward, now we get the Cultural Revolution's updated
> >> version of the Red Guard.  What are they going to do?  Sick the IRS on
> >> us?
> >>
> >> Forget that idea, you don't know what they might do.  After all,
> >> didn't Timmy say this weekend that "desperate times call for desperate
> >> measures"?
> >>
> >> Brad
> >>
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 13:39:21 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 12:39:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] What, Me Worry?
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908051011g35bc5859yf4aaa99d289225c7@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908041530v5045b18cj162d9e84371d1d67@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050554k6ba58482tf5d8063488cab774@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050758v161627cevf689e06c70ecd0d9@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908051011g35bc5859yf4aaa99d289225c7@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908051039p6df62433vaff8ea92532f7262@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

It wasn't easy for me to say I wish we had Bill Clinton back.  It will
be even more difficult to say down the road that I miss the Carter
days.  Some day, many people who never thought they'd say this, will
say, "I miss W".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asu6ABB1W8Q&feature=player_embedded

So far, not once have I heard my wife say, "thank God, Chairman Mao is back!'

Brad

On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> The latest from M/M on the subject of tea parties.
>
> She's pretty much on the money, as usual.
>
> Rik
>
> __________________
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/05/tea-party-bashers-gone-wild/
>
> Tea Party-bashers gone wild By Michelle Malkin  ?  August 5, 2009 07:01 AM
>
> *Scroll down for updates?*
>
> Tea Party-bashers gone wild
> by Michelle Malkin
> Creators Syndicate <http://www.creators.com/>
> Copyright 2009
>
> The activist Left can?t stand competition. Last week in Long Island, NY,
> opponents of the Democrats? government health care takeover legislation
> outnumbered Obama supporters ten to one. The Tea Party activists toted
> American flags and signs that read ?WE CAN?T AFFORD FREE HEALTH CARE? ?
> prompting one foe to stalk into the peaceful crowd, gesticulate wildly, and
> shout<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/25/video-acorn-affilates-go-nuts-on-tea-party-activists/>unintelligible
> threats at the top of his lungs.
>
> The same Democrat Masters of Astroturf who encouraged their followers to use
> ?in your
> face?<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/17/politics/p185733D40.DTL&type=politics>tactics
> during the campaign season now balk at vocal opposition from their
> fiscally conservative neighbors and co-workers. Obama?s architects of Kabuki
> town halls have packed public forums with partisan plants. Now, they accuse
> opponents gathering at impromptu rallies against the massive health care
> takeover legislation (which no one has read) of orchestrating ?manufactured
> anger.?<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/04/white-house-dismisses-health-care-protests/?feat=home_headlines>
>
> Unaccustomed to pushback, the wealthy, astro-turfed ground troops for
> Obamacare ? underwritten by unions, liberal philanthropists, the AARP,
> ACORN, and your tax dollars ? have resorted to projection. As I?ve reported
> previously, the single-payer lobby boasts a $40 million budget and a stable
> of seasoned political operatives based at 1825 K Street in Washington,
> D.C.<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/06/24/who%E2%80%99s-funding-the-obamacare-astroturf-campaign/>Now,
> that cabal is accusing the broad coalition of taxpayer activists,
> libertarians, independents, talk radio loyalists, bloggers, and first-time
> protesters against socialized medicine of being, yes, wealthy and
> astroturfed.
>
> In a comical missive issued Tuesday afternoon, Democratic National Committee
> spokesman Brad
> Woodhouse<http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/04/dnc-hammers-republican-backed-mob-rule/>complained:
> ?The Republicans and their allied groups ? desperate after
> losing two consecutive elections and every major policy fight on Capitol
> Hill ? are inciting angry mobs of a small number of rabid right wing
> extremists funded by K Street Lobbyists to disrupt thoughtful discussions
> about the future of health care in America taking place in Congressional
> Districts across the country.?
>
> The DNC definition of ?thoughtful:? Sitting silent about the lack of
> transparency, deliberation, truth in numbers, and reciprocity on the
> Obamacare plan. The DNC definition of incitement: Asking out loud, ?How can
> you manage health care when you can?t manage Cash For
> Clunkers??<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/02/grass-roots-revolt-in-austin-tx-just-say-no-to-obamacare/>
>
> White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, apparently oblivious to the dozens
> of well-dressed and well-heeled former lobbyists and influence peddlers
> employed by his own boss, derided health care town hall protesters as
> the ?Brooks
> Brothers brigade.?
> <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124939676158504833.html>Brooks
> Brothers was also the president?s clothes designer of choice on
> Inauguration Day. He taunted: ?I hope people will take a jaundiced eye to
> what is clearly the AstroTurf nature of so-called grass-roots lobbying.?
> Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dispatched a memo obtained by
> D.C.-based newspaper Human Events assuring Democrats of ?close coordination?
> with faux grass-roots groups ?including but not limited to HCAN, Families
> USA, AFSCME, SEIU, AARP,
> etc.?<http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32987>
>
> But never mind all that.
>
> Some panicked congressional targets of the Tea Party movement have responded
> by shutting their offices, closing their blinds, and shooing pesky
> constituents off public property. The White House health czar?s office is
> mustering up Internet snitches
> <http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/health-care-czars-office-calls-for-internet-snitch-brigade/>to
> report ?inaccurate? blog posts and ?casual conversations? from health care
> opponents. And liberal bloggers and cable yakkers are waging their own war
> on the Tea Party movement by redefining participatory democracy as
> ?thuggery? and ?hooliganism.?
>
> Talking Points Memo blogger Josh Marshall bemoaned a fiscal conservative
> activist?s memo offering
> advice<http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/tea-party-town-hall-strategy-rattle-them-stand-up-and-shout.php?ref=fpa>on
> how to ?pack the hall..spread out? and challenge a politician early
> ?to
> rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda.? Horrors! ?This
> amounts to a sort of civic
> vigilanteism,?<http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/which_reporters_will_get_snowed.php?ref=fpblg>Marshall
> fretted.
>
> No, showing up at a congressional town hall and booing a talking
> points-programmed political hack isn?t ?civic vigilantism.? Throwing rocks,
> pouring cement on train tracks, blocking military shipments, smashing
> windows, hurling paint, slashing tires, vandalizing businesses, and throwing
> shoes are vigilante acts.
>
> That is what the anti-war, anti-free trade, anti-Bush mobsters did over the
> last eight years ? and there wasn?t a peep about those brute
> tactics<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/this-is-what-mob-rule-looks-like/>from
> Obama?s blogging pals.
>
> They sat quietly while Code Pink disrupted hearings on the Hill and harassed
> Marine recruiters.
>
> They looked the other way when ACORN illegally broke into
> homes<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/20/this-is-our-house-now-acorn-mob-begins-breaking-into-homes/>and
> stormed
> foreclosure
> auctions.<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/28/health-hazard-acorn-mob-strikes/>
>
> They gave their tacit approval to self-declared ?bank terrorists? like
> Boston housing entitlement organizer Bruce
> Marks,<http://michellemalkin.com/2008/03/27/meet-a-left-wing-housing-entitlement-thug/>who
> show up at the schools of bank executives? children and bullies them
> because of their parents? employment in the name of social justice.
>
> Now, the taxpayers footing the bill for Obama?s redistribution of health and
> wealth are silent no more ? and the unhinged Left is beside itself. The
> ?thoughtful? left-wing response to the Tea Party counterinsurgency can best
> be summed up by hysterical Hollywood actress Janeane Garafolo, who railed
> last week: ?F**ng redneck d**chebaggery. Unmitigated
> d**chebaggery.?<http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/aug/01/janeane-garofalo-edinburgh-fringe>
>
> It?s not the town halls that have gone wild. It?s the Tea Party-bashers who
> can?t tolerate peaceful, open dissent.
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> They caught one already!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9bWqcZnrDg
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/5/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > It gets better, now comes this ad -
>> >
>> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtTBkxvBq88&feature=player_embedded
>> >
>> > Now here's the real irony, most of the people attending these "health
>> > care townhall meetings" find out about them by robo-calls from the
>> > Congressmen's own mailing list. If there really is a VRWC (vast right
>> > wing conspiracy) I think I would have received my check and invitation
>> > by now.  The Tea Party movement is a real grass roots effort with no
>> > leader, no organization, and no party affiliation.  Go to one and see
>> > for yourself.  Republican members of Congress have been booed off the
>> > stage and are seldom invited (and few dare attend).
>> >
>> > So, the White House wants you to report on "casual conversation".
>> > Yeah, you bet your ass these "mobs" are angry.  Here's a newsflash;
>> > they're just getting warmed-up!
>> >
>> > Brad
>> >
>> > On 8/4/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> Are these guys paranoid?
>> >>
>> >> http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/
>> >>
>> >> Before you go to the link, read this excerpt -
>> >>
>> >>       "Since we can?t keep track of all of them here at the White
>> >> House, we?re asking for   your help. If you get an email or see
>> >> something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy,
>> >> send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."
>> >>
>> >> Hell, all anyone has done is play old YouTube videos of Dear Leader.
>> >>
>> >> First we get "Cash for Clunkers" which makes about as much sense as
>> >> melting pots and pans to make steel in backyard furnaces during Mao's
>> >> Great Leap Forward, now we get the Cultural Revolution's updated
>> >> version of the Red Guard.  What are they going to do?  Sick the IRS on
>> >> us?
>> >>
>> >> Forget that idea, you don't know what they might do.  After all,
>> >> didn't Timmy say this weekend that "desperate times call for desperate
>> >> measures"?
>> >>
>> >> Brad
>> >>
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From ekroposki at charter.net  Wed Aug  5 18:23:14 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 18:23:14 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Walter E. Williams
Message-ID: <A915E166CC2241058491DF33CBB2713A@YOURB88038198E>

Brad,

I guess you never used to listen to Rush Limbaugh.  Walter E. Williams used to substitute for Limbaugh when Limbaugh took a day off or went on vacation and gave pretty good lessons in economics.

His economic comments were explantions of capitalism versus other economic systems.  

He is still at George Mason, but I think that he is semi retired.  Maybe emeritus?  But he is still younger than Sowell by a number of years.

Both of these guys are old farts...

But as in ancient China, full of wisdom.

Ed K
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Wed Aug  5 19:02:36 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 19:02:36 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Interesting thread... check page 6
Message-ID: <6AE265AFE1AF4E87AA837441A8D327AC@YOURB88038198E>

http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=110689

Ed K
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Wed Aug  5 19:07:19 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 19:07:19 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Coming to your favorite beach...
Message-ID: <8DA2EA18FC1640C99751C4456F9774E6@YOURB88038198E>

http://www.bbidisplays.com/news.html
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 19:34:01 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 18:34:01 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Interesting thread... check page 6
In-Reply-To: <6AE265AFE1AF4E87AA837441A8D327AC@YOURB88038198E>
References: <6AE265AFE1AF4E87AA837441A8D327AC@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908051634o53707210s207d1f01dcf7e144@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

The guy on the sailboat is taking a real screwing on that one. Speedboat
driver (cop), the DA, etc, are all in bed together.

Sucks to be him.

Rik

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 6:02 PM, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>  http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=110689
>
> Ed K
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 22:02:20 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 21:02:20 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908051000n17bbdd51u58fd6c486eb302c1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908031008m642aa5dm330d57250fd33cda@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908041050s30e82ea7y33062e5b01386bbe@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908041108p188f58bbv65499468268cfc25@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050659p43f96704o8168a9d64052cda6@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908050722k4d1742bcvd3bc7d5dd01af7e9@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908050748h502cffd6u256395b152e48cfa@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908051000n17bbdd51u58fd6c486eb302c1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908051902m6a048aaexc6acaea5386f0a1b@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Here's what I'm talkin' about.

I doubt it's possible to get back to the "old" way in our lifetimes. Our
kids may see it although probably not because of "help" from the gov't.

http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/healthcare-solution-go-back-to-cash/

Again, a little long to paste.

Rik

On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> This is pure gold!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-RzbOMBmRM&feature=player_embedded
>
> Notice all the "too well dressed people" according to Sen. Boxer.  I
> smell revolution!
>
> Keep your powder dry.
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > Here's a guy who seems to understand what the end results of all this
> > socialized medicine will be and how and why we will get there.
> >
> > It's a little long to paste in, but worth a read.
> >
> > http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/the-great-socialist-takeover/
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Rik,
> >>
> >> Sowell does get it!  Americans are stupid if they don't. The people in
> >> the Congress who are going to save us "little people" have a different
> >> set of rules for themselves.  Here's today's news (which IS great news
> >> for General Aviation -below). What was that old expression?  "Do as I
> >> say, not as I do?", or something like that. I'll have to do the math
> >> on the hourly fuel burn of a Gulfstream versus a "clunker". I can tell
> >> you off the top of my head, they burn a shit-load of fuel.
> >>
> >> Brad
> >>
> >> ----------
> >>
> >> August 05, 2009
> >>
> >> House Orders Three Jets
> >> "Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers
> >> for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing
> >> about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.
> >>
> >> "But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air
> >> travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for
> >> the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top
> >> government officials and Members of Congress."
> >>
> >> The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but
> >> the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own
> >> discretion.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Brad,
> >> >
> >> > Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy
> >> gets
> >> > it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There
> oughta
> >> be
> >> > a law.
> >> >
> >> > Rik
> >> > _______________
> >> >
> >> > http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4,
> 2009
> >> 14
> >> > Menachem-Av 5769
> >> >
> >> > * Utopia versus freedom*
> >> >
> >> > By Thomas Sowell
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > [image: Printer Friendly
> >> > Version]<
> >>
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3?printer_friendly>
> >> >
> >> > [image: Email this
> >> > article]<
> >>
> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/templates/email2.php?article_title=Utopia+versus+freedom&article_author=Thomas+Sowell++&article_date=August+4%2C+2009&article_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishworldreview.com%2Fcols%2Fsowell080409.php3&sent=false&ccMe=no
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > [image: Share and bookmark this
> >> > article]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=bljolkov>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >  *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price
> of
> >> > freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of
> >> freedom
> >> > is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with
> the
> >> > world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political
> savior,
> >> > then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly repeating
> >> the
> >> > catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or
> >> "social
> >> > justice."
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public
> nor
> >> the
> >> > Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making
> >> > massive
> >> > changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
> >> > decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and
> out
> >> of
> >> > the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in
> Washington.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
> >> > specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising
> in
> >> the
> >> > fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
> >> > question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who
> claims
> >> to
> >> > be able to "solve" our "problem."
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions,"
> each
> >> > causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way lies
> a
> >> > never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers'
> >> money
> >> > and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live
> your
> >> own
> >> > life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > *FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*
> >> >
> >> > *Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media and
> >> > Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and
> >> cartoonists
> >> > regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
> >> > here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
> >> > ** *
> >> >
> >> > Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our
> >> freedom.
> >> > This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have
> not
> >> yet
> >> > faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
> >> > something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want and
> >> don't
> >> > have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable
> >> part
> >> > of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must
> >> bear
> >> > with infirmities until they fester into crimes."
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
> >> > infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some
> people
> >> > think they should, then their answer is to set up a government
> >> bureaucracy
> >> > to either control insurance companies or replace them.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than
> some
> >> > people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual
> >> track
> >> > record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is
> of
> >> no
> >> > interest to those who think this way.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance
> is
> >> so
> >> > expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are in
> >> the
> >> > business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians
> >> > than
> >> to
> >> > mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the
> >> > slightest
> >> > regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of
> >> > insurance.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > If insurance covered only those things that most people are most
> >> concerned
> >> > about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be
> >> much
> >> > lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after
> >> > mandate.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover
> annual
> >> > checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur
> once
> >> a
> >> > year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
> >> > purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially
> >> with
> >> > somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws
> adding
> >> > things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
> >> > government involvement in medical care are already talking about
> >> extending
> >> > insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving
> shrinks
> >> and
> >> > hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund Burke
> >> said
> >> > long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the
> >> most
> >> > tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
> >> > University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be
> prepared
> >> to
> >> > kiss your freedom goodbye.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Brad,
> >> >>
> >> >> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face it,
> >> he's
> >> >> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing of
> >> the
> >> >> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't
> >> possible.
> >> >> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to
> >> >> the
> >> >> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for anyone.
> >> >>
> >> >> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let
> >> people
> >> >> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch
> the
> >> >> prices drop with it.
> >> >>
> >> >> Rik
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>> The man is lying out his ass!
> >> >>>
> >> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Brad
> >> >>>
> >> >>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance,
> so
> >> >>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays
> Blue
> >> >>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite
> substantial,
> >> >>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea,
> >> it's
> >> >>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and forgo
> >> the
> >> >>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.
>  But
> >> >>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out
> his
> >> >>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
> >> >>> > deception.
> >> >>> >
> >> >>> >
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
> >> >>> >
> >> >>> > Brad
> >> >>> >
> >> >>> _______________________________________________
> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >> >>>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they
> >> >> cannot
> >> >> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is
> a
> >> >> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> >> >> freedom
> >> >> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and
> >> >> reject
> >> >> the
> >> >> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of
> other
> >> >> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they
> cannot
> >> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is
> a
> >> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> >> freedom
> >> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and
> reject
> >> the
> >> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> >> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> freedom
> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
> the
> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 22:43:50 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 21:43:50 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Who Ya Gonna Believe? You Or Your Lying
	Eyes?
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908051902m6a048aaexc6acaea5386f0a1b@mail.gmail.com>
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	<6634e19e0908051902m6a048aaexc6acaea5386f0a1b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908051943o6a148c8s9dc7cf04dd2a845a@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

The system the author describes is basically the system I grew up
with.  Dr. Miller Greer delivered me and I'm sure Mom & Dad paid the
bill over time. Later, Dr. Phillips was our physician  and he made
house calls.  You had to be near death to call Doc Phillips because as
my mother used to say, "we don't have the money to take you to the
doctor every time you fart crossways". MediCare has indeed extended my
parents lives and lessened their suffering many times over.  I'm
grateful for it, but we baby-boomers have to be honest with ourselves.
 MediCare isn't sustainable - it is a simple matter of demographics.

What people need is catastrophic health insurance, same as our homes,
cars, and businesses. The author is dead-on about the need for tort
reform and that isn't addressed in the current bill in the least.  You
and I know why.

As a side story, I got to experience the local health clinic a couple
of years ago.  We were successful in getting Fan's father a green
card, thinking her mother would die first and he would be spending
substantial time with us. The INS tagged him as a possibly having TB
and required that he visit a county clinic (he did have TB as a child
and a throat operation at age 4 that left him with a voice barely
louder than a whisper).  To my surprise, the clinic was mostly empty.
An old black doctor, I'd guess to be about Mr. Shen's age, spent over
an hour with us. I tried to translate as best I could but these two
'old guys' managed to get their thoughts conveyed mostly with smiles
and eye expressions. It was fun to witness.

Whatever the ultimate solution is, the bill just written certainly
isn't the optimum one.  China tried it and they bailed.

Brad


On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Here's what I'm talkin' about.
>
> I doubt it's possible to get back to the "old" way in our lifetimes. Our
> kids may see it although probably not because of "help" from the gov't.
>
> http://whiskeyandgunpowder.com/healthcare-solution-go-back-to-cash/
>
> Again, a little long to paste.
>
> Rik
>
> On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 12:00 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Rik,
>>
>> This is pure gold!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-RzbOMBmRM&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> Notice all the "too well dressed people" according to Sen. Boxer.  I
>> smell revolution!
>>
>> Keep your powder dry.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Brad,
>> >
>> > Here's a guy who seems to understand what the end results of all this
>> > socialized medicine will be and how and why we will get there.
>> >
>> > It's a little long to paste in, but worth a read.
>> >
>> > http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/05/the-great-socialist-takeover/
>> >
>> > Rik
>> >
>> > On Wed, Aug 5, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Rik,
>> >>
>> >> Sowell does get it!  Americans are stupid if they don't. The people in
>> >> the Congress who are going to save us "little people" have a different
>> >> set of rules for themselves.  Here's today's news (which IS great news
>> >> for General Aviation -below). What was that old expression?  "Do as I
>> >> say, not as I do?", or something like that. I'll have to do the math
>> >> on the hourly fuel burn of a Gulfstream versus a "clunker". I can tell
>> >> you off the top of my head, they burn a shit-load of fuel.
>> >>
>> >> Brad
>> >>
>> >> ----------
>> >>
>> >> August 05, 2009
>> >>
>> >> House Orders Three Jets
>> >> "Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers
>> >> for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing
>> >> about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.
>> >>
>> >> "But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air
>> >> travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for
>> >> the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top
>> >> government officials and Members of Congress."
>> >>
>> >> The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but
>> >> the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own
>> >> discretion.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On 8/5/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > Brad,
>> >> >
>> >> > Once again, a large nugget of good sense from Thomas Sowell. This guy
>> >> gets
>> >> > it. One of the scariest phrases in the English language is: There
>> oughta
>> >> be
>> >> > a law.
>> >> >
>> >> > Rik
>> >> > _______________
>> >> >
>> >> > http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Jewish World Review <http://www.jewishworldreview.com/> August 4,
>> 2009
>> >> 14
>> >> > Menachem-Av 5769
>> >> >
>> >> > * Utopia versus freedom*
>> >> >
>> >> > By Thomas Sowell
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > [image: Printer Friendly
>> >> > Version]<
>> >>
>> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell080409.php3?printer_friendly>
>> >> >
>> >> > [image: Email this
>> >> > article]<
>> >>
>> http://www.jewishworldreview.com/templates/email2.php?article_title=Utopia+versus+freedom&article_author=Thomas+Sowell++&article_date=August+4%2C+2009&article_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jewishworldreview.com%2Fcols%2Fsowell080409.php3&sent=false&ccMe=no
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > [image: Share and bookmark this
>> >> > article]<http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=bljolkov>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >  *http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |* "Eternal vigilance is the price
>> of
>> >> > freedom." We have heard that many times. What is also the price of
>> >> freedom
>> >> > is the toleration of imperfections. If everything that is wrong with
>> the
>> >> > world becomes a reason to turn more power over to some political
>> savior,
>> >> > then freedom is going to erode away, while we are mindlessly
>> >> > repeating
>> >> the
>> >> > catchwords of the hour, whether "change," "universal health care" or
>> >> "social
>> >> > justice."
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > If we can be so easily stampeded by rhetoric that neither the public
>> nor
>> >> the
>> >> > Congress can be bothered to read, much less analyze, bills making
>> >> > massive
>> >> > changes in medical care, then do not be surprised when life and death
>> >> > decisions about you or your family are taken out of your hands ? and
>> out
>> >> of
>> >> > the hands of your doctor ? and transferred to bureaucrats in
>> Washington.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Let's go back to square one. The universe was not made to our
>> >> > specifications. Nor were human beings. So there is nothing surprising
>> in
>> >> the
>> >> > fact that we are dissatisfied with many things at many times. The big
>> >> > question is whether we are prepared to follow any politician who
>> claims
>> >> to
>> >> > be able to "solve" our "problem."
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > If we are, then there will be a never ending series of "solutions,"
>> each
>> >> > causing new problems calling for still more "solutions." That way
>> >> > lies
>> a
>> >> > never-ending quest, costing ever increasing amounts of the taxpayers'
>> >> money
>> >> > and ? more important ? ever greater losses of your freedom to live
>> your
>> >> own
>> >> > life as you see fit, rather than as presumptuous elites dictate.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > *FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO INFLUENTIAL NEWSLETTER*
>> >> >
>> >> > *Every weekday NewsAndOpinion.com publishes what many in the media
>> >> > and
>> >> > Washington consider "must-reading". HUNDREDS of columnists and
>> >> cartoonists
>> >> > regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click
>> >> > here.<http://www.jewishworldreview.com/subs.php>
>> >> > ** *
>> >> >
>> >> > Ultimately, our choice is to give up Utopian quests or give up our
>> >> freedom.
>> >> > This has been recognized for centuries by some, but many others have
>> not
>> >> yet
>> >> > faced that reality, even today. If you think government should "do
>> >> > something" about anything that ticks you off, or anything you want
>> >> > and
>> >> don't
>> >> > have, then you have made your choice between Utopia and freedom.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Back in the 18th century, Edmund Burke said, "It is no inconsiderable
>> >> part
>> >> > of wisdom, to know much of an evil ought to be tolerated" and "I must
>> >> bear
>> >> > with infirmities until they fester into crimes."
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > But today's crusading zealots are not about to tolerate evils or
>> >> > infirmities. If insurance companies are not behaving the way some
>> people
>> >> > think they should, then their answer is to set up a government
>> >> bureaucracy
>> >> > to either control insurance companies or replace them.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > If doctors, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies charge more than
>> some
>> >> > people feel like paying, then the answer is price control. The actual
>> >> track
>> >> > record of politicians, government bureaucracies, or price control is
>> of
>> >> no
>> >> > interest to those who think this way.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Politicians are already one of the main reasons why medical insurance
>> is
>> >> so
>> >> > expensive. Insurance is designed to cover risks but politicians are
>> >> > in
>> >> the
>> >> > business of distributing largesse. Nothing is easier for politicians
>> >> > than
>> >> to
>> >> > mandate things that insurance companies must cover, without the
>> >> > slightest
>> >> > regard for how such additional coverage will raise the cost of
>> >> > insurance.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > If insurance covered only those things that most people are most
>> >> concerned
>> >> > about ? the high cost of a major medical expense ? the price would be
>> >> much
>> >> > lower than it is today, with politicians piling on mandate after
>> >> > mandate.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Since insurance covers risks, there is no reason for it to cover
>> annual
>> >> > checkups, because it is known in advance that annual checkups occur
>> once
>> >> a
>> >> > year. Automobile insurance does not cover oil changes, much less the
>> >> > purchase of gasoline, since these are regular recurrences, not risks.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > But politicians in the business of distributing largesse ? especially
>> >> with
>> >> > somebody else's money ? cannot resist the temptation to pass laws
>> adding
>> >> > things to insurance coverage. Many of those who are pushing for more
>> >> > government involvement in medical care are already talking about
>> >> extending
>> >> > insurance coverage to "mental health" ? which is to say, giving
>> shrinks
>> >> and
>> >> > hypochondriacs a blank check drawn on the federal treasury.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > There are still some voices of sanity today, echoing what Edmund
>> >> > Burke
>> >> said
>> >> > long ago. "The study of human institutions is always a search for the
>> >> most
>> >> > tolerable imperfections," according to Prof. Richard Epstein of the
>> >> > University of Chicago. If you cannot tolerate imperfections, be
>> prepared
>> >> to
>> >> > kiss your freedom goodbye.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:08 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> >> Brad,
>> >> >>
>> >> >> It's obvious, he isn't bright enough to figure it out. Let's face
>> >> >> it,
>> >> he's
>> >> >> gotten paid out of begged donations all his life. He knows nothing
>> >> >> of
>> >> the
>> >> >> real business world. *Affordable* health care for everyone isn't
>> >> possible.
>> >> >> Too many people abuse the system and the more people you offer it to
>> >> >> the
>> >> >> worse it will get. Eventually it will not be *affordable* for
>> >> >> anyone.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> If we want less expensive health care, get the gov't out of it. Let
>> >> people
>> >> >> pay for their own health care and when the demand drops .... watch
>> the
>> >> >> prices drop with it.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Rik
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >>> The man is lying out his ass!
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDAPLb-HVcM&feature=player_embedded
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> Brad
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> On 8/3/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >>> > The man is a fake, a phony, a liar. I have good health insurance,
>> so
>> >> >>> > what?  My employer pays the costs out of their pocket and pays
>> Blue
>> >> >>> > Cross to administer the plan. My contribution is quite
>> substantial,
>> >> >>> > but the bottom line; it is my money and my employers money.  Yea,
>> >> it's
>> >> >>> > a benefit, but I could ask for more money in my paycheck and
>> >> >>> > forgo
>> >> the
>> >> >>> > insurance.  That's how the whole thing got started during WW2.
>>  But
>> >> >>> > whatever you think about health insurance, this man is lying out
>> his
>> >> >>> > ass! Stalin and Mao had nothing on this guy when it comes to
>> >> >>> > deception.
>> >> >>> >
>> >> >>> >
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-bY92mcOdk&feature=player_embedded
>> >> >>> >
>> >> >>> > Brad
>> >> >>> >
>> >> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>>
>> >>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> --
>> >> >> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they
>> >> >> cannot
>> >> >> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It
>> >> >> is
>> a
>> >> >> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> >> >> freedom
>> >> >> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and
>> >> >> reject
>> >> >> the
>> >> >> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of
>> other
>> >> >> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they
>> cannot
>> >> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is
>> a
>> >> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> >> freedom
>> >> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and
>> reject
>> >> the
>> >> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of
>> >> > other
>> >> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
>> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
>> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
>> freedom
>> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
>> the
>> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
>> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug  5 23:57:12 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2009 22:57:12 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Walter E. Williams
In-Reply-To: <A915E166CC2241058491DF33CBB2713A@YOURB88038198E>
References: <A915E166CC2241058491DF33CBB2713A@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908052057q147d2b00jc370e50dcdd7cc3@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Believe it or not, I listen to very little talk radio.  Since I bought
the VW with satellite radio
I do listen to Mark Levin if I find myself driving during his show.
His book "Liberty and Tyranny" is a must read.  Rush is entertaining
as well as usually on target, but Beck is the funniest of them all -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4HgDfNsH3M&feature=player_embedded

But frankly, I don't listen to either Rush or Beck much.  I do try to
listen to Talk Left on Sirius while driving but there's a reason the
left is a failure in that medium - they are boring.

Brad


On 8/5/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> I guess you never used to listen to Rush Limbaugh.  Walter E. Williams used
> to substitute for Limbaugh when Limbaugh took a day off or went on vacation
> and gave pretty good lessons in economics.
>
> His economic comments were explantions of capitalism versus other economic
> systems.
>
> He is still at George Mason, but I think that he is semi retired.  Maybe
> emeritus?  But he is still younger than Sowell by a number of years.
>
> Both of these guys are old farts...
>
> But as in ancient China, full of wisdom.
>
> Ed K

From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug  6 01:04:50 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 00:04:50 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Walter E. Williams
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908052057q147d2b00jc370e50dcdd7cc3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <A915E166CC2241058491DF33CBB2713A@YOURB88038198E>
	<400985d70908052057q147d2b00jc370e50dcdd7cc3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908052204t742414fevd70d3cee28e6a294@mail.gmail.com>

Well, this is another reason I don't listen to talk radio, especially
leftist talk radio -

- MALLOY (3:50): I have a good news to report; Glen Beck appears
closer to suicide - I'm hoping that he does it on camera; suicide is
rampant in his family, and given his alcoholism and his tendencies
towards self-destruction, I am only hoping that when Glen Beck does
put a gun to his head and pulls the trigger, that it will be on
television, because somebody will capture it on YouTube and it will be
the most popular video for months. -

Beck's mother and brother committed suicide.  Glen is a recovering
alcoholic and is very candid about it on air. I can give you the link
for the audio but why bother - reading it is disgusting enough.

Folks, what we are facing is totalitarianism. This is what it looks
like.  Come have dinner at my house and Fan will be happy to explain
how it feels, up close and personal.

Brad

On 8/5/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ed,
>
> Believe it or not, I listen to very little talk radio.  Since I bought
> the VW with satellite radio
> I do listen to Mark Levin if I find myself driving during his show.
> His book "Liberty and Tyranny" is a must read.  Rush is entertaining
> as well as usually on target, but Beck is the funniest of them all -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4HgDfNsH3M&feature=player_embedded
>
> But frankly, I don't listen to either Rush or Beck much.  I do try to
> listen to Talk Left on Sirius while driving but there's a reason the
> left is a failure in that medium - they are boring.
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/5/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> I guess you never used to listen to Rush Limbaugh.  Walter E. Williams
>> used
>> to substitute for Limbaugh when Limbaugh took a day off or went on
>> vacation
>> and gave pretty good lessons in economics.
>>
>> His economic comments were explantions of capitalism versus other
>> economic
>> systems.
>>
>> He is still at George Mason, but I think that he is semi retired.  Maybe
>> emeritus?  But he is still younger than Sowell by a number of years.
>>
>> Both of these guys are old farts...
>>
>> But as in ancient China, full of wisdom.
>>
>> Ed K
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug  6 09:14:01 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 08:14:01 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] flag@whitehouse.gov
Message-ID: <400985d70908060614x57093130pb81de3d0c34456ba@mail.gmail.com>

Since our Organizer in Chief wants us to report things that are
"fishy", cyberspace is a good place to catch "fish".  If you do a
Google search you will find copies of the Declaration of Independence,
the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Please do your part as a
citizen and send copies of these documents to -

flag at whitehouse.gov

Don't send a photo of yourself, but if you do, make sure you're not
"dressed well". You don't want to appear too "organized".

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 08:29:16 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 07:29:16 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
Message-ID: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>

Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -

http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78

The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -

http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng

The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
newspaper route in the early 70's).

What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".

Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!

Brad
------------------
St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
when the ruckus started.

Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
used a racial slur against him before the attack started.

?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he said.


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 09:09:58 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 08:09:58 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908070609k867a532m1f72d9dcb93bfe53@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

I wonder if this wouldn't have begun clear back with the porkulus bill IF it
hadn't gotten rammed through before anyone even had a chance to know what
was in it.

If they're gonna be THIS obvious about it, it'll get ugly quick from here.

Interesting times, these.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 7:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
>
> The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
> down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
> and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
> union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
>
> The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
> newspaper route in the early 70's).
>
> What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
>
> Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
>
> Brad
> ------------------
> St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
> were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
> three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
> when the ruckus started.
>
> Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
> said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
> flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
> Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
> Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
> knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
> Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
> used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
>
> ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
> said.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 09:48:15 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 08:48:15 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908070609k867a532m1f72d9dcb93bfe53@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908070609k867a532m1f72d9dcb93bfe53@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908070648j6ad5206co7e526baa926d778c@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

You make a very valid point, they wanted this passed before anyone had
a chance to study the proposal. This bill is socialized medicine,
period.  The YouTube videos of Obama from years past clearly expose
his goals as well as Barney Franks, et al.  The public service
employee unions (the lion's share of union members these days) are
exempt from the provisions of the bill (at least initially until
private insurance dies, which it surely will). The unions put Obama
over the top last fall and he immediately paid the UAW back by running
roughshod over creditors and usurping federal bankruptcy law in the GM
and Chrysler deals. Now the SEIU thugs are returning the favor by
"policing" town hall meetings.  Anyone familiar with the "community
organizer's" Chicago years understands what is happening.

Peggy Noonan has lost favor with me but today she "nails it" (below
from the WSJ).

Brad

-----------------


?You Are Terrifying Us?
Voters send a message to Washington, and get an ugly response.


      By PEGGY NOONAN



We have entered uncharted territory in the fight over national health
care. There?s a new tone in the debate, and it?s ugly. At the moment
the Democrats are looking like something they haven?t looked like in
years, and that is: desperate.

They must know at this point they should not have pushed a national
health-care plan. A Democratic operative the other day called it
?Hillary?s revenge.? When Mrs. Clinton started losing to Barack Obama
in the primaries 18 months ago, she began to give new and sharper
emphasis to her health-care plan. Mr. Obama responded by talking about
his health-care vision. He won. Now he would push what he had been
forced to highlight: Health care would be a priority initiative. The
net result is falling support for his leadership on the issue, falling
personal polls, and the angry town-hall meetings that have electrified
YouTube.

In his first five months in office, Mr. Obama had racked up big
wins?the stimulus, children?s health insurance, House approval of
cap-and-trade. But he stayed too long at the hot table. All the
Democrats in Washington did. They overinterpreted the meaning of the
2008 election, and didn?t fully take into account how the great
recession changed the national mood and atmosphere.

And so the shock on the faces of Congressmen who?ve faced the
grillings back home. And really, their shock is the first thing you
see in the videos. They had no idea how people were feeling. Their
2008 win left them thinking an election that had been shaped by
anti-Bush, anti-Republican, and pro-change feeling was really a
mandate without context; they thought that in the middle of a historic
recession featuring horrific deficits, they could assume support for
the invention of a huge new entitlement carrying huge new costs.

The passions of the protesters, on the other hand, are not a surprise.
They hired a man to represent them in Washington. They give him a big
office, a huge staff and the power to tell people what to do. They
give him a car and a driver, sometimes a security detail, and a
special pin showing he?s a congressman. And all they ask in return is
that he see to their interests and not terrify them too much. Really,
that?s all people ask. Expectations are very low. What the protesters
are saying is, ?You are terrifying us.?

What has been most unsettling is not the congressmen?s surprise but a
hard new tone that emerged this week. The leftosphere and the liberal
commentariat charged that the town hall meetings weren?t authentic,
the crowds were ginned up by insurance companies, lobbyists and the
Republican National Committee. But you can?t get people to leave their
homes and go to a meeting with a congressman (of all people) unless
they are engaged to the point of passion. And what tends to agitate
people most is the idea of loss?loss of money hard earned, loss of
autonomy, loss of the few things that work in a great sweeping away of
those that don?t.

People are not automatons. They show up only if they care.

What the town-hall meetings represent is a feeling of rebellion, an
uprising against change they do not believe in. And the Democratic
response has been stunningly crude and aggressive. It has been to
attack. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, accused the people at the meetings of ?carrying
swastikas and symbols like that.? (Apparently one protester held a
hand-lettered sign with a ?no? slash over a swastika.) But they are
not Nazis, they?re Americans. Some of them looked like they?d actually
spent some time fighting Nazis.

Then came the Democratic Party charge that the people at the meetings
were suspiciously well-dressed, in jackets and ties from Brooks
Brothers. They must be Republican rent-a-mobs. Sen. Barbara Boxer said
on MSNBC?s ?Hardball? that people are ?storming these town hall
meetings,? that they were ?well dressed?, that ?this is all
organized,? ?all planned,? to ?hurt our president.? Here she was
projecting. For normal people, it?s not all about Barack Obama.


The Democratic National Committee chimed in with an incendiary Web
video whose script reads, ?The right wing extremist Republican base is
back.? DNC communications director Brad Woodhouse issued a statement
that said the Republicans ?are inciting angry mobs of . . . right wing
extremists? who are ?not reflective of where the American people are.?

But most damagingly to political civility, and even our political
tradition, was the new White House email address to which citizens are
asked to report instances of ?disinformation? in the health-care
debate: If you receive an email or see something on the Web about
health-care reform that seems ?fishy,? you can send it to
flag at whitehouse.gov. The White House said it was merely trying to
fight ?intentionally misleading? information.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas on Wednesday wrote to the president saying
he feared that citizens? engagement could be ?chilled? by the effort.
He?s right, it could. He also accused the White House of compiling an
?enemies list.? If so, they?re being awfully public about it, but as
Byron York at the Washington Examiner pointed, the emails collected
could become a ?dissident database.?

All of this is unnecessarily and unhelpfully divisive and provocative.
They are mocking and menacing concerned citizens. This only makes a
hot situation hotter. Is this what the president wants? It couldn?t
be. But then in an odd way he sometimes seems not to have fully
absorbed the awesome stature of his office. You really, if you?re
president, can?t call an individual American stupid, if for no other
reason than that you?re too big. You cannot allow your allies to call
people protesting a health-care plan ?extremists? and ?right wing,? or
bought, or Nazi-like, either. They?re citizens. They?re concerned.
They deserve respect.

The Democrats should not be attacking, they should be attempting to
persuade, to argue for their case. After all, they have the big mic.
Which is what the presidency is, the big mic.

And frankly they ought to think about backing off. The president
should call in his troops and his Congress and announce a rethinking.
There are too many different bills, they?re all a thousand pages long,
no one has time to read them, no one knows what?s going to be in the
final one, the public is agitated, the nation?s in crisis, the timing
is wrong, we?ll turn to it again?but not now. We?ll take a little
longer, ponder every aspect, and make clear every complication.

You know what would happen if he did this? His numbers would go up.
Even Congress?s would. Because they?d look responsive, deliberative
and even wise. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Absent that, and let?s assume that won?t happen, the health-care
protesters have to make sure they don?t get too hot, or get out of
hand. They haven?t so far, they?ve been burly and full of debate, with
plenty of booing. This is democracy?s great barbaric yawp. But every
day the meetings seem just a little angrier, and people who are
afraid?who have been made afraid, and left to be afraid?can get swept
up. As this column is written, there comes word that John Sweeney of
the AFL-CIO has announced he?ll be sending in union members to the
meetings to counter health care?s critics.

Somehow that doesn?t sound like a peace initiative.

It?s going to be a long August, isn?t it? Let?s hope the uncharted
territory we?re in doesn?t turn dark.


On 8/7/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> I wonder if this wouldn't have begun clear back with the porkulus bill IF it
> hadn't gotten rammed through before anyone even had a chance to know what
> was in it.
>
> If they're gonna be THIS obvious about it, it'll get ugly quick from here.
>
> Interesting times, these.
>
> Rik
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 7:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
>>
>> The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
>> down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
>> and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
>> union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
>>
>> The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
>> newspaper route in the early 70's).
>>
>> What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
>>
>> Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
>>
>> Brad
>> ------------------
>> St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
>> were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
>> three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
>> when the ruckus started.
>>
>> Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
>> said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
>> flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
>> Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
>> Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
>> knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
>> Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
>> used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
>>
>> ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
>> said.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 10:29:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 09:29:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908070729j64218666p6c9b006f40db1b54@mail.gmail.com>

Update -

Here's a link to an analysis of the MSM response. There's too many
embedded links to cut-n-paste -

http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/the-media-take-aim-at-the-mob/

For an organized "mob" they sure don't seem to be too organized.
Where's my invitation and my damn T-shirt and check?

Brad

On 8/7/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
>
> The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
> down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
> and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
> union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
>
> The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
> newspaper route in the early 70's).
>
> What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
>
> Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
>
> Brad
> ------------------
> St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
> were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
> three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
> when the ruckus started.
>
> Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
> said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
> flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
> Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
> Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
> knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
> Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
> used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
>
> ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
> said.
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 12:16:51 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 11:16:51 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908070729j64218666p6c9b006f40db1b54@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908070729j64218666p6c9b006f40db1b54@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908070916q3611247ckc3760af3199d2a43@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

If I wasn't trapped in the position I'm in due to Sandy's health, I'd be
stuck to this deal like shit to a blanket. As it is, all I can really do is
wish there were a "Galt's Gultch" we could disappear to. Given what I'm
seeing now, I'd be gone ..... today

Overcoming the msm will be the most difficult problem in all of this. Far
too many people take these liberal "journalists" word as gospel.
Unfortunately, these may not be our "best and brightest".

Rik


On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Update -
>
> Here's a link to an analysis of the MSM response. There's too many
> embedded links to cut-n-paste -
>
> http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/the-media-take-aim-at-the-mob/
>
> For an organized "mob" they sure don't seem to be too organized.
> Where's my invitation and my damn T-shirt and check?
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/7/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
> >
> > The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
> > down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
> > and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
> > union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
> >
> > The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
> > newspaper route in the early 70's).
> >
> > What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
> >
> > Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
> >
> > Brad
> > ------------------
> > St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
> > were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
> > three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
> > when the ruckus started.
> >
> > Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
> > said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
> > flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
> > Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
> > Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
> > knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
> > Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
> > used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
> >
> > ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
> > said.
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 12:58:30 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 11:58:30 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908070916q3611247ckc3760af3199d2a43@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908070729j64218666p6c9b006f40db1b54@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908070916q3611247ckc3760af3199d2a43@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908070958j594a1676y442a04f7bb6ee504@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

To quote that famous American leader and Harvard graduate, Isoroku
Yamamoto, "we have awakened a sleeping giant". Both the
Obama-Pelosi-Reid (other peoples resources) triad and the MSM are
fighting for their survival now. Federal revenues are down 18%.  We're
borrowing $4500 per "clunker" from China to redistribute to those the
Congress deem "worthy".  The general population really isn't that
stupid.  If they are, they do indeed get the government they deserve.
Like you, I'm looking for Galt's Gulch.  For us, it may be China by
default since our real estate there is worth more than what we have
here. All of us are free to move our capital anywhere in the world
with a mouse click, and many of us have. Let's hope this is eventually
solved with ballots and not bullets.

You of all people don't need to be lectured about health-care.  Like
my father, Stan Spitzer, and so many millions of others faced with a
great challenge, you dropped what you were doing and "did what needed
to be done". That kind of sacrifice does not go unnoticed.

I'm enclosing today's post by Charles Krauthammer, a physician who was
crippled for life by an auto accident during his time in med school.
His is perhaps the most sane and rational solution proposed yet.

There's more brave people like you and Sandy in this country than most
people realize.  We will prevail!

Brad
-------------------------------
August 7, 2009
Health Care Reform: A Better Plan
By Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON -- In 1986, Ronald Reagan and Bill Bradley created a
legislative miracle. They fashioned a tax reform that stripped
loopholes, political favors, payoffs, patronage and other corruptions
out of the tax system. With the resulting savings, they lowered tax
rates across the board. Those reductions, combined with the
elimination of the enormous inefficiencies and perverse incentives
that go into tax sheltering, helped propel a 20-year economic boom.

In overhauling any segment of our economy, the 1986 tax reform should
be the model. Yet today's ruling Democrats propose to fix our
extremely high quality (but inefficient and therefore expensive)
health care system with 1,000 pages of additional curlicued complexity
-- employer mandates, individual mandates, insurance company mandates,
allocation formulas, political payoffs and myriad other conjured
regulations and interventions -- with the promise that this massive
concoction will lower costs.

This is all quite mad. It creates a Rube Goldberg system that simply
multiplies the current inefficiencies and arbitrariness, thus
producing staggering deficits with less choice and lower-quality care.
That's why the administration can't sell Obamacare.

The administration's defense is to accuse critics of being for the
status quo. Nonsense. Candidate John McCain and a host of other
Republicans since have offered alternatives. Let me offer mine: Strip
away current inefficiencies before remaking one-sixth of the U.S.
economy. The plan is so simple it doesn't even have the requisite
three parts. Just two: radical tort reform and radically severing the
link between health insurance and employment.

(1) Tort reform: As I wrote recently, our crazy system of casino
malpractice suits results in massive and random settlements that raise
everyone's insurance premiums and creates an epidemic of defensive
medicine that does no medical good, yet costs a fortune.

An authoritative Massachusetts Medical Society study found that five
out of six doctors admitted they order tests, procedures and referrals
-- amounting to about 25 percent of the total -- solely as protection
from lawsuits. Defensive medicine, estimates the
libertarian/conservative Pacific Research Institute, wastes more than
$200 billion a year. Just half that sum could provide a $5,000 health
insurance grant -- $20,000 for a family of four -- to the uninsured
poor (U.S. citizens ineligible for other government health
assistance).

What to do? Abolish the entire medical-malpractice system. Create a
new social pool from which people injured in medical errors or
accidents can draw. The adjudication would be done by medical experts,
not lay juries giving away lottery prizes at the behest of the
liquid-tongued John Edwardses who pocket a third of the proceeds.

The pool would be funded by a relatively small tax on all
health-insurance premiums. Socialize the risk; cut out the trial
lawyers. Would that immunize doctors from carelessness or negligence?
No. The penalty would be losing your medical license. There is no more
serious deterrent than forfeiting a decade of intensive medical
training and the livelihood that comes with it.

(2) Real health-insurance reform: Tax employer-provided health care
benefits and return the money to the employee with a government check
to buy his own medical insurance, just as he buys his own car or home
insurance.

There is no logical reason to get health insurance through your
employer. This entire system is an accident of World War II wage and
price controls. It's economically senseless. It makes people stay in
jobs they hate, decreasing labor mobility and therefore overall
productivity. And it needlessly increases the anxiety of losing your
job by raising the additional specter of going bankrupt through
illness.

The health care benefit exemption is the largest tax break in the
entire U.S. budget, costing the government a quarter-trillion dollars
annually. It hinders health-insurance security and portability as well
as personal independence. If we additionally eliminated the
prohibition on buying personal health insurance across state lines,
that would inject new and powerful competition that would lower costs
for everyone.

Repealing the exemption has one fatal flaw, however. It was advocated
by candidate John McCain. Obama so demagogued it last year that he
cannot bring it up now without being accused of the most extreme
hypocrisy and without being mercilessly attacked with his own 2008
ads.

But that's a political problem of Obama's own making. As is the
Democratic Party's indebtedness to the trial lawyers, which has taken
malpractice reform totally off the table. But that doesn't change the
logic of my proposal. Go the Reagan-Bradley route. Offer sensible,
simple, yet radical reform that strips away inefficiencies from the
existing system before adding Obamacare's new ones -- arbitrary,
politically driven, structural inventions whose consequence is certain
financial ruin.



On 8/7/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> If I wasn't trapped in the position I'm in due to Sandy's health, I'd be
> stuck to this deal like shit to a blanket. As it is, all I can really do is
> wish there were a "Galt's Gultch" we could disappear to. Given what I'm
> seeing now, I'd be gone ..... today
>
> Overcoming the msm will be the most difficult problem in all of this. Far
> too many people take these liberal "journalists" word as gospel.
> Unfortunately, these may not be our "best and brightest".
>
> Rik
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Update -
>>
>> Here's a link to an analysis of the MSM response. There's too many
>> embedded links to cut-n-paste -
>>
>> http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/the-media-take-aim-at-the-mob/
>>
>> For an organized "mob" they sure don't seem to be too organized.
>> Where's my invitation and my damn T-shirt and check?
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/7/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
>> >
>> > The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
>> > down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
>> > and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
>> > union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
>> >
>> > The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
>> > newspaper route in the early 70's).
>> >
>> > What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
>> >
>> > Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
>> >
>> > Brad
>> > ------------------
>> > St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
>> > were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
>> > three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
>> > when the ruckus started.
>> >
>> > Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
>> > said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
>> > flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
>> > Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
>> > Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
>> > knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
>> > Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
>> > used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
>> >
>> > ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
>> > said.
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 13:02:19 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 12:02:19 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Let The Revolution Begin!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908070916q3611247ckc3760af3199d2a43@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908070529s1c5cd0e3u7ccac038261f40f4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908070729j64218666p6c9b006f40db1b54@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908070916q3611247ckc3760af3199d2a43@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908071002s6f92908em6e68f6dfd1f39786@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

"Democrats once warned about privacy and the shredding of the Constitution
when President George W. Bush sought to monitor the communications between
foreign terrorists and their American contacts."

This today in IBD

Rik
______________________
Getting In *Their* Faces For A Change

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Thursday, August 06, 2009 4:20 PM PT

*Public Discourse:* The candidate who told his supporters "to argue
with them and get in their face" now finds the shoe on the other foot. So
they're taking names and encouraging you to turn in your neighbors.
------------------------------

Read More: *General
Politics<http://www.ibdeditorials.com/FeaturedCategories.aspx?sid=1823&cid=1814>
*
 ------------------------------

So this is hope and change ? telling American citizens who in a democracy
disagree with you that they are mind-numbed robots participating in mob
action and expressing "manufactured" outrage.

Considering that upward of 80% of those hooligans like their doctors, like
their insurance and like their care, anger over your government-run health
care was not that hard to assemble.

It was not that long ago that Barack Obama told a crowd of 1,500 supporters
in Elko, Nev., to challenge those who disagree with them and him: "I want
you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want
you to talk to them whether they are independents or Republicans. I want you
to argue with them."

President Obama spoke then as the community organizer he was ? a true
disciple of Saul Alinsky who worked with and for Acorn in the days when they
were storming banks and government meetings to force them to ditch
creditworthiness as a criteria and forcing them to issue loans to those who
couldn't afford them.

The president is familiar with the Alinsky way, the Chicago way, of
organizing a group to act. Obama spent years prodding underprivileged
Chicagoans to channel their political anger by orchestrating activist mob
scenes designed to coerce businesses and public officials. A 2007 profile in
the left-leaning New Republic was titled "The Agitator." He's still at it.

The community organizer is trying to organize America in his image, but the
American people are more than scared bankers and groveling politicians. They
are the descendants of the original tea partiers who threw the teas in
Boston Harbor. That Tea Party protested taxation without representation.
Their descendants are protesting the taxation they are getting with it.

Obama cut his political teeth as a community organizer with Acorn, the group
that buses people all wearing the same red shirts and all carrying the same
union-printed signs to the homes of AIG executives and their families and
anyone else they want to intimidate. Brown shirts would be more appropriate.

The modern-day tea partiers and those opposing government-run health care
carry kids on their shoulders and wave signs they've hand-painted on their
living room floors to protest the mortgaging of their future and the
bankrupting of their country. According to the Democrats, these people are
dangerous and need to be watched.

Democrats once warned about privacy and the shredding of the Constitution
when President George W. Bush sought to monitor the communications between
foreign terrorists and their American contacts.

They have no objection to the administration openly asking citizens to
report rumors, casual conversations and the contents of e-mails to the
government. The White House Web site brazenly asks: "If you get an e-mail or
see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy ?
send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."

They say they merely want to correct the record, but we see an enemies list
being compiled by a government seeking to nationalize and control everything
from car dealers to emergency rooms. What are the name-gatherers going to
do? Dispatch the red shirts of Acorn?

"I can only imagine the level of justifiable outrage had your predecessor
asked Americans to forward e-mails critical of his policies to the White
House," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a letter to President Obama. "As
Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters,
citizen engagement must not be chilled by the government monitoring the
exercise of their speech rights." So where is the ACLU, anyway?

The American people have always valued their freedom and their liberty. They
see it disappearing under a battalion of unelected and unaccountable czars.
They're as mad as hell and aren't about to take it anymore. Power to the
people.



On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Brad,
>
> If I wasn't trapped in the position I'm in due to Sandy's health, I'd be
> stuck to this deal like shit to a blanket. As it is, all I can really do is
> wish there were a "Galt's Gultch" we could disappear to. Given what I'm
> seeing now, I'd be gone ..... today
>
> Overcoming the msm will be the most difficult problem in all of this. Far
> too many people take these liberal "journalists" word as gospel.
> Unfortunately, these may not be our "best and brightest".
>
> Rik
>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 7, 2009 at 9:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Update -
>>
>> Here's a link to an analysis of the MSM response. There's too many
>> embedded links to cut-n-paste -
>>
>> http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/the-media-take-aim-at-the-mob/
>>
>> For an organized "mob" they sure don't seem to be too organized.
>> Where's my invitation and my damn T-shirt and check?
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/7/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Here's what happened in St. Louis last night -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/kqpn78
>> >
>> > The SEIU is the public employees union. This is coming from the top
>> > down.  Our Community Organizer in Chief said to "get in peoples face"
>> > and they are.  At "town hall" meetings across the country, ACORN and
>> > union members are allowed in while ordinary citizens are locked out -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/l9ogng
>> >
>> > The Post-Dispatch newspaper account is below (side note - I had a P-D
>> > newspaper route in the early 70's).
>> >
>> > What you are witnessing is "Chicago Way" thug style "democracy".
>> >
>> > Keep your powder dry.  We have yet to begun to fight!
>> >
>> > Brad
>> > ------------------
>> > St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those
>> > were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and
>> > three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone
>> > when the ruckus started.
>> >
>> > Kenneth Gladney, a 38-year-old conservative activist from St. Louis,
>> > said he was attacked by some of those arrested as he handed out yellow
>> > flags with ?Don't tread on me? printed on them. He spoke to the
>> > Post-Dispatch from the emergency room of the St. John's Mercy Medical
>> > Center, where he said he was waiting to be treated for injuries to his
>> > knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face that he suffered in the attack.
>> > Gladney, who is black, said one of his attackers, also a black man,
>> > used a racial slur against him before the attack started.
>> >
>> > ?It just seems there's no freedom of speech without being attacked,? he
>> > said.
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>
>


-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug  7 16:55:00 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 15:55:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] HOPE!
Message-ID: <400985d70908071355u2be062j633aa4beed548d79@mail.gmail.com>

This just in from some Tennessee Tea Party "members".  A couple of
notes - (1) I don't have a clue what political party these people
belong to - Tea Party "members" pretty much have a "don't ask-don't
tell" policy, and (2) my youngest son has never forgiven Heath Shuler
for not taking Tennessee to a national championship when he was
quarterback.

Brad

-----------


A Good Meeting With Congressman Shuler
2009 August 7
by janeq

10 Votes

At 5:15 pm this evening, 8 representatives of the Asheville Tea Party
and 1 Hendersonville Tea Partier were given a private audience with
Congressman Heath Shuler.

In our group were Dr. Bill Rieke and his wife Margaret, Bill O?Connor,
Doug Lack, Gary Shoemaker, Brian Umbarger, Jeffery Lane, Bill Lack,
and me, Erika Franzi.

I began the discussion by sharing with Congressman Shuler some of the
concerns that many of you have shared with me.

    * This plan is too expensive for a country that is already broke.
    * The federal government is not capable of handling the
responsibility of an industry that makes up 15% of our economy.
    * The Public Option as a backdoor route to a Single Payer health care plan.
    * Achieving universal healthcare without shooting costs through
the roof means rationing of care.
    * This plan, if its so good, should be required for all federal employees.

I then turned the floor over to Dr. Rieke, a semi-retired physician
who moved here from North Dakota.  He has extensive experience
treating patients who traveled to the United States from Canada in
order to receive proper and timely healthcare.  He shared his
impression of the Canadian health care system with Congressman Shuler,
rightly comparing it to the system that is being proposed in HR 3200.
Dr. Rieke also stressed the importance of  Tort Reform to any effort
at Health Care Reform, and the fact that this essential element is
being completely ignored by the current legislation.

Bill O?Connor is the director of the Hendersonville Tea Party
movement.  Bill talked to Congressman Shuler about the inevitability
of rationed care in the proposed system.  He pointed out that there is
no way to contain costs when adding millions of people to the system
unless you ration care.  He also discussed the reality of the language
in the current bill that refers to ?End Of Life? issues, which
mandates that persons over age 65 report on their plans for end of
life measures every five years.   Bill also warned Congressman Shuler
against voting for a government program that will introduce political
corruption into the medical field whereby folks who contribute to
campaigns might get better care.

Doug Lack, a health insurance professional, discussed the actual
problems with health insurance as it exists today with Congressman
Shuler.  According to Doug, the only way to make the current situation
any worse would be to allow the government to ?compete? with private
insurers with the Public Option.  Doug says group health policies are
a mistake and are done for the convenience of the insurance companies.

Gary Shoemaker, the founder of Liberty Asheville, spoke to Congressman
Shuler about the unconstitutionality of passing a government
healthcare bill.  Gary compared the proposed Department of Healthcare
to the Department of Energy and the Department of Education, two
initiatives that have cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and have,
by any measure, failed to meet their goals.  He reminded Congressman
Shuler that these programs not only represent a huge part of our
economy, they strip personal responsibility from citizens and place it
in the hands of Washington bureaucrats, with poor results.  Gary said,
?The things that all of these programs have in common is; that they
are not constitutional, they are bureaucratic, they are ruining our
economy,  they stifle innovation, they are placing our future in
jeopardy.?

Congressman Shuler then asked for suggestions.  Suggestions given
were: improvements to the exchange system, tort reform, and looking to
the free market for the solution to the current health care mess.

Congressman Shuler, of course, does not agree with everything we had
to say, but there was much in our discussion that we did agree upon.
In my opinion, he seem to agree that this plan is too expensive.  He
seemed to agree that the burden on small business owners was
unacceptable.  He seemed to agree that the exchange system needed much
improvement.

Before we closed the meeting, Congressman Shuler told us he will vote
no on HR3200.

He was very gracious and he spent well over an hour chatting with us
when he had originally planned to only give us about a half and hour.

We ended our time by telling him we would relay the news that he is
not ?in hiding? if he will tell his colleagues in Washington that we
are not a pitchfork wielding ?angry mob.?


From ekroposki at charter.net  Fri Aug  7 16:46:48 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2009 16:46:48 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] NASCAR Incident (21 July 2009)
Message-ID: <29D3CAA9723544D5A628FF6A8A3B2FB1@YOURB88038198E>






 

CHECK THIS OUT....

 

Joe Gibbs Racing

 

Driver Brad Coleman was testing a Gibbs NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car at Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds earlier this week and came onto the radio and told his crew something rather unusual.

 

"Guys, I hit a coyote," Coleman said.

 

Coleman was running close to 200 mph around the 10-mile test track when he saw the animal wander under the outside guardrail.

 

"I'm in the middle of the corner, and I'm doing like 190," Coleman said Friday at Superspeedway before

 

practicing his Nationwide Series car. "I'm just cruising.

 

You run the high line there, because that's where the most banking is.  It's the high-speed lane.

 

There's just a guardrail there like on the freeway.  "I see this thing, it must've been 100 feet in front of me, just jump out.  Right when I saw it come out from under the guardrail, I was like, 'That's a coyote.'"

 

"It just started smoking like crazy," Coleman said. "And it smelled terrible.

 

I didn't see anything in the mirror, so I was like, 'I wonder where it went?'

 

I said, 'Guys, I hit a coyote. I'm going to come in because I think it screwed up the radiator.

 

I think it clogged up the grille a little bit.'"

 



 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug  8 23:54:08 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 8 Aug 2009 22:54:08 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Welcome to Chicago!
Message-ID: <400985d70908082054i5d6a8208seb9e5c8bb1d42855@mail.gmail.com>

More video from the STL "townhall meeting" where SEIU thugs were
allowed inside the meeting but ordinary citizens weren't -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwxf_2GFOBc

This is the same meeting where a black conservative was attacked by
the same thugs. Welcome to Chicago style politics.  How about that
Hope and Change?

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sun Aug  9 08:38:31 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 08:38:31 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Internet Snitchs
Message-ID: <FF69DB5B25994E47B1934F487C8E1684@YOURB88038198E>

Who's Behind the Internet Snitch Brigade?

 Friday, August 07, 2009

By Michelle Malkin 

Listen to Commentary Podcasts 

 

 

Czardom has its privileges. This week, President Obama's health care overlord, Nancy DeParle, launched a taxpayer-funded initiative to recruit an Internet Snitch Brigade that will combat "disinformation about health insurance reform." As the White House explained in a special online bulletin:

 

"These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain e-mails or through casual conversation. Since we can't keep track of all of them here at the White House, we're asking for your help. If you get an e-mail or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag at whitehouse.gov."

 

What will health care czar DeParle do with this information? Where will it be stored? Who has oversight of the czar's powers, budget and personnel? Concerned citizens, alas, will have a hard time tracking down the "Office of Health Care Reform" created by executive order in April. There is no central website for the office, no direct channel for transparency and no congressional accountability.

 

At least one member of Congress has started asking questions. Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn sent a letter to Obama demanding that he disband the Internet Snitch Brigade immediately: "By requesting citizens send 'fishy' e-mails to the White House, it is inevitable that the names, e-mail addresses, IP addresses and private speech of U.S. citizens will be reported to the White House," Cornyn wrote. "You should not be surprised that these actions taken by your White House staff raise the specter of a data collection program."

 

Taxpayers have the right to know what government agencies and third parties the health care czar may share that data with-and why. 

 

Take note: The White House Office of Health Care Reform is working in close quarters with an entirely separate Office of Health Reform created under the Department of Health and Human Services. That office is staffed with several Obama campaign operatives and former employees of the Center for American Progress, including special assistant Michael Halle and HHS Office of Health Reform Director Jeanne Lambrew, a former senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who worked on health policy in the Clinton administration. 

 

CAP is a lead organization in the Health Care for America Now coalition, the "grassroots" lobbying group for Obama's health care takeover legislation run out of 1825 K Street in Washington, D.C., with a $40 million budget. CAP is also the parent group of Think Progress, the far-left website leading the smear campaign against fiscally conservative activists protesting at congressional town halls.

 

Lawmakers must also dig far beyond the health care czar's flagging operation. Last month, a Washington, D.C., citizen watchdog group filed suit to force the White House to disclose which health care lobbyists and executives it had met with this year to discuss the government health care takeover legislation. White House counsel Greg Craig refused to disclose which administration officials attended the meetings. But at least two of the industry visitors have ties to DeParle. 

 

William C. Weldon is chairman of Johnson & Johnson, which paid DeParle $7,500 for a recent speech. Wayne Smith is chief executive of Community Health Systems, which merged with Triad Hospitals-where DeParle served on the board of directors. DeParle's options were converted to cash payments worth $1.05 million.

 

Despite Obama's lip service to transparency, the public is in the dark about which assets DeParle has divested; how many times, if any, DeParle has recused herself from policy matters and meetings; and the exact nature of her conversations with health care executives. 

 

While White House press secretary Robert Gibbs lambastes the corporate health care ties of Republican opponents, he has shrugged off the corporate ties of the woman leading the Obamacare charge.

 

Alert: The fishiest odor is emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

 
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Sun Aug  9 08:49:36 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 08:49:36 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Any property or wealth you have is subject to
	Obama's redistribution...
Message-ID: <2241C7D1FD2448E18EF958A44C7BBEE1@YOURB88038198E>

Obama's global redistributionist

A believer in de-developing the United States ...

By Terence P. Jeffrey | Saturday, August 8, 2009 

The following is an excerpt.  Complete article can be found at:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/08/obamas-global-redistributionist/



"The large gaps between rich and poor that characterize income distribution within and between countries today are incompatible with social stability and with cooperative approaches to achieving environmental sustianability," the authors explain. 

Table 1-1 lists among the "underlying human frailties" causing the ills of mankind "greed, selfishness, intolerance and shortsightedness." These vices, they say, "collectively have been elevated by conservative political doctrine and practice (above all in the United States in 1980-92) to the status of a credo." 

The authors present a formula for understanding ecological "damage," which they say "means reduced length or quality of life for the present generation or future generations." This doomsday formula is: "Damage = population x economic activity per person (affluence) x resource use per economic activity (resources) x stress on the environment per resource use (technology) x damage per stress (susceptibility)." 

Their application of this formula rejects the notion that man, through his wit, can not only increase individual productivity and technological efficiency but also find new resources to fuel them. 

For example, how much potential water lingers in the universe? Well, how much hydrogen and oxygen did God create? Mr. Holdren and co-authors claim to "know for certain" such thinking is folly. 

"We know for certain, for example, that: No form of material growth (including population growth) other than asymptotic growth, is sustainable," they say. "Many of the practices inadequately supporting today's population of 5.5 billion people are unsustainable; and at the sustainability limit, there will be a tradeoff between population and energy-matter throughput per person, hence, ultimately, between economic activity per person and well-being per person. 

"This is enough," they write, "to say quite a lot about what needs to be faced up to eventually (a world of zero net physical growth), what should be done now (change unsustainable practices, reduce excessive material consumption, slow down population growth), and what the penalty will be for postponing attention to population limitation (lower well-being per person)." 

By the time Mr. Holdren and his co-authors wrote those words, he had been sounding the same alarm for more than two decades. 

"Compulsory control of family size is an unpalatable idea, but the alternatives may be much more horrifying," Mr. Holdren, Mr. Ehrlich and Anne H. Ehrlich wrote on Page 256 of their 1973 book, "Human Ecology: Problems and Solutions." 

"A far better choice, in our view," they wrote, "is to begin now with milder methods of influencing family size preferences, while ensuring that the means of birth control, including abortion and sterilization, are accessible to every human being on Earth within the shortest possible time. If effective action is taken promptly, perhaps the need for involuntary or repressive measures can be averted." 

Within this apocalyptic vision, curbing economic growth and redistributing wealth become duties. 

"A massive campaign must be launched to restore a high-quality environment in North America and to de-develop the United States," Mr. Holdren and the Ehrlichs wrote in the conclusion of "Human Ecology." "The need for de-development presents our economists with a major challenge. They must design a stable, low-consumption economy in which there is a much more equitable distribution of wealth than in the present one. Redistribution of wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential, if a decent life is to be provided to every human being." 

Those are the words of a man who now serves in the White House, providing "wise counsel" to a president seeking to restructure the entire U.S. health care system. 

Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug  9 10:21:26 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 09:21:26 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Any property or wealth you have is subject
	to Obama's redistribution...
In-Reply-To: <2241C7D1FD2448E18EF958A44C7BBEE1@YOURB88038198E>
References: <2241C7D1FD2448E18EF958A44C7BBEE1@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908090721q585dd16fy9b34e7ac5fc19593@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Oh yeah!  This guy really knows how to take care of the environment -

http://tinyurl.com/kqb7ja

Brad

On 8/9/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> Obama's global redistributionist
>
> A believer in de-developing the United States ...
>
> By Terence P. Jeffrey | Saturday, August 8, 2009
>
> The following is an excerpt.  Complete article can be found at:
>
> http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/08/obamas-global-redistributionist/
>
>
>
> "The large gaps between rich and poor that characterize income distribution
> within and between countries today are incompatible with social stability
> and with cooperative approaches to achieving environmental sustianability,"
> the authors explain.
>
> Table 1-1 lists among the "underlying human frailties" causing the ills of
> mankind "greed, selfishness, intolerance and shortsightedness." These vices,
> they say, "collectively have been elevated by conservative political
> doctrine and practice (above all in the United States in 1980-92) to the
> status of a credo."
>
> The authors present a formula for understanding ecological "damage," which
> they say "means reduced length or quality of life for the present generation
> or future generations." This doomsday formula is: "Damage = population x
> economic activity per person (affluence) x resource use per economic
> activity (resources) x stress on the environment per resource use
> (technology) x damage per stress (susceptibility)."
>
> Their application of this formula rejects the notion that man, through his
> wit, can not only increase individual productivity and technological
> efficiency but also find new resources to fuel them.
>
> For example, how much potential water lingers in the universe? Well, how
> much hydrogen and oxygen did God create? Mr. Holdren and co-authors claim to
> "know for certain" such thinking is folly.
>
> "We know for certain, for example, that: No form of material growth
> (including population growth) other than asymptotic growth, is sustainable,"
> they say. "Many of the practices inadequately supporting today's population
> of 5.5 billion people are unsustainable; and at the sustainability limit,
> there will be a tradeoff between population and energy-matter throughput per
> person, hence, ultimately, between economic activity per person and
> well-being per person.
>
> "This is enough," they write, "to say quite a lot about what needs to be
> faced up to eventually (a world of zero net physical growth), what should be
> done now (change unsustainable practices, reduce excessive material
> consumption, slow down population growth), and what the penalty will be for
> postponing attention to population limitation (lower well-being per
> person)."
>
> By the time Mr. Holdren and his co-authors wrote those words, he had been
> sounding the same alarm for more than two decades.
>
> "Compulsory control of family size is an unpalatable idea, but the
> alternatives may be much more horrifying," Mr. Holdren, Mr. Ehrlich and Anne
> H. Ehrlich wrote on Page 256 of their 1973 book, "Human Ecology: Problems
> and Solutions."
>
> "A far better choice, in our view," they wrote, "is to begin now with milder
> methods of influencing family size preferences, while ensuring that the
> means of birth control, including abortion and sterilization, are accessible
> to every human being on Earth within the shortest possible time. If
> effective action is taken promptly, perhaps the need for involuntary or
> repressive measures can be averted."
>
> Within this apocalyptic vision, curbing economic growth and redistributing
> wealth become duties.
>
> "A massive campaign must be launched to restore a high-quality environment
> in North America and to de-develop the United States," Mr. Holdren and the
> Ehrlichs wrote in the conclusion of "Human Ecology." "The need for
> de-development presents our economists with a major challenge. They must
> design a stable, low-consumption economy in which there is a much more
> equitable distribution of wealth than in the present one. Redistribution of
> wealth both within and among nations is absolutely essential, if a decent
> life is to be provided to every human being."
>
> Those are the words of a man who now serves in the White House, providing
> "wise counsel" to a president seeking to restructure the entire U.S. health
> care system.
>
> Terence P. Jeffrey is the editor in chief of CNSnews.com
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug  9 10:25:49 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 09:25:49 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] King George
Message-ID: <400985d70908090725i2bfa6294y3cf0d1050ee368c3@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/cartoons.aspx#cartoon334531824251141

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug  9 10:52:02 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2009 09:52:02 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] New Business Venture
Message-ID: <400985d70908090752t2c24f52fw20dbca5038a7e125@mail.gmail.com>

My brother and I just came up with this great idea - we're starting a
car wash.  What could go wrong?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN1P5YTUBvE

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 08:03:27 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:03:27 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] College
Message-ID: <400985d70908100503y4010283cr9cf7cb8979c8bf13@mail.gmail.com>

Yup!  It is that time of year.  The author of the following column is
a graduate of the U of Memphis (as well as Georgetown - MBA).  Brad

---------------


Ron Hart: College is not for everyone
2009-08-07 20:17:05

The experience of past service on a state Board of Regents and current
service on two college boards has led me to conclude that higher
education for everyone is an increasingly dubious presupposition.

Colleges have become so expensive and so self-absorbed as to render
them almost ineffective. They are no longer the best way to transition
an adolescent from high school to adulthood. They are more about
liberal indoctrination than education, and any time liberals and
politicians are involved, costs skyrocket. In my (never-so-humble)
opinion, most higher education today is state-sponsored, socialist
brainwashing ? teaching "diversity" and "acceptance" and
"non-judgmental attitudes" instead of critical thinking and
(non-revisionist) history and the sciences.

Growing up in a small town, I was forbidden by my parents from
drinking, drugs and wild, indiscriminate sex. But I went away to
college anyway.

Before I left for college, my mom told me not to have pre-marital sex.
I remember thinking that if I had no intention of marrying the girl,
it would not be pre-marital sex. I spent the entirety of my college
days in technical compliance with my mother's wishes.

Mostly, college warehouses a boy for four to six years while he
attempts to grow up. It allows girls to watch this painfully awkward
evolution and presents them with the opportunity to marry the one boy
in twenty who actually might mature some day.

My college education cost $280 per semester, and I worked part-time to
pay that. It was a party school; instead of tuition, there was a cover
charge. You paid the $280 and they stamped your hand for the semester.
It was a bargain in the 1980s and it had value, but then so did GM
stock.

The days of reasonable tuition costs are long gone. The cost of a
four-year college education has more than doubled during a period when
middle-class incomes have risen only 10 percent. Worse, those tuition
costs are not the true sticker price of a taxpayer-subsidized
education. Even if college were a value proposition for kids, inane
colleges known for their spendthrift manner have spiraled higher
education costs even further out of the normal person's reach.

Government has too much influence on funding and controlling colleges,
and yet Obama wants more. Much as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac enticed
those who could not afford a house into buying one anyway, Sallie Mae
sells the crack cocaine of college justification through easy to get,
government-backed, student loans. So, many kids end up with too little
true education and too much debt to show for it. The only real-life
lesson they learn in college might be to beware of government promises
and the easy money lenders. Oh yeah, they also learn "Beer on whisky,
might risky ?whisky on beer, never fear."

My son is wrestling with the question of whether college makes sense.
Useless liberal majors (Women's Studies, Community Empowerment), a
dumbed-down curriculum (some colleges are so easy that if you drive
through campus slowly enough, they will give you a degree), and the
"everyone gets a B" mentality of colleges today make me tend to agree
with him. With his Stephen Wright-like wit, my son says he might
pursue a double major, Psychology and Reverse Psychology, just to
hedge his bets.

What percentage of today's kids would be in college were it not for
the article of faith that college is an imperative, thus encouraging
the pushing of their parents and of society? How much are they really
learning? Why not view the military as a viable alternative?

I told my son to look at college from a buyer's perspective and to
consider how our Founding Fathers got their educations. I suggested
that he find subjects he felt he would need and which would be of
value, like statistics, accounting, computer science or even Spanish
(given the demographic trend of our workforce). Then he should just
sign up for those classes about which he really cares. "Make your own
major in subjects that truly interest you," I said.

The fact that the Ivy League-educated types now in charge of our
government cannot figure out that socialism and deficit spending will
be the death of our once independent country speaks giant volumes
about the value of "higher education." Remember, Ronald Reagan went to
Eureka College - barely.

Ron Hart is a southern libertarian columnist whose weekly column about
politics and life appears Saturdays. Contact him at RevRon10 at aol.com.


From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 08:44:59 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:44:59 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Smell Something Fishy?
Message-ID: <400985d70908100544u13115e07l12ea247417ae8924@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ-6ebku3_E&feature=player_embedded

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 09:43:15 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:43:15 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Tea Party
Message-ID: <400985d70908100643r5ac6867ak4dbff9b77ab958a@mail.gmail.com>

Ironically, Pelosi accused Congressman Eric Cantor last week of being
one of the sponsors of the "swastika wearing". Cantor (one of the
rising stars of the GOP and perhaps my first choice for 2012) has been
unavailable for comment.  He was in Jerusalem last week visiting the
Holocaust memorial.

Brad

------------------


 Monday, August 10, 2009
BREITBART: I am Kenneth Gladney

Andrew Breitbart

OPINION/ANALYSIS:

The first round of protests against the Obama administration's chaotic
and rapid-fire expansion of government came in the form of grass-roots
"tea parties," which were predictably met with scorn by the
Democrat-Media Complex (the natural coalition of the Democratic Party
and the mainstream media.)

CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow
led the charge, declaring concerned Americans "tea baggers," an
allusion to an absurd sexual fetish beneath describing in a family
newspaper. This attack on hundreds of thousands of people practicing
their constitutional right to protest speaks volumes not just about
the hardened sociopolitical leanings of America's journalistic elite,
but about the brazenness with which they are now wielding their
unprofessionalism.

Last week on the grounds of the once-venerated White House, Senate
Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, taking his cues
from his allies in the media, referred to last week's health care
town-hall protesters as "tea baggers."

How far we have fallen.

Stepping up the rhetoric from mockery to pure hatred, and absent any
evidence, Mr. Olbermann has called the president's public protesters
"worse than racists." Political activist and comedianJaneane Garofalo
colored them "racist rednecks who hate blacks." And at the somewhat
higher end of the food chain, liberal economist Paul Krugman in the
New York Times wrote last week that they were motivated by "cultural
and racial fear."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is having a hard time these days
explaining the president's Israel policy to her Jewish constituents,
blatantly lied and said that the protesters were wielding "swastikas
and symbols like that."

Supporters of the president understand what is going on. So do his detractors.

The mainstream media and the Democratic Party are working in concert
to make sure that what happened to President Bush -- sustained
organized grass-roots protests ("mobs," if you will), relentless media
criticism and permanent opposition-party obstructionism -- does not
happen to their guy. Complicating matters, the media's fate is
directly tied to the president's. Without them, Barack Obama would
still be a backbencher from Illinois.

But the mockery. The recklessness. Unsupportable libel isn't working.
The tea parties and, now, the health care protests at town-hall
meetings have only gotten bigger and stronger. The anti-big-government
movement is pure. Its participants represent something close to what
used to be considered normative in this country.

Tea Party attendees and health care town-hall protesters share the
common belief that the extravagant spending of President Obama and the
Democratic Party -- absent any checks and balances -- will eventually
lead more people into government dependency, higher taxes and,
perhaps, our country's financial ruin. These are legitimate fears felt
by millions of Americans.

That's why the media and the Democratic Party are scared and are
throwing outrageous and hateful accusations at everyday Americans --
hoping that people stay home out of fear.

I've attended two tea parties so far. One was in Santa Ana, Calif., on
April 15, where my 81-year-old father-in-law, the actor Orson Bean,
joined fellow actor Gary Graham and newly naturalized American citizen
Ian Mitchell, from the Scottish '70s music sensation, the Bay City
Rollers.

I saw no "tea bagging." Blacks and Hispanics carried signs along with
the white majority. But there was a sketchy dog dressed in a red,
white and blue sweater.

Make of that what you will, Mr. Olbermann.

Last week, a black gentleman named Kenneth Gladney went to a town-hall
meeting hosted by Rep. Russ Carnahan, Missouri Democrat. While passing
out "Don't Tread on Me" flags, he was viciously attacked by Service
Employees International Union (SEIU) members. One called him a
"nigger."

These union thugs were directed by the White House to go to the
protests and "punch back twice as hard." And they did.

While the attack was captured on video and is available on YouTube,
Mr. Gladney's horrifying story is absent from MSNBC's 24/7 media
cycle. Mr. Krugman has yet to write about it. And Mr. Cooper has yet
to condemn the attack.

On Sept. 12, I will be attending a tea party in Quincy, Ill., joining
Instapundit professor Glenn Reynolds, Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft, and
Tucker Carlson.

With the Democratic Party in control of all branches of government and
the Fourth Estate acting as the Democratic Party's protector, the tea
party movement is the closest thing America has to checks and
balances.

If that isn't enough to motivate you, perhaps showing your solidarity
with Kenneth Gladney, a fellow patriot, is.

? Andrew Breitbart is publisher of the news portals Breitbart.com and
Breitbart.tv. His latest endeavor, Big Hollywood
(http://bighollywood.breitbart.com), is a group blog on Hollywood and
politics from the center-right perspective.


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 09:38:19 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:38:19 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Smell Something Fishy?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908100544u13115e07l12ea247417ae8924@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908100544u13115e07l12ea247417ae8924@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908100638r2d02a310mcef066eb26b8ba94@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Now, gosh darn-it, you just sit down and shut up, cause our messiah knows
what's best for us. Just ask him, he'll tell ya.

(and if ya believe that ...... I've got this ocean front property in AZ)

Rik
______________
http://www.ibdeditorial.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=334537017263161
Are We In America Or Amerika?

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, August 07, 2009 4:20 PM PT

*Public Debate:* Democrats, bloodied over their attempt to force health care
"reform" on Americans, are looking more unreasonable and hysterical by the
day. This isn't healthy for the republic.
------------------------------

Read More: *General
Politics<http://www.ibdeditorials.com/FeaturedCategories.aspx?sid=1823&cid=1814>
*
 ------------------------------

Their increasing anxiety and fear of failure are typified in the words of
the leader of their party, who wants Republicans to keep their mouths shut
while he "fixes" health care.

"I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking," the
president said Thursday at a political rally in Virginia. "I want them to
get out of the way so we can clean up the mess."

So much for the promises of bipartisan lawmaking. So much for open
discussion. So much for understanding who really caused the "mess" in the
first place. Like Al Gore claiming the debate about global warming is over,
the White House simply wants to shut down dialogue over who controls more
than one-seventh of the economy.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to come out in favor of repressing
speech. But she's inclined to ignore it. The San Francisco Democrat vowed
Thursday in Denver that the swelling public opposition to government-run
health care would not persuade party leaders to back down.

"The plan for August is to have a discussion, to listen carefully to what
people are saying, what ideas they may have to improve the legislation as it
affects them," Pelosi said. In other words, Americans can suggest changes,
but the elitists in Washington will not withdraw plans to take over the best
health care system in the world.

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid walked the same line
as Pelosi, making it clear that the Democratic leadership had no intention
of listening to fed-up voters.

"In spite of the loud, shrill voices trying to interrupt town hall meetings
and just throw a monkey wrench into everything," he said, "we're going to
continue to be positive and work hard."

By Thursday, Reid was saying that protesters were trying to "sabotage" the
democratic process, which apparently in his world is a place where there is
no opposition to the Democrats' process of invading every corner of private
life.

On the same day, Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Democrat of Arkansas, said she
thought the protests against government health care at lawmakers' town hall
meetings were "un-American and disrespectful." Hours later, she retracted
the statement, probably less concerned about the inaccuracy of her statement
than mindful of the fact that she had just insulted a large group of voters
who can unseat her.

Truth is, there's nothing more American than revolting against heavy-handed
authority, be it a long train of abuses from a king or the lawmaking of
elected officials with strong authoritarian urges. This is a nation founded
on independence, and there is a large portion of it that wants to retain
that priceless heritage.

This seems to confuse some lawmakers. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Wash., can't
understand that what he's watching is a freedom movement. In his eyes, the
protesters are Nazis ? or almost.

"What we're seeing right now is close to brownshirt tactics," Baird said
Wednesday, by way of explaining why he was refusing to face his constituents
directly in town hall meetings and would instead hold telephone town halls.

Voters' deep anger is justifiable. They have every right to disrupt and
shout down public figures who, as the protesters can be heard chanting, work
for them. At dispute is not a mere difference of opinion that can and should
be discussed in a civil manner, but a fundamental question of who is in
charge of peoples' lives.

We are not advocating violence, though coercive government is at its core
violent as the state is required to resort to force to ensure that its
directives aren't violated.

But we do support our fellow citizens' right to express their rage at an
injustice, particularly if it makes lawmakers uncomfortable. Shouldn't
Americans bristle when their independence is threatened, when a federal
official, in this case White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, says
party leaders "will punch back twice as hard" when voters merely show their
displeasure?

The freedom the protesters are defending can sometimes be messy and
imperfect. A lack of freedom, however, is eternally oppressive. It is an
unrelenting prison that poisons the human spirit, even when cloaked in
allegedly humane programs such as government-run health care.


2009/8/10 Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ-6ebku3_E&feature=player_embedded
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 10:29:53 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:29:53 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Tea Party
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908100643r5ac6867ak4dbff9b77ab958a@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908100643r5ac6867ak4dbff9b77ab958a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908100729j6b804b96o1e444596b80c18bc@mail.gmail.com>

Poor Nancy .... Her subjects just aren't behaving properly.

(She should be careful, some of them have even bought guns)

Rik

On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ironically, Pelosi accused Congressman Eric Cantor last week of being
> one of the sponsors of the "swastika wearing". Cantor (one of the
> rising stars of the GOP and perhaps my first choice for 2012) has been
> unavailable for comment.  He was in Jerusalem last week visiting the
> Holocaust memorial.
>
> Brad
>
> ------------------
>
>
>  Monday, August 10, 2009
> BREITBART: I am Kenneth Gladney
>
> Andrew Breitbart
>
> OPINION/ANALYSIS:
>
> The first round of protests against the Obama administration's chaotic
> and rapid-fire expansion of government came in the form of grass-roots
> "tea parties," which were predictably met with scorn by the
> Democrat-Media Complex (the natural coalition of the Democratic Party
> and the mainstream media.)
>
> CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow
> led the charge, declaring concerned Americans "tea baggers," an
> allusion to an absurd sexual fetish beneath describing in a family
> newspaper. This attack on hundreds of thousands of people practicing
> their constitutional right to protest speaks volumes not just about
> the hardened sociopolitical leanings of America's journalistic elite,
> but about the brazenness with which they are now wielding their
> unprofessionalism.
>
> Last week on the grounds of the once-venerated White House, Senate
> Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, taking his cues
> from his allies in the media, referred to last week's health care
> town-hall protesters as "tea baggers."
>
> How far we have fallen.
>
> Stepping up the rhetoric from mockery to pure hatred, and absent any
> evidence, Mr. Olbermann has called the president's public protesters
> "worse than racists." Political activist and comedianJaneane Garofalo
> colored them "racist rednecks who hate blacks." And at the somewhat
> higher end of the food chain, liberal economist Paul Krugman in the
> New York Times wrote last week that they were motivated by "cultural
> and racial fear."
>
> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is having a hard time these days
> explaining the president's Israel policy to her Jewish constituents,
> blatantly lied and said that the protesters were wielding "swastikas
> and symbols like that."
>
> Supporters of the president understand what is going on. So do his
> detractors.
>
> The mainstream media and the Democratic Party are working in concert
> to make sure that what happened to President Bush -- sustained
> organized grass-roots protests ("mobs," if you will), relentless media
> criticism and permanent opposition-party obstructionism -- does not
> happen to their guy. Complicating matters, the media's fate is
> directly tied to the president's. Without them, Barack Obama would
> still be a backbencher from Illinois.
>
> But the mockery. The recklessness. Unsupportable libel isn't working.
> The tea parties and, now, the health care protests at town-hall
> meetings have only gotten bigger and stronger. The anti-big-government
> movement is pure. Its participants represent something close to what
> used to be considered normative in this country.
>
> Tea Party attendees and health care town-hall protesters share the
> common belief that the extravagant spending of President Obama and the
> Democratic Party -- absent any checks and balances -- will eventually
> lead more people into government dependency, higher taxes and,
> perhaps, our country's financial ruin. These are legitimate fears felt
> by millions of Americans.
>
> That's why the media and the Democratic Party are scared and are
> throwing outrageous and hateful accusations at everyday Americans --
> hoping that people stay home out of fear.
>
> I've attended two tea parties so far. One was in Santa Ana, Calif., on
> April 15, where my 81-year-old father-in-law, the actor Orson Bean,
> joined fellow actor Gary Graham and newly naturalized American citizen
> Ian Mitchell, from the Scottish '70s music sensation, the Bay City
> Rollers.
>
> I saw no "tea bagging." Blacks and Hispanics carried signs along with
> the white majority. But there was a sketchy dog dressed in a red,
> white and blue sweater.
>
> Make of that what you will, Mr. Olbermann.
>
> Last week, a black gentleman named Kenneth Gladney went to a town-hall
> meeting hosted by Rep. Russ Carnahan, Missouri Democrat. While passing
> out "Don't Tread on Me" flags, he was viciously attacked by Service
> Employees International Union (SEIU) members. One called him a
> "nigger."
>
> These union thugs were directed by the White House to go to the
> protests and "punch back twice as hard." And they did.
>
> While the attack was captured on video and is available on YouTube,
> Mr. Gladney's horrifying story is absent from MSNBC's 24/7 media
> cycle. Mr. Krugman has yet to write about it. And Mr. Cooper has yet
> to condemn the attack.
>
> On Sept. 12, I will be attending a tea party in Quincy, Ill., joining
> Instapundit professor Glenn Reynolds, Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft, and
> Tucker Carlson.
>
> With the Democratic Party in control of all branches of government and
> the Fourth Estate acting as the Democratic Party's protector, the tea
> party movement is the closest thing America has to checks and
> balances.
>
> If that isn't enough to motivate you, perhaps showing your solidarity
> with Kenneth Gladney, a fellow patriot, is.
>
> ? Andrew Breitbart is publisher of the news portals Breitbart.com and
> Breitbart.tv. His latest endeavor, Big Hollywood
> (http://bighollywood.breitbart.com), is a group blog on Hollywood and
> politics from the center-right perspective.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 10:52:44 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:52:44 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Tea Party
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908100729j6b804b96o1e444596b80c18bc@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908100643r5ac6867ak4dbff9b77ab958a@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908100729j6b804b96o1e444596b80c18bc@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908100752j7827b8c6t6dc5077b277f5425@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Ironic that Nancy keeps throwing "Nazi" around.  Most products of a
public education from the last 30 years couldn't begin to explain the
difference between a Nazi, a Fascist, and communism or socialism.
Hitler was a vegetarian, hated smoking, and promoted physical fitness.
He and his minions were also among the first "eco-warriors".  We know
how well all that worked out. Last week was the 65th anniversary of
the Warsaw ghetto uprising.  I'd love to replay that bit of history,
only this time the Jews are well armed!

We're witnessing history repeat itself to some degree in this debate,
only the shirts are purple (SEIU) and red (ACORN) instead of brown.
I'm putting my money on angry senior citizens - and guns.

Brad

On 8/10/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Poor Nancy .... Her subjects just aren't behaving properly.
>
> (She should be careful, some of them have even bought guns)
>
> Rik
>
> On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:43 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Ironically, Pelosi accused Congressman Eric Cantor last week of being
>> one of the sponsors of the "swastika wearing". Cantor (one of the
>> rising stars of the GOP and perhaps my first choice for 2012) has been
>> unavailable for comment.  He was in Jerusalem last week visiting the
>> Holocaust memorial.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> ------------------
>>
>>
>>  Monday, August 10, 2009
>> BREITBART: I am Kenneth Gladney
>>
>> Andrew Breitbart
>>
>> OPINION/ANALYSIS:
>>
>> The first round of protests against the Obama administration's chaotic
>> and rapid-fire expansion of government came in the form of grass-roots
>> "tea parties," which were predictably met with scorn by the
>> Democrat-Media Complex (the natural coalition of the Democratic Party
>> and the mainstream media.)
>>
>> CNN's Anderson Cooper and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow
>> led the charge, declaring concerned Americans "tea baggers," an
>> allusion to an absurd sexual fetish beneath describing in a family
>> newspaper. This attack on hundreds of thousands of people practicing
>> their constitutional right to protest speaks volumes not just about
>> the hardened sociopolitical leanings of America's journalistic elite,
>> but about the brazenness with which they are now wielding their
>> unprofessionalism.
>>
>> Last week on the grounds of the once-venerated White House, Senate
>> Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, taking his cues
>> from his allies in the media, referred to last week's health care
>> town-hall protesters as "tea baggers."
>>
>> How far we have fallen.
>>
>> Stepping up the rhetoric from mockery to pure hatred, and absent any
>> evidence, Mr. Olbermann has called the president's public protesters
>> "worse than racists." Political activist and comedianJaneane Garofalo
>> colored them "racist rednecks who hate blacks." And at the somewhat
>> higher end of the food chain, liberal economist Paul Krugman in the
>> New York Times wrote last week that they were motivated by "cultural
>> and racial fear."
>>
>> House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is having a hard time these days
>> explaining the president's Israel policy to her Jewish constituents,
>> blatantly lied and said that the protesters were wielding "swastikas
>> and symbols like that."
>>
>> Supporters of the president understand what is going on. So do his
>> detractors.
>>
>> The mainstream media and the Democratic Party are working in concert
>> to make sure that what happened to President Bush -- sustained
>> organized grass-roots protests ("mobs," if you will), relentless media
>> criticism and permanent opposition-party obstructionism -- does not
>> happen to their guy. Complicating matters, the media's fate is
>> directly tied to the president's. Without them, Barack Obama would
>> still be a backbencher from Illinois.
>>
>> But the mockery. The recklessness. Unsupportable libel isn't working.
>> The tea parties and, now, the health care protests at town-hall
>> meetings have only gotten bigger and stronger. The anti-big-government
>> movement is pure. Its participants represent something close to what
>> used to be considered normative in this country.
>>
>> Tea Party attendees and health care town-hall protesters share the
>> common belief that the extravagant spending of President Obama and the
>> Democratic Party -- absent any checks and balances -- will eventually
>> lead more people into government dependency, higher taxes and,
>> perhaps, our country's financial ruin. These are legitimate fears felt
>> by millions of Americans.
>>
>> That's why the media and the Democratic Party are scared and are
>> throwing outrageous and hateful accusations at everyday Americans --
>> hoping that people stay home out of fear.
>>
>> I've attended two tea parties so far. One was in Santa Ana, Calif., on
>> April 15, where my 81-year-old father-in-law, the actor Orson Bean,
>> joined fellow actor Gary Graham and newly naturalized American citizen
>> Ian Mitchell, from the Scottish '70s music sensation, the Bay City
>> Rollers.
>>
>> I saw no "tea bagging." Blacks and Hispanics carried signs along with
>> the white majority. But there was a sketchy dog dressed in a red,
>> white and blue sweater.
>>
>> Make of that what you will, Mr. Olbermann.
>>
>> Last week, a black gentleman named Kenneth Gladney went to a town-hall
>> meeting hosted by Rep. Russ Carnahan, Missouri Democrat. While passing
>> out "Don't Tread on Me" flags, he was viciously attacked by Service
>> Employees International Union (SEIU) members. One called him a
>> "nigger."
>>
>> These union thugs were directed by the White House to go to the
>> protests and "punch back twice as hard." And they did.
>>
>> While the attack was captured on video and is available on YouTube,
>> Mr. Gladney's horrifying story is absent from MSNBC's 24/7 media
>> cycle. Mr. Krugman has yet to write about it. And Mr. Cooper has yet
>> to condemn the attack.
>>
>> On Sept. 12, I will be attending a tea party in Quincy, Ill., joining
>> Instapundit professor Glenn Reynolds, Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft, and
>> Tucker Carlson.
>>
>> With the Democratic Party in control of all branches of government and
>> the Fourth Estate acting as the Democratic Party's protector, the tea
>> party movement is the closest thing America has to checks and
>> balances.
>>
>> If that isn't enough to motivate you, perhaps showing your solidarity
>> with Kenneth Gladney, a fellow patriot, is.
>>
>> ? Andrew Breitbart is publisher of the news portals Breitbart.com and
>> Breitbart.tv. His latest endeavor, Big Hollywood
>> (http://bighollywood.breitbart.com), is a group blog on Hollywood and
>> politics from the center-right perspective.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 12:25:14 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:25:14 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Yon
Message-ID: <400985d70908100925r3480be2ap192b8d8a09ffdb42@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.michaelyon-online.com/no-young-soldiers.htm

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 10 22:01:06 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:01:06 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] MSNBC Jumps Shark
Message-ID: <400985d70908101901q376ff3b7t9c71795eb6480e72@mail.gmail.com>

We've moved beyond "in the tank" for Obama -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dFh8YYd70&feature=player_embedded

Might want to explain that n-word thing to this guy -

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39193969122

This good "minister" is about twice the size of Kenneth Gladney but it
was McCowan who was attacked according to the SEIU press release?
Someone will have to explain this to me.  How is it OK for an Irish
(McCowan?) Baptist community organizer to call Mr. Gladney a 'nigger'
and it not be a hate crime?

Where is the MSNBC video on the attack and the arrests?

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 09:38:06 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:38:06 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] MSNBC Jumps Shark
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908101901q376ff3b7t9c71795eb6480e72@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908101901q376ff3b7t9c71795eb6480e72@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908110638g655cc78eya5dcdef0ec5f41bb@mail.gmail.com>

That didn't take long, Gladney's lawyer is asking that it be
prosecuted as a hate crime -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6cL_S6cuts&feature=player_embedded

I like the attorney's comment at the end about having a "Whiskey Summit".

Brad


On 8/10/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> We've moved beyond "in the tank" for Obama -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dFh8YYd70&feature=player_embedded
>
> Might want to explain that n-word thing to this guy -
>
> http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39193969122
>
> This good "minister" is about twice the size of Kenneth Gladney but it
> was McCowan who was attacked according to the SEIU press release?
> Someone will have to explain this to me.  How is it OK for an Irish
> (McCowan?) Baptist community organizer to call Mr. Gladney a 'nigger'
> and it not be a hate crime?
>
> Where is the MSNBC video on the attack and the arrests?
>
> Brad
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 11:17:19 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 10:17:19 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] MSNBC Jumps Shark
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908110638g655cc78eya5dcdef0ec5f41bb@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908101901q376ff3b7t9c71795eb6480e72@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908110638g655cc78eya5dcdef0ec5f41bb@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908110817l7e0ef489tb53c973210a2426e@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Good ..... I hope they stink things up real good. From what I have read, the
SEIU needs badly to be put in their place.

It's truly hard to believe that public funds are going to support groups
like this and ACORN. This should be stopped immediately if not sooner!!

Rik

On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 8:38 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> That didn't take long, Gladney's lawyer is asking that it be
> prosecuted as a hate crime -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6cL_S6cuts&feature=player_embedded
>
> I like the attorney's comment at the end about having a "Whiskey Summit".
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/10/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > We've moved beyond "in the tank" for Obama -
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3dFh8YYd70&feature=player_embedded
> >
> > Might want to explain that n-word thing to this guy -
> >
> > http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39193969122
> >
> > This good "minister" is about twice the size of Kenneth Gladney but it
> > was McCowan who was attacked according to the SEIU press release?
> > Someone will have to explain this to me.  How is it OK for an Irish
> > (McCowan?) Baptist community organizer to call Mr. Gladney a 'nigger'
> > and it not be a hate crime?
> >
> > Where is the MSNBC video on the attack and the arrests?
> >
> > Brad
> >
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 13:27:49 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:27:49 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Working toward a new master race??
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908111027q1d607e18vcf48511fae419872@mail.gmail.com>

Good Afternoon All,

One more of the "czars" with some REALLY F'd-up ideas. Seriously, some of
these people have no business running people's lives in THIS country.

This from M/M's blog today.

Rik
_____________
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/

Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard By Michelle Malkin  ?  July 24,
2009 06:27 AM

My syndicated column today presses again on the freaky-deaky science czar
John Holdren and the implications for Obamacare. Related read: Stacy McCain
sheds light on Big Money and the Culture of
Death.<http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/07/big-money-and-culture-of-death.html>And
Matt Barber wonders: Will
there be a co-pay for forced abortion under
Obamacare?<http://www.lifenews.com/nat5268.html>

Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate <http://www.creators.com/>
Copyright 2009

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tried to reassure
citizens in New Orleans this week that Obamacare bureaucrats will make sound
medical decisions for all Americans. She failed.
<http://soitgoesinshreveport.blogspot.com/2009/07/obamacare-team-visits-reserve-louisiana.html>Under
the government-run plan, she promised, a team of health care experts
will recommend what should be covered: ?I think it would be wise to let
science guide what the best health care package is.?

Gulp. It?s precisely the Obama administration?s view of sound ?science? that
should send chills down patients? spines. Case in point: The president?s
prestigious science czar John Holdren refuses to answer questions about his
radical, published work on population control over the last 30 years.

Last week, I called<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/21/the-science-czar-stonewalls/>the
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to press
Holdren on his views about forced abortions and mass sterilizations; his
purported disavowal of Ecoscience, the 1977 book he co-authored with
population control zealots Paul and Anne Ehrlich; and his continued embrace
of forced-abortion advocate and eugenics guru Harrison Brown, whom he
credits with inspiring him to become a scientist.

After investigative bloggers <http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/> and this
column
<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/>reprinted
extensive excerpts from Ecoscience, which mused openly about putting
sterilants in the water supply to make women infertile and engineering
society by taking away babies from undesirables and subjecting them to
government-mandated abortions, the White House issued a statement from
Holdren last week denying he embraced those proposals. The Ehrlichs
challenged critics to read their and Holdren?s more recent research and
works.

Well, I did indeed read one of Holdren?s recent works that reveals his
clingy reverence for, and allegiance to, the gurus of population control
authoritarianism. He?s just gotten smarter about cloaking it behind global
warming hysteria. In 2007, he addressed the American Association for the
Advancement of Science conference. Holdren served as AAAS president; the
organization posted his full slide presentation on its website.

In the opening slide, Holdren admitted that his
?preoccupation<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/>?
with apocalyptic matters such as ?the rates at which people breed? was a
lifelong obsession spurred by scientist Harrison Brown?s work. Holdren
heaped praise on Brown?s half-century-old book, ?The Challenge to Man?s
Future,?<http://www.amazon.com/Challenge-Mans-Future-Harrison-Brown/dp/B000L2IGZI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215574650&sr=8-2>then
proceeded to paint doom-and-gloom scenarios requiring drastic
government interventions to control climate change.

Who is Holdren?s intellectual mentor, Harrison Brown? He was a
?distinguished member? of the International Eugenics
Society<http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLENC/ENCYC105.HTM>whom Holdren
later worked with on a book about ? you guessed it ? world
population and fertility. Brown advocated the same population control-freak
measures Holdren put forth in Ecoscience. In ?The Challenge to Man?s
Future,? Brown envisioned a regime in which the ?number of abortions and
artificial inseminations permitted in a given year would be determined
completely by the difference between the number of deaths and the number of
births in the year previous.?

Brown exhorted readers to accept that ?we must reconcile ourselves to the
fact that artifical means must be applied to limit birth rates.? If we
don?t, Brown warned, we faced a planet ?with a writhing mass of human
beings.? He likened the global population to a ?pulsating mass of
maggots.?<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/calteches.library.caltech.edu/151/01/brown.pdf>

When I pressed Holdren?s office specifically about Holdren?s relationship
with Harrison Brown, press spokesman Rick Weiss told me he didn?t know who
Brown was and balked at drawing any conclusions about Holdren?s views based
on his homage to lifelong intellectual mentor, colleague and continued
inspiration Brown just two years ago.

Weiss lectured me rather snippily about the need for responsible journalism
(he was a Washington Post reporter for 15 years). He then me not to expect
any response from Holdren?s office to my question on whether Holdren
disavows his relationship with a eugenics enthusiast who referred to the
world population as a ?pulsating mass of maggots? and championed a scheme of
abortion and artificial insemination quotas.

If this is the kind of ghoulish ?science? that guides the White House, we
can only hope that Obamacare is dead on arrival.

-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 14:00:11 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:00:11 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Working toward a new master race??
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908111027q1d607e18vcf48511fae419872@mail.gmail.com>
References: <6634e19e0908111027q1d607e18vcf48511fae419872@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908111100k286cff84id5368dfbb895cc53@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

This is probably not the best day for me to be commenting on anything.
 Yesterday, I had my first colonoscopy and the "engine flush" didn't
go right so the doctor wants another one. Today, I'm working on my
income taxes trying to beat the 15AUG extension deadline. That looks
pretty shitty as well. Up the ass twice in two days!

Did you know I'm RICH!  RICH I tell you!  I'm within a grand of my
itemized deductions being the same as the standard deduction after
everything that's disallowed. So much for paying off your house off
early and living within your means. I can't begin to tell you how
pissed-off I get when Turbo-Tax pops a question like, "did you do this
stupid thing?", or, "were you so stupid to have been a victim of this,
there's a tax break for you, you know". Maybe I'm just too cheap to
buy the Timmy Geithner version of Turbo-Tax, you know, the version
where you fill in the blank what you want to pay and then figure it
backwards.

I'm giving 10% of the voters credit who were "on the cusp" credit for
being fooled, mostly by themselves.  For the other 43%, good luck
feeding yourselves.  I ain't yo momma!

Brad


On 8/11/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Good Afternoon All,
>
> One more of the "czars" with some REALLY F'd-up ideas. Seriously, some of
> these people have no business running people's lives in THIS country.
>
> This from M/M's blog today.
>
> Rik
> _____________
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/
>
> Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard By Michelle Malkin  ?  July 24,
> 2009 06:27 AM
>
> My syndicated column today presses again on the freaky-deaky science czar
> John Holdren and the implications for Obamacare. Related read: Stacy McCain
> sheds light on Big Money and the Culture of
> Death.<http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/07/big-money-and-culture-of-death.html>And
> Matt Barber wonders: Will
> there be a co-pay for forced abortion under
> Obamacare?<http://www.lifenews.com/nat5268.html>
>
> Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard
> by Michelle Malkin
> Creators Syndicate <http://www.creators.com/>
> Copyright 2009
>
> Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tried to reassure
> citizens in New Orleans this week that Obamacare bureaucrats will make sound
> medical decisions for all Americans. She failed.
> <http://soitgoesinshreveport.blogspot.com/2009/07/obamacare-team-visits-reserve-louisiana.html>Under
> the government-run plan, she promised, a team of health care experts
> will recommend what should be covered: ?I think it would be wise to let
> science guide what the best health care package is.?
>
> Gulp. It?s precisely the Obama administration?s view of sound ?science? that
> should send chills down patients? spines. Case in point: The president?s
> prestigious science czar John Holdren refuses to answer questions about his
> radical, published work on population control over the last 30 years.
>
> Last week, I
> called<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/21/the-science-czar-stonewalls/>the
> White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to press
> Holdren on his views about forced abortions and mass sterilizations; his
> purported disavowal of Ecoscience, the 1977 book he co-authored with
> population control zealots Paul and Anne Ehrlich; and his continued embrace
> of forced-abortion advocate and eugenics guru Harrison Brown, whom he
> credits with inspiring him to become a scientist.
>
> After investigative bloggers <http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/> and this
> column
> <http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/>reprinted
> extensive excerpts from Ecoscience, which mused openly about putting
> sterilants in the water supply to make women infertile and engineering
> society by taking away babies from undesirables and subjecting them to
> government-mandated abortions, the White House issued a statement from
> Holdren last week denying he embraced those proposals. The Ehrlichs
> challenged critics to read their and Holdren?s more recent research and
> works.
>
> Well, I did indeed read one of Holdren?s recent works that reveals his
> clingy reverence for, and allegiance to, the gurus of population control
> authoritarianism. He?s just gotten smarter about cloaking it behind global
> warming hysteria. In 2007, he addressed the American Association for the
> Advancement of Science conference. Holdren served as AAAS president; the
> organization posted his full slide presentation on its website.
>
> In the opening slide, Holdren admitted that his
> ?preoccupation<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/>?
> with apocalyptic matters such as ?the rates at which people breed? was a
> lifelong obsession spurred by scientist Harrison Brown?s work. Holdren
> heaped praise on Brown?s half-century-old book, ?The Challenge to Man?s
> Future,?<http://www.amazon.com/Challenge-Mans-Future-Harrison-Brown/dp/B000L2IGZI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215574650&sr=8-2>then
> proceeded to paint doom-and-gloom scenarios requiring drastic
> government interventions to control climate change.
>
> Who is Holdren?s intellectual mentor, Harrison Brown? He was a
> ?distinguished member? of the International Eugenics
> Society<http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLENC/ENCYC105.HTM>whom Holdren
> later worked with on a book about ? you guessed it ? world
> population and fertility. Brown advocated the same population control-freak
> measures Holdren put forth in Ecoscience. In ?The Challenge to Man?s
> Future,? Brown envisioned a regime in which the ?number of abortions and
> artificial inseminations permitted in a given year would be determined
> completely by the difference between the number of deaths and the number of
> births in the year previous.?
>
> Brown exhorted readers to accept that ?we must reconcile ourselves to the
> fact that artifical means must be applied to limit birth rates.? If we
> don?t, Brown warned, we faced a planet ?with a writhing mass of human
> beings.? He likened the global population to a ?pulsating mass of
> maggots.?<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/calteches.library.caltech.edu/151/01/brown.pdf>
>
> When I pressed Holdren?s office specifically about Holdren?s relationship
> with Harrison Brown, press spokesman Rick Weiss told me he didn?t know who
> Brown was and balked at drawing any conclusions about Holdren?s views based
> on his homage to lifelong intellectual mentor, colleague and continued
> inspiration Brown just two years ago.
>
> Weiss lectured me rather snippily about the need for responsible journalism
> (he was a Washington Post reporter for 15 years). He then me not to expect
> any response from Holdren?s office to my question on whether Holdren
> disavows his relationship with a eugenics enthusiast who referred to the
> world population as a ?pulsating mass of maggots? and championed a scheme of
> abortion and artificial insemination quotas.
>
> If this is the kind of ghoulish ?science? that guides the White House, we
> can only hope that Obamacare is dead on arrival.
>
> --
> "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
> only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
> premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 14:21:19 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:21:19 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Working toward a new master race??
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908111100k286cff84id5368dfbb895cc53@mail.gmail.com>
References: <6634e19e0908111027q1d607e18vcf48511fae419872@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908111100k286cff84id5368dfbb895cc53@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908111121x52843c01v46a9bb24fbff6d9b@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Yikes..... asshole reaming and being reamed by assholes all in the same
week......Dam, sux to be you.

I quit doing that tax thing a while back. I just let my accountant tell me
how big a check to write now. It doesn't make them any easier to pay, but at
least I don't have to feel like I helped screw myself, for whatever that's
worth.

Good luck with all that.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 1:00 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> This is probably not the best day for me to be commenting on anything.
>  Yesterday, I had my first colonoscopy and the "engine flush" didn't
> go right so the doctor wants another one. Today, I'm working on my
> income taxes trying to beat the 15AUG extension deadline. That looks
> pretty shitty as well. Up the ass twice in two days!
>
> Did you know I'm RICH!  RICH I tell you!  I'm within a grand of my
> itemized deductions being the same as the standard deduction after
> everything that's disallowed. So much for paying off your house off
> early and living within your means. I can't begin to tell you how
> pissed-off I get when Turbo-Tax pops a question like, "did you do this
> stupid thing?", or, "were you so stupid to have been a victim of this,
> there's a tax break for you, you know". Maybe I'm just too cheap to
> buy the Timmy Geithner version of Turbo-Tax, you know, the version
> where you fill in the blank what you want to pay and then figure it
> backwards.
>
> I'm giving 10% of the voters credit who were "on the cusp" credit for
> being fooled, mostly by themselves.  For the other 43%, good luck
> feeding yourselves.  I ain't yo momma!
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/11/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Good Afternoon All,
> >
> > One more of the "czars" with some REALLY F'd-up ideas. Seriously, some of
> > these people have no business running people's lives in THIS country.
> >
> > This from M/M's blog today.
> >
> > Rik
> > _____________
> >
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/
> >
> > Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard By Michelle Malkin  ?  July
> 24,
> > 2009 06:27 AM
> >
> > My syndicated column today presses again on the freaky-deaky science czar
> > John Holdren and the implications for Obamacare. Related read: Stacy
> McCain
> > sheds light on Big Money and the Culture of
> > Death.<
> http://rsmccain.blogspot.com/2009/07/big-money-and-culture-of-death.html
> >And
> > Matt Barber wonders: Will
> > there be a co-pay for forced abortion under
> > Obamacare?<http://www.lifenews.com/nat5268.html>
> >
> > Ghoulish science + Obamacare = health hazard
> > by Michelle Malkin
> > Creators Syndicate <http://www.creators.com/>
> > Copyright 2009
> >
> > Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tried to reassure
> > citizens in New Orleans this week that Obamacare bureaucrats will make
> sound
> > medical decisions for all Americans. She failed.
> > <
> http://soitgoesinshreveport.blogspot.com/2009/07/obamacare-team-visits-reserve-louisiana.html
> >Under
> > the government-run plan, she promised, a team of health care experts
> > will recommend what should be covered: ?I think it would be wise to let
> > science guide what the best health care package is.?
> >
> > Gulp. It?s precisely the Obama administration?s view of sound ?science?
> that
> > should send chills down patients? spines. Case in point: The president?s
> > prestigious science czar John Holdren refuses to answer questions about
> his
> > radical, published work on population control over the last 30 years.
> >
> > Last week, I
> > called<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/21/the-science-czar-stonewalls/
> >the
> > White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to press
> > Holdren on his views about forced abortions and mass sterilizations; his
> > purported disavowal of Ecoscience, the 1977 book he co-authored with
> > population control zealots Paul and Anne Ehrlich; and his continued
> embrace
> > of forced-abortion advocate and eugenics guru Harrison Brown, whom he
> > credits with inspiring him to become a scientist.
> >
> > After investigative bloggers <http://zombietime.com/john_holdren/> and
> this
> > column
> > <
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/
> >reprinted
> > extensive excerpts from Ecoscience, which mused openly about putting
> > sterilants in the water supply to make women infertile and engineering
> > society by taking away babies from undesirables and subjecting them to
> > government-mandated abortions, the White House issued a statement from
> > Holdren last week denying he embraced those proposals. The Ehrlichs
> > challenged critics to read their and Holdren?s more recent research and
> > works.
> >
> > Well, I did indeed read one of Holdren?s recent works that reveals his
> > clingy reverence for, and allegiance to, the gurus of population control
> > authoritarianism. He?s just gotten smarter about cloaking it behind
> global
> > warming hysteria. In 2007, he addressed the American Association for the
> > Advancement of Science conference. Holdren served as AAAS president; the
> > organization posted his full slide presentation on its website.
> >
> > In the opening slide, Holdren admitted that his
> > ?preoccupation<
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/study-in-contrasts-christian-scientist-vs-eco-mad-scientist/
> >?
> > with apocalyptic matters such as ?the rates at which people breed? was a
> > lifelong obsession spurred by scientist Harrison Brown?s work. Holdren
> > heaped praise on Brown?s half-century-old book, ?The Challenge to Man?s
> > Future,?<
> http://www.amazon.com/Challenge-Mans-Future-Harrison-Brown/dp/B000L2IGZI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215574650&sr=8-2
> >then
> > proceeded to paint doom-and-gloom scenarios requiring drastic
> > government interventions to control climate change.
> >
> > Who is Holdren?s intellectual mentor, Harrison Brown? He was a
> > ?distinguished member? of the International Eugenics
> > Society<http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLENC/ENCYC105.HTM>whom Holdren
> > later worked with on a book about ? you guessed it ? world
> > population and fertility. Brown advocated the same population
> control-freak
> > measures Holdren put forth in Ecoscience. In ?The Challenge to Man?s
> > Future,? Brown envisioned a regime in which the ?number of abortions and
> > artificial inseminations permitted in a given year would be determined
> > completely by the difference between the number of deaths and the number
> of
> > births in the year previous.?
> >
> > Brown exhorted readers to accept that ?we must reconcile ourselves to the
> > fact that artifical means must be applied to limit birth rates.? If we
> > don?t, Brown warned, we faced a planet ?with a writhing mass of human
> > beings.? He likened the global population to a ?pulsating mass of
> > maggots.?<
> http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/24/ghoulish-science-obamacare-health-hazard/calteches.library.caltech.edu/151/01/brown.pdf
> >
> >
> > When I pressed Holdren?s office specifically about Holdren?s relationship
> > with Harrison Brown, press spokesman Rick Weiss told me he didn?t know
> who
> > Brown was and balked at drawing any conclusions about Holdren?s views
> based
> > on his homage to lifelong intellectual mentor, colleague and continued
> > inspiration Brown just two years ago.
> >
> > Weiss lectured me rather snippily about the need for responsible
> journalism
> > (he was a Washington Post reporter for 15 years). He then me not to
> expect
> > any response from Holdren?s office to my question on whether Holdren
> > disavows his relationship with a eugenics enthusiast who referred to the
> > world population as a ?pulsating mass of maggots? and championed a scheme
> of
> > abortion and artificial insemination quotas.
> >
> > If this is the kind of ghoulish ?science? that guides the White House, we
> > can only hope that Obamacare is dead on arrival.
> >
> > --
> > "Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
> > rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
> > truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that
> freedom
> > only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject
> the
> > premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
> > people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
"Like children, Americans will sooner or later discover that they cannot
rely on some authority to take care of them and still be free.  It is a
truism that with freedom comes responsibility.  It is also true that freedom
only lasts if people take responsibility for their activities and reject the
premise that their lives should be made easier at the expense of other
people's freedom.".... Brandon Crocker
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 11 23:25:04 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:25:04 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Townhall Question
Message-ID: <400985d70908112025l3bf58de5rddebf74c03a2b440@mail.gmail.com>

All theater, all the time!

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=911911

From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 12 10:56:21 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:56:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Townhall Question
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908112025l3bf58de5rddebf74c03a2b440@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908112025l3bf58de5rddebf74c03a2b440@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908120756ka274529k80697cb522ba9729@mail.gmail.com>

Oh, they bussed in supporters?

http://www.wmur.com/video/20358253/index.html

On 8/11/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> All theater, all the time!
>
> http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=911911
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 12 13:48:50 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:48:50 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Townhall Question
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908120756ka274529k80697cb522ba9729@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908112025l3bf58de5rddebf74c03a2b440@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908120756ka274529k80697cb522ba9729@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908121048t16d6d0e0u22f36a4214c91978@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Yeah, they bussed in supporters ..... what a surprise, eh???

Rik

On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 9:56 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, they bussed in supporters?
>
> http://www.wmur.com/video/20358253/index.html
>
> On 8/11/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > All theater, all the time!
> >
> > http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=911911
> >
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 12 18:57:58 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:57:58 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Townhall Question
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908121048t16d6d0e0u22f36a4214c91978@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908112025l3bf58de5rddebf74c03a2b440@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908120756ka274529k80697cb522ba9729@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908121048t16d6d0e0u22f36a4214c91978@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908121557w15eea5cbs42d5155fe085cb73@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Yep, no plants in that crowd at all .....

Rik
__________________

Lead Story Little girl at Obama town hall has not-so-random political
connections<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/11/little-girl-at-obama-town-hall-has-not-so-random-political-connections/>
By
Michelle Malkin  ?  August 11, 2009 10:17 PM

*Scroll down for updates?*

As we always like to point out: There are no coincidences in Obama world.

Via the Boston Globe:
Surprise!<http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/malden/2009/08/a_girl_from_malden_asked.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2>

A girl from Malden asked President Obama a question at Tuesday?s town hall
meeting in New Hampshire about the signs outside ?saying mean things? about
his health care proposal.

Eleven-year-old Julia Hall asked: ?How do kids know what is true, and why do
people want a new system that can ? that help more of us??

The question opened the door for the president to respond to what he called
an ?underlying fear? among the public ?that people somehow won?t get the
care they need.?

The girl later told the Globe that picking the president?s brain was
?incredible.?

?It was like a once in a lifetime experience,? she said.

Julia?s mother was an early Obama supporter in Massachusetts during the
presidential election, so she had previously met First Lady Michelle Obama,
the Obama daughters Sasha and Malia, and Vice President Joe Biden.

?This was my first time meeting Barack Obama, and he?s a very nice man,?
Julia said. ?I?m glad I voted for him.?

She said Obama won a mock presidential election at the Cheverus School in
2008. And on Tuesday, he approached her after the town meeting.

?He said ?great question,?? Julia said. ?I shook his hand and got his
picture.?

Kathleen Manning Hall, Julia?s mother, was shocked when her daughter said
she wanted to ask a question. They wrote it down beforehand, and Julia
didn?t miss a beat when Obama called on her.

?It was surreal,? said Manning Hall, a coordinator of Massachusetts Women
for Obama during the election.

Tons of readers point to this AR15.com
post<http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=911911>tracking
Hall?s political footprint, including thisFacebook page and
photo:<http://www.facebook.com/people/Kathleen-Manning-Hall/1545820503>

Manning Hall has donated thousands of dollars to Obama, as has her law firm.

But, you know, um, like Obama said: ?I don?t want people saying I just have
a bunch of plants in here.?

Oh, goodness. Of course not.

KABUKI!<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/11/obama-kabuki-theater-in-portsmouth/>

***

Now, look for Dems to play the kiddie human shield card to the hilt. Anyone
who mentions Hall?s political pedigree will be attacked as a vicious meanie
stalker. Graeme Frost redux! <http://michellemalkin.com/?s=graeme+frost>

***

More from Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit.
<http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/08/shocker-little-girl-who-asked-obama.html>

And via BlueMassGroup: <http://www.bluemassgroup.com/diary/11161/>

? I have been honored to work with Kathleen Manning Hall on the New England
Finance and Steering Committee for Barack Obama for over a year. She has
raised money, slogged through the snow in New Hampshire and has devoted
every minute of her time toward electing Barack Obama President of the
United States. She has not only talked the talk, but walked the walk. Please
elect her as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention to vote for
Barack Obama.?

Rep. David Linsky (D-Natick)

PLEASE CAUCUS
for
KATHLEEN MANNING HALL
to be a
PLEDGED DELEGATE FOR BARACK OBAMA
at the
DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION IN DENVER

WHAT: Massachusetts 7th Congressional
District Caucus

WHEN: April 5, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. (Doors
open at 12:00)

WHERE:MINUTEMAN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
758 Marrett Road, Lexington

WHO: Registered Democrats from Arlington,
Belmont, Everett, Framingham,
Lexington, Lincoln, Malden, Medford,
Melrose, Natick, Stoneham, Waltham,
Watertown, Wayland, Weston,
Winchester, Woburn, Revere, Winthrop.

I am very excited and honored at the prospect of serving as a Massachusetts
delegate for Obama in Denver. Many of you know that I?ve been campaigning
tirelessly for Senator Obama since last summer. I?ve spent much time on the
ground in New Hampshire, traveled to Iowa, organized in Massachusetts, and
Rhode Island, and Maine, and I have made phone calls to voters in many other
states. I?m part of the New England Steering Committee as well as a
Coordinator for Massachusetts Women for Obama; in fact I am helping to
organize a large group of MA WFO who will be traveling to Pennsylvania April
11-14.

I realized Barack Obama was a unique politician the first time I heard him
speak, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where I was a volunteer.
I was simply blown away by his inspirational message, and I continued to
follow his career. In October, 2006 I attended a Kennedy Library event,
where he indicated he was considering a run for the presidency. As soon as
he announced his candidacy in February 2007, I was on board. I truly believe
he has the necessary judgment and experience to be president, and that he is
the only candidate who can inspire and bring real change to our country and
restore America?s credibility and leadership around the world. I?m committed
to doing everything I can to help him get elected president?

***

This is fishy! Alert the Internet Snitch
Brigade.<http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/04/help-out-the-internet-snitch-brigade-report-on-fishy-health-czar-office/>


On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Brad,
>
> Yeah, they bussed in supporters ..... what a surprise, eh???
>
> Rik
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 9:56 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Oh, they bussed in supporters?
>>
>> http://www.wmur.com/video/20358253/index.html
>>
>> On 8/11/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > All theater, all the time!
>> >
>> > http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=911911
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>
>


-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 07:00:52 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:00:52 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Dog trainers turn on Barack Obama
Message-ID: <556993C128704F1793B16BBC87A88958@YOURB88038198E>

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XivhwO_zWWg

Ed K
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From bill at effros.com  Thu Aug 13 10:17:51 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:17:51 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Excerpts from the proposed Health Bill
In-Reply-To: <cbe.4427728c.37b4afa5@aol.com>
References: <cbe.4427728c.37b4afa5@aol.com>
Message-ID: <4A84208F.5070809@effros.com>

Anybody else get this one?



The proposed Health Bill.  Some of these statements are hard to believe
Here is what you can see in the first 500 pages only
 
>Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
>? Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
>? Page 30 : A government committee will decide what treatments and 
benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
>? Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits 
for you. You will have no choice. None.
>? Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with 
free healthcare services.
>? Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
>? Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to 
all individual bank accounts for electronic fu nds transfer.
>? Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community 
organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
>? Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules 
to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
>? Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the 
Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
>? Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; 
translation: illegal aliens
>? Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up 
individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
>? Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: 
you have no choice in the matter.
>? Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No 
"judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put 
simply, private insurers will be crushed.
>? Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
>? Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the 
government-run public plan. No alternatives.
>? Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees 
AND their families.
>? Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not 
offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
>? Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does 
not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll* >? Page 167: 
Any individual who doesn?t' have ac ceptable healthcare (according to 
the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
>? Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes 
(Americans will pay for them).
>? Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy 
will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
>? Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as 
tax." Yes, it really says that.
>? Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors 
and the poor most affected."
>? Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be 
paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
>? Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional 
judgment, etc.
>? Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private 
healthcare industries.
>? Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven 
wheelchairs.
>? Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
>? Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems 
preventable re-admissions.
>? Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission 
that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
>? Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in 
healthcare companies!
>? Page 318: Prohibition on hospital ex pansion. Hospitals cannot expand 
without g overnment approval.
>? Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other 
words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
& gt;? Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based 
measures: i.e., rationing.
>? Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage 
Plans, HMOs, etc.
>? Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS 
individuals.
>? Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare 
by phone).
>? Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior 
Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
>? Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, 
durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate 
taxes ahead of time.
>? Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, 
guiding you in death.
>? Page 427: Gove rnment mandates program that orders end-of-life 
treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
>? Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate 
treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER 
for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
>? Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have 
at end-of-life.
>? Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
>? Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs 
for20ACORN.
0A>? Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. 
Government intervenes in your marriage.
>? Page 494: Government will cover mental health service s: defining, 
creating and rationing those services.*
* *
*All of us who love freedom cannot tolerate this brazen intrusion into 
our lives by a President and party drunk with power.*
* *
*If you feel the same way, immediately write you senators and 
congressmen--DO NOT PUT IT OFF.*
* *
*Respectfully*
*Sam J Sugar MD
20808 NE 37th avenue
Aventura Florida 33180*
* *
* *
*LARRY SHERBERG *
*Lincoln Manor Assisted Living*
*2144 Lincoln St*
*Hollywood, Fl 33020*
*O)  (954)-922-1995    F)  (954)-923-1766*
*
*
*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
* *
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 10:28:34 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:28:34 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Excerpts from the proposed Health Bill a reply
Message-ID: <C904E4BA3DC74E03979BF814EA4CED7E@YOURB88038198E>

Bill,

I encourage you to send that to one copy of that post Stan Spitzer and the M.D.'s on the Rhodes list.

One question intrinsic in this is whether health care is a right?

My position is it is not a right but is something being created.  In rereading an old book I found a good discussion that I agree with:

Derivation of rights of men 

 

"Consider the curious fact that never has there been such a proliferation, all over the world of . of alleged new rights. Jobs, food, clothing, recreation (!), homes, medical care, education, etc., do not grow in nature. These are man made values goods and services produced by men. Who is to provide them? 

 

If some men are entitled by right to the products of the work of others, it means, that those, others are deprived of rights and condemned to slave labor.

 

Any alleged right of one man, which necessitates the violation of the rights of another, is not and cannot be a right. 

 

No man can have a right to impose an unchosen obligation, an unrewarded duty or an involuntary servitude on another man. There can be no such thing as 'the right to enslave'.

 

A right does not include the material implementation of that right by other men; it includes only the freedom to earn that implementation by one's own effort.     

 

Observe, in this context, the intellectual precision of the Founding Fathers: they spoke of the right to the, pursuit of happiness: not of the right to happiness. It means that a man as the right to take the actions he deems necessary to achieve his happiness; it does not mean that others must make him happy.        

 

The right to life means that a man has the right to support his life by his own work on any economic level, as high as his ability will carry him; it does not mean that others must provide him with the necessities of life.

 

The right to property means that a man has the right to take the economic actions necessary to earn property; to use it and to dispose of it; it does not mean that others must provide him with property. 

 

The right of free speech means that a man has the right to express his ideas without danger of suppression, interference or punitive action by the government.  It does not mean that others must provide him with a lecture hall, a radio station or a printing press through which to express his ideas."

 

Excerpt from the Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand



Ed K


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From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 10:57:55 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:57:55 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Suppliment to Bill's Post on Medical Care
Message-ID: <B8F7FFFF738C494C86221A207AC06852@YOURB88038198E>

A doctor speaks
 
 Friends:
 I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines
 watching all of this national debate on healthcare. It is
 time for me to bring some clarity to the table and as your
 friend by explaining many of the problems from the aspect of
 a doctor.
 
 First off, the government has involved very few of  us physicians in the 

healthcare debate. While the American  Medical Association has  

come out in favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA 

only represents 17% of the American physician workforce.


 I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35
 years while representing the only pediatric ophthalmology
 group left in Atlanta, Georgia that accepts Medicaid. Why is
 this? For example, in the past 6 months I have cared for
three young children on Medicaid who had corneal ulcers.
 This is a potentially blinding situation because if the
 cornea perforates from the infection, almost surely
 blindness will occur. In all three cases the antibiotic
 needed for the eradication of the infection was not on the
 approved Medicaid list. Each time I was told to fax Medicaid
 to get the approval forms which I did. Within 48 hours, the
 form came back to me and was mailed back immediately via fax
 , and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of
 course by then each child would have been blind in the eye.
 Each time the request came back denied. All three times I
 personally provided the antibiotic, which was not on the
 Medicaid approved list, for each patient. Get the
 point-rationing of care.


 Over the past 35 years I have cared for over 1000 

children born with congenital cataracts. In older
 children and in adults the vision is rehabilitated with an
 intraocular lens. In newborns we use contact lenses which
 are very expensive. It takes Medicaid over one year to
 approve a contact lens post cataract surgery. By that time a
 successful anatomical operation is wasted, as the child will
 be close to blind from a lack of focusing for so long a
 period of time. Again extreme rationing. Solution -- I have
 a foundation here in Atlanta supported 100% by private funds
 which supplies all of these contact lenses for my Medicaid
 and illegal immigrants children for free. Again waiting for
 the government would be disastrous.


 Last week I had a lady bring her child to me.
 They are Americans but live in Sweden as the father has a
 job with a big corporation. The child had the on-set of
 double vision 3 months ago and has been unable to function
 normally because of this. They are people of means but are
 waiting 8 months to see the ophthalmologist in Sweden. Then
 if the child needed surgery, they would be put on a 6 month
 waiting list. She called me and I saw her that day. It
 turned out that the child had accommodative esotropia
 (crossing of the eyes treated with glasses that correct for
 farsightedness) and responded to glasses within 4 days, no
 surgery was needed. Again rationing of care.


 Last month, I operated on a 70-year-old lady
 with double vision present for 3 years. She responded quite
 nicely to her surgery and now is symptom free. I also
 operated on a 69 year old judge with vertical double vision.
 His surgery went very well and now he is happy as a lark. I
 have been told -- but of course there is no healthcare bill
 that has been passed yet that would have denied surgery to
 these 2 people because of their age. 
 
 They would have been told to just wear a patch over one eye to 

alleviate the symptoms of double vision.  Obviously, cheaper 

than surgery.


 I spent two years in the US Navy during the
 Viet Nam war and was well treated by the military. There was
 tremendous rationing of care and we were told specifically
 what things the military personnel and their dependents
 could have and which things they could not have. While in
 Viet Nam, my wife, Nancy, got sick and got essentially no
 care at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. She went
 home and went to her family's private internist in Beverly
 Hills. While it was expensive, she received an immediate
 work up. Again rationing of care.


 For those of you who are over 65, this bill in its present 

form might be lethal for you. People in England
 over 59 cannot receive stents for their coronary arteries.
 The government wants to mimic the British plan. For those of
 you younger, it will still mean restriction of the care that
 you and your children receive.


 While 99% of physicians went into medicine 
 because of the love of medicine and the challenge of helping
 our fellow man, economics are still important. My rent goes
 up 2% each year and the salaries of my employees go up 2%
 each year. Twenty years ago ophthalmologists were paid
 $1800 for a cataract surgery and today, $500. This is a 73%
 decrease in our fees. I do not know of many jobs in
 America that have seen this lowering of fees.


 But there is more to the story that just the lower
 fees. When I came to Atlanta there was a well-known
 ophthalmologist that charged $2500 for a cataract surgery as
 he felt he was the best. He had a terrific reputation and,
 in fact, I had my mother's bilateral cataracts operated on
 by him with a wonderful result. She is now 94 and has 20/20
 vision in both eyes. People would pay his $2500 fee.
 However then the government came in and said that any doctor
 that does Medicare work cannot accept more than the going
 rate (now $500) or he or she would be severely fined. This
 put an end to his charging $2500. The government said it
 was illegal to accept more than the government allowed rate.
 What I am driving at is that those of you well off will not
 be able to go to the head of the line under this new
 healthcare plan just because you have money, as no
 physician will be willing to go against the law to treat
 you.


 I am a pediatric ophthalmologist and trained  for 10 years 

post college to become a pediatric  ophthalmologist 

(add two years of my service in the Navy and
 that comes to 12 years) A neurosurgeon spends 14 years post
 college and if he or she has to do the military that would
 be 16 years. I am not entitled to make what a neurosurgeon
 makes but the new plan calls for all physicians to make the
 same amount of payment. I assure you that medical students
 will not go into neurosurgery and we will have a tremendous
 shortage of neurosurgeons. Already the top neurosurgeon at
 my hospital who is in good health and only 52 years old has
 just quit because he can't stand working with the
 government anymore. Forty-nine percent of children under the
 age of 16 in the state of Georgia are on Medicaid so he felt
 he just could not stand working with the bureaucracy
 anymore.
 
We are being lied to about the uninsured. They are getting care. 

I operate on at least 2 illegal immigrants each month who pay 

me nothing and the children's hospital at which I operate charges

 them nothing also.

 

This is true not only in Atlanta, but of every community in America.
 The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your 

congresswomen and congressmen and senators to
 defeat this bill. I promise you that you will not like
 rationing of your own health.


 Furthermore, how can you trust a physician
 that works under these conditions knowing that he is
 controlled by the state? I certainly could not trust any
 doctor that would work under these draconian conditions.
 One last thing, with this new healthcare plan
 there will be a tremendous shortage of physicians. It has
 been estimated that approximately 5% of the current
 physician work force will quit under this new system. Also
 it is estimated that another 5% shortage will occur because
 of decreased men and women wanting to go into medicine. At
 the present time the US government has mandated gender
 equity in admissions to medical schools. That means that for
 the past 15 years that somewhere between 49 and 51% of each
 entering class are females. This is true of private schools
 also because all private schools receive federal findings.
 The average career of a woman in medicine now is only 8-10
 years and the average work week for a female in medicine is
 only 3-4 days. I have now trained 35 fellows in pediatric
 ophthalmology. Hands down the best was a female that I
 trained 4 years ago -- she was head and heels above all 
 others I have trained. She now practices; only 3 days a
 week.
 
 Zane Pollard, MD

 

Verification: http://www.healthgrades.com/directory_search/physician/profiles/dr-md-reports/Dr-Zane-Pollard-MD-36307DFF.cfm


 
 


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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 13 13:15:17 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:15:17 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Excerpts from the proposed Health Bill
In-Reply-To: <4A84208F.5070809@effros.com>
References: <cbe.4427728c.37b4afa5@aol.com> <4A84208F.5070809@effros.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908131015k691c31dp6bc80ce3ace042a2@mail.gmail.com>

Bill,

Hadn't seen that one yet, thanks.  The more of this proposal you read,
the more "fishy" it sounds.  Whodathunk!  Rahm Emmanual's brother was
the author (see my previous posts).

My best friend of 30+ years called me this week and we talked until
his cell phone battery went dead (3+ hours).  He's married to a
Chinese gal he met on one of our trips to Beijing he accompanied us
on, and his wife was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year.
He's a self-employed stock broker and self-insured.  After spending
$26K in two days he quickly realized this would bankrupt him.  Mae is
still a Chinese citizen so they hopped on a plane and headed back to
China.  The medical care system there is too complicated for me to
explain in the time I'm willing to spend on the subject, but the
'quick and dirty' version is;  Schitt Happens, plan for it, if you're
still alive after six months, the 'gubmint' will step in with a social
safety net.  Mae has responded to the chemo well (they went to Europe
on vacation this summer in between treatments) and China is about to
start picking-up the tab on her $4000 (yea, US dollars) a month
treatment.  We went through almost the same experience 8 years ago
with my mother-in-law and her kidney issues.

If you think about it some, it all makes sense.  Everybody is going to
get sick and die sooner or later. A tax-free health savings account
(HSA) will allow you to prepare for the inevitable. I've said for
years that we have to cut both ends off the health spending bell
curve.  TennCare proved that people will abuse the left end of the
curve if it's "free".  Obama's proposal is simply cutting off the
right end of the curve.  We can design a system where people can
accumulate money over time to deal with the last six months of life
(as well as big hits in the middle).  The only insurance anyone needs
is enough insurance to cover the "stuff" that would bankrupt them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, us "rich" will have to pre-fund HSA's for the
"poor", but that's a helluva lot cheaper than what's being proposed.

I'm linking this rather than printing because some of the comments are
worth reading -

http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/8627.html

Regardless of anyone's politics, we're pissing into a window fan. The
United States is broke! Talking about creating a "gold plated" health
care system is like a family discussing what expensive restaurant to
go to and make plans for the next trip to Disney World after both wage
earners have lost their job, their house is in foreclosure, and their
credit cards are maxed out. This is NUTZ!  BTW, I got an e-mail from a
buddy of mine last night that the Chinese are "sniffing" at buying a
recently bankrupt airplane engine parts manufacturer (I can tell you
who in a week or so). The company was bought by a German firm a few
years ago and it took them both down (think Chrysler, Benz dumped them
on the US taxpayer).  I posted here recently that the CEO of one of
the major Chinese banks said they were more interested in American
assets than their debt. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger!

Back to reality, the United States is BROKE! Kraft macaroni and cheese
BROKE! As long as we're promising "shit for free", why not promise
free energy from the wind?

Brad

On 8/13/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> Anybody else get this one?
>
>
>
> The proposed Health Bill.  Some of these statements are hard to believe
> Here is what you can see in the first 500 pages only
>
>>Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
>>? Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
>>? Page 30 : A government committee will decide what treatments and
> benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
>>? Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits
> for you. You will have no choice. None.
>>? Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with
> free healthcare services.
>>? Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
>>? Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to
> all individual bank accounts for electronic fu nds transfer.
>>? Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community
> organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
>>? Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules
> to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
>>? Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the
> Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
>>? Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services;
> translation: illegal aliens
>>? Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up
> individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
>>? Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled:
> you have no choice in the matter.
>>? Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No
> "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put
> simply, private insurers will be crushed.
>>? Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
>>? Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the
> government-run public plan. No alternatives.
>>? Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees
> AND their families.
>>? Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not
> offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
>>? Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does
> not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll* >? Page 167:
> Any individual who doesn?t' have ac ceptable healthcare (according to
> the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
>>? Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes
> (Americans will pay for them).
>>? Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy
> will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
>>? Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as
> tax." Yes, it really says that.
>>? Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors
> and the poor most affected."
>>? Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be
> paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
>>? Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional
> judgment, etc.
>>? Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private
> healthcare industries.
>>? Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven
> wheelchairs.
>>? Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
>>? Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems
> preventable re-admissions.
>>? Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission
> that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
>>? Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in
> healthcare companies!
>>? Page 318: Prohibition on hospital ex pansion. Hospitals cannot expand
> without g overnment approval.
>>? Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other
> words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
> & gt;? Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based
> measures: i.e., rationing.
>>? Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage
> Plans, HMOs, etc.
>>? Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS
> individuals.
>>? Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare
> by phone).
>>? Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior
> Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
>>? Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills,
> durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate
> taxes ahead of time.
>>? Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources,
> guiding you in death.
>>? Page 427: Gove rnment mandates program that orders end-of-life
> treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
>>? Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate
> treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER
> for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
>>? Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have
> at end-of-life.
>>? Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
>>? Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs
> for20ACORN.
> 0A>? Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy.
> Government intervenes in your marriage.
>>? Page 494: Government will cover mental health service s: defining,
> creating and rationing those services.*
> * *
> *All of us who love freedom cannot tolerate this brazen intrusion into
> our lives by a President and party drunk with power.*
> * *
> *If you feel the same way, immediately write you senators and
> congressmen--DO NOT PUT IT OFF.*
> * *
> *Respectfully*
> *Sam J Sugar MD
> 20808 NE 37th avenue
> Aventura Florida 33180*
> * *
> * *
> *LARRY SHERBERG *
> *Lincoln Manor Assisted Living*
> *2144 Lincoln St*
> *Hollywood, Fl 33020*
> *O)  (954)-922-1995    F)  (954)-923-1766*
> *
> *
> *
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *
> * *
>


From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 17:50:04 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:50:04 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Medal of Freedom
Message-ID: <057EF5C0421949BEBBF0714FE1173375@YOURB88038198E>



      
By Ruth McCann and Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writers 
Thursday, August 13, 2009 

At his first Medal of Freedom conferral, President Obama ran a tight ship of a ceremony, which began slightly after 3 p.m. and clocked in at about 40 minutes' worth of speechifying and medal-bestowing in the glittering East Room, the largest room in the White House. This year, actor Sidney Poitier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Broadway star Chita Rivera, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and former Irish president Mary Robinson were among the 16 who received the nation's highest civilian honor. 

Although the president spoke to the recipients and their enthused crowd of guests for about 20 minutes before breaking out the medals, his comments betrayed very little about his personal feelings toward (or relationships with) any of the honorees he'd selected. The silence signaled humility, and, of course, diplomacy: Robinson, for example, was the object of enmity outside the building, as supporters of Israel had deemed her undeserving after a particular rough career moment when a human-rights conference she helmed in 2001 was dominated by attacks on Jews and Israel. 

In the afternoon ceremony, Obama praised Robinson as "a crusader for women and those without a voice in Ireland," saying she "shone a light on human suffering" during her work on human rights and hunger. A military aide read her citation, which praised her for "urging citizens and nations to make common cause for justice." 

The president did get personal on a few occasions, his own subtly conveyed intimacy never upstaging, say, the exuberance of tennis star Billie Jean King, who entered the East Room with a victorious pump of her fist and a mouthed "Yessssss!" In the president's estimation, King gave "everyone, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, including my two daughters, a chance to compete both on the court and in life." Upon receiving her medal, she gave it a kiss and flashed the audience a grin. 

The president's introductory remarks (smoothly delivered, apparently without written notes) continued in this manner, bowing more to the medal recipients' achievements than to his own experiences with them. After pronouncements were pronounced, Obama clasped medals around 16 necks, engaging in a great deal of hugging, cheek-kissing, whispering and back-patting -- a prolonged bout of physical affection that the recipients happily returned. 

Guests mingled festively beforehand in the surreal grandeur of the White House foyer, where a clutch of musicians in red uniforms with brass buttons provided background sounds ("I Could Have Danced All Night" and "Night and Day"). At an open bar in the corner, a bartender presided over various liquors, glasses of champagne and a few beer bottles. 

The recipients' guests were ushered in from the foyer and seated on delicate, gold-painted chairs. The Kennedy women looked polished, the Poitier guests chatted happily with photographers and Tutu's friends turned out in a fabulous array of colorful, voluminous hats rivaled only by the feather headdresses worn by guests of Joseph Medicine Crow, the only surviving Plains Indian war chief, whom Obama met on the campaign trail. 

As the honorees entered, the audience greeted each with whoops and cheers (Sidney Poitier got a round of applause that nearly rivaled the president's). Fuchsia-salmony clothing, apparently the order of the day, appeared on Robinson, Tutu, breast cancer activist Nancy Brinker and former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor. 

With Michelle Obama (in a sleeveless bright red dress) looking on from the front row, the president declared the honorees to be "agents of change" who, in his words, embody the conviction that "our lives are what we make of them; that no barriers of race, gender or physical infirmity can restrain the human spirit; and that the truest test of a person's life is what we do for one another." 

The assembled crowd was clearly eager to find merriment wherever possible. Hearty laughter followed the president's opener for Chita Rivera: "Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero knows that adversity comes with a difficult name." Another giggly moment: Medicine Crow commandeered the podium -- an initiative only he seized -- and launched into a joyous acceptance speech, only to be gracefully ushered back to his seat by the president. Acceptance speeches, one notes, were a part of Bill Clinton's medal rites, but in the Obama era have been ushered out. 

But merriment often gave way to reflective silence when the president spoke of honorees who were sick or deceased, including the ailing Sen. Kennedy, whose oldest daughter, Kara, accepted the medal on her father's behalf. Stuart Milk attended the ceremony in the place of his uncle, Harvey Milk, a prominent California gay rights activist who was shot and killed by former city supervisor Dan White in 1978. And Joanne Kemp, widow of Rep. Jack Kemp, appeared in her husband's stead. 

Obama stood behind each medal recipient (many of them teary) and clasped the gold, circular, star-emblazoned medal (on a blue ribbon) around their necks. He handed medals in demure boxes to those who were accepting them on another's behalf. 

Other honorees included Pedro Jos? Greer, a Miami doctor who has orchestrated medical treatment for many of the city's homeless; British physicist Stephen Hawking; the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the civil rights leader; cancer researcher Janet Davidson Rowley; and micro-loan pioneer Muhammad Yunus. 

At no point did the external rumblings about Robinson's controversial stewardship of a human-rights conference invade the room. Among the critics of Robinson's award was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which described Robinson's time on the United Nations Human Rights Commission as "deeply flawed, and her conduct marred by extreme, one-sided anti-Israel sentiment." AIPAC called on the Obama administration to "firmly, fully and publicly repudiate her views on Israel and her long public record of hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state." 

Criticism mounted over the past few weeks as bipartisan critics, including Reps. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), added volume. Asked on Wednesday whether the president, after the outpouring of criticism, had any second thoughts about giving Robinson the highest civilian medal, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said no. 

"I think the president is recognizing her for her leadership on women's rights and equal rights. And as I've said before, he doesn't agree with each of her statements, but she's certainly somebody who should be honored," Gibbs said. 

In the East Room, Robinson showed only hints of stress; even as the Irish leader tripped slightly when entering, she managed a shy smile as Poitier clasped her hand to steady her. Tears and cheers made the afternoon an emotionally lively one that concluded with the president's exiting as suddenly as he had arrived, taking the 16 with him. As the president swept out, the band struck up again, and partying resumed, a guest of Sidney Poitier remained slightly stunned. "Oh my God," she said of the president. "Gorgeous." 

Comment by sender of this to me:

Check out some of the names of the President's Medal of Freedom.  Most are far left and Sidney Poitier is a huge supporter of Socialist and Communist leaders in Latin America, and he gets a medal of freedom award??  Robinson has real issues with how she ran the UN commission on racism which degenerated into a bash Isreal and the US session.  Wow what a group to give this award to.
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 13 18:02:56 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:02:56 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
Message-ID: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>

For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.

Here is her latest -

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434

So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?

The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 18:13:47 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:13:47 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Glen Beck and web site
Message-ID: <4FD61494128D4CF9A8D7F8FB52CE271E@YOURB88038198E>

FYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWs12ccbOiE

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 13 18:37:43 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:37:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Glen Beck and web site
In-Reply-To: <4FD61494128D4CF9A8D7F8FB52CE271E@YOURB88038198E>
References: <4FD61494128D4CF9A8D7F8FB52CE271E@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908131537l777af19cma555e21949738747@mail.gmail.com>

There's lot's of stuff going on just under the radar coverage -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002743_pf.html

We can't spy on terrorists (whoops, there are no terrorists, I forget
what they're called these days) but we can spy on the domestic "mob",
you know, those people Harry Reid complained about stinking up the
Capital building.

Brad


On 8/13/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> FYI
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWs12ccbOiE
>
> Ed K

From ekroposki at charter.net  Thu Aug 13 19:59:57 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:59:57 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Gee, I get this email from John Tonjes and ...
Message-ID: <A10A20BF8D954999BC2E557CBCBC39A9@YOURB88038198E>


I get this email with a video clip from one Captain Rummy and whoosh comes an announcement from Yahoo!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/300970/Microsoft%27s-Marketing-Stunt-Goes-Viral?tickers=msft,aapl

FYI

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 08:47:46 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:47:46 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Astroturfing
Message-ID: <400985d70908140547p725bc318h104a1cd72f110401@mail.gmail.com>

Well, there's astroturfing and then there's ASTROTURFING -

http://lonestartimes.com/2009/08/13/obama-camp-plants-fake-doc-che-fan-at-jackson-lee-forum/

The Houston Chronicle new the woman was a fake when the reporter wrote
the original article but published it anyway.  When they got caught,
they changed the caption on the photo. You've seen all the
Obama/Hitler posters that started showing up after Queen Nancy's
swastika statements?  They're being carried by a far left group.  Too
much work for the MSM to bother to research.

And of course, we all know about the little 12 year-old girl at
Obama's NH meeting that was "randomly selected".  Is the Reichstag
burning yet?

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 09:05:08 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:05:08 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Astroturfing
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908140547p725bc318h104a1cd72f110401@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908140547p725bc318h104a1cd72f110401@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908140605r1397979bmb3973a46c3a00d3a@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

It's intersesting that, in Texas, it is illegal to represent one's self as a
doctor or lawyer when one actually isn't.

Wouldn't it be fun to set an example here???

Seems like if lying had consequences, there might be a little less of it. So
far, lying for this administration has had few short term consequences and
the long term consequences are probably a ways ahead of us yet. I'd really
like to see it sting a little when the messiah is caught with the bullshit
meter pegged out.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:47 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, there's astroturfing and then there's ASTROTURFING -
>
>
> http://lonestartimes.com/2009/08/13/obama-camp-plants-fake-doc-che-fan-at-jackson-lee-forum/
>
> The Houston Chronicle new the woman was a fake when the reporter wrote
> the original article but published it anyway.  When they got caught,
> they changed the caption on the photo. You've seen all the
> Obama/Hitler posters that started showing up after Queen Nancy's
> swastika statements?  They're being carried by a far left group.  Too
> much work for the MSM to bother to research.
>
> And of course, we all know about the little 12 year-old girl at
> Obama's NH meeting that was "randomly selected".  Is the Reichstag
> burning yet?
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 09:11:24 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:11:24 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>

Another day, another Facebook entry -

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434

So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.

Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
too much fun?

"Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"

"Bombs Away!"

Brad
On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>
> Here is her latest -
>
> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>
> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>
> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>
> Brad
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 09:26:05 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:26:05 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Astroturfing
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908140605r1397979bmb3973a46c3a00d3a@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908140547p725bc318h104a1cd72f110401@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908140605r1397979bmb3973a46c3a00d3a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908140626u74960102r416585e84e0cab8@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

You gotta love the way the Houston Chronicle handled it when they were
busted.  They didn't say she wasn't a doctor, only that they couldn't
find her registered as one with the state of Texas.  So using that
same logic, we don't have a birth certificate saying The One wasn't
born in the US, so that means he was.

Love it!

Brad

On 8/14/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> It's intersesting that, in Texas, it is illegal to represent one's self as a
> doctor or lawyer when one actually isn't.
>
> Wouldn't it be fun to set an example here???
>
> Seems like if lying had consequences, there might be a little less of it. So
> far, lying for this administration has had few short term consequences and
> the long term consequences are probably a ways ahead of us yet. I'd really
> like to see it sting a little when the messiah is caught with the bullshit
> meter pegged out.
>
> Rik
>
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:47 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Well, there's astroturfing and then there's ASTROTURFING -
>>
>>
>> http://lonestartimes.com/2009/08/13/obama-camp-plants-fake-doc-che-fan-at-jackson-lee-forum/
>>
>> The Houston Chronicle new the woman was a fake when the reporter wrote
>> the original article but published it anyway.  When they got caught,
>> they changed the caption on the photo. You've seen all the
>> Obama/Hitler posters that started showing up after Queen Nancy's
>> swastika statements?  They're being carried by a far left group.  Too
>> much work for the MSM to bother to research.
>>
>> And of course, we all know about the little 12 year-old girl at
>> Obama's NH meeting that was "randomly selected".  Is the Reichstag
>> burning yet?
>>
>> Brad
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 14 09:39:14 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:39:14 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>

Brad,

As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not 
simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post. 
Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly 
easier to do so than many.

Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents simply 
"another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true 
authorship.

Mike


From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>
> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>
> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>
> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
> too much fun?
>
> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>
> "Bombs Away!"
>
> Brad
> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>
>> Here is her latest -
>>
>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>
>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>
>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>
>> Brad
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> 


--
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We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 10:02:34 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:02:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Astroturfing
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908140626u74960102r416585e84e0cab8@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908140547p725bc318h104a1cd72f110401@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908140605r1397979bmb3973a46c3a00d3a@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140626u74960102r416585e84e0cab8@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908140702rdc107f4v74319ba39dc9017a@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

I guess we're just supposed to accept that *couldn't find* and *didn't
check* have similar meanings.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 8:26 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> You gotta love the way the Houston Chronicle handled it when they were
> busted.  They didn't say she wasn't a doctor, only that they couldn't
> find her registered as one with the state of Texas.  So using that
> same logic, we don't have a birth certificate saying The One wasn't
> born in the US, so that means he was.
>
> Love it!
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/14/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > It's intersesting that, in Texas, it is illegal to represent one's self
> as a
> > doctor or lawyer when one actually isn't.
> >
> > Wouldn't it be fun to set an example here???
> >
> > Seems like if lying had consequences, there might be a little less of it.
> So
> > far, lying for this administration has had few short term consequences
> and
> > the long term consequences are probably a ways ahead of us yet. I'd
> really
> > like to see it sting a little when the messiah is caught with the
> bullshit
> > meter pegged out.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 7:47 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Well, there's astroturfing and then there's ASTROTURFING -
> >>
> >>
> >>
> http://lonestartimes.com/2009/08/13/obama-camp-plants-fake-doc-che-fan-at-jackson-lee-forum/
> >>
> >> The Houston Chronicle new the woman was a fake when the reporter wrote
> >> the original article but published it anyway.  When they got caught,
> >> they changed the caption on the photo. You've seen all the
> >> Obama/Hitler posters that started showing up after Queen Nancy's
> >> swastika statements?  They're being carried by a far left group.  Too
> >> much work for the MSM to bother to research.
> >>
> >> And of course, we all know about the little 12 year-old girl at
> >> Obama's NH meeting that was "randomly selected".  Is the Reichstag
> >> burning yet?
> >>
> >> Brad
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 10:25:57 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:25:57 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
but that doesn't change the message.

Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
work of fiction.

Brad


On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post.
> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly
> easier to do so than many.
>
> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents simply
> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true
> authorship.
>
> Mike
>
>
> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>
>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>
>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>
>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>> too much fun?
>>
>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>
>> "Bombs Away!"
>>
>> Brad
>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>
>>> Here is her latest -
>>>
>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>
>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>
>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>

From ekroposki at charter.net  Fri Aug 14 12:04:12 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:04:12 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] facebook postings
Message-ID: <9977A8F9BCCF4BDEADA01B21AE04E7BB@YOURB88038198E>


Yes the Sarah postings are well written and thought out with professional citations.  What an example to the main stream media.

If it is her, the better.  

But none the less a professional example to the main stream media. Could they force the media to be better?

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 12:44:20 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:44:20 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] facebook postings
In-Reply-To: <9977A8F9BCCF4BDEADA01B21AE04E7BB@YOURB88038198E>
References: <9977A8F9BCCF4BDEADA01B21AE04E7BB@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908140944w1a10076fp9950a6384083a5a9@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

This is such sweet revenge to witness.  In their attempt to
marginalize Sarah Palin, they have developed a stage for her than
cannot be ignored. Palin the private citizen (and journalism major)
can write anything she wants, and they have to bring attention to her
in their attempts to debunk what she writes.  With one phrase, "death
panels", she forced Dr. Rahm out of the shadows.  I think most people
who read his submissions to professional journals will be a bit uneasy
with this person. He would have stayed hidden in the Obama
administration forever but for the trap Sarah set.

A couple of weeks ago, I completely knocked the wind out of a series
of rants on the Huffington Post about Palin being a quitter.  All it
took was a brief reminder (actually a schooling) on the history of the
founder of the Dem party.  Andrew Jackson quit the US Senate twice,
once in 1797 after 8 months and again in 1824 after 2 years.  He then
went on to become POTUS in 1828.  This isn't the first time Palin has
quit a political job.  She left the AK Oil & Gas Commission in
frustration over corruption, then proceeded to take down the head of
the AK GOP and later took on the Guv - beat him like a bad pony.

Whether Sarah will make it through the primaries for 2012 (assuming
she wants the job) is immaterial.  The MSM went out of their way to
demonize her, and guess what?  It worked!

This ought to be fun to watch!

Brad


On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>
> Yes the Sarah postings are well written and thought out with professional
> citations.  What an example to the main stream media.
>
> If it is her, the better.
>
> But none the less a professional example to the main stream media. Could
> they force the media to be better?
>
> Ed K

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 12:55:51 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:55:51 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hey Rik - This Songs For You!
Message-ID: <400985d70908140955u12d59351j2bc5a91d8c306afa@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM&feature=player_embedded

From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 14 13:10:45 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:10:45 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com><400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com><8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>

Brad,

It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The 
written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when 
"written" by a famous individual.

It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge of 
it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based on 
what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was 
responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she is 
certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration 
policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for much 
needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established 
reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have 
listened, let alone acted.

While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks and 
major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally 
crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social 
networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is 
just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys" 
wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to 
higher principles.

Mike

From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
> Mike,
>
> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
> but that doesn't change the message.
>
> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
> work of fiction.
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post.
>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly
>> easier to do so than many.
>>
>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents simply
>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true
>> authorship.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>
>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>
>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>
>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>> too much fun?
>>>
>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>
>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>
>>> Brad
>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>
>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>
>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>
>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>
>> The Professional version does not have this message
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
> 


--
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len

The Professional version does not have this message



From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 13:12:13 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:12:13 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Whole Foods
Message-ID: <400985d70908141012g3313dd66n645c0327866e7bc3@mail.gmail.com>

Use the link embedded early in this story to read the health-care plan
at Whole Foods (from the WSJ). The Whole Food's CEO's ideas for the
nation make a lot of sense.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8322658&page=1

The large electrical contractor I used to fly a Citation Jet for was
self-insured for the first several thousand dollars of health-care.
When you submitted a doctor bill, there was no doubt that the money to
pay for it was coming straight off the bottom line.  Same as my
current employer of 24+ years - it may say Blue Cross on the card, but
they just handle the paperwork, the boss pays the bills.  Single payer
will kill all that of course, but then, that's the idea.  The
supporters of single payer want socialism more than they want health
care.

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 13:34:03 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:34:03 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <400985d70908141034q7014611ct7991e62b4de5ad46@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

You raise an interesting point, but I suppose it is up to the owners
of Facebook to police what is an appropriate use of their medium.  It
was a Facebook posting that revealed the identity of the "randomly
chosen" 12 year-old in NH that Obama called on (her mother revealed on
Facebook her association with the Obama campaign).

Palin has read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and is throwing it back
in her detractors face. Is that "beneath her dignity" or a wrong move
for someone trying to wear a "white hat"?  I don't have the answer to
that one.

One thing I've learned during this debate is this; whatever the
proponents of Obamacare are accusing the opposition of doing, you can
bet your ass they are doing.  Busing protesters to meetings - check.
No one has provided any evidence of the GOP or any other organization
busing protesters to meetings, but there's YouTube evidence galore on
the other side.  Obama as Hitler - check.  Those signs are being
displayed by the LaRouche group.  Mass e-mails and organized
gatherings - check.  The SEIU and ACORN are all over that one.

If the GOP is running an "astroturf" operation, they're doing a damn
sorry job of it in my opinion.  Where the hell is my invitation?
Here's an example of Blue on Blue -

http://tinyurl.com/p4uxeq

Nope, Obama owns this one! As the old warfare saying goes, "when the
enemy is self-destructing, stand back and watch".

Brad


On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
> "written" by a famous individual.
>
> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge of
> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based on
> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she is
> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for much
> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
> listened, let alone acted.
>
> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks and
> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is
> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to
> higher principles.
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>> Mike,
>>
>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>
>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>> work of fiction.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>> Brad,
>>>
>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post.
>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly
>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents simply
>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true
>>> authorship.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>
>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>
>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>> too much fun?
>>>>
>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>
>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>
>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>
>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
>>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>>
>>> The Professional version does not have this message
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 13:46:43 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:46:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hey Rik - This Songs For You!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908140955u12d59351j2bc5a91d8c306afa@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908140955u12d59351j2bc5a91d8c306afa@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908141046o1bb0657ap299e4319e7ac2037@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

That's cute, ain't it?? I especially like the part where the tall guy leans
out the door and sprays the aerosol can. That reminds me.

Today on M/M's blog

_______________

http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/13/question-which-snl-comedian-will-play-debbie-stabenow/

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Energy Leader *(National Review, 08.10.09)*

*Detroit, Mich.* - Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record;
global temperatures haven't risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water
levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade of
media scare stories that they were drying up due to global warming), and
polls show that climate change doesn't even make a list of Michigan voters'
top-ten concerns.

Yet in an interview with the Detroit News Monday, Senator Debbie Stabenow
(D., Mich.) - recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee - made clear
that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.

"Climate change is very real," she confessed as she embraced cap and trade's
massive tax increase on Michigan industry - at the same time claiming,
against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in
manufacturing costs or energy prices. "Global warming creates volatility. I
feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the
price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

And there are sea monsters in Lake Michigan. I can feel them when I'm
boating.


On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM&feature=player_embedded
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 14 13:48:18 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:48:18 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com><400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com><8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice><400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com><01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908141034q7014611ct7991e62b4de5ad46@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <CEE4483D6B11457BA5D933EAFB083A30@ebsoffice>

Brad,

The "Blue on Blue" link was interesting.  My first impression was, "Great! 
Senior citizens getting another lunch on me worrying about what would happen 
to them under Obamacare."  We all are concerned over where the money will 
come from and who will determine the level of care to be provided, etc. and 
etc.  But they raised one very important point: where are we going to find 
all of the medical personnel to provide care to the uninsured?  Forget about 
how are we going to pay for the care or how the care will be rationed or how 
much the physicians will be paid but WHERE ARE ALL THESE DOCS GOING TO COME 
FROM?

Mike

From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 1:34 PM
> Mike,
>
> You raise an interesting point, but I suppose it is up to the owners
> of Facebook to police what is an appropriate use of their medium.  It
> was a Facebook posting that revealed the identity of the "randomly
> chosen" 12 year-old in NH that Obama called on (her mother revealed on
> Facebook her association with the Obama campaign).
>
> Palin has read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and is throwing it back
> in her detractors face. Is that "beneath her dignity" or a wrong move
> for someone trying to wear a "white hat"?  I don't have the answer to
> that one.
>
> One thing I've learned during this debate is this; whatever the
> proponents of Obamacare are accusing the opposition of doing, you can
> bet your ass they are doing.  Busing protesters to meetings - check.
> No one has provided any evidence of the GOP or any other organization
> busing protesters to meetings, but there's YouTube evidence galore on
> the other side.  Obama as Hitler - check.  Those signs are being
> displayed by the LaRouche group.  Mass e-mails and organized
> gatherings - check.  The SEIU and ACORN are all over that one.
>
> If the GOP is running an "astroturf" operation, they're doing a damn
> sorry job of it in my opinion.  Where the hell is my invitation?
> Here's an example of Blue on Blue -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/p4uxeq
>
> Nope, Obama owns this one! As the old warfare saying goes, "when the
> enemy is self-destructing, stand back and watch".
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
>> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
>> "written" by a famous individual.
>>
>> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge 
>> of
>> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based 
>> on
>> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
>> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she 
>> is
>> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
>> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for 
>> much
>> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
>> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
>> listened, let alone acted.
>>
>> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks 
>> and
>> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
>> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
>> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is
>> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
>> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to
>> higher principles.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>>
>>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>>> work of fiction.
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>>> Brad,
>>>>
>>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the 
>>>> post.
>>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and 
>>>> certainly
>>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents 
>>>> simply
>>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its 
>>>> true
>>>> authorship.
>>>>
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>>
>>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>>> too much fun?
>>>>>
>>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>>
>>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>>>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>>>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
>>>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>>>
>>>> The Professional version does not have this message
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>
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>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
> 


--
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From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 14 13:57:00 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:57:00 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hey Rik - This Songs For You!
References: <400985d70908140955u12d59351j2bc5a91d8c306afa@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908141046o1bb0657ap299e4319e7ac2037@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <3B3AE1EFB57C4E0B864A2D0BC2D240C2@ebsoffice>

NY has set low temp and high rainfall records all this summer.

I love the website.  Check out some more silly videos at: http://minnesotansforglobalwarming.com/m4gw/videos/

Mike

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Eric Sandberg 
  To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com 
  Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 1:46 PM
  Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hey Rik - This Songs For You!


  Brad,

  That's cute, ain't it?? I especially like the part where the tall guy leans out the door and sprays the aerosol can. That reminds me.

  Today on M/M's blog

  _______________

  http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/13/question-which-snl-comedian-will-play-debbie-stabenow/


  Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Energy Leader (National Review, 08.10.09)
  Detroit, Mich. - Michigan just experienced its coldest July on record; global temperatures haven't risen in more than a decade; Great Lakes water levels have resumed their 30-year cyclical rise (contrary to a decade of media scare stories that they were drying up due to global warming), and polls show that climate change doesn't even make a list of Michigan voters' top-ten concerns.

  Yet in an interview with the Detroit News Monday, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.) - recently appointed to the Senate Energy Committee - made clear that fighting the climate crisis is her top priority.

  "Climate change is very real," she confessed as she embraced cap and trade's massive tax increase on Michigan industry - at the same time claiming, against all the evidence, that it would not lead to an increase in manufacturing costs or energy prices. "Global warming creates volatility. I feel it when I'm flying. The storms are more volatile. We are paying the price in more hurricanes and tornadoes."

  And there are sea monsters in Lake Michigan. I can feel them when I'm boating.




  On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJUFTm6cJXM&feature=player_embedded
    _______________________________________________
    SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
    SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
    http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette




  -- 
  How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is actually working? .... Thomas Sowell




------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 14:17:38 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:17:38 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <CEE4483D6B11457BA5D933EAFB083A30@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908141034q7014611ct7991e62b4de5ad46@mail.gmail.com>
	<CEE4483D6B11457BA5D933EAFB083A30@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908141117x4a2b5147qcfeaa1330ba07a2f@mail.gmail.com>

Oh now Mike, ye of little faith ....

Everyone knows that just like the money to pay them, the needed docs will
just appear .... as if by magic.
Our messiah has spoken, it must be so.

Is there a printing press for doctors???

Rik

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 12:48 PM, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com>wrote:

> Brad,
>
> The "Blue on Blue" link was interesting.  My first impression was, "Great!
> Senior citizens getting another lunch on me worrying about what would
> happen
> to them under Obamacare."  We all are concerned over where the money will
> come from and who will determine the level of care to be provided, etc. and
> etc.  But they raised one very important point: where are we going to find
> all of the medical personnel to provide care to the uninsured?  Forget
> about
> how are we going to pay for the care or how the care will be rationed or
> how
> much the physicians will be paid but WHERE ARE ALL THESE DOCS GOING TO COME
> FROM?
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 1:34 PM
> > Mike,
> >
> > You raise an interesting point, but I suppose it is up to the owners
> > of Facebook to police what is an appropriate use of their medium.  It
> > was a Facebook posting that revealed the identity of the "randomly
> > chosen" 12 year-old in NH that Obama called on (her mother revealed on
> > Facebook her association with the Obama campaign).
> >
> > Palin has read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and is throwing it back
> > in her detractors face. Is that "beneath her dignity" or a wrong move
> > for someone trying to wear a "white hat"?  I don't have the answer to
> > that one.
> >
> > One thing I've learned during this debate is this; whatever the
> > proponents of Obamacare are accusing the opposition of doing, you can
> > bet your ass they are doing.  Busing protesters to meetings - check.
> > No one has provided any evidence of the GOP or any other organization
> > busing protesters to meetings, but there's YouTube evidence galore on
> > the other side.  Obama as Hitler - check.  Those signs are being
> > displayed by the LaRouche group.  Mass e-mails and organized
> > gatherings - check.  The SEIU and ACORN are all over that one.
> >
> > If the GOP is running an "astroturf" operation, they're doing a damn
> > sorry job of it in my opinion.  Where the hell is my invitation?
> > Here's an example of Blue on Blue -
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/p4uxeq
> >
> > Nope, Obama owns this one! As the old warfare saying goes, "when the
> > enemy is self-destructing, stand back and watch".
> >
> > Brad
> >
> >
> > On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
> >> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
> >> "written" by a famous individual.
> >>
> >> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge
> >> of
> >> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers
> based
> >> on
> >> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
> >> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she
> >> is
> >> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
> >> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for
> >> much
> >> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
> >> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
> >> listened, let alone acted.
> >>
> >> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks
> >> and
> >> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
> >> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
> >> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin
> is
> >> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
> >> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held
> to
> >> higher principles.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
> >>> Mike,
> >>>
> >>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
> >>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
> >>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
> >>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
> >>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
> >>> but that doesn't change the message.
> >>>
> >>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
> >>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
> >>> work of fiction.
> >>>
> >>> Brad
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> >>>> Brad,
> >>>>
> >>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and
> not
> >>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the
> >>>> post.
> >>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and
> >>>> certainly
> >>>> easier to do so than many.
> >>>>
> >>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents
> >>>> simply
> >>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its
> >>>> true
> >>>> authorship.
> >>>>
> >>>> Mike
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
> >>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
> >>>>>
> >>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
> >>>>>
> >>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
> >>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
> >>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
> >>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
> >>>>> too much fun?
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Bombs Away!"
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Brad
> >>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
> >>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
> >>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Here is her latest -
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't
> exactly
> >>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Brad
> >>>>>>
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>>>>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> --
> >>>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> >>>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> >>>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
> >>>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
> >>>>
> >>>> The Professional version does not have this message
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>>>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> >> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> >> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
> >> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
> >>
> >> The Professional version does not have this message
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> > SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 14:17:43 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:17:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <CEE4483D6B11457BA5D933EAFB083A30@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908141034q7014611ct7991e62b4de5ad46@mail.gmail.com>
	<CEE4483D6B11457BA5D933EAFB083A30@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <400985d70908141117p60ee8911p22c10bff4c193e1d@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

You raise an important issue that is being ignored - where are the
Docs going to come from? A quick personal note and then we'll move on.
 My first wife has been a nurse for over 40+ years (Sandy is 11 years
older than me). We don't have a water park here in Memphis so we buy
season tickets to the one in Little Rock and invite ourselves over for
the weekend to stay at Sandy's house and take Cora on
"water-adventures".  Sandy works at the U of A Medical Center with a
lot of Canadian doctors who fled the socialized system.  Listen to
what Reagan had to say (1961) about doctors being told how to do their
job -

http://tinyurl.com/ohefhc

Our family is lucky - my parents, Fan, my sister, my best friend,
every one who knows Sandy runs all their medical issues by her first
for a "sniff test".  Do you remember Anne from the old list?  She can
cut through medical "crap" in a nano-second. We CAN build a better
health-care system, but not the way we're going about it now.

Brad

On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> The "Blue on Blue" link was interesting.  My first impression was, "Great!
> Senior citizens getting another lunch on me worrying about what would happen
> to them under Obamacare."  We all are concerned over where the money will
> come from and who will determine the level of care to be provided, etc. and
> etc.  But they raised one very important point: where are we going to find
> all of the medical personnel to provide care to the uninsured?  Forget about
> how are we going to pay for the care or how the care will be rationed or how
> much the physicians will be paid but WHERE ARE ALL THESE DOCS GOING TO COME
> FROM?
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 1:34 PM
>> Mike,
>>
>> You raise an interesting point, but I suppose it is up to the owners
>> of Facebook to police what is an appropriate use of their medium.  It
>> was a Facebook posting that revealed the identity of the "randomly
>> chosen" 12 year-old in NH that Obama called on (her mother revealed on
>> Facebook her association with the Obama campaign).
>>
>> Palin has read Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and is throwing it back
>> in her detractors face. Is that "beneath her dignity" or a wrong move
>> for someone trying to wear a "white hat"?  I don't have the answer to
>> that one.
>>
>> One thing I've learned during this debate is this; whatever the
>> proponents of Obamacare are accusing the opposition of doing, you can
>> bet your ass they are doing.  Busing protesters to meetings - check.
>> No one has provided any evidence of the GOP or any other organization
>> busing protesters to meetings, but there's YouTube evidence galore on
>> the other side.  Obama as Hitler - check.  Those signs are being
>> displayed by the LaRouche group.  Mass e-mails and organized
>> gatherings - check.  The SEIU and ACORN are all over that one.
>>
>> If the GOP is running an "astroturf" operation, they're doing a damn
>> sorry job of it in my opinion.  Where the hell is my invitation?
>> Here's an example of Blue on Blue -
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/p4uxeq
>>
>> Nope, Obama owns this one! As the old warfare saying goes, "when the
>> enemy is self-destructing, stand back and watch".
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>> Brad,
>>>
>>> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
>>> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
>>> "written" by a famous individual.
>>>
>>> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge
>>> of
>>> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based
>>>
>>> on
>>> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
>>> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she
>>> is
>>> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
>>> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for
>>> much
>>> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
>>> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
>>> listened, let alone acted.
>>>
>>> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks
>>> and
>>> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
>>> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
>>> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is
>>> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
>>> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to
>>> higher principles.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>>>> Mike,
>>>>
>>>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>>>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>>>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>>>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>>>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>>>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>>>
>>>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>>>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>>>> work of fiction.
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>>>> Brad,
>>>>>
>>>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>>>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the
>>>>> post.
>>>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and
>>>>> certainly
>>>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>>>
>>>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents
>>>>> simply
>>>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its
>>>>> true
>>>>> authorship.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>>>> too much fun?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Fri Aug 14 14:52:45 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:52:45 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chevy Volt
Message-ID: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>

http://www.energyandcapital.com/

Today's Energy and Capital 
The Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
The Reality Behind the Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
August 14th, 2009 - By Chris Nelder

Energy and Capital Editor Chris Nelder investigates GM's claim that the Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and tries to calculate the real cost of driving...

Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that actually made any sense of this number. 

As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk through the numbers. . . such as they are.

First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account... 

Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that actually made any sense of this number. 

As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk through the numbers. . . such as they are.

First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account. That's like saying the electricity that runs the Volt for the first 40 miles is free. 

Instead, we should be using a new metric, like miles per kilowatt hour (I will use m/kWh for this). By converting the gasoline used into its kWh equivalent, then adding it to the kWh for the initial charge, we could come up with a simple number. 

The reality, however, is much more complex. 

Calculating Miles per Kilowatt Hour 
In a serial hybrid like the Volt, there are losses incurred (on the order of 15%) for using an on-board generator that burns gasoline to charge up the battery pack which drives the powertrain motor. There are also transmission losses, and losses from the self-discharge of the battery pack when it's unplugged, both of which are difficult to quantify.

So simply converting the BTU content of the gasoline to kWh (33.7 kWh equivalent per gallon) isn't quite right. Nor do we know the actual efficiency of the Volt's generating and charging systems.

Even if we had accurate numbers to work with, it would be somewhat misleading to use m/kWh as a basis for comparison. As most consumers know, there is a big difference between city and highway driving, because straight gasoline engines typically operate at very low efficiency below 25 mph, and are most efficient between 25 and 55 mph. 

Electric motors operate with a fairly constant efficiency at various speeds, but if the battery pack on a serial hybrid is deeply discharged and the gasoline generator used heavily, the overall fuel economy plummets. In the case of the Volt, it would fall from the alleged 230 mpg to 50 mpg or less. And both straight gasoline engines and hybrids consume more energy over 65 mph as wind resistance increases.

In order to address the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on a new draft methodology for testing mileage and establishing fuel economy ratings, but it is not yet public and EPA has declined to confirm GM's claim for the Volt. 

In the absence of good comparative standards, car companies can get away with wild claims like 230 mpg; not to be outdone, the Nissan boasts 367 mpg for its new Leaf car. But we can take a stab at some reasonable calculations. 

GM claims that the new EPA methodology will be stated in terms of kWh per 100 miles traveled, and that by this metric, the Volt will go 100 miles on 25 kWh of battery charge. This seems a less than perfect way of rating the fuel economy, since the Volt will only run 40 miles on a charge before the gasoline generator kicks in. To arrive at the 230 mpg number, GM assumes a 51-mile driving cycle with drivers charging up their Volts once a day, so the battery powers 4/5 of the distance. 

Taking GM's claim at face value though, we can calculate that the Volt gets about 4 m/kWh. This can be compared to approximately 0.8 m/kWh for a typical European diesel car getting an average 40 mpg, or about 0.4 m/kWh for a typical American gasoline car getting an average of 20 mpg. (Newer models have a range of higher fuel economies, but those are the averages of the current fleets.) 

Professor David MacKay of the University of Cambridge notes that even this metric can range wildly from 0.24 m/kWh for the BMW Hydrogen 7 car, to 3-10 m/kWh for some all-electric vehicles. 

A blog post by former Tesla chief marketing officer Darryl Siry claims that the Tesla Roadster will do 244 miles on a 62.3 kWh charge, for a 3.9 m/kWh economy. That's close to the Volt's alleged 4 m/kWh, so let's use the latter as an example.

Now we can try to evaluate the actual cost of driving a Volt. If you thought the above numbers were squishy, try these on for size. 

What Does It Cost To Drive?
First there is the price of residential electricity. This varies widely from state to state, depending on a number of factors including the fuels used in power stations, the utility rate structures, and the time of use. At the low end is Idaho with an average $0.07/kWh, and at the high end is Hawaii with $0.22 /kWh. In my home state of California, the average cost is $0.14/kWh (EIA Apr 2009 data).

The average price of $0.115/kWh for the whole U.S. is most commonly used in price calculations, but this doesn't tell the whole story. My last PG&E bill priced the first "baseline" 249 kWh at $0.12/kWh, and then continued on up a sliding scale to $0.38/kWh for the "201-300% of baseline" kilowatt-hours. Over the month, the average price was $0.22/kWh.

 

So let's split the difference and use $0.15/kWh. Assuming 4 m/kWh, the electricity cost of operating a Volt comes out to about $0.04 per mile. If we compare that to a standard 20 mpg ICE vehicle burning gasoline at $3 per gallon, that's $0.15 per mile, or nearly four times the cost of the Volt's fuel. 

But consider what happens when we use different assumptions. If instead we compare a new regular gasoline powered car with a fuel economy of 40 mpg, and assume a grid power cost of $0.30/kWh, the Volt would come dead even with the regular car at $0.08 per mile. And that, dear reader, is very possible - even likely.

Future Costs Are Key
Suppose you buy a new car today and drive it for a full, useful life of 15 years. Would the Volt save you money over 15 years? 

Within the next two years, we should see global oil production go into terminal decline, and the price of gasoline could begin to test new highs of $5 - $6 a gallon (or more). At $5 a gallon, a 40 mpg regular car will cost $0.13 per mile to drive - if you can get the fuel at all.

At the same time, the cost of grid power will go up. Natural gas prices are dragging the absolute bottom now around $3.50/MMBtu, but they ranged as high as $13 only last year. When the economy recovers, we should see the high end of the range again. We must also assume that in the next few years, carbon emissions will come with a cost attached, so the price of electricity generated from coal and natural gas will go higher. 

In 15 years, when that vehicle is ready for retirement, the world will likely be at or past the peak of oil, gas, and coal, and the prices for all of them will be significantly higher than today. Renewables will still be a small part of the grid power mix, but at that point, they should be even cheaper than the fossil fuels. So what price shall we anticipate for the year 2025 - $0.40/kWh? $0.50? More? At $0.50, the cost of driving the Volt would be the same as driving a 40 mpg car with gasoline at $6 a gallon - $0.15 a mile, or about $180 a month assuming daily trips of 40 miles. 

In reality, if that's what it costs to drive a car, actual vehicle miles driven will fall as people choose to carpool and take whatever public transportation may be available at that point (assuming it costs less than $6 a day). 

Even if the cost of expensive battery packs falls over the next 15 years, as it surely will, it's hard to say at this point when electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles might gain the cost advantage over higher efficiency ICE vehicles. However, when you add in the myriad other factors like CO2 caps, a gradual transition to an all-electric infrastructure powered by renewables, shortages of liquid fuels, and political sway, it does seem likely that they will win out eventually.

One thing is certain: You won't be driving 230 miles on a $3 gallon of gasoline. 

Until next time, 

 

Chris


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From ekroposki at charter.net  Fri Aug 14 15:05:00 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:05:00 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Nazis
Message-ID: <1698546CB42F450A9F9A3C124CB39C6F@YOURB88038198E>

The other day, the presidents spokesman, Robert Gibbs, made a statement repeated in all the media that Rush Limbaugh compared Obama to Adolph Hilter.  So I reserched the incident and so did this guy:


     
     


     
August 14, 2009, 0:45 p.m.

Nazis for Me, but Not for Thee
Why shouldn't socialized medicine prompt comparisons to National Socialism?

By Andrew C. McCarthy


It's this week's fashion on the left, and among such fashionably contemplative moderates as Mort Kondracke, to blast Rush Limbaugh for comparing Democrats to the Nazis. It's no surprise that the Obama hardcores are misrepresenting the sequence and substance of events, but I would have hoped that Kondracke would at least have noted that Rush's comparison - even if Kondracke thought it unwise - was neither gratuitous nor demagogic. 

To recap, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, started this episode by comparing American citizens who oppose Obamacare to the Nazis and asserting that her political opponents were donning "swastikas." (Sen. Barbara Boxer simultaneously ripped Obamacare dissenters for their Brooks Brothers suits - it's not altogether clear where on the twill the swastika goes.) Pelosi's tactic was the shopworn smear we on the right have dealt with for six decades. There is no conceivable substantive connection between opposition to Obamacare and German National Socialism - they are antithetical. By invoking the Nazis, Pelosi was patently slandering dissenters as racist thugs.

Rush responded, and the response did not smear Democrats. He repeatedly and explicitly qualified that no one was saying Obama was Hitler, that Pelosi was Goebbels, or that the Democrats were engaged in the genocidal barbarity of the Third Reich. The comparison he drew was a substantive one: between the Democrats' proposal for socialized medicine and the German installation of socialized medicine beginning with Bismarck and reaching its shocking apotheosis with Hitler's National Socialism. (A transcript of what he actually contended is here, and his website has other relevant transcripts, since the argument was reiterated other times during the week.) The point was to show that if Pelosi wanted to engage in Nazi comparisons, the health-care policies of Nazi Germany had far more in common with the health-care policies of the Democrats than with those of the conservative opposition, which wants health care kept private and reforms to be market-based.

Whether you agree with that or not (I happen to think it's undeniable), Rush was also making a larger point that is not only fair argument but essential argument. There is a trajectory of socialism, regardless of the good intentions of many socialists. As he framed it, you take things such as health care, things that are traditionally understood as within the ambit of individual liberty and free choice; you move such things into the ambit of state responsibility as the welfare state emerges and grows, on the theory that it is government's responsibility to provide for everyone's needs (by redistributing resources); as more things are moved from private to public control, the state by definition becomes totalitarian; and, inexorably, the totalitarian state gets bad leaders and the society comes to reflect the policy choices of those leaders.

Now, we can argue until the end of time about whether that trajectory really exists and whether it is inevitable. But however you come out, it is an argument very much worth having. It goes to what kind of society we are going to be, to what the proper relationship between the citizen and the state is. 

Nazi Germany is a useful historical example of socialism run amok. The genocide and terrorism ultimately practiced by the Nazis were horrible - that goes without saying. But National Socialism went on for a dozen years, it was the last stage in a progressive nationalization of German society, and there was a lot more to it than genocide and terrorism. It cannot be that because there was genocide and terrorism, the socialist aspects of National Socialism are outside the lines of acceptable political discourse. Given the immense popularity of Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, one of the most important political books of the last quarter-century, it doesn't look like Americans are as convinced as Mort Kondracke seems to be that these comparisons are verboten.

Let's put aside the Left's propensity to slander conservatives with comparisons to Adolf Hitler, who was patently a man of the Left. Earlier this year, one New York Times writer seemed to find comparisons to National Socialism quite worthy when - at least in the telling - those comparisons worked in the Left's favor. While Americans were hotly debating the merits of the Obama "stimulus" in April, the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto called attention to a very interesting economic analysis offered by David Leonhardt. Leonhardt wrote:

  In the summer of 1933, just as they will do on Thursday, heads of government and their finance ministers met in London to talk about a global economic crisis. They accomplished little and went home to battle the crisis in their own ways.

  More than any other country, Germany - Nazi Germany - then set out on a serious stimulus program. The government built up the military, expanded the autobahn, put up stadiums for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and built monuments to the Nazi Party across Munich and Berlin. 

  The economic benefits of this vast works program never flowed to most workers, because fascism doesn't look kindly on collective bargaining. But Germany did escape the Great Depression faster than other countries. Corporate profits boomed, and unemployment sank (and not because of slave labor, which didn't become widespread until later). Harold James, an economic historian, says that the young liberal economists studying under John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s began to debate whether Hitler had solved unemployment.

After all due qualifiers about how terribly uncomfortable he felt about invoking lessons from the Nazis, Leonhardt somehow summoned the inner fortitude to make the obvious explicit:

  Here in the United States, many people are understandably wondering whether the $800 billion stimulus program will make much of a difference. They want to know: Does stimulus work? Fortunately, this is one economic question that's been answered pretty clearly in the last century. Yes, stimulus works. 

As Taranto correctly observed, whatever you may think of the merits of Leonhardt's argument, it was appropriate for him to make it: The wisdom vel non of policies adopted during over a decade of Nazi socialism cannot be off the table simply because, in the end, the Nazis were monsters. We may find the seeds of their monstrousness in those policies, or we may not. But the thought that we should not talk about them is absurd. Notably, Leonhardt's piece ran without any teeth-gnashing from Mort Kondracke and our other Beltway chaperones. 

National Socialism is banned from the Right's case against socialism, but is somehow acceptable when leftists use it as a smear or when the Left's nuanced geniuses, after their very thoughtful consideration, decide its invocation is suitable for mature audiences? I don't think so. 

- National Review's Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter Books, 2008).


- National Review's Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute and the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter Books, 2008).
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 15:05:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:05:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chevy Volt
In-Reply-To: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
References: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908141205v2285259byb55d83a9c609dc0b@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

This all involves too much math and science for me to pay attention to
for more than five minutes.  Boeing says algae biodiesel/jet fuel is
the way to go.  FedEx is betting on algae biodiesel.  I'm getting 37
mpg city and highway combined on my VW diesel so I'm happy.  Call me
stupid, but I'm betting on Chattanooga's new VW plant being a success.

So we're going to drive cars on batteries?  OK. We trade Middle
Eastern oil sheiks for South American lithium barons -

http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/lithium

I'm betting on Nazi diesels and pond scum.

Brad


On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> http://www.energyandcapital.com/
>
> Today's Energy and Capital
> The Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
> The Reality Behind the Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
> August 14th, 2009 - By Chris Nelder
>
> Energy and Capital Editor Chris Nelder investigates GM's claim that the
> Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and tries to calculate the real cost of
> driving...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that
> actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't
> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that
> actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't
> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account. That's like saying
> the electricity that runs the Volt for the first 40 miles is free.
>
> Instead, we should be using a new metric, like miles per kilowatt hour (I
> will use m/kWh for this). By converting the gasoline used into its kWh
> equivalent, then adding it to the kWh for the initial charge, we could come
> up with a simple number.
>
> The reality, however, is much more complex.
>
> Calculating Miles per Kilowatt Hour
> In a serial hybrid like the Volt, there are losses incurred (on the order of
> 15%) for using an on-board generator that burns gasoline to charge up the
> battery pack which drives the powertrain motor. There are also transmission
> losses, and losses from the self-discharge of the battery pack when it's
> unplugged, both of which are difficult to quantify.
>
> So simply converting the BTU content of the gasoline to kWh (33.7 kWh
> equivalent per gallon) isn't quite right. Nor do we know the actual
> efficiency of the Volt's generating and charging systems.
>
> Even if we had accurate numbers to work with, it would be somewhat
> misleading to use m/kWh as a basis for comparison. As most consumers know,
> there is a big difference between city and highway driving, because straight
> gasoline engines typically operate at very low efficiency below 25 mph, and
> are most efficient between 25 and 55 mph.
>
> Electric motors operate with a fairly constant efficiency at various speeds,
> but if the battery pack on a serial hybrid is deeply discharged and the
> gasoline generator used heavily, the overall fuel economy plummets. In the
> case of the Volt, it would fall from the alleged 230 mpg to 50 mpg or less.
> And both straight gasoline engines and hybrids consume more energy over 65
> mph as wind resistance increases.
>
> In order to address the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
> working on a new draft methodology for testing mileage and establishing fuel
> economy ratings, but it is not yet public and EPA has declined to confirm
> GM's claim for the Volt.
>
> In the absence of good comparative standards, car companies can get away
> with wild claims like 230 mpg; not to be outdone, the Nissan boasts 367 mpg
> for its new Leaf car. But we can take a stab at some reasonable
> calculations.
>
> GM claims that the new EPA methodology will be stated in terms of kWh per
> 100 miles traveled, and that by this metric, the Volt will go 100 miles on
> 25 kWh of battery charge. This seems a less than perfect way of rating the
> fuel economy, since the Volt will only run 40 miles on a charge before the
> gasoline generator kicks in. To arrive at the 230 mpg number, GM assumes a
> 51-mile driving cycle with drivers charging up their Volts once a day, so
> the battery powers 4/5 of the distance.
>
> Taking GM's claim at face value though, we can calculate that the Volt gets
> about 4 m/kWh. This can be compared to approximately 0.8 m/kWh for a typical
> European diesel car getting an average 40 mpg, or about 0.4 m/kWh for a
> typical American gasoline car getting an average of 20 mpg. (Newer models
> have a range of higher fuel economies, but those are the averages of the
> current fleets.)
>
> Professor David MacKay of the University of Cambridge notes that even this
> metric can range wildly from 0.24 m/kWh for the BMW Hydrogen 7 car, to 3-10
> m/kWh for some all-electric vehicles.
>
> A blog post by former Tesla chief marketing officer Darryl Siry claims that
> the Tesla Roadster will do 244 miles on a 62.3 kWh charge, for a 3.9 m/kWh
> economy. That's close to the Volt's alleged 4 m/kWh, so let's use the latter
> as an example.
>
> Now we can try to evaluate the actual cost of driving a Volt. If you thought
> the above numbers were squishy, try these on for size.
>
> What Does It Cost To Drive?
> First there is the price of residential electricity. This varies widely from
> state to state, depending on a number of factors including the fuels used in
> power stations, the utility rate structures, and the time of use. At the low
> end is Idaho with an average $0.07/kWh, and at the high end is Hawaii with
> $0.22 /kWh. In my home state of California, the average cost is $0.14/kWh
> (EIA Apr 2009 data).
>
> The average price of $0.115/kWh for the whole U.S. is most commonly used in
> price calculations, but this doesn't tell the whole story. My last PG&E bill
> priced the first "baseline" 249 kWh at $0.12/kWh, and then continued on up a
> sliding scale to $0.38/kWh for the "201-300% of baseline" kilowatt-hours.
> Over the month, the average price was $0.22/kWh.
>
>
>
> So let's split the difference and use $0.15/kWh. Assuming 4 m/kWh, the
> electricity cost of operating a Volt comes out to about $0.04 per mile. If
> we compare that to a standard 20 mpg ICE vehicle burning gasoline at $3 per
> gallon, that's $0.15 per mile, or nearly four times the cost of the Volt's
> fuel.
>
> But consider what happens when we use different assumptions. If instead we
> compare a new regular gasoline powered car with a fuel economy of 40 mpg,
> and assume a grid power cost of $0.30/kWh, the Volt would come dead even
> with the regular car at $0.08 per mile. And that, dear reader, is very
> possible - even likely.
>
> Future Costs Are Key
> Suppose you buy a new car today and drive it for a full, useful life of 15
> years. Would the Volt save you money over 15 years?
>
> Within the next two years, we should see global oil production go into
> terminal decline, and the price of gasoline could begin to test new highs of
> $5 - $6 a gallon (or more). At $5 a gallon, a 40 mpg regular car will cost
> $0.13 per mile to drive - if you can get the fuel at all.
>
> At the same time, the cost of grid power will go up. Natural gas prices are
> dragging the absolute bottom now around $3.50/MMBtu, but they ranged as high
> as $13 only last year. When the economy recovers, we should see the high end
> of the range again. We must also assume that in the next few years, carbon
> emissions will come with a cost attached, so the price of electricity
> generated from coal and natural gas will go higher.
>
> In 15 years, when that vehicle is ready for retirement, the world will
> likely be at or past the peak of oil, gas, and coal, and the prices for all
> of them will be significantly higher than today. Renewables will still be a
> small part of the grid power mix, but at that point, they should be even
> cheaper than the fossil fuels. So what price shall we anticipate for the
> year 2025 - $0.40/kWh? $0.50? More? At $0.50, the cost of driving the Volt
> would be the same as driving a 40 mpg car with gasoline at $6 a gallon -
> $0.15 a mile, or about $180 a month assuming daily trips of 40 miles.
>
> In reality, if that's what it costs to drive a car, actual vehicle miles
> driven will fall as people choose to carpool and take whatever public
> transportation may be available at that point (assuming it costs less than
> $6 a day).
>
> Even if the cost of expensive battery packs falls over the next 15 years, as
> it surely will, it's hard to say at this point when electric and plug-in
> hybrid vehicles might gain the cost advantage over higher efficiency ICE
> vehicles. However, when you add in the myriad other factors like CO2 caps, a
> gradual transition to an all-electric infrastructure powered by renewables,
> shortages of liquid fuels, and political sway, it does seem likely that they
> will win out eventually.
>
> One thing is certain: You won't be driving 230 miles on a $3 gallon of
> gasoline.
>
> Until next time,
>
>
>
> Chris
>
>
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 15:42:49 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:42:49 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Nazis
In-Reply-To: <1698546CB42F450A9F9A3C124CB39C6F@YOURB88038198E>
References: <1698546CB42F450A9F9A3C124CB39C6F@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908141242t596afb4bu8a384ca745a82111@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Perhaps it has been a bit remiss of me not to share my latest
purchase.  I bought an Amazon Kindle e-reader for the 16 hour missions
to China.  I love this new piece of technology and highly recommend it
to everyone.

The first book I downloaded was Jonah Goldberg?s "Liberal Fascism",
and ironically, Amazon got into some trouble for deleting "1984" from
Kindles the day I placed the order for one of the first Kindle DX's.
Everything is upside down.  Hitler and Mussolini are associated with
far right movements, when in fact, they were very leftist dictators.

As I've said before, I seldom listen to Rush Limbaugh, but I've
listened to him enough over the years to know that "Rush is Rush". He
trashed-talked Bush 43 quite a bit because W was no conservative. Say
what you want about Rush, Beck, Levin, et al, (Levin is my favorite)
they speak their mind and owe no one- certainly not the GOP.

Pelosi is trying to put someone elses fingerprints on this movement.
She's the Speaker of the House!  Reid is the Senate Majority Leader!
Just vote on the damn thing and be done with it! Why sell this thing
so damned hard if you're in the majority?

Brad

On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> The other day, the presidents spokesman, Robert Gibbs, made a statement
> repeated in all the media that Rush Limbaugh compared Obama to Adolph
> Hilter.  So I reserched the incident and so did this guy:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> August 14, 2009, 0:45 p.m.
>
> Nazis for Me, but Not for Thee
> Why shouldn't socialized medicine prompt comparisons to National Socialism?
>
> By Andrew C. McCarthy
>
>
> It's this week's fashion on the left, and among such fashionably
> contemplative moderates as Mort Kondracke, to blast Rush Limbaugh for
> comparing Democrats to the Nazis. It's no surprise that the Obama hardcores
> are misrepresenting the sequence and substance of events, but I would have
> hoped that Kondracke would at least have noted that Rush's comparison - even
> if Kondracke thought it unwise - was neither gratuitous nor demagogic.
>
> To recap, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, started this episode by
> comparing American citizens who oppose Obamacare to the Nazis and asserting
> that her political opponents were donning "swastikas." (Sen. Barbara Boxer
> simultaneously ripped Obamacare dissenters for their Brooks Brothers suits -
> it's not altogether clear where on the twill the swastika goes.) Pelosi's
> tactic was the shopworn smear we on the right have dealt with for six
> decades. There is no conceivable substantive connection between opposition
> to Obamacare and German National Socialism - they are antithetical. By
> invoking the Nazis, Pelosi was patently slandering dissenters as racist
> thugs.
>
> Rush responded, and the response did not smear Democrats. He repeatedly and
> explicitly qualified that no one was saying Obama was Hitler, that Pelosi
> was Goebbels, or that the Democrats were engaged in the genocidal barbarity
> of the Third Reich. The comparison he drew was a substantive one: between
> the Democrats' proposal for socialized medicine and the German installation
> of socialized medicine beginning with Bismarck and reaching its shocking
> apotheosis with Hitler's National Socialism. (A transcript of what he
> actually contended is here, and his website has other relevant transcripts,
> since the argument was reiterated other times during the week.) The point
> was to show that if Pelosi wanted to engage in Nazi comparisons, the
> health-care policies of Nazi Germany had far more in common with the
> health-care policies of the Democrats than with those of the conservative
> opposition, which wants health care kept private and reforms to be
> market-based.
>
> Whether you agree with that or not (I happen to think it's undeniable), Rush
> was also making a larger point that is not only fair argument but essential
> argument. There is a trajectory of socialism, regardless of the good
> intentions of many socialists. As he framed it, you take things such as
> health care, things that are traditionally understood as within the ambit of
> individual liberty and free choice; you move such things into the ambit of
> state responsibility as the welfare state emerges and grows, on the theory
> that it is government's responsibility to provide for everyone's needs (by
> redistributing resources); as more things are moved from private to public
> control, the state by definition becomes totalitarian; and, inexorably, the
> totalitarian state gets bad leaders and the society comes to reflect the
> policy choices of those leaders.
>
> Now, we can argue until the end of time about whether that trajectory really
> exists and whether it is inevitable. But however you come out, it is an
> argument very much worth having. It goes to what kind of society we are
> going to be, to what the proper relationship between the citizen and the
> state is.
>
> Nazi Germany is a useful historical example of socialism run amok. The
> genocide and terrorism ultimately practiced by the Nazis were horrible -
> that goes without saying. But National Socialism went on for a dozen years,
> it was the last stage in a progressive nationalization of German society,
> and there was a lot more to it than genocide and terrorism. It cannot be
> that because there was genocide and terrorism, the socialist aspects of
> National Socialism are outside the lines of acceptable political discourse.
> Given the immense popularity of Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism, one of the
> most important political books of the last quarter-century, it doesn't look
> like Americans are as convinced as Mort Kondracke seems to be that these
> comparisons are verboten.
>
> Let's put aside the Left's propensity to slander conservatives with
> comparisons to Adolf Hitler, who was patently a man of the Left. Earlier
> this year, one New York Times writer seemed to find comparisons to National
> Socialism quite worthy when - at least in the telling - those comparisons
> worked in the Left's favor. While Americans were hotly debating the merits
> of the Obama "stimulus" in April, the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto
> called attention to a very interesting economic analysis offered by David
> Leonhardt. Leonhardt wrote:
>
>   In the summer of 1933, just as they will do on Thursday, heads of
> government and their finance ministers met in London to talk about a global
> economic crisis. They accomplished little and went home to battle the crisis
> in their own ways.
>
>   More than any other country, Germany - Nazi Germany - then set out on a
> serious stimulus program. The government built up the military, expanded the
> autobahn, put up stadiums for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and built monuments
> to the Nazi Party across Munich and Berlin.
>
>   The economic benefits of this vast works program never flowed to most
> workers, because fascism doesn't look kindly on collective bargaining. But
> Germany did escape the Great Depression faster than other countries.
> Corporate profits boomed, and unemployment sank (and not because of slave
> labor, which didn't become widespread until later). Harold James, an
> economic historian, says that the young liberal economists studying under
> John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s began to debate whether Hitler had solved
> unemployment.
>
> After all due qualifiers about how terribly uncomfortable he felt about
> invoking lessons from the Nazis, Leonhardt somehow summoned the inner
> fortitude to make the obvious explicit:
>
>   Here in the United States, many people are understandably wondering
> whether the $800 billion stimulus program will make much of a difference.
> They want to know: Does stimulus work? Fortunately, this is one economic
> question that's been answered pretty clearly in the last century. Yes,
> stimulus works.
>
> As Taranto correctly observed, whatever you may think of the merits of
> Leonhardt's argument, it was appropriate for him to make it: The wisdom vel
> non of policies adopted during over a decade of Nazi socialism cannot be off
> the table simply because, in the end, the Nazis were monsters. We may find
> the seeds of their monstrousness in those policies, or we may not. But the
> thought that we should not talk about them is absurd. Notably, Leonhardt's
> piece ran without any teeth-gnashing from Mort Kondracke and our other
> Beltway chaperones.
>
> National Socialism is banned from the Right's case against socialism, but is
> somehow acceptable when leftists use it as a smear or when the Left's
> nuanced geniuses, after their very thoughtful consideration, decide its
> invocation is suitable for mature audiences? I don't think so.
>
> - National Review's Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National
> Review Institute and the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad
> (Encounter Books, 2008).
>
>
> - National Review's Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the National
> Review Institute and the author of Willful Blindness: A Memoir of the Jihad
> (Encounter Books, 2008).
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 16:49:22 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:49:22 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chevy Volt
In-Reply-To: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
References: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908141349m3d88813k8811402182d614f5@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

What timing!  We had another cargo fire today - fortunately, no
serious damage.  Another battery - here's the industry history -

http://tinyurl.com/plf3t6

Brad



On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> http://www.energyandcapital.com/
>
> Today's Energy and Capital
> The Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
> The Reality Behind the Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
> August 14th, 2009 - By Chris Nelder
>
> Energy and Capital Editor Chris Nelder investigates GM's claim that the
> Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and tries to calculate the real cost of
> driving...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that
> actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't
> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article that
> actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it doesn't
> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account. That's like saying
> the electricity that runs the Volt for the first 40 miles is free.
>
> Instead, we should be using a new metric, like miles per kilowatt hour (I
> will use m/kWh for this). By converting the gasoline used into its kWh
> equivalent, then adding it to the kWh for the initial charge, we could come
> up with a simple number.
>
> The reality, however, is much more complex.
>
> Calculating Miles per Kilowatt Hour
> In a serial hybrid like the Volt, there are losses incurred (on the order of
> 15%) for using an on-board generator that burns gasoline to charge up the
> battery pack which drives the powertrain motor. There are also transmission
> losses, and losses from the self-discharge of the battery pack when it's
> unplugged, both of which are difficult to quantify.
>
> So simply converting the BTU content of the gasoline to kWh (33.7 kWh
> equivalent per gallon) isn't quite right. Nor do we know the actual
> efficiency of the Volt's generating and charging systems.
>
> Even if we had accurate numbers to work with, it would be somewhat
> misleading to use m/kWh as a basis for comparison. As most consumers know,
> there is a big difference between city and highway driving, because straight
> gasoline engines typically operate at very low efficiency below 25 mph, and
> are most efficient between 25 and 55 mph.
>
> Electric motors operate with a fairly constant efficiency at various speeds,
> but if the battery pack on a serial hybrid is deeply discharged and the
> gasoline generator used heavily, the overall fuel economy plummets. In the
> case of the Volt, it would fall from the alleged 230 mpg to 50 mpg or less.
> And both straight gasoline engines and hybrids consume more energy over 65
> mph as wind resistance increases.
>
> In order to address the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is
> working on a new draft methodology for testing mileage and establishing fuel
> economy ratings, but it is not yet public and EPA has declined to confirm
> GM's claim for the Volt.
>
> In the absence of good comparative standards, car companies can get away
> with wild claims like 230 mpg; not to be outdone, the Nissan boasts 367 mpg
> for its new Leaf car. But we can take a stab at some reasonable
> calculations.
>
> GM claims that the new EPA methodology will be stated in terms of kWh per
> 100 miles traveled, and that by this metric, the Volt will go 100 miles on
> 25 kWh of battery charge. This seems a less than perfect way of rating the
> fuel economy, since the Volt will only run 40 miles on a charge before the
> gasoline generator kicks in. To arrive at the 230 mpg number, GM assumes a
> 51-mile driving cycle with drivers charging up their Volts once a day, so
> the battery powers 4/5 of the distance.
>
> Taking GM's claim at face value though, we can calculate that the Volt gets
> about 4 m/kWh. This can be compared to approximately 0.8 m/kWh for a typical
> European diesel car getting an average 40 mpg, or about 0.4 m/kWh for a
> typical American gasoline car getting an average of 20 mpg. (Newer models
> have a range of higher fuel economies, but those are the averages of the
> current fleets.)
>
> Professor David MacKay of the University of Cambridge notes that even this
> metric can range wildly from 0.24 m/kWh for the BMW Hydrogen 7 car, to 3-10
> m/kWh for some all-electric vehicles.
>
> A blog post by former Tesla chief marketing officer Darryl Siry claims that
> the Tesla Roadster will do 244 miles on a 62.3 kWh charge, for a 3.9 m/kWh
> economy. That's close to the Volt's alleged 4 m/kWh, so let's use the latter
> as an example.
>
> Now we can try to evaluate the actual cost of driving a Volt. If you thought
> the above numbers were squishy, try these on for size.
>
> What Does It Cost To Drive?
> First there is the price of residential electricity. This varies widely from
> state to state, depending on a number of factors including the fuels used in
> power stations, the utility rate structures, and the time of use. At the low
> end is Idaho with an average $0.07/kWh, and at the high end is Hawaii with
> $0.22 /kWh. In my home state of California, the average cost is $0.14/kWh
> (EIA Apr 2009 data).
>
> The average price of $0.115/kWh for the whole U.S. is most commonly used in
> price calculations, but this doesn't tell the whole story. My last PG&E bill
> priced the first "baseline" 249 kWh at $0.12/kWh, and then continued on up a
> sliding scale to $0.38/kWh for the "201-300% of baseline" kilowatt-hours.
> Over the month, the average price was $0.22/kWh.
>
>
>
> So let's split the difference and use $0.15/kWh. Assuming 4 m/kWh, the
> electricity cost of operating a Volt comes out to about $0.04 per mile. If
> we compare that to a standard 20 mpg ICE vehicle burning gasoline at $3 per
> gallon, that's $0.15 per mile, or nearly four times the cost of the Volt's
> fuel.
>
> But consider what happens when we use different assumptions. If instead we
> compare a new regular gasoline powered car with a fuel economy of 40 mpg,
> and assume a grid power cost of $0.30/kWh, the Volt would come dead even
> with the regular car at $0.08 per mile. And that, dear reader, is very
> possible - even likely.
>
> Future Costs Are Key
> Suppose you buy a new car today and drive it for a full, useful life of 15
> years. Would the Volt save you money over 15 years?
>
> Within the next two years, we should see global oil production go into
> terminal decline, and the price of gasoline could begin to test new highs of
> $5 - $6 a gallon (or more). At $5 a gallon, a 40 mpg regular car will cost
> $0.13 per mile to drive - if you can get the fuel at all.
>
> At the same time, the cost of grid power will go up. Natural gas prices are
> dragging the absolute bottom now around $3.50/MMBtu, but they ranged as high
> as $13 only last year. When the economy recovers, we should see the high end
> of the range again. We must also assume that in the next few years, carbon
> emissions will come with a cost attached, so the price of electricity
> generated from coal and natural gas will go higher.
>
> In 15 years, when that vehicle is ready for retirement, the world will
> likely be at or past the peak of oil, gas, and coal, and the prices for all
> of them will be significantly higher than today. Renewables will still be a
> small part of the grid power mix, but at that point, they should be even
> cheaper than the fossil fuels. So what price shall we anticipate for the
> year 2025 - $0.40/kWh? $0.50? More? At $0.50, the cost of driving the Volt
> would be the same as driving a 40 mpg car with gasoline at $6 a gallon -
> $0.15 a mile, or about $180 a month assuming daily trips of 40 miles.
>
> In reality, if that's what it costs to drive a car, actual vehicle miles
> driven will fall as people choose to carpool and take whatever public
> transportation may be available at that point (assuming it costs less than
> $6 a day).
>
> Even if the cost of expensive battery packs falls over the next 15 years, as
> it surely will, it's hard to say at this point when electric and plug-in
> hybrid vehicles might gain the cost advantage over higher efficiency ICE
> vehicles. However, when you add in the myriad other factors like CO2 caps, a
> gradual transition to an all-electric infrastructure powered by renewables,
> shortages of liquid fuels, and political sway, it does seem likely that they
> will win out eventually.
>
> One thing is certain: You won't be driving 230 miles on a $3 gallon of
> gasoline.
>
> Until next time,
>
>
>
> Chris
>
>
>

From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 14 17:33:13 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:33:13 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chevy Volt
References: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
	<400985d70908141349m3d88813k8811402182d614f5@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <FA96E352F01C474E94EFC42344231D35@ebsoffice>

Brad,

Very interesting report.  Now I understand why every Dell laptop is supplied 
with a can of Sprite:

    "While in flight, a passenger on American Airlines flight
    1539 from Washington National to Dallas Ft Worth, noticed
    his Dell laptop was smoking. The passenger removed the
    battery pack and gave it to a flight attendant. The flight
    attendant placed the battery in a coffee pot in the aft gallery
    and poured water and Sprite on it. Dell has been advised of
    the incident."

Mike



From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 4:49 PM
> Ed,
>
> What timing!  We had another cargo fire today - fortunately, no
> serious damage.  Another battery - here's the industry history -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/plf3t6
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>> http://www.energyandcapital.com/
>>
>> Today's Energy and Capital
>> The Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
>> The Reality Behind the Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
>> August 14th, 2009 - By Chris Nelder
>>
>> Energy and Capital Editor Chris Nelder investigates GM's claim that the
>> Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and tries to calculate the real cost of
>> driving...
>>
>> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
>> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
>> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
>> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article 
>> that
>> actually made any sense of this number.
>>
>> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
>> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>>
>> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it 
>> doesn't
>> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account...
>>
>> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over
>> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy of
>> 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many breathless
>> column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a single article 
>> that
>> actually made any sense of this number.
>>
>> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk
>> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>>
>> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it 
>> doesn't
>> take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account. That's like 
>> saying
>> the electricity that runs the Volt for the first 40 miles is free.
>>
>> Instead, we should be using a new metric, like miles per kilowatt hour (I
>> will use m/kWh for this). By converting the gasoline used into its kWh
>> equivalent, then adding it to the kWh for the initial charge, we could 
>> come
>> up with a simple number.
>>
>> The reality, however, is much more complex.
>>
>> Calculating Miles per Kilowatt Hour
>> In a serial hybrid like the Volt, there are losses incurred (on the order 
>> of
>> 15%) for using an on-board generator that burns gasoline to charge up the
>> battery pack which drives the powertrain motor. There are also 
>> transmission
>> losses, and losses from the self-discharge of the battery pack when it's
>> unplugged, both of which are difficult to quantify.
>>
>> So simply converting the BTU content of the gasoline to kWh (33.7 kWh
>> equivalent per gallon) isn't quite right. Nor do we know the actual
>> efficiency of the Volt's generating and charging systems.
>>
>> Even if we had accurate numbers to work with, it would be somewhat
>> misleading to use m/kWh as a basis for comparison. As most consumers 
>> know,
>> there is a big difference between city and highway driving, because 
>> straight
>> gasoline engines typically operate at very low efficiency below 25 mph, 
>> and
>> are most efficient between 25 and 55 mph.
>>
>> Electric motors operate with a fairly constant efficiency at various 
>> speeds,
>> but if the battery pack on a serial hybrid is deeply discharged and the
>> gasoline generator used heavily, the overall fuel economy plummets. In 
>> the
>> case of the Volt, it would fall from the alleged 230 mpg to 50 mpg or 
>> less.
>> And both straight gasoline engines and hybrids consume more energy over 
>> 65
>> mph as wind resistance increases.
>>
>> In order to address the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
>> is
>> working on a new draft methodology for testing mileage and establishing 
>> fuel
>> economy ratings, but it is not yet public and EPA has declined to confirm
>> GM's claim for the Volt.
>>
>> In the absence of good comparative standards, car companies can get away
>> with wild claims like 230 mpg; not to be outdone, the Nissan boasts 367 
>> mpg
>> for its new Leaf car. But we can take a stab at some reasonable
>> calculations.
>>
>> GM claims that the new EPA methodology will be stated in terms of kWh per
>> 100 miles traveled, and that by this metric, the Volt will go 100 miles 
>> on
>> 25 kWh of battery charge. This seems a less than perfect way of rating 
>> the
>> fuel economy, since the Volt will only run 40 miles on a charge before 
>> the
>> gasoline generator kicks in. To arrive at the 230 mpg number, GM assumes 
>> a
>> 51-mile driving cycle with drivers charging up their Volts once a day, so
>> the battery powers 4/5 of the distance.
>>
>> Taking GM's claim at face value though, we can calculate that the Volt 
>> gets
>> about 4 m/kWh. This can be compared to approximately 0.8 m/kWh for a 
>> typical
>> European diesel car getting an average 40 mpg, or about 0.4 m/kWh for a
>> typical American gasoline car getting an average of 20 mpg. (Newer models
>> have a range of higher fuel economies, but those are the averages of the
>> current fleets.)
>>
>> Professor David MacKay of the University of Cambridge notes that even 
>> this
>> metric can range wildly from 0.24 m/kWh for the BMW Hydrogen 7 car, to 
>> 3-10
>> m/kWh for some all-electric vehicles.
>>
>> A blog post by former Tesla chief marketing officer Darryl Siry claims 
>> that
>> the Tesla Roadster will do 244 miles on a 62.3 kWh charge, for a 3.9 
>> m/kWh
>> economy. That's close to the Volt's alleged 4 m/kWh, so let's use the 
>> latter
>> as an example.
>>
>> Now we can try to evaluate the actual cost of driving a Volt. If you 
>> thought
>> the above numbers were squishy, try these on for size.
>>
>> What Does It Cost To Drive?
>> First there is the price of residential electricity. This varies widely 
>> from
>> state to state, depending on a number of factors including the fuels used 
>> in
>> power stations, the utility rate structures, and the time of use. At the 
>> low
>> end is Idaho with an average $0.07/kWh, and at the high end is Hawaii 
>> with
>> $0.22 /kWh. In my home state of California, the average cost is $0.14/kWh
>> (EIA Apr 2009 data).
>>
>> The average price of $0.115/kWh for the whole U.S. is most commonly used 
>> in
>> price calculations, but this doesn't tell the whole story. My last PG&E 
>> bill
>> priced the first "baseline" 249 kWh at $0.12/kWh, and then continued on 
>> up a
>> sliding scale to $0.38/kWh for the "201-300% of baseline" kilowatt-hours.
>> Over the month, the average price was $0.22/kWh.
>>
>>
>>
>> So let's split the difference and use $0.15/kWh. Assuming 4 m/kWh, the
>> electricity cost of operating a Volt comes out to about $0.04 per mile. 
>> If
>> we compare that to a standard 20 mpg ICE vehicle burning gasoline at $3 
>> per
>> gallon, that's $0.15 per mile, or nearly four times the cost of the 
>> Volt's
>> fuel.
>>
>> But consider what happens when we use different assumptions. If instead 
>> we
>> compare a new regular gasoline powered car with a fuel economy of 40 mpg,
>> and assume a grid power cost of $0.30/kWh, the Volt would come dead even
>> with the regular car at $0.08 per mile. And that, dear reader, is very
>> possible - even likely.
>>
>> Future Costs Are Key
>> Suppose you buy a new car today and drive it for a full, useful life of 
>> 15
>> years. Would the Volt save you money over 15 years?
>>
>> Within the next two years, we should see global oil production go into
>> terminal decline, and the price of gasoline could begin to test new highs 
>> of
>> $5 - $6 a gallon (or more). At $5 a gallon, a 40 mpg regular car will 
>> cost
>> $0.13 per mile to drive - if you can get the fuel at all.
>>
>> At the same time, the cost of grid power will go up. Natural gas prices 
>> are
>> dragging the absolute bottom now around $3.50/MMBtu, but they ranged as 
>> high
>> as $13 only last year. When the economy recovers, we should see the high 
>> end
>> of the range again. We must also assume that in the next few years, 
>> carbon
>> emissions will come with a cost attached, so the price of electricity
>> generated from coal and natural gas will go higher.
>>
>> In 15 years, when that vehicle is ready for retirement, the world will
>> likely be at or past the peak of oil, gas, and coal, and the prices for 
>> all
>> of them will be significantly higher than today. Renewables will still be 
>> a
>> small part of the grid power mix, but at that point, they should be even
>> cheaper than the fossil fuels. So what price shall we anticipate for the
>> year 2025 - $0.40/kWh? $0.50? More? At $0.50, the cost of driving the 
>> Volt
>> would be the same as driving a 40 mpg car with gasoline at $6 a gallon -
>> $0.15 a mile, or about $180 a month assuming daily trips of 40 miles.
>>
>> In reality, if that's what it costs to drive a car, actual vehicle miles
>> driven will fall as people choose to carpool and take whatever public
>> transportation may be available at that point (assuming it costs less 
>> than
>> $6 a day).
>>
>> Even if the cost of expensive battery packs falls over the next 15 years, 
>> as
>> it surely will, it's hard to say at this point when electric and plug-in
>> hybrid vehicles might gain the cost advantage over higher efficiency ICE
>> vehicles. However, when you add in the myriad other factors like CO2 
>> caps, a
>> gradual transition to an all-electric infrastructure powered by 
>> renewables,
>> shortages of liquid fuels, and political sway, it does seem likely that 
>> they
>> will win out eventually.
>>
>> One thing is certain: You won't be driving 230 miles on a $3 gallon of
>> gasoline.
>>
>> Until next time,
>>
>>
>>
>> Chris
>>
>>
>>
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> 


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From ekroposki at charter.net  Fri Aug 14 19:33:31 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:33:31 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] European Political History
Message-ID: <9CD7F1D6E6A94326AB67A6D9655792FE@YOURB88038198E>

Brad,

Recall the flak I took for calling Hilter and the Nazis socialist when in fact Nazi was an acronym for the German National Socialist Party.  What is interesting is that the German national health instituted in the 1920's allowed or morphed into many of Hitler's evils.  Yet pointing this out to those who support U. S. Government controlled health care gets deaf ears and bind eyes.  Try to tell that to Stan or his like minded Rhodies.

Mussolini had been for years a devout Marxist and morphed into his 'facism' to win the Primership.  Mussolini's Facism was different from Socialism.  Facism is a funcky totalitarism with socialist overtones with special business interest.  Not much different from Obama's direction.  I would suggest that Obama's approach is closer to Mussolini's Facism than anything else.

What amazes me is all those with Jewish ancestry who do not nor will not recognize what those systems morphed into.  The same follows with Soviet Socialism.  There were many jews integral in the early development of the Soviet Union.  However, how many wanted to stay when given the chance to go to Isreal after living with their creation?

One of the best known Soviet Jews was Trotsky.  Escaped to Mexico, only to be hunted down.

Socialism leads to evil.  Just look at the history.  Apply some logic to the historical facts.

Your term 'Sheeple' was most appropriate.  It is hard to ascertain the truth, but the last 100 years speak loudly.

But then, all you have to do is go to one tent revival.  Again, Sheeple... of another sort.

Ed K
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 14 22:36:07 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:36:07 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Whole Foods
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908141012g3313dd66n645c0327866e7bc3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908141012g3313dd66n645c0327866e7bc3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908141936q1f63d5f6rb5633ac67fc14b82@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Hard to imagine what people could find so offensive about a health care
reform like Mackey's. I have said almost all of those things myself over the
last few years, just not all of them at once laid out in a nice list like
that. It's all mostly just good common sense. A few years back, we tried to
institute the health savings account program in our business so we could
make the switch to a higher deductible health plan and save a great deal of
money. We couldn't get anyone to go along with it. What a waste!

Sometimes I almost feel sorry for the people who are so foolish as to get
all indignant (ex-whole foods shoppers in the article) when someone suggests
that they be responsible for their own life choices. What miserable little
lives they must lead.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 12:12 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Use the link embedded early in this story to read the health-care plan
> at Whole Foods (from the WSJ). The Whole Food's CEO's ideas for the
> nation make a lot of sense.
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8322658&page=1
>
> The large electrical contractor I used to fly a Citation Jet for was
> self-insured for the first several thousand dollars of health-care.
> When you submitted a doctor bill, there was no doubt that the money to
> pay for it was coming straight off the bottom line.  Same as my
> current employer of 24+ years - it may say Blue Cross on the card, but
> they just handle the paperwork, the boss pays the bills.  Single payer
> will kill all that of course, but then, that's the idea.  The
> supporters of single payer want socialism more than they want health
> care.
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
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-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From bill at effros.com  Sat Aug 15 03:28:54 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:28:54 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com><400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com><8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <4A8663B6.7040402@effros.com>

Mike,

You bring up something I've been thinking about for years. 

I collect quotes, and have been doing so for 40 years.  I have long 
wondered who they should be attributed to.

I have always thought Lincoln actually wrote the Gettysburg address.  In 
the Lincoln/Douglass debates each speaker spoke extemporaneously for 
hours.  As far as I'm concerned, Lincoln is properly credited with most 
of his quotes.  (Although in many cases he was quoting without 
attribution quotes of others of his time.)

Kennedy did not write his speeches.  In fact, he copied his 
speech-writers late drafts on a yellow pad in longhand so he could claim 
they had used his work and merely polished it.

Neither Bush is particularly articulate.  You can always tell when they 
are using their own words, and when they are using the words of 
professionals.

Obama is not articulate, either.  As soon as he deviates from the script 
he gets into trouble. Think "stupid".

I don't think it much matters who is penning Sarah Palin's words, or how 
she is distributing them.  She has demonstrated a remarkable ability to 
nail the frustrations of the average person, and she clearly does not 
use polls to hone her message.  What you see seems to be quite close to 
what she feels -- whether or not she can articulate these views herself.

B.



Michael D. Weisner wrote:
> Brad,
>
> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The 
> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when 
> "written" by a famous individual.
>
> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge of 
> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based on 
> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was 
> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she is 
> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration 
> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for much 
> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established 
> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have 
> listened, let alone acted.
>
> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks and 
> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally 
> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social 
> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is 
> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys" 
> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to 
> higher principles.
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>   
>> Mike,
>>
>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>
>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>> work of fiction.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>     
>>> Brad,
>>>
>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post.
>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly
>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>
>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents simply
>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true
>>> authorship.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>       
>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>
>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>
>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>
>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>> too much fun?
>>>>
>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>
>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>         
>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>
>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>
>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>>
>>>>>           
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> --
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>>>       
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From bill at effros.com  Sat Aug 15 04:20:28 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:20:28 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chevy Volt
In-Reply-To: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
References: <2AEF5CEFE8CF43D8886AA6709653CE68@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <4A866FCC.1020109@effros.com>

Thanks for posting this, Ed.  It's another of my pet peeves.

I'm so pissed about this stupidity, it's hard to know where to start.

Ok, let's start with this.  The Chevy Volt won't get 230 MPG at night, 
when it's raining, when it's hot, or when it's cold.  The electrical 
devices required for these conditions will drain the battery, and it 
won't even go 40 miles without the gas motor turning on.

Next, if it takes a virtually unlimited power source 6 hours to recharge 
the batteries, how is this little gas motor going to recharge it while 
the car is simultaneously draining the battery?  And, if the little gas 
motor is capable of providing enough electricity to run the electric 
motor continuously, why do you need an expensive battery at all?

So, it would appear that even if the Volt could get 230 MPG, it would 
take 40 hours to drive that far, because you would have to stop every 40 
miles to allow the gas engine to recharge the batteries for at least 6 
hours -- and you better turn off the A/C or the heat while you're 
recharging because you can't sit on the side of the road getting 0 miles 
per gallon trying to recharge the batteries while the radio and 
everything else eats up your electricity.

You can't put the electricity back into the battery as fast as you are 
taking it out--the battery will get very very hot, and eventually explode.

And, that city driving cycle is a complete fiction.  Nobody "averages" 
25 mph in city driving.  You sit at stoplights getting 0 miles per hour, 
but you can't do 50 miles per hour for an equal amount of time to 
"average" 25 -- which is not the same thing as "doing 25" -- starting 
and stopping uses far more energy that just rolling along in high gear 
at low speed.  Not to mention the fact that you have to turn off all 
appliances every time you stop.

Pleeease ... how do we stop this lunacy?

I drive a hybrid, and the technology is dazzling.  The biggest single 
feature is the fact that you just don't have to think about it, or 
ration it in any way.  The car is quick, has a full complement of 
amenities, is substantially built, ... there are no compromises.  Toyota 
engineers really did a great job.  And they rejected the Volt scheme 
years ago.

How many more of our dollars are the American automobile companies going 
to spend before they determine this idea can't possibly work?  It's 10th 
grade physics.

B.



Ed Kroposki wrote:
> http://www.energyandcapital.com/
>  
> Today's Energy and Capital
> The Chevy Volt's 230 MPG 
> <http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/chevy-volt-230/929>
> The Reality Behind the Chevy Volt's 230 MPG
>
> *August 14th, 2009 - By Chris Nelder*
>
> Energy and Capital Editor Chris Nelder investigates GM's claim that 
> the Chevy Volt will get 230 MPG, and tries to calculate the real cost 
> of driving...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all a-Twitter this week over 
> General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel economy 
> of 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and many 
> breathless column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a 
> single article that actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk 
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it 
> doesn't take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account...
>
> Cleantech and hybrid car enthusiasts were all /a-Twitter/ this week 
> over General Motors's claim that the new Chevy Volt will get a fuel 
> economy of 230 miles per gallon (mpg). It was widely circulated and 
> many breathless column-inches were printed, yet I was unable to find a 
> single article that actually made any sense of this number.
>
> As usual, I was forced to sort it out for myself. Follow me as I walk 
> through the numbers. . . such as they are.
>
> First, the very concept of miles per gallon doesn't make sense if it 
> doesn't take the initial charge of a plug-in hybrid into account. 
> That's like saying the electricity that runs the Volt for the first 40 
> miles is free.
>
> Instead, we should be using a new metric, like miles per kilowatt hour 
> (I will use m/kWh for this). By converting the gasoline used into its 
> kWh equivalent, then adding it to the kWh for the initial charge, we 
> could come up with a simple number.
>
> The reality, however, is much more complex.
>
>
>       Calculating Miles per Kilowatt Hour
>
> In a serial hybrid like the Volt, there are losses incurred (on the 
> order of 15%) for using an on-board generator that burns gasoline to 
> charge up the battery pack which drives the powertrain motor. There 
> are also transmission losses, and losses from the self-discharge of 
> the battery pack when it's unplugged, both of which are difficult to 
> quantify.
>
> So simply converting the BTU content of the gasoline to kWh (33.7 kWh 
> equivalent per gallon) isn't quite right. Nor do we know the actual 
> efficiency of the Volt's generating and charging systems.
>
> Even if we had accurate numbers to work with, it would be somewhat 
> misleading to use m/kWh as a basis for comparison. As most consumers 
> know, there is a big difference between city and highway driving, 
> because straight gasoline engines typically operate at very low 
> efficiency below 25 mph, and are most efficient between 25 and 55 mph.
>
> Electric motors operate with a fairly constant efficiency at various 
> speeds, but if the battery pack on a serial hybrid is deeply 
> discharged and the gasoline generator used heavily, the overall fuel 
> economy plummets. In the case of the Volt, it would fall from the 
> alleged 230 mpg to 50 mpg or less. And both straight gasoline engines 
> and hybrids consume more energy over 65 mph as wind resistance increases.
>
> In order to address the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency 
> (EPA) is working on a new draft methodology for testing mileage and 
> establishing fuel economy ratings, but it is not yet public and EPA 
> has declined to confirm GM's claim for the Volt.
>
> In the absence of good comparative standards, car companies can get 
> away with wild claims like 230 mpg; not to be outdone, the Nissan 
> boasts 367 mpg for its new Leaf car. But we can take a stab at some 
> reasonable calculations.
>
> GM claims that the new EPA methodology will be stated in terms of kWh 
> per 100 miles traveled, and that by this metric, the Volt will go 100 
> miles on 25 kWh of battery charge. This seems a less than perfect way 
> of rating the fuel economy, since the Volt will only run 40 miles on a 
> charge before the gasoline generator kicks in. To arrive at the 230 
> mpg number, GM assumes a 51-mile driving cycle with drivers charging 
> up their Volts once a day, so the battery powers 4/5 of the distance.
>
> Taking GM's claim at face value though, we can calculate that the Volt 
> gets about 4 m/kWh. This can be compared to approximately 0.8 m/kWh 
> for a typical European diesel car getting an average 40 mpg, or about 
> 0.4 m/kWh for a typical American gasoline car getting an average of 20 
> mpg. (Newer models have a range of higher fuel economies, but those 
> are the averages of the current fleets.)
>
> Professor David MacKay of the University of Cambridge notes that even 
> this metric can range wildly from 0.24 m/kWh for the BMW Hydrogen 7 
> car, to 3-10 m/kWh for some all-electric vehicles.
>
> A _blog post 
> <http://www.darrylsiry.com/2009/08/gm-volt-gets-unrealistic-230-mpg-rating.html>_ 
> by former Tesla chief marketing officer Darryl Siry claims that the 
> Tesla Roadster will do 244 miles on a 62.3 kWh charge, for a 3.9 m/kWh 
> economy. That's close to the Volt's alleged 4 m/kWh, so let's use the 
> latter as an example.
>
> Now we can try to evaluate the actual cost of driving a Volt. If you 
> thought the above numbers were squishy, try these on for size.
>
>
>       What Does It Cost To Drive?
>
> First there is the price of residential electricity. This varies 
> widely from state to state, depending on a number of factors including 
> the fuels used in power stations, the utility rate structures, and the 
> time of use. At the low end is Idaho with an average $0.07/kWh, and at 
> the high end is Hawaii with $0.22 /kWh. In my home state of 
> California, the average cost is $0.14/kWh (EIA Apr 2009 data).
>
> The average price of $0.115/kWh for the whole U.S. is most commonly 
> used in price calculations, but this doesn't tell the whole story. My 
> last PG&E bill priced the first "baseline" 249 kWh at $0.12/kWh, and 
> then continued on up a sliding scale to $0.38/kWh for the "201-300% of 
> baseline" kilowatt-hours. Over the month, the average price was $0.22/kWh.
>
>  
>
> So let's split the difference and use $0.15/kWh. Assuming 4 m/kWh, the 
> electricity cost of operating a Volt comes out to about $0.04 per 
> mile. If we compare that to a standard 20 mpg ICE vehicle burning 
> gasoline at $3 per gallon, that's $0.15 per mile, or nearly four times 
> the cost of the Volt's fuel.
>
> But consider what happens when we use different assumptions. If 
> instead we compare a new regular gasoline powered car with a fuel 
> economy of 40 mpg, and assume a grid power cost of $0.30/kWh, the Volt 
> would come dead even with the regular car at $0.08 per mile. And that, 
> dear reader, is very possible --- even likely.
>
>
>       Future Costs Are Key
>
> Suppose you buy a new car today and drive it for a full, useful life 
> of 15 years. Would the Volt save you money over 15 years?
>
> Within the next two years, we should see global oil production go into 
> terminal decline, and the price of gasoline could begin to test new 
> highs of $5 - $6 a gallon (or more). At $5 a gallon, a 40 mpg regular 
> car will cost $0.13 per mile to drive --- if you can get the fuel at all.
>
> At the same time, the cost of grid power will go up. Natural gas 
> prices are dragging the absolute bottom now around $3.50/MMBtu, but 
> they ranged as high as $13 only last year. When the economy recovers, 
> we should see the high end of the range again. We must also assume 
> that in the next few years, carbon emissions will come with a cost 
> attached, so the price of electricity generated from coal and natural 
> gas will go higher.
>
> In 15 years, when that vehicle is ready for retirement, the world will 
> likely be at or past the peak of oil, gas, and coal, and the prices 
> for all of them will be significantly higher than today. Renewables 
> will still be a small part of the grid power mix, but at that point, 
> they should be even cheaper than the fossil fuels. So what price shall 
> we anticipate for the year 2025 --- $0.40/kWh? $0.50? More? At $0.50, 
> the cost of driving the Volt would be the same as driving a 40 mpg car 
> with gasoline at $6 a gallon --- $0.15 a mile, or about $180 a month 
> assuming daily trips of 40 miles.
>
> In reality, if that's what it costs to drive a car, actual vehicle 
> miles driven will fall as people choose to carpool and take whatever 
> public transportation may be available at that point (assuming it 
> costs less than $6 a day).
>
> Even if the cost of expensive battery packs falls over the next 15 
> years, as it surely will, it's hard to say at this point when electric 
> and plug-in hybrid vehicles might gain the cost advantage over higher 
> efficiency ICE vehicles. However, when you add in the myriad other 
> factors like CO2 caps, a gradual transition to an all-electric 
> infrastructure powered by renewables, shortages of liquid fuels, and 
> political sway, it does seem likely that they will win out eventually.
>
> One thing is certain: You won't be driving 230 miles on a $3 gallon of 
> gasoline.
>
> Until next time,
>
> chris nelder
>
> Chris
>
>  
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Sat Aug 15 07:02:10 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:02:10 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Mike Wiesner, a special request.
Message-ID: <EA0A3B8A5CD447A79174298DC20496E2@YOURB88038198E>

Mike,

You wrote, "It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge of 
 it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based on 
 what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was 
 responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she is 
 certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration 
 policies."

You make an interesting and valid point.  

I have used the search function of the internet to get an email addresses of other political or business people whose comments have left me with a question.

Often, but not always, I get a reply to the question. Many times the reply is by the person involved.  I often get good and helpful answers that enable me to appreciate that person better.

I have used at least one reply in my postings to this forum while attributing the source, not saying how I got the quote.  Least that person would get flooded with emails.  Additionally, Brad said that he downloaded Jonah Goldberg's "Liberal Fascism".  That book is on my high priority list to get.  It was specially recommended to me by a famous person, who is not a politician who I asked a question of.  

I was getting books ready for a young lady studying English as a foreign language and it was not on her list to me.  But I have sent her some books on American politics already, so after I get a copy and read it, she may get a copy.    

Sunday, August 15, may be the last time I have access to email for over two weeks.  If I do have access, it will strickly be to read.  I will be where there is mostly very limited access for me.  I am specifically not taking a laptop for several reasons.

I specifically request that you try to answer the question that you pose.  Simply search the internet for email addresses of Sarah Palin and ask who is the author?  Post any and all answers.  

What is the worst that can happen?  That you communicate directly with Sarah?  

It will likely be September before I can respond to your post.  Good Luck.

Ed K

 
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 08:46:41 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:46:41 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
Message-ID: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>

Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
model I'm looking at -

http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo

A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.

I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
ago and haven't missed it a bit).

What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
for a single application.

Brad

What do you guys use?

From bill at effros.com  Sat Aug 15 09:10:50 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:10:50 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A86B3DA.5060504@effros.com>

Brad,

Stop whining and buy the Aeron chair.

I bought one several years ago, and I'll probably buy more.

It is easily the most comfortable and adjustable chair I have ever owned.

Buy from sit4less.com and save $200.

Then you save another $200 by not buying some dopey cushion.

Add them together, and your Aeron chair is almost free.

B.



Brad Haslett wrote:
> Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
> of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
> pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
> Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
> week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
> computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
> goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
> now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
> solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
> Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
> model I'm looking at -
>
> http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo
>
> A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
> airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
> well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
> their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
> airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
> sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
> back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
> anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.
>
> I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
> of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
> home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
> at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
> the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
> ago and haven't missed it a bit).
>
> What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
> dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
> for a single application.
>
> Brad
>
> What do you guys use?
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>   
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 09:30:04 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:30:04 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
In-Reply-To: <4A86B3DA.5060504@effros.com>
References: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>
	<4A86B3DA.5060504@effros.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908150630h3ff41c17o16dbabb734b9a945@mail.gmail.com>

Bill,

Looks like they're up to $679 but that includes free shipping.  Do you
have the lumbar support for the extra $70?

Brad

On 8/15/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Stop whining and buy the Aeron chair.
>
> I bought one several years ago, and I'll probably buy more.
>
> It is easily the most comfortable and adjustable chair I have ever owned.
>
> Buy from sit4less.com and save $200.
>
> Then you save another $200 by not buying some dopey cushion.
>
> Add them together, and your Aeron chair is almost free.
>
> B.
>
>
>
> Brad Haslett wrote:
>> Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
>> of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
>> pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
>> Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
>> week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
>> computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
>> goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
>> now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
>> solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
>> Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
>> model I'm looking at -
>>
>> http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo
>>
>> A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
>> airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
>> well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
>> their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
>> airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
>> sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
>> back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
>> anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.
>>
>> I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
>> of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
>> home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
>> at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
>> the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
>> ago and haven't missed it a bit).
>>
>> What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
>> dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
>> for a single application.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> What do you guys use?
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>>
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 09:48:39 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 08:48:39 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Excerpts from the proposed Health Bill
In-Reply-To: <4A84208F.5070809@effros.com>
References: <cbe.4427728c.37b4afa5@aol.com> <4A84208F.5070809@effros.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908150648j115dce11n761bb2cae276a63f@mail.gmail.com>

Bill,

Here's a short clip from a townhall meeting in Tuscon.  The D
congressman canceled at the last minute so her opponent stepped up to
the plate and filled in -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUini08olkQ&feature=player_embedded

He addressed some of the items listed in your post.  Here's his site -

http://www.votejessekelly.com/

Apparently the "mob" crowd didn't scare this former Marine.

Brad


On 8/13/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> Anybody else get this one?
>
>
>
> The proposed Health Bill.  Some of these statements are hard to believe
> Here is what you can see in the first 500 pages only
>
>>Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
>>? Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
>>? Page 30 : A government committee will decide what treatments and
> benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
>>? Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health benefits
> for you. You will have no choice. None.
>>? Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with
> free healthcare services.
>>? Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
>>? Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to
> all individual bank accounts for electronic fu nds transfer.
>>? Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community
> organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
>>? Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules
> to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
>>? Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the
> Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
>>? Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services;
> translation: illegal aliens
>>? Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up
> individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
>>? Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled:
> you have no choice in the matter.
>>? Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No
> "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put
> simply, private insurers will be crushed.
>>? Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages.
>>? Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the
> government-run public plan. No alternatives.
>>? Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees
> AND their families.
>>? Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not
> offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll
>>? Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does
> not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll* >? Page 167:
> Any individual who doesn?t' have ac ceptable healthcare (according to
> the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
>>? Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes
> (Americans will pay for them).
>>? Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy
> will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
>>? Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as
> tax." Yes, it really says that.
>>? Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors
> and the poor most affected."
>>? Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be
> paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
>>? Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional
> judgment, etc.
>>? Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private
> healthcare industries.
>>? Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven
> wheelchairs.
>>? Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
>>? Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems
> preventable re-admissions.
>>? Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission
> that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
>>? Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in
> healthcare companies!
>>? Page 318: Prohibition on hospital ex pansion. Hospitals cannot expand
> without g overnment approval.
>>? Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other
> words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
> & gt;? Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based
> measures: i.e., rationing.
>>? Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage
> Plans, HMOs, etc.
>>? Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS
> individuals.
>>? Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare
> by phone).
>>? Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior
> Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
>>? Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills,
> durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate
> taxes ahead of time.
>>? Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources,
> guiding you in death.
>>? Page 427: Gove rnment mandates program that orders end-of-life
> treatment; government dictates how your life ends.
>>? Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate
> treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER
> for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
>>? Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have
> at end-of-life.
>>? Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
>>? Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs
> for20ACORN.
> 0A>? Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy.
> Government intervenes in your marriage.
>>? Page 494: Government will cover mental health service s: defining,
> creating and rationing those services.*
> * *
> *All of us who love freedom cannot tolerate this brazen intrusion into
> our lives by a President and party drunk with power.*
> * *
> *If you feel the same way, immediately write you senators and
> congressmen--DO NOT PUT IT OFF.*
> * *
> *Respectfully*
> *Sam J Sugar MD
> 20808 NE 37th avenue
> Aventura Florida 33180*
> * *
> * *
> *LARRY SHERBERG *
> *Lincoln Manor Assisted Living*
> *2144 Lincoln St*
> *Hollywood, Fl 33020*
> *O)  (954)-922-1995    F)  (954)-923-1766*
> *
> *
> *
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *
> * *
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 10:33:30 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:33:30 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] European Political History
In-Reply-To: <9CD7F1D6E6A94326AB67A6D9655792FE@YOURB88038198E>
References: <9CD7F1D6E6A94326AB67A6D9655792FE@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908150733me656fdew186b247eee253129@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

It was Mussolini who coined the term "totalitarianism".  He and Hitler
didn't have much use for each other until WW2.  Mussolini thought
Hitler was nuts because of his attitude towards Europe's Jews and
didn't actively engage in their persecution until he essentially
became a puppet of the Third Reich. That said, both were leftest
leaders, and Nazism and the Fascist movement didn't get the "right
wing" label until revisionist historians applied it in the 50's and
beyond. Everyone admired Mussolini for awhile, (including FDR, they
were closer in political thought than most realize) because, remember,
"he made the trains run on time".  Concentrating too much power in one
individual always yields the same results, always.

Throughout the history of Western Civilization, the great thinkers
have chafed under the yoke of an overbearing government. The American
founding fathers were well read in history and philosophy. They
recognized the limits of government and the inevitable consequences of
not protecting the rights of private property and individual
liberties. So here we are two centuries later, somehow thinking that
we can tinker with the formula and end-up with a different result than
what occurred in all the other socialist experiments of the 20th
Century.

We United States citizens are arrogant to think "it can't happen
here".  It can! I don't have to explain this concept to my wife - she
"gets it".

Brad

On 8/14/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Recall the flak I took for calling Hilter and the Nazis socialist when in
> fact Nazi was an acronym for the German National Socialist Party.  What is
> interesting is that the German national health instituted in the 1920's
> allowed or morphed into many of Hitler's evils.  Yet pointing this out to
> those who support U. S. Government controlled health care gets deaf ears and
> bind eyes.  Try to tell that to Stan or his like minded Rhodies.
>
> Mussolini had been for years a devout Marxist and morphed into his 'facism'
> to win the Primership.  Mussolini's Facism was different from Socialism.
> Facism is a funcky totalitarism with socialist overtones with special
> business interest.  Not much different from Obama's direction.  I would
> suggest that Obama's approach is closer to Mussolini's Facism than anything
> else.
>
> What amazes me is all those with Jewish ancestry who do not nor will not
> recognize what those systems morphed into.  The same follows with Soviet
> Socialism.  There were many jews integral in the early development of the
> Soviet Union.  However, how many wanted to stay when given the chance to go
> to Isreal after living with their creation?
>
> One of the best known Soviet Jews was Trotsky.  Escaped to Mexico, only to
> be hunted down.
>
> Socialism leads to evil.  Just look at the history.  Apply some logic to the
> historical facts.
>
> Your term 'Sheeple' was most appropriate.  It is hard to ascertain the
> truth, but the last 100 years speak loudly.
>
> But then, all you have to do is go to one tent revival.  Again, Sheeple...
> of another sort.
>
> Ed K
>

From bill at effros.com  Sat Aug 15 10:45:22 2009
From: bill at effros.com (Bill Effros)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:45:22 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908150630h3ff41c17o16dbabb734b9a945@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>	<4A86B3DA.5060504@effros.com>
	<400985d70908150630h3ff41c17o16dbabb734b9a945@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4A86CA02.2040500@effros.com>

I don't remember.

Pour over the web site for a while trying to decide what you need.

What you wind up with is an easily fully adjustable sitting thing.  Then 
you start adjusting it to fit your need.  Something pops out, or you are 
doing some task differently--adjust the chair.  The adjustments really 
matter.  I'll leave it the same way for a long time, then discover I 
want to sit higher, or lower -- more resistance to leaning back, or 
less, armrests higher, or lower.  Keep playing until everything feels 
properly aligned again.

There are lots of things that look like it, but none are in the same 
league.  If you are worried about lumbar, spend the money now.  You'll 
never need another chair in your life, and you spend a lot of time in 
your chair.  You feel foolish at first for spending so much money on an 
office chair.  Then you see what you got, and you can't believe it took 
you this long to get one.

B.



Brad Haslett wrote:
> Bill,
>
> Looks like they're up to $679 but that includes free shipping.  Do you
> have the lumbar support for the extra $70?
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/15/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>   
>> Brad,
>>
>> Stop whining and buy the Aeron chair.
>>
>> I bought one several years ago, and I'll probably buy more.
>>
>> It is easily the most comfortable and adjustable chair I have ever owned.
>>
>> Buy from sit4less.com and save $200.
>>
>> Then you save another $200 by not buying some dopey cushion.
>>
>> Add them together, and your Aeron chair is almost free.
>>
>> B.
>>
>>
>>
>> Brad Haslett wrote:
>>     
>>> Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
>>> of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
>>> pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
>>> Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
>>> week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
>>> computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
>>> goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
>>> now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
>>> solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
>>> Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
>>> model I'm looking at -
>>>
>>> http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo
>>>
>>> A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
>>> airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
>>> well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
>>> their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
>>> airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
>>> sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
>>> back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
>>> anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.
>>>
>>> I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
>>> of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
>>> home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
>>> at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
>>> the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
>>> ago and haven't missed it a bit).
>>>
>>> What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
>>> dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
>>> for a single application.
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> What do you guys use?
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>>
>>>       
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>   
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 10:57:23 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:57:23 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <4A8663B6.7040402@effros.com>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
	<4A8663B6.7040402@effros.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908150757s6d711f8bh6fe45f151549cd49@mail.gmail.com>

from the WSJ

Palin Wins

If she's dim and Obama is brilliant, how did he lose the argument to her?

By JAMES TARANTO

The first we heard about Sarah Palin's "death panels" comment was in a
conversation last Friday with an acquaintance who was appalled by it.
Our interlocutor is not a Democratic partisan but a high-minded
centrist who deplores extremist rhetoric whatever the source. We don't
even know if he has a position on ObamaCare. From his description, it
sounded to us as though Palin really had gone too far.

A week later, it is clear that she has won the debate.

President Obama himself took the comments of the former governor of
the 47th-largest state seriously enough to answer them directly in his
so-called town-hall meeting Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H. As we noted
Wednesday, he was callous rather than reassuring, speaking glibly--to
audience laughter--about "pulling the plug on grandma."

The Los Angeles Times reports that Palin has won a legislative victory as well:

    A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its healthcare
bill that in recent days has given rise to fears of government "death
panels," with one lawmaker suggesting the proposal was just too
confusing.

    The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of advance care
planning consultations with doctors off the table as it works to craft
its version of healthcare legislation, a Democratic committee aide
said Thursday.

    Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the
committee, said the panel dropped the idea because it could be
"misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly." . . .

    The Palin claim about "death panels" was so widely discredited
that the White House has begun openly quoting it in an effort to show
that opponents of the healthcare overhaul are misinformed.

You have to love that last bit. The fearless, independent journalists
of the Los Angeles Times justify their assertion that the Palin claim
was "widely discredited" with an appeal to authority--the authority of
the White House, which is to say, the other side in the debate. One
suspects the breathtaking inadequacy of this argument would have been
obvious to Times reporters Christi Parsons and Andrew Zajac if George
W. Bush were still president. And of course this appears in a story
about how the Senate was persuaded to act in accord with Palin's
position--which doesn't prove that position right but does show that
it is widely (though, to be sure, not universally) credited.
Podcast

James Taranto on Palin and the "death panel" debate.

One can hardly deny that Palin's reference to "death panels" was
inflammatory. But another way of putting that is that it was vivid and
attention-getting. Level-headed liberal commentators who favor more
government in health care, including Slate's Mickey Kaus and the
Washington Post's Charles Lane, have argued that the end-of-life
provision in the bill is problematic--acknowledging in effect (and, in
Kaus's case, in so many words) that Palin had a point.

If you believe the media, Sarah Palin is a mediocre intellect, if even
that, while President Obama is brilliant. So how did she manage to
best him in this debate? Part of the explanation is that disdain for
Palin reflects intellectual snobbery more than actual intellect.
Still, Obama's critics, in contrast with Palin's, do not deny the
president's intellectual aptitude. Intelligence, however, does not
make one immune from hubris.

For a wonderful example of such hubris, check out this post from David
Kurtz of TalkingPointsMemo.com:

    Is there anything quite as unsettling as when the nation's
political class (and I use that term broadly to encompass the
occasionally political, like the tea partiers) turns its fleeting but
intense focus to a new (for them) and complex topic, like end-of-life
issues?

    It seems like years of painstaking work to nudge our death-denying
culture toward a more frank and humane approach to our own mortality
and dying could be erased by one misguided national discussion set off
by none other than Sarah Palin.

Except that Palin didn't "set off" this discussion; President Obama
did by trying to ram through legislation postalizing the medical
system with no time for debate or reflection. How to care for dying
patients is a serious, sensitive and complicated matter, one with
which American families struggle every day. If you truly don't want
the "political class" involved, your quarrel is with the man who is
pushing for more federal involvement in this most personal of matters.
It's entirely understandable that people would respond to such an
effort by shouting, "Keep your laws off my grandma!"



On 8/15/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
> Mike,
>
> You bring up something I've been thinking about for years.
>
> I collect quotes, and have been doing so for 40 years.  I have long
> wondered who they should be attributed to.
>
> I have always thought Lincoln actually wrote the Gettysburg address.  In
> the Lincoln/Douglass debates each speaker spoke extemporaneously for
> hours.  As far as I'm concerned, Lincoln is properly credited with most
> of his quotes.  (Although in many cases he was quoting without
> attribution quotes of others of his time.)
>
> Kennedy did not write his speeches.  In fact, he copied his
> speech-writers late drafts on a yellow pad in longhand so he could claim
> they had used his work and merely polished it.
>
> Neither Bush is particularly articulate.  You can always tell when they
> are using their own words, and when they are using the words of
> professionals.
>
> Obama is not articulate, either.  As soon as he deviates from the script
> he gets into trouble. Think "stupid".
>
> I don't think it much matters who is penning Sarah Palin's words, or how
> she is distributing them.  She has demonstrated a remarkable ability to
> nail the frustrations of the average person, and she clearly does not
> use polls to hone her message.  What you see seems to be quite close to
> what she feels -- whether or not she can articulate these views herself.
>
> B.
>
>
>
> Michael D. Weisner wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
>> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
>> "written" by a famous individual.
>>
>> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge of
>>
>> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers based
>> on
>> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
>> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she
>> is
>> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
>> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for much
>>
>> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
>> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
>> listened, let alone acted.
>>
>> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks and
>>
>> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
>> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
>> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin is
>> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
>> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held to
>> higher principles.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>>
>>> Mike,
>>>
>>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>>
>>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>>> work of fiction.
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>>
>>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Brad,
>>>>
>>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and not
>>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the post.
>>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and certainly
>>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents
>>>> simply
>>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its true
>>>> authorship.
>>>>
>>>> Mike
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>>
>>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>>
>>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>>> too much fun?
>>>>>
>>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>>
>>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>>
>>>>> Brad
>>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't exactly
>>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> --
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>>>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
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>>>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>>
>>
>

From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Sat Aug 15 12:45:49 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:45:49 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
References: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <7B976D7A266B4D43BDFD5CAAE08C3784@D9X7C761>

Brad,

Buy a better chair and the best bed you can find.  These two items permit 
your back muscles to rest where you spend large amounts of time.  Good 
sleeping is probably the most important.  About 6 years ago we bought the 
top of the line Chattam & Wells king from Sleepy's and have slept very well 
since.

As far as yard work goes, back health depends on flexibility and regular 
activity.  A while ago it seemed that any yard work aggravated my lower 
back.  After giving the landscape mower a vacation and regularly cutting the 
lawn myself, I seem to be able to tackle most tasks without that lower back 
pain & stiffness in the evening, especially when getting off the couch. 
Just my experience ...

Mike

From: "Brad Haslett"  Saturday, August 15, 2009 8:46 AM
> Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
> of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
> pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
> Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
> week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
> computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
> goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
> now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
> solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
> Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
> model I'm looking at -
>
> http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo
>
> A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
> airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
> well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
> their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
> airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
> sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
> back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
> anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.
>
> I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
> of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
> home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
> at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
> the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
> ago and haven't missed it a bit).
>
> What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
> dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
> for a single application.
>
> Brad
>
> What do you guys use?
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> 


-- 
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 13:37:54 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:37:54 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Office Chairs and Back Pain
In-Reply-To: <7B976D7A266B4D43BDFD5CAAE08C3784@D9X7C761>
References: <400985d70908150546q6c37bc77k7664b370998cad75@mail.gmail.com>
	<7B976D7A266B4D43BDFD5CAAE08C3784@D9X7C761>
Message-ID: <400985d70908151037m7de38c5dhceafaaaae4c62001@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

You can add to the old adage, "don't go grocery shopping when you're
hungry" this one, "don't shop for office chairs when your back hurts".
 I just ordered the top-of-the-line Aeron for $879, no sales tax and
free shipping from sit4less.com.  The old chair will look nice at the
computer station at the hangar and my hangar mate gets a nicer chair
as well.

We just upgraded our mattress, I prefer extra firm.  Most of my
surfing is done on a laptop using the wireless and an easy chair.
Spending 3 days sitting at the desktop was dumb.  Not upgrading to the
Timmy Geithner verson of Turbo-Tax was dumber!

Brad


On 8/15/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Buy a better chair and the best bed you can find.  These two items permit
> your back muscles to rest where you spend large amounts of time.  Good
> sleeping is probably the most important.  About 6 years ago we bought the
> top of the line Chattam & Wells king from Sleepy's and have slept very well
> since.
>
> As far as yard work goes, back health depends on flexibility and regular
> activity.  A while ago it seemed that any yard work aggravated my lower
> back.  After giving the landscape mower a vacation and regularly cutting the
> lawn myself, I seem to be able to tackle most tasks without that lower back
> pain & stiffness in the evening, especially when getting off the couch.
> Just my experience ...
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett"  Saturday, August 15, 2009 8:46 AM
>> Let me pick your collective brains for some suggestions.  At the risk
>> of sounding like I'm whining (I am) I've had to deal with lower back
>> pain for the last 20 years after surgery on the disc at L4-L5.
>> Usually it is manageable provided I don't do something stupid.  This
>> week I did something stupid. I've been sitting in front of the
>> computer working on my taxes for three days in a row (April 15 is a
>> goal, not a deadline) in addition to solving the worlds problems, and
>> now I'm paying the price. So here's the question - which is the best
>> solution?  Buy a high-end office chair in the $750 range like the
>> Aeron, or buy a portable cushion that has multiple uses.  Here is one
>> model I'm looking at -
>>
>> http://www.oregonaero.com/products/softseat-portable-seat-cushion-base-lumbar-combo
>>
>> A lot of the guys on my Bonanza list use OregonAero interiors in their
>> airplanes and a couple have just the cushions they use at home as
>> well. The feedback is all good.  I'm leaning towards purchasing one of
>> their cushions because of the multiple uses, home, boat, car,
>> airplane, etc. The seats in my VW are comfortable, but quite frankly,
>> sitting-up in a more erect position in my wife's SUV is easier on the
>> back for longer drives. The sail boat is a whole 'nuther' issue -
>> anything over two hours and I just whimper for a few days.
>>
>> I've sat in some of the expensive office chairs for extended periods
>> of time at hotels, and they are definitely better than what I have at
>> home, but they're ugly. Wearing a back brace like the hub workers wear
>> at my employer helps some, and I'm pretty religious about using one at
>> the hangar (started farming out yard and house work a couple of years
>> ago and haven't missed it a bit).
>>
>> What products do you guys have experience with?  Spending two hundred
>> dollars and having multiple uses sure looks more attractive than $750
>> for a single application.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> What do you guys use?
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 4425 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
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> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 15:18:56 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 03:18:56 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Gun Control
Message-ID: <400985d70908151218i62f039egc5cce7ed5aa0e8b3@mail.gmail.com>

If I lived in the NYC area, this is where I'd go for all my kitchen equipment -

http://tinyurl.com/lh9ows

Bad day for bad guys!

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sat Aug 15 17:24:59 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:24:59 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Anticipated Russian Ukrainian War
Message-ID: <57AB98448DD141EDBCBF90DB2704D663@YOURB88038198E>

Insiders in Ukraine anticipate that Medvedev's recent remarks were in preparation for a war over Eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

This may happen sooner than later.

Ed K
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Sat Aug 15 17:37:03 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:37:03 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Back Pain
Message-ID: <D0EBEBAA003F40748EEC10A9C8F87C3D@YOURB88038198E>

Brad,

Consider some additional therapies.

Inversion - where you get one of those contraptions that you clip 
your legs to and then turn yourself upside down.

You do not need to go 180 degrees, just about 120 or so.  Enough
 so that you stretch your back.  This stretching allows relaxation of the 
muscles and tissues and increased circulation.

Then join a gym that has crunch machines and machines that have 
resistance while bending backward from a upright sitting position.  
Abdominal muscles and the contra muscles in the back need 
conditioning.

Ed K  
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 18:58:21 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 17:58:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Back Pain
In-Reply-To: <D0EBEBAA003F40748EEC10A9C8F87C3D@YOURB88038198E>
References: <D0EBEBAA003F40748EEC10A9C8F87C3D@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908151558of2717efi79cd01477800651d@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Fortunately, it only flares-up once or twice a year and it's always
associated with stupid behavior.  This year I've been more stupid than
most because of the nature of the work I've been doing on the airplane
landing gear.  Most of that is complete, and I finally started conning
my oldest son over for the weekend to do all the things that required
one to contort oneself in awkward positions.

Most of the airlines are getting away from "brain bags" and going to
EFBs (electronic flight bags) to save on the cost of paper
subscriptions.  One huge savings they didn't anticipate was the
reduced loss of pilot time for back injuries.  It wasn't the weight of
the bag so much as the careless way pilots would throw the bag into
its "cubby hole" and the resultant injuries. I don't drive, fly, sail,
or do anything more than two hours at a time without getting out of
the seat and stretching. This week's behavior was just plain silly.

I'd like to try the inversion therapy on someone else's machine
sometime. My brother has offered to hang me from the trackhoe bucket
but I know him too well, and also the specs on the reach of the boom
on the Hyundai!

Brad


On 8/15/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Consider some additional therapies.
>
> Inversion - where you get one of those contraptions that you clip
> your legs to and then turn yourself upside down.
>
> You do not need to go 180 degrees, just about 120 or so.  Enough
>  so that you stretch your back.  This stretching allows relaxation of the
> muscles and tissues and increased circulation.
>
> Then join a gym that has crunch machines and machines that have
> resistance while bending backward from a upright sitting position.
> Abdominal muscles and the contra muscles in the back need
> conditioning.
>
> Ed K

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sat Aug 15 20:31:50 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:31:50 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] David Manning,
	PhD speaks out against Washington's actions
Message-ID: <C34ABF43E85946DA9C6B32E629C6C665@YOURB88038198E>

For those who did not see Obama and listen to him, he was giving a speech on Saturday.

For the other side:

http://la-gun.com/email/manning/

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 20:36:02 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 08:36:02 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Postal Health Care
Message-ID: <400985d70908151736s51aef649ha302496ca9ac863@mail.gmail.com>

Scroll down to the third set of photos -

http://www.gaypatriot.net/2009/08/15/reader-report-from-san-francisco-rally-against-obamacare/

What a lot of people don't realize is that UPS and FedEx both hire
tens of thousands of part-time employees.  They make about $11 an hour
for four hours a day, not enough to raise a family on, BUT, they get
full-time health-care and tuition benefits. A lot of self-employed
people work for these companies just for these benefits.

Careful what you tinker with!

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sat Aug 15 20:56:49 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:56:49 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] inversion therapy
Message-ID: <BDF020FD084140D380A90389085F7E66@YOURB88038198E>

I have had one of those contraptions for about 25 years.  No I do not use it every day.  But when I get a sore back, I will use for a few minutes a day until problem clears up.

Current market is about $200.00.  If you have room they work, help.

For you probably they would be good after any flight.  It is a back muscle tension reliever.  

Also get blood out of legs where it pools while sitting long periods of time.  While your getting up every two hours helps, you are getting older and until you elevate legs you do not fully relax vessels in legs and lower abdomen.  Also if you pull yourself downward with your arms it helps stretch between shoulders in an angle not normally stretched again relax strain after sitting and being tense for hours.

This last part especially applies to those who spend hours at a computer.  

This is not the same as being elevated by a backhoe.  

Consider that you stretching you back which helps relax muscles and you help drain blood out of legs helping with overall circulation and preventing Phlebitis.

Ed K
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 21:38:26 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:38:26 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Ernie Pyle
Message-ID: <400985d70908151838q5979d962l5187b63690392c58@mail.gmail.com>

OK, so I lied about that part.  Here's the latest from Yon -

http://podcasts.military.com/2009/08/michael-yon-live-from-helmand-province.html

It is easy to forget during the current domestic debate that we still
have kids in harm's way.

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 22:27:22 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:27:22 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Off List - Real Estate
Message-ID: <400985d70908151927n20e755b9r48046dcf0458406e@mail.gmail.com>

Bill,

Had an interesting conversation with the agent/owner I bought our
business property from in Gulfport the other day.  He had some
property he wanted me to give a bid on to "clean up" but it was about
an hour north of Gulfport and that's too far for us too be
competitive.  We pay retail to have our equipment mobilized and we'd
have to charge at least $1500 on the front end just for trucking
costs.  While he was on the phone, I picked his brain about building
some rental units in Gulfport.  He laughed in my face. "Just go to the
bank and buy what's been built in the last year that isn't rented or
the renters can't pay".  Not a pretty picture!

I still smell a bubble in Beijing.  I'd like to sell the two
apartments we have, or at least the one I don't like, and buy
something in Jie's area, but now is not the time.  So here's plan two.
 Fan hates Gulfport but we both love the Ft. Walton/Destin area.  That
market is beaten down pretty badly.  The banks have some paper they'd
like to get rid of.  My gut feeling is that there isn't a reason to
get in a big hurry, the whole real estate market nationwide will stay
down for awhile.

Here's my question: we can afford to buy a condo in that area
outright, but it doesn't make sense to leave it empty all but 10 or so
weekends a year. We have a lot of experience as weekend renters, but
none as owners.  Having just finished another tax season, we're within
a thousand dollars of taking the standard deduction because we owe to
little and pay too little in property taxes.  Yeah, I know all about
the foolishness of wasting money to save on taxes, remember, I used to
sell airplanes and survived the Katrina business experience. Again,
going back to gut feeling, the Florida Panhandle market is beaten down
pretty badly - I'd like to buy.  Is it worth it to fool with the agent
handled rental market to help carry the note?  I have zero experience.
A lot of my co-workers played the "musical chairs" game in the area
the last few years and they have suddenly gone quiet.

We're looking around the world for places to guard against the fall of
the dollar and nothing looks attractive.  What's your plan?

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 22:39:48 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:39:48 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Disregard - Meant to be private
Message-ID: <400985d70908151939xcfd9d71m4a93025ec9ba539c@mail.gmail.com>

Oops.  I have a whole file of that stuff on the Beech list.

Delete and disregard!

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 23:03:45 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:03:45 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] David Manning,
	PhD speaks out against 	Washington's actions
In-Reply-To: <C34ABF43E85946DA9C6B32E629C6C665@YOURB88038198E>
References: <C34ABF43E85946DA9C6B32E629C6C665@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908152003u7ef908e8u5375fc757ed9022a@mail.gmail.com>

Ed,

Ya really gotta wonder .... Does this guy actually expect people will take
him seriously???

Not that I disagree with some of his points, but, ...uh, wow ...

Rik

On Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 7:31 PM, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>  For those who did not see Obama and listen to him, he was giving a speech
> on Saturday.
>
> For the other side:
>
> http://la-gun.com/email/manning/
>
> Ed K
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 15 23:14:05 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:14:05 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] WalMart People
Message-ID: <400985d70908152014l36d3a699wa6ab73ec7e6b0329@mail.gmail.com>

As long as were on a streak of stupid people tricks, lets have some
music to go with it -

http://tinyurl.com/plt3yk

Today is the 63rd birthday of this songwriter.  In less than two weeks
we've gone from Brooks Brothers dressed protesters to Sarah Palin
"white trash".

I've always been white trash and a country music fan.  No wonder I'm
so misinformed.

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sun Aug 16 07:04:55 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 07:04:55 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hank's request
Message-ID: <331D515B5CF54D628B73F12777383BF9@YOURB88038198E>

This was received from Hank of Rhodes List fame, but states he will not join Swiftwater List.  Furthermore, he requested we invite his Uncle, Neil F Shearman <neil.f.shearman at gmail.com> to join the list. Go figure.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



MUST READ-Jim Hill's letter to Barbara Boxer

 

Thanks, Bobbie.

 

I sent this to everyone. Everyone!!!! If any are offended. I do not apologize. When I read what John Murtha has porked to his State out of tax dollars, I am outraged. And he is getting $800 million more out of the stimulus money for his airport so people can fly three times a day to Washington D.C. ??? How blind are his sheep?

 

*****************

 

 Betty

 

--

 

Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:09:36 -0500

 

Subject: MUST READ-Jim Hill's letter to Barbara Boxer

 

 

Jim Hill's Letter to Barbara Boxer

 

Some of us witnessed the arrogance of Barbara Boxer (CA) as she admonished a brigadier general because he addressed her as "ma'am" and not "Senator" before a Senate hearing. This letter is from a National Guard aviator and Captain for Alaska Airlines. I wonder what he would have said if he were really angry. Long fly Alaska!!!!!

 

You were so right on when you scolded the general on TV for using the term, "ma'am," instead of "Senator". After all, in the military, "ma'am" is a term of respect when addressing a female of superior rank or position. The general was totally wrong.. You are not a person of superior rank or position. You are a member of one of the world's most corrupt organizations, the U.S. Senate, equaled only by the U.S. House of Representatives.

 

Congress is a cesspool of liars, thieves, inside traders, traitors, drunks (one who killed a staffer, yet is still revered), criminals, and other low level swine who, as individuals (not all, but many), will do anything to enhance their lives, fortunes and power, all at the expense of the People of the United States and its Constitution, in order to be continually re-elected. Many democrats even want American troops killed by releasing photographs. How many of you could honestly say, "We pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor"? None? One? Two?

 

Your reaction to the general shows several things. First is your abysmal ignorance of all things military. Your treatment of the general shows you to be an elitist of the worst kind. When the general entered the military (as most of us who served) he wrote the government a blank check, offering his life to protect your derriere, now safely and comfortably ensconced in a 20 thousand dollar leather chair, paid for by the general's taxes. You repaid him for this by humiliating him in front of millions.

 

Second is your puerile character, lack of sophistication, and arrogance which borders on the hubristic. This display of brattish behavior shows you to be a virago, termagant, harridan, nag, scold or shrew, unfit for your position, regardless of the support of the unwashed, uneducated masses who have made California into the laughing stock of the nation.

 

What I am writing, Senator, are the same thoughts countless millions of Americans have toward Congress, but who lack the energy, ability or time to convey them. Under the democrats, some don't even have the 44 cents to buy the stamp. Regardless of their thoughts, most realize that politicians are pretty much the same, and will vote for the one who will bring home the most bacon, even if they do consider how corrupt that person is. Lord Acton (1834 - 1902) so aptly charged, "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Unbeknownst to you and your colleagues, "Mr. Power" has had his way with all of you, and we are all the worse for it.

 

Finally Senator, I, too, have a title. It is "Right Wing Extremist Potential Terrorist Threat." It is not of my choosing, but was given to me by your Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano. And you were offended by "ma'am"?

 

Have a fine day. Cheers!

 

Jim Hill

 

16808 - 103rd Avenue Court East

 

South Hill, WA 98374

 

Please circulate this to remind every voter that the "cesspools" MUST be pumped out when we go to the polls in November, 2010. Honoring and respecting the voters is a thing of the past for many of those in our congress and senate. We need to vote their arrogant, self serving asses out of office if America is to get on the long road back from the devastation that these self serving cowards have brought upon us!

 
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug 16 11:06:57 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:06:57 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] New Cars
Message-ID: <400985d70908160806t75ae3681w60a5fbff4aa9fb65@mail.gmail.com>

And you wonder why I refuse to drive in Beijing -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/chinaautoenvironmentbeijing

How much of a dent to you think our "Cash for Clunkers" program is
going to make worldwide? If we ever move to Beijing (always a
possibility after the US declares bankruptcy) I'm getting a battery
powered scooter.  The bike lanes used to be crowded,  not anymore.

Brad

From ekroposki at charter.net  Sun Aug 16 12:23:49 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:23:49 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] David Manning,
	PhD speaks out against Washington's actions
Message-ID: <3DC30040D4714EC8BE99FD2A5AF8FC10@YOURB88038198E>

Rik,

If you recall he spoke out against Obama.  He and a few others understand who and what Obama is.

Does anybody take him seriously?  I am sure liberals don't.

But he has been around with these videos for some years now and somehow they get circulated.

Ed K
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From ekroposki at charter.net  Sun Aug 16 13:26:15 2009
From: ekroposki at charter.net (Ed Kroposki)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:26:15 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] =?iso-8859-1?q?FCC=27s_Chief_Diversity_Offic?=
	=?iso-8859-1?q?er_Wants?=
Message-ID: <737DBDAF5CF940D294C231BAAD0CF115@YOURB88038198E>

FCC's Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Pay a Sum Equal to Their Total Operating Costs to Fund Public Broadcasting.

See:  http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=52435

Thursday, August 13, 2009
By Matt Cover 



(CNSNews.com) - Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their operations as the private companies do.
 
Lloyd presented the idea in his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce: Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of Illinois Press.
 
Lloyd's hope is to dramatically upgrade and revamp the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through new funding drawn from private broadcasters.
 
The CPB is a non-profit entity that was created by Congress and that currently receives hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies each year. In fiscal 2009, it is receiving an appropriation of $400 million.
 
"The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) must be reformed along democratic lines and funded on a substantial level," Lloyd wrote in his book.
 
"Federal and regional broadcast operations and local stations should be funded at levels commensurate with or above those spending levels at which commercial operations are funded," Lloyd wrote. "This funding should come from license fees charged to commercial broadcasters. Funding should not come from congressional appropriations. Sponsorship should be prohibited at all public broadcasters."
 
Along with this money, Lloyd would regulate much of the programming on these stations to make sure they focused on "diverse views" and government activities.
 
"Local public broadcasters and regional and national communications operations should be required to encourage and broadcast diverse views and programs," wrote Lloyd. "These programs should include coverage of all local, state and federal government meetings, as well as daily news and public issues programming.
 
"In addition, educational programs for children and adults, and diverse, independent personal and cultural expression should be encouraged," he wrote.
 
Dennis Wharton, Executive Vice President of Media Relations at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) told CNSNews.com that his organization, which represents radio and television broadcasters, supports public broadcasting, but that that support should come from the public in general not broadcasters alone.
 
"NAB supports federal funding for public broadcasting," said Wharton. "However, we would oppose efforts to fund public broadcasting through fees assessed against free and local broadcasters who are experiencing the worst advertising recession in 50 years."
 
Lloyd wrote Prologue to a Farce while a senior fellow at the liberal Center for American Progress.  In that capacity, he co-authored the 2007 report The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio, which concluded that 91% of talk radio programming is conservative and 9% is "progressive."
 
The report argued that large corporate broadcasting networks had driven liberals off the radio, and that diversity of ownership would increase diversity of broadcasting voices.
 

          



 
 



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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sun Aug 16 14:08:07 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 13:08:07 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] FCC's Chief Diversity Officer Wants
In-Reply-To: <737DBDAF5CF940D294C231BAAD0CF115@YOURB88038198E>
References: <737DBDAF5CF940D294C231BAAD0CF115@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908161108w5e65ff3ej983a7b9b46983144@mail.gmail.com>

Ed.

Well, Mr. Lloyd won't have to worry about funding for long. If he intends to
double the cost of privately owned radio, there simply won't be anymore
privately owned radio. Where will his funding come from then, I wonder???
>From personal experience, the margins in most radio businesses won't even
begin to support that.

If he wanted to do something constructive, he could start by making more of
the NPR stations something the average person might actually be interested
in listening to. MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) would be a good example for
many of his stations to follow. They are funded mostly by donations from
their members which, as most of us, but apparently excluding Mr. Lloyd,
understand are also their customers. What a concept, the people who use a
service actually pay for it. Maybe we could bring this idea up at the next
public transit meeting .... But I digress.

I have tried listening to a few different public stations around the
country. I have yet to find one that was worth much attention. The secret
isn't stealing money from someone else to keep a mediocre enterprise afloat,
it's creating a product that people can actually find enough value in to
justify spending their own money to buy it.

Now I will admit that even MPR's political leanings are almost enough to
make me nauseous sometimes, once you get past that, they have some really
pretty good news coverage. Much better than most of the 10 second sound bite
crap you get on most privately owned radio.

But hey, why should they want to improve when they can sell people radio
they don't want at the point of a gun??

Rik

Rik

On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 12:26 PM, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>  FCC?s Chief Diversity Officer Wants Private Broadcasters to Pay a Sum
> Equal to Their Total Operating Costs to Fund Public Broadcasting.
>
> See:  http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=52435
>
> Thursday, August 13, 2009
> By Matt Cover
>
>
> *(CNSNews.com)* - Mark Lloyd, newly appointed Chief Diversity Officer of
> the Federal Communications Commission, has called for making private
> broadcasting companies pay licensing fees equal to their total operating
> costs to allow public broadcasting outlets to spend the same on their
> operations as the private companies do.
>
> Lloyd presented the idea in his 2006 book, Prologue to a Farce:
> Communications and Democracy in America, published by the University of
> Illinois Press.
>
> Lloyd?s hope is to dramatically upgrade and revamp the Corporation for
> Public Broadcasting through new funding drawn from private broadcasters.
>
> The CPB is a non-profit entity that was created by Congress and that
> currently receives hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies each
> year. In fiscal 2009, it is receiving an appropriation of $400 million.
>
> ?The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) must be reformed along
> democratic lines and funded on a substantial level,? Lloyd wrote in his
> book.
>
> ?Federal and regional broadcast operations and local stations should be
> funded at levels commensurate with or above those spending levels at which
> commercial operations are funded,? Lloyd wrote. ?This funding should come
> from license fees charged to commercial broadcasters. Funding should not
> come from congressional appropriations. Sponsorship should be prohibited at
> all public broadcasters.?
>
> Along with this money, Lloyd would regulate much of the programming on
> these stations to make sure they focused on ?diverse views? and government
> activities.
>
> ?Local public broadcasters and regional and national communications
> operations should be required to encourage and broadcast diverse views and
> programs,? wrote Lloyd. ?These programs should include coverage of all
> local, state and federal government meetings, as well as daily news and
> public issues programming.
>
> ?In addition, educational programs for children and adults, and diverse,
> independent personal and cultural expression should be encouraged,? he
> wrote.
>
> Dennis Wharton, Executive Vice President of Media Relations at the National
> Association of Broadcasters (NAB) told CNSNews.com that his organization,
> which represents radio and television broadcasters, supports public
> broadcasting, but that that support should come from the public in general
> not broadcasters alone.
>
> ?NAB supports federal funding for public broadcasting,? said Wharton.
> ?However, we would oppose efforts to fund public broadcasting through fees
> assessed against free and local broadcasters who are experiencing the worst
> advertising recession in 50 years.?
>
> Lloyd wrote Prologue to a Farce while a senior fellow at the liberal Center
> for American Progress.  In that capacity, he co-authored the 2007 report The
> Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio, which concluded that 91% of
> talk radio programming is conservative and 9% is ?progressive.?
>
> The report argued that large corporate broadcasting networks had driven
> liberals off the radio, and that diversity of ownership would increase
> diversity of broadcasting voices.
>
>     **
>
>
>
>  <http://www.cnsnews.com/subscribe/ad>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 17 10:09:15 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:09:15 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] You Go Girl!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908150757s6d711f8bh6fe45f151549cd49@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908131502s1bd683bud8d3a7721d23c9c0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908140611l5155d986xcec665f25c32a11b@mail.gmail.com>
	<8618307EF4F64F43B941AA138ABB5EB7@ebsoffice>
	<400985d70908140725pfc6b9c2v55017046ed4a4b56@mail.gmail.com>
	<01600EFAC0814F15BF30AAC7BB350AC7@ebsoffice>
	<4A8663B6.7040402@effros.com>
	<400985d70908150757s6d711f8bh6fe45f151549cd49@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908170709y44723f0dx213a86ada97b5ad7@mail.gmail.com>

More on Sarah!

--------------

August 17, 2009
Palin Called a Spade a Spade
By David Warren

Just three weeks ago, I was writing in the Ottawa Citizen against
niceness. I have pursued the theme recently with praise (sometimes
backhanded) not only for the politics, but for the tone, of such as
Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin in the United States. They are by no
means the only practitioners of what we'll call the "not nice" style
in contemporary politics. Newt Gingrich is usually mentioned in such
dispatches; and I could list a selection of Barack Obama's "policy
czars" with demonstrated shoot-from-the-lip propensities. But I would
like to preserve a "nice" (in the logical sense) distinction between
candour and thuggery.

Candour is when you tell a truth that is disturbing, in language so
unambiguous that persons in polite company will not want to hear you.
It is a way to lose the respect of the genteel -- of those who are
"respectable" in the shallowest sense. Rude language is quite
unnecessary to this end: the hard truth itself, spoken plainly and
publicly, will give sufficient offence.

Thuggery is unrelated to this. It consists not of candid argument but
of naked intimidation. It may be done crassly -- for instance, by the
union thugs who have begun to appear at U.S. townhall meetings, to
confront opponents of the Democrats' health-care agenda. Or it may be
done smoothly, with the politically correct gesture, that conveys the
threat of later reprisal against anyone who utters the contrary,
"incorrect" thought. A good example would be the "flag at whitehouse.gov"
e-mail address that was set up on the official White House website, to
which Obama supporters across the country were invited to report
"fishy" opposition to that health-care agenda.

And "niceness" is something else again, usually allied with hypocrisy.
For one can be very selectively nice -- outraged, scandalized,
breathtaken with surprise, when Richard Nixon was caught compiling an
"enemies list." Yet perfectly indifferent when Barack Obama advertises
for input to compile his.

How many "nice" people I know, who casually asserted that a certain
George W. Bush was mentally retarded, resembled a monkey, and was
guilty of war crimes. Suddenly the same people have "had it up to
here" with squalid personal attacks on his successor.

Tell you the candid truth, I don't like "nice" people. Conversely, I
have a sneaking regard for real political enemies who are prepared to
state candidly what they are about. Which is why I mentioned Obama's
long list of policy czars, above -- people like John Holdren (1970s
advocate of forced abortions and mass sterilization) the new science
czar, Van Jones (declared Communist) the new green jobs czar, Vivek
Kundra (convicted shoplifter) the new infotech czar, Adolfo Carrion
(pay-for-play scandals) the new urban subsidies czar, Nancy DePerle
(lobbyist-to-regulator) the new health czar, Cass Sunstein
(behaviourist and animal rights wacko) the new regulatory czar, and so
on.

There are dozens of these, altogether. They are Obama's "shadow
cabinet," with the advantage over his more presentable official
cabinet that they can avoid congressional scrutiny in almost
everything they do. They didn't need to face the Senate confirmation
revelations that lost Obama so many of his earliest cabinet
appointments. A mere Internet search for quotes reveals that many of
them are capable of great candour, at least in the radical leftist
environments from which most of them came.

The mainstream media focus is nevertheless not on them -- rich and
easy pickings had they been Republican appointments -- but instead on
Sarah Palin's appalling characterization of Obama's health-care agenda
as not merely "socialist" but "evil"; and on her use of the term
"death panels" to describe proposed bureaucratic arrangements for
deciding who should be entitled to medical treatment, and how to
advise the old, seriously handicapped, and ill on euthanasia options.

Needless to say the proposals themselves had been couched in
"feelgood" language, with public relations campaigns at the ready in
case someone like Palin called a spade a spade. She did so in full
knowledge of how that publicity machine would respond.

It is assumed she will be running for president on the redneck ticket.
But as we saw last week, she does not need any office to get results.
For after many nice legislators had condemned her for her
"unreasonable" criticisms, the U.S. Senate finance committee this week
dropped a key provision to which she had referred, from the House
health-care bill before them. According to the ranking Republican
member, it was dropped "because it could be misinterpreted or
implemented incorrectly."

That's a very nice way of saying that Sarah Palin had a point. And it
is a point that would have passed unnoticed, had she confined herself
to "nice" language.

On 8/15/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> from the WSJ
>
> Palin Wins
>
> If she's dim and Obama is brilliant, how did he lose the argument to her?
>
> By JAMES TARANTO
>
> The first we heard about Sarah Palin's "death panels" comment was in a
> conversation last Friday with an acquaintance who was appalled by it.
> Our interlocutor is not a Democratic partisan but a high-minded
> centrist who deplores extremist rhetoric whatever the source. We don't
> even know if he has a position on ObamaCare. From his description, it
> sounded to us as though Palin really had gone too far.
>
> A week later, it is clear that she has won the debate.
>
> President Obama himself took the comments of the former governor of
> the 47th-largest state seriously enough to answer them directly in his
> so-called town-hall meeting Tuesday in Portsmouth, N.H. As we noted
> Wednesday, he was callous rather than reassuring, speaking glibly--to
> audience laughter--about "pulling the plug on grandma."
>
> The Los Angeles Times reports that Palin has won a legislative victory as
> well:
>
>     A Senate panel has decided to scrap the part of its healthcare
> bill that in recent days has given rise to fears of government "death
> panels," with one lawmaker suggesting the proposal was just too
> confusing.
>
>     The Senate Finance Committee is taking the idea of advance care
> planning consultations with doctors off the table as it works to craft
> its version of healthcare legislation, a Democratic committee aide
> said Thursday.
>
>     Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, ranking Republican on the
> committee, said the panel dropped the idea because it could be
> "misinterpreted or implemented incorrectly." . . .
>
>     The Palin claim about "death panels" was so widely discredited
> that the White House has begun openly quoting it in an effort to show
> that opponents of the healthcare overhaul are misinformed.
>
> You have to love that last bit. The fearless, independent journalists
> of the Los Angeles Times justify their assertion that the Palin claim
> was "widely discredited" with an appeal to authority--the authority of
> the White House, which is to say, the other side in the debate. One
> suspects the breathtaking inadequacy of this argument would have been
> obvious to Times reporters Christi Parsons and Andrew Zajac if George
> W. Bush were still president. And of course this appears in a story
> about how the Senate was persuaded to act in accord with Palin's
> position--which doesn't prove that position right but does show that
> it is widely (though, to be sure, not universally) credited.
> Podcast
>
> James Taranto on Palin and the "death panel" debate.
>
> One can hardly deny that Palin's reference to "death panels" was
> inflammatory. But another way of putting that is that it was vivid and
> attention-getting. Level-headed liberal commentators who favor more
> government in health care, including Slate's Mickey Kaus and the
> Washington Post's Charles Lane, have argued that the end-of-life
> provision in the bill is problematic--acknowledging in effect (and, in
> Kaus's case, in so many words) that Palin had a point.
>
> If you believe the media, Sarah Palin is a mediocre intellect, if even
> that, while President Obama is brilliant. So how did she manage to
> best him in this debate? Part of the explanation is that disdain for
> Palin reflects intellectual snobbery more than actual intellect.
> Still, Obama's critics, in contrast with Palin's, do not deny the
> president's intellectual aptitude. Intelligence, however, does not
> make one immune from hubris.
>
> For a wonderful example of such hubris, check out this post from David
> Kurtz of TalkingPointsMemo.com:
>
>     Is there anything quite as unsettling as when the nation's
> political class (and I use that term broadly to encompass the
> occasionally political, like the tea partiers) turns its fleeting but
> intense focus to a new (for them) and complex topic, like end-of-life
> issues?
>
>     It seems like years of painstaking work to nudge our death-denying
> culture toward a more frank and humane approach to our own mortality
> and dying could be erased by one misguided national discussion set off
> by none other than Sarah Palin.
>
> Except that Palin didn't "set off" this discussion; President Obama
> did by trying to ram through legislation postalizing the medical
> system with no time for debate or reflection. How to care for dying
> patients is a serious, sensitive and complicated matter, one with
> which American families struggle every day. If you truly don't want
> the "political class" involved, your quarrel is with the man who is
> pushing for more federal involvement in this most personal of matters.
> It's entirely understandable that people would respond to such an
> effort by shouting, "Keep your laws off my grandma!"
>
>
>
> On 8/15/09, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>> Mike,
>>
>> You bring up something I've been thinking about for years.
>>
>> I collect quotes, and have been doing so for 40 years.  I have long
>> wondered who they should be attributed to.
>>
>> I have always thought Lincoln actually wrote the Gettysburg address.  In
>> the Lincoln/Douglass debates each speaker spoke extemporaneously for
>> hours.  As far as I'm concerned, Lincoln is properly credited with most
>> of his quotes.  (Although in many cases he was quoting without
>> attribution quotes of others of his time.)
>>
>> Kennedy did not write his speeches.  In fact, he copied his
>> speech-writers late drafts on a yellow pad in longhand so he could claim
>> they had used his work and merely polished it.
>>
>> Neither Bush is particularly articulate.  You can always tell when they
>> are using their own words, and when they are using the words of
>> professionals.
>>
>> Obama is not articulate, either.  As soon as he deviates from the script
>> he gets into trouble. Think "stupid".
>>
>> I don't think it much matters who is penning Sarah Palin's words, or how
>> she is distributing them.  She has demonstrated a remarkable ability to
>> nail the frustrations of the average person, and she clearly does not
>> use polls to hone her message.  What you see seems to be quite close to
>> what she feels -- whether or not she can articulate these views herself.
>>
>> B.
>>
>>
>>
>> Michael D. Weisner wrote:
>>> Brad,
>>>
>>> It isn't the message that I have a problem with, it is the medium.  The
>>> written word carries great weight, even on Facebook, especially when
>>> "written" by a famous individual.
>>>
>>> It is important to know if Palin penned the piece or even had knowledge
>>> of
>>>
>>> it.  I, like most, form opinions about politicians and philosophers
>>> based
>>> on
>>> what they say and write.  I have a hard time believing that she was
>>> responsible for the posting based on her previous material, although she
>>> is
>>> certainly capable of expressing her displeasure with the administration
>>> policies.  I do agree that her "statements" have been responsible for
>>> much
>>>
>>> needed attention and action, most likely as a result of her established
>>> reputation.  Had you or I presented the same material, few would have
>>> listened, let alone acted.
>>>
>>> While most politicians use professional speech writers for their talks
>>> and
>>>
>>> major writings, a Facebook posting is generally considered a personally
>>> crafted work.  In this example, I simply wonder if the use of a social
>>> networking website to post such material under the name of Sarah Palin
>>> is
>>> just the slightest bit deceptive or underhanded.  We are the "good guys"
>>> wearing the "white hats" (no racist comment is necessary) and are held
>>> to
>>> higher principles.
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> From: "Brad Haslett" Friday, August 14, 2009 10:25 AM
>>>
>>>> Mike,
>>>>
>>>> Who cares who wrote it as as it is accurate and gets results?  I doubt
>>>> Palin has a dozen or more assistants like the First Lady, but I'm sure
>>>> she does have some volunteers. Sarah is obviously hitting some nerves
>>>> and exposing things the MSM won't touch.  The Senate sure reacted! I
>>>> seriously doubt if she personally scribed every single word myself,
>>>> but that doesn't change the message.
>>>>
>>>> Based on the scientific evidence, I think Bill Ayers wrote B. Hussein
>>>> Obama's first book, but that doesn't change the racist tone of that
>>>> work of fiction.
>>>>
>>>> Brad
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 8/14/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Brad,
>>>>>
>>>>> As much as I would like to believe that this was written by her and
>>>>> not
>>>>> simply "licensing" her name, I wonder about the real author of the
>>>>> post.
>>>>> Facebook is just as corrupt as any other "Internet source" and
>>>>> certainly
>>>>> easier to do so than many.
>>>>>
>>>>> Unfortunately, I must respectfully agree that this post represents
>>>>> simply
>>>>> "another day, another Facebook entry" due to the uncertainty of its
>>>>> true
>>>>> authorship.
>>>>>
>>>>> Mike
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> From: "Brad Haslett"  Friday, August 14, 2009 9:11 AM
>>>>>
>>>>>> Another day, another Facebook entry -
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116979483434
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So, if it wasn't a "death panel", why remove the "death panel" from
>>>>>> the bill? Paybacks are hell!  Had they just left Sarah alone she'd be
>>>>>> knee-deep in Eskimos and pipeline deals. Now she can hunt moose and
>>>>>> Obama at will, and she's a damn good shot.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Why do I get the impression they pissed her off and she's having way
>>>>>> too much fun?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Captain Sarah, we're over the target and taking heavy FLAK!"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Bombs Away!"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>> On 8/13/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For someone who doesn't hold office, Sarah Palin sure swings a big
>>>>>>> stick.  The MSM and the the socialized health-care supporters have
>>>>>>> been all over her for her "death panel" remarks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Here is her latest -
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=116471698434
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So today, they drop that section from the bill?  If it wasn't
>>>>>>> exactly
>>>>>>> as Palin described it, why bother to change the bill?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The power of one woman - awesome!  No wonder they hate her so much.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Brad
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>>>>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>>>>> SPAMfighter has removed 3034 of my spam emails to date.
>>>>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
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>>
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 17 11:58:34 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:58:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Hope and Change
Message-ID: <400985d70908170858x3cb4a9bexa0020ef18d7eece0@mail.gmail.com>

Young Voters Should Take Another Look at Obama
A Commentary by Michael Barone
Monday, August 17, 2009
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Dear Young Obama Voter,

Congratulations. You have truly changed America. Those of you under 30
voted 66 percent to 32 percent for Barack Obama, an unprecedented
margin. Your elders 30 and over voted for him, too, but only by a 50
percent to 49 percent margin. You converted a 2000-like margin to a
solid majority and added significant numbers to the Democratic
majorities in Congress.

You voted, as your candidate and our president said, for Hope and
Change. But I ask you to consider whether the policies that the
president has proposed and in some cases pushed through really amount
to that.

I ask you to examine them through the prism of a book published in
1999, when most of you were too young to vote: "The Future and Its
Enemies," by Virginia Postrel (an Obama voter, too, by the way).
Postrel assesses policies based not on whether they are liberal or
conservative but on whether they are dynamist -- promoting or leaving
room for change -- or stasist -- tending to freeze institutions and
people in place.

By my reckoning, the Obama policies are more stasist than dynamist.
The unions' card-check bill, which he backs, would effectively abolish
the secret ballot in union elections and impose mandatory federal
setting of wages and work rules after 120 days of union-management
negotiations.

Centralized mediators would determine your pay and work rules, modeled
perhaps after those between the United Auto Workers and what we used
to call the Big Three automakers. They have 5,000 pages of work rules.
Don't change that light bulb -- you have to wait for the right union
guy to do it. Is this the way to enable you to exercise creativity and
initiative in your work?

Then there is the cap-and-trade bill to address what we are told is
man-caused global warming. Noble intentions here. But it means paying
more for electricity in the meantime for a very distant goal. A
similar law in California is threatening blackouts. Renewables sound
great, but the wind doesn't always blow and the sun doesn't always
shine. How is holding down economic growth going to help you to shape
your future?

And there is health care. The intention here -- Obama said it back in
2003 and hasn't denied it since -- is to send us down a road that
leads to government-provided health insurance. His latest trial
balloon is a centralized medical procedures board that would decide
what treatments the government would pay for and wouldn't.

This would inevitably stifle innovations in drugs and medical devices
-- stasism, not dynamism. Centralized government isn't fast on the
uptake. I've lived nearly 10 years longer than my grandfathers did
because I take pills that didn't exist when they were alive. Don't you
want the benefits of innovations and discoveries, like tailored
genetic treatments, which don't exist yet? Freezing health care is
stasist, not dynamist.

Let's take a look also at foreign policy. You probably didn't like the
Iraq war very much, although you might have noticed that we are headed
for victory there now -- with Obama's help, I should note. But I
suspect that you do want America to be a force for good in the world.

That leads me to wonder whether you were dismayed when Obama responded
with stony indifference to the people in the streets of Iran
protesting a fraudulent election and demanding freedom and democracy.
Some called for the end of a regime that subordinates women and
executes homosexuals, things I'm sure you don't like at all. Although
Obama eventually indicated some sympathy, he seemed to regard those
demands as a nuisance getting in the way of negotiating with Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad and the mullahs.

The foreign policy experts call this "realism." I call it statist. It
leaves America standing not for hope and change, but for the status
quo and despair.

I am sure that you find it inspiring that America elected its first
black president (I do, too). And I am sure you appreciate Obama's
openness to alternative lifestyles, although you may have noticed that
he, like George W. Bush and unlike Dick Cheney, opposes same-sex
marriage.

The larger point is this: You want policies that will enable you to
choose your future. Obama backs policies that would let centralized
authorities choose much of your future for you. Is this the hope and
change you want?

Your friend and admirer,

Michael Barone

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 17 12:16:32 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:16:32 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] We Need Health Care Reform - STAT!
Message-ID: <400985d70908170916r1136849cnd88fb0d05f42b491@mail.gmail.com>

Overhauling health-care system tops agenda at annual meeting of
Canada's doctors
Aug 15 11:28 AM US/Eastern
Canada's doctors
Jennifer Graham, THE CANADIAN PRESS SASKATOON - The incoming president
of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care
system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it.

Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she
adds that physicians from across the country - who will gather in
Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting - recognize that changes
must be made.

"We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things
are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an
interview with The Canadian Press.

"We know that there must be change," she said. "We're all running flat
out, we're all just trying to stay ahead of the immediate day-to-day
demands."

The pitch for change at the conference is to start with a presentation
from Dr. Robert Ouellet, the current president of the CMA, who has
said there's a critical need to make Canada's health-care system
patient-centred. He will present details from his fact-finding trip to
Europe in January, where he met with health groups in England,
Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and France.

His thoughts on the issue are already clear. Ouellet has been saying
since his return that "a health-care revolution has passed us by,"
that it's possible to make wait lists disappear while maintaining
universal coverage and "that competition should be welcomed, not
feared."

In other words, Ouellet believes there could be a role for private
health-care delivery within the public system.

He has also said the Canadian system could be restructured to focus on
patients if hospitals and other health-care institutions received
funding based on the patients they treat, instead of an annual, lump-
sum budget. This "activity-based funding" would be an incentive to
provide more efficient care, he has said.

Doig says she doesn't know what a proposed "blueprint" toward patient-
centred care might look like when the meeting wraps up Wednesday.
She'd like to emerge with clear directions about where the association
should focus efforts to direct change over the next few years. She
also wants to see short-term, medium-term and long-term goals laid
out.

"A short-term achievable goal would be to accelerate the process of
getting electronic medical records into physicians' offices," she
said. "That's one I think ought to be a priority and ought to be
achievable."

A long-term goal would be getting health systems "talking to each
other," so information can be quickly shared to help patients.

Doig, who has had a full-time family practice in Saskatoon for 30
years, acknowledges that when physicians have talked about changing
the health-care system in the past, they've been accused of wanting an
American-style structure. She insists that's not the case.

"It's not about choosing between an American system or a Canadian
system," said Doig. "The whole thing is about looking at what other
people do."

"That's called looking at the evidence, looking at how care is
delivered and how care is paid for all around us (and) then saying
'Well, OK, that's good information. How do we make all of that work in
the Canadian context? What do the Canadian people want?' "

Doig says there are some "very good things" about Canada's health-care
system, but she points out that many people have stories about times
when things didn't go well for them or their family.

"(Canadians) have to understand that the system that we have right now
- if it keeps on going without change - is not sustainable," said
Doig.

"They have to look at the evidence that's being presented and will be
presented at (the meeting) and realize what Canada's doctors are
trying to tell you, that you can get better care than what you're
getting and we all have to participate in the discussion around how do
we do that and of course how do we pay for it."


The Canadian Press, 2009

From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 17 12:23:40 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:23:40 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Medal of Freedom
In-Reply-To: <057EF5C0421949BEBBF0714FE1173375@YOURB88038198E>
References: <057EF5C0421949BEBBF0714FE1173375@YOURB88038198E>
Message-ID: <400985d70908170923p508656d9ndc03773b339c7945@mail.gmail.com>

Minister Herschkowitz: Some of Obama's policies are 'borderline anti-Semitic'
Aug. 16, 2009
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will reject US President Barack
Obama's request for a freeze on natural growth in Judea and Samaria,
Habayit Hayehudi head Daniel Herschkowitz said Sunday, based on
conversations with Netanyahu.

In an interview with the science and technology minister at his
Jerusalem office, Herschkowitz told The Jerusalem Post that he did not
believe Netanyahu would cross any red lines of Habayit Hayehudi, the
most right-wing party in his coalition.

"From my own talks with the prime minister, I can say confidently that
I don't think he will freeze natural growth in the settlements,"
Herschkowitz said. "I am sure he is in favor of allowing natural
growth, but he must navigate smartly and walk between the rain drops
to ensure that he will get along with the American administration."

Herschkowitz suggested that an arrangement could be found that could
allow construction in the settlements to continue without public
acknowledgment.

He said this would be preferable to the opposite scenario of press
reports of settlement construction when in fact there is none.

A former resident of Madison, Wisconsin, where he was a mathematics
professor at the University of Wisconsin, Herschkowitz did not hold
back criticism for Obama, especially his decision to grant the
Presidential Medal of Freedom to former UN human rights commissioner
and longtime Israel basher Mary Robinson.

"I am disappointed in Obama's policies," Herschkowitz said. "Some of
the steps he has taken, like giving a medal to Mary Robinson, are
borderline anti-Semitic. Israel is an independent state. Relations
with the US are important, but relations must go both ways. I don't
know if Obama understands it, but most Americans believe that Israel
is their only anchor in the Middle East."

Herschkowitz has been criticized by the Right for praising Netanyahu's
June 14 policy address at Bar-Ilan University's Begin-Sadat Center in
which he conditionally endorsed the creation of a Palestinian state.

He said he himself opposed a Palestinian state, but a prime minister
had to speak differently than the average politician.

"It was a good speech, because he shifted the ball to the other side
by setting important conditions," Herschkowitz said. "If they can't
accept recognizing a Jewish state and the end of the conflict, it
shows their real face. But if they would have, there would have been
something to talk about. A leader must say yes, and not just no, so
it's ideal to say yes while shifting the ball back to the other side."

The Habayit Hayehudi leader said there was a consensus that Israel did
not want to control the Palestinians. He said a demilitarized
Palestinian state as Netanyahu outlined it would not be that different
from the autonomy the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians
already had.

But Herschkowitz said he did not think a peace agreement could be reached.

"It is clear that there is no partner," Herschkowitz said. "Every
diplomatic plan, even the most conservative one, is wishful thinking,
because there is no plan that both sides would accept."

Regarding the tensions inside Habayit Hayehudi, Herschkowitz denied
charges he had made a political deal with Netanyahu to vote for his
Israel Lands Authority bill, a vote that enraged the other two MKs in
his party, Zevulun Orlev and Uri Orbach. His opponents in the party
accused him of receiving a commitment in return from Netanyahu that he
would no longer advance the mini-Norwegian bill that would have forced
Herschkowitz to quit the Knesset in favor of former MK Nisan
Slomiansky.

While Herschkowitz said he had a long talk with Orbach, he admitted he
had not yet discussed the matter with Orlev nearly two weeks after the
August 5 clash in which Orlev called Herschkowitz's behavior shameful.

Netanyahu had threatened to fire Herschkowitz had he voted against the
bill. Herschkowitz's associates mocked Orlev for urging him to take a
step that would have resulted in him leaving the cabinet after Orlev
himself hesitated to resign from his ministerial post ahead of the
Gaza Strip withdrawal.

Asked whether he believed he would still be Habayit Hayehudi's leader
in the next election, he said he did not know. He noted that to obtain
his present positions, he turned down two plum jobs: president of the
Technion and chief rabbi of Haifa.

"Politics is very dynamic," he said. "If you would have asked me nine
months ago if I would ever be an MK or a minister, I would have said
no. Anything, really anything can happen."

On 8/13/09, Ed Kroposki <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> By Ruth McCann and Anne E. Kornblut
> Washington Post Staff Writers
> Thursday, August 13, 2009
>
> At his first Medal of Freedom conferral, President Obama ran a tight ship of
> a ceremony, which began slightly after 3 p.m. and clocked in at about 40
> minutes' worth of speechifying and medal-bestowing in the glittering East
> Room, the largest room in the White House. This year, actor Sidney Poitier,
> Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Broadway star Chita Rivera, Sen. Ted Kennedy
> (D-Mass.) and former Irish president Mary Robinson were among the 16 who
> received the nation's highest civilian honor.
>
> Although the president spoke to the recipients and their enthused crowd of
> guests for about 20 minutes before breaking out the medals, his comments
> betrayed very little about his personal feelings toward (or relationships
> with) any of the honorees he'd selected. The silence signaled humility, and,
> of course, diplomacy: Robinson, for example, was the object of enmity
> outside the building, as supporters of Israel had deemed her undeserving
> after a particular rough career moment when a human-rights conference she
> helmed in 2001 was dominated by attacks on Jews and Israel.
>
> In the afternoon ceremony, Obama praised Robinson as "a crusader for women
> and those without a voice in Ireland," saying she "shone a light on human
> suffering" during her work on human rights and hunger. A military aide read
> her citation, which praised her for "urging citizens and nations to make
> common cause for justice."
>
> The president did get personal on a few occasions, his own subtly conveyed
> intimacy never upstaging, say, the exuberance of tennis star Billie Jean
> King, who entered the East Room with a victorious pump of her fist and a
> mouthed "Yessssss!" In the president's estimation, King gave "everyone,
> regardless of gender and sexual orientation, including my two daughters, a
> chance to compete both on the court and in life." Upon receiving her medal,
> she gave it a kiss and flashed the audience a grin.
>
> The president's introductory remarks (smoothly delivered, apparently without
> written notes) continued in this manner, bowing more to the medal
> recipients' achievements than to his own experiences with them. After
> pronouncements were pronounced, Obama clasped medals around 16 necks,
> engaging in a great deal of hugging, cheek-kissing, whispering and
> back-patting -- a prolonged bout of physical affection that the recipients
> happily returned.
>
> Guests mingled festively beforehand in the surreal grandeur of the White
> House foyer, where a clutch of musicians in red uniforms with brass buttons
> provided background sounds ("I Could Have Danced All Night" and "Night and
> Day"). At an open bar in the corner, a bartender presided over various
> liquors, glasses of champagne and a few beer bottles.
>
> The recipients' guests were ushered in from the foyer and seated on
> delicate, gold-painted chairs. The Kennedy women looked polished, the
> Poitier guests chatted happily with photographers and Tutu's friends turned
> out in a fabulous array of colorful, voluminous hats rivaled only by the
> feather headdresses worn by guests of Joseph Medicine Crow, the only
> surviving Plains Indian war chief, whom Obama met on the campaign trail.
>
> As the honorees entered, the audience greeted each with whoops and cheers
> (Sidney Poitier got a round of applause that nearly rivaled the
> president's). Fuchsia-salmony clothing, apparently the order of the day,
> appeared on Robinson, Tutu, breast cancer activist Nancy Brinker and former
> Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
>
> With Michelle Obama (in a sleeveless bright red dress) looking on from the
> front row, the president declared the honorees to be "agents of change" who,
> in his words, embody the conviction that "our lives are what we make of
> them; that no barriers of race, gender or physical infirmity can restrain
> the human spirit; and that the truest test of a person's life is what we do
> for one another."
>
> The assembled crowd was clearly eager to find merriment wherever possible.
> Hearty laughter followed the president's opener for Chita Rivera: "Dolores
> Conchita Figueroa del Rivero knows that adversity comes with a difficult
> name." Another giggly moment: Medicine Crow commandeered the podium -- an
> initiative only he seized -- and launched into a joyous acceptance speech,
> only to be gracefully ushered back to his seat by the president. Acceptance
> speeches, one notes, were a part of Bill Clinton's medal rites, but in the
> Obama era have been ushered out.
>
> But merriment often gave way to reflective silence when the president spoke
> of honorees who were sick or deceased, including the ailing Sen. Kennedy,
> whose oldest daughter, Kara, accepted the medal on her father's behalf.
> Stuart Milk attended the ceremony in the place of his uncle, Harvey Milk, a
> prominent California gay rights activist who was shot and killed by former
> city supervisor Dan White in 1978. And Joanne Kemp, widow of Rep. Jack Kemp,
> appeared in her husband's stead.
>
> Obama stood behind each medal recipient (many of them teary) and clasped the
> gold, circular, star-emblazoned medal (on a blue ribbon) around their necks.
> He handed medals in demure boxes to those who were accepting them on
> another's behalf.
>
> Other honorees included Pedro Jos? Greer, a Miami doctor who has
> orchestrated medical treatment for many of the city's homeless; British
> physicist Stephen Hawking; the Rev. Joseph Lowery, the civil rights leader;
> cancer researcher Janet Davidson Rowley; and micro-loan pioneer Muhammad
> Yunus.
>
> At no point did the external rumblings about Robinson's controversial
> stewardship of a human-rights conference invade the room. Among the critics
> of Robinson's award was the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which
> described Robinson's time on the United Nations Human Rights Commission as
> "deeply flawed, and her conduct marred by extreme, one-sided anti-Israel
> sentiment." AIPAC called on the Obama administration to "firmly, fully and
> publicly repudiate her views on Israel and her long public record of
> hostility and one-sided bias against the Jewish state."
>
> Criticism mounted over the past few weeks as bipartisan critics, including
> Reps. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) and Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), added volume.
> Asked on Wednesday whether the president, after the outpouring of criticism,
> had any second thoughts about giving Robinson the highest civilian medal,
> White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said no.
>
> "I think the president is recognizing her for her leadership on women's
> rights and equal rights. And as I've said before, he doesn't agree with each
> of her statements, but she's certainly somebody who should be honored,"
> Gibbs said.
>
> In the East Room, Robinson showed only hints of stress; even as the Irish
> leader tripped slightly when entering, she managed a shy smile as Poitier
> clasped her hand to steady her. Tears and cheers made the afternoon an
> emotionally lively one that concluded with the president's exiting as
> suddenly as he had arrived, taking the 16 with him. As the president swept
> out, the band struck up again, and partying resumed, a guest of Sidney
> Poitier remained slightly stunned. "Oh my God," she said of the president.
> "Gorgeous."
>
> Comment by sender of this to me:
>
> Check out some of the names of the President's Medal of Freedom.  Most are
> far left and Sidney Poitier is a huge supporter of Socialist and Communist
> leaders in Latin America, and he gets a medal of freedom award??  Robinson
> has real issues with how she ran the UN commission on racism which
> degenerated into a bash Isreal and the US session.  Wow what a group to give
> this award to.


From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 17 17:36:10 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:36:10 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Is Obama Care Constitutional?
Message-ID: <400985d70908171436t2b72222cx8d6f31d989e2022d@mail.gmail.com>

Here's an interesting look at an interesting question -

http://electriccityweblog.com/?p=4765

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 09:29:24 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 08:29:24 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Iconography
Message-ID: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>

Great material from Whittle -

http://tinyurl.com/qq5dja

And the guy who created the "Obama as Joker" poster is from Chicago -

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html

Who'da thunk? So much for that racial angle.

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 10:20:12 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:20:12 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Iconography
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

What I want to know is, Where can I get that LOL bumper sticker?? That's
great!

Rik

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Great material from Whittle -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/qq5dja
>
> And the guy who created the "Obama as Joker" poster is from Chicago -
>
> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
>
> Who'da thunk? So much for that racial angle.
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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URL: http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/pipermail/swiftwatergazette/attachments/20090818/5095bfd0/attachment.html 

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 10:35:27 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:35:27 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
Message-ID: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>

So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
borrow it from China?

Brad

------------

from WSJ


AUGUST 18, 2009

 Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling

Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
off Brazil.

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
corporations in the Americas.

But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.

The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
will go forward on August 19.

This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 10:36:23 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:36:23 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Iconography
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908180736y669014c5o5219f49b6399c8f7@mail.gmail.com>

try here -

http://www.zazzle.com/anti+obama+bumperstickers



On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> What I want to know is, Where can I get that LOL bumper sticker?? That's
> great!
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Great material from Whittle -
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/qq5dja
>>
>> And the guy who created the "Obama as Joker" poster is from Chicago -
>>
>> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
>>
>> Who'da thunk? So much for that racial angle.
>>
>> Brad
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 11:18:53 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:18:53 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose he's
smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw, that'd
be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL

"Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"

That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works. Backwards. Find
the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem and
then, GO FOR IT!!

For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade. 3.
Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really big ones.

Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward logic for
what it is.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
> borrow it from China?
>
> Brad
>
> ------------
>
> from WSJ
>
>
> AUGUST 18, 2009
>
>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
>
> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
> off Brazil.
>
> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
> officials to talk about the loan.
>
> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
> corporations in the Americas.
>
> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
>
> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
> will go forward on August 19.
>
> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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URL: http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/pipermail/swiftwatergazette/attachments/20090818/eeaa3f24/attachment.html 

From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 11:53:17 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:53:17 +0800
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Don't forget, nuclear is good for Middle Easterners, but not for us -

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/20/obama_approves_nuclear_energy.html

We're stuck with the 2 Billion dollars of windmills that T Boone
Pickens walked away from because we have no way of getting the power
to the people.

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about our future!

Brad

On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose he's
> smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw, that'd
> be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
> Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL
>
> "Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"
>
> That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works. Backwards. Find
> the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem and
> then, GO FOR IT!!
>
> For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade. 3.
> Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really big ones.
>
> Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward logic for
> what it is.
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
>> borrow it from China?
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> ------------
>>
>> from WSJ
>>
>>
>> AUGUST 18, 2009
>>
>>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
>>
>> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
>> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
>> off Brazil.
>>
>> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
>> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
>> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
>> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
>> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
>> officials to talk about the loan.
>>
>> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
>> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
>> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
>> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
>> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
>> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
>> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
>> corporations in the Americas.
>>
>> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
>> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
>> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
>> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
>> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
>>
>> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
>> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
>> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
>> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
>> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
>> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
>> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
>> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
>> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
>> will go forward on August 19.
>>
>> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
>> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
>> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
>> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 18 14:31:07 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:31:07 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908181131y787f8786l358a8cd22c357a20@mail.gmail.com>

While we're still on energy, there's this -

http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335400162148553

Drilling for gas takes 1/4 the footprint that drilling 20 years ago
did, and fracking is old and safe technology. Someone needs to hold
Kennedy under water until he quits running his mouth.  Ask his Uncle
how it works.

Brad

On 8/18/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Rik,
>
> Don't forget, nuclear is good for Middle Easterners, but not for us -
>
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/20/obama_approves_nuclear_energy.html
>
> We're stuck with the 2 Billion dollars of windmills that T Boone
> Pickens walked away from because we have no way of getting the power
> to the people.
>
> Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about our future!
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Brad,
>>
>> Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose he's
>> smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw,
>> that'd
>> be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
>> Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL
>>
>> "Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"
>>
>> That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works. Backwards.
>> Find
>> the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem and
>> then, GO FOR IT!!
>>
>> For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade. 3.
>> Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really big
>> ones.
>>
>> Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward logic
>> for
>> what it is.
>>
>> Rik
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
>>> borrow it from China?
>>>
>>> Brad
>>>
>>> ------------
>>>
>>> from WSJ
>>>
>>>
>>> AUGUST 18, 2009
>>>
>>>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
>>>
>>> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
>>> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
>>> off Brazil.
>>>
>>> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
>>> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
>>> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
>>> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
>>> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
>>> officials to talk about the loan.
>>>
>>> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
>>> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
>>> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
>>> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
>>> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
>>> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
>>> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
>>> corporations in the Americas.
>>>
>>> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
>>> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
>>> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
>>> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
>>> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
>>>
>>> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
>>> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
>>> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
>>> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
>>> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
>>> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
>>> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
>>> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
>>> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
>>> will go forward on August 19.
>>>
>>> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
>>> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
>>> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
>>> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
>>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>>
>>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
>> know-it-all
>> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
>> is
>> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>>
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 00:38:49 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:38:49 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908181131y787f8786l358a8cd22c357a20@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908181131y787f8786l358a8cd22c357a20@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908182138n2616064dmaa8944260f5e1a0@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Good grief, Do these Kennedys ever rear any children that have even a lick
of common sense?? Hell, go to Texas, there's gas wells all over down there
and once the drill rig is gone you can't hardly tell they're even there.

Oh no .... much friggin' better to be beholden to the damned Saudis,
Iranians and various other towelheads for the next few generations!!! I
thought greenies we're supposed to be so in love with natural gas. It
boggles the mind.

Rik

On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> While we're still on energy, there's this -
>
> http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335400162148553
>
> Drilling for gas takes 1/4 the footprint that drilling 20 years ago
> did, and fracking is old and safe technology. Someone needs to hold
> Kennedy under water until he quits running his mouth.  Ask his Uncle
> how it works.
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/18/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Rik,
> >
> > Don't forget, nuclear is good for Middle Easterners, but not for us -
> >
> >
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/20/obama_approves_nuclear_energy.html
> >
> > We're stuck with the 2 Billion dollars of windmills that T Boone
> > Pickens walked away from because we have no way of getting the power
> > to the people.
> >
> > Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about our future!
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose he's
> >> smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw,
> >> that'd
> >> be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
> >> Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL
> >>
> >> "Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> >> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"
> >>
> >> That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works. Backwards.
> >> Find
> >> the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem and
> >> then, GO FOR IT!!
> >>
> >> For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade. 3.
> >> Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really big
> >> ones.
> >>
> >> Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward logic
> >> for
> >> what it is.
> >>
> >> Rik
> >>
> >> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
> >>> borrow it from China?
> >>>
> >>> Brad
> >>>
> >>> ------------
> >>>
> >>> from WSJ
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> AUGUST 18, 2009
> >>>
> >>>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
> >>>
> >>> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
> >>> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
> >>> off Brazil.
> >>>
> >>> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
> >>> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
> >>> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
> >>> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
> >>> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
> >>> officials to talk about the loan.
> >>>
> >>> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
> >>> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
> >>> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
> >>> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
> >>> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
> >>> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
> >>> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
> >>> corporations in the Americas.
> >>>
> >>> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
> >>> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
> >>> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
> >>> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
> >>> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
> >>>
> >>> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
> >>> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
> >>> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
> >>> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
> >>> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
> >>> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
> >>> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
> >>> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
> >>> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
> >>> will go forward on August 19.
> >>>
> >>> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
> >>> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
> >>> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
> >>> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> >>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>>
> >>>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> >> know-it-all
> >> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> >> is
> >> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >>
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 07:43:34 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:43:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908182138n2616064dmaa8944260f5e1a0@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908181131y787f8786l358a8cd22c357a20@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908182138n2616064dmaa8944260f5e1a0@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908190443w3ab93d5bw22c444a1a8d24db5@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

He, he, he, Sarah weighs in on energy.  I wonder if the light bulb has
gone off for anyone yet that they should have left her alone in Alaska
to fade away.

Brad

------------------

YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK: FIRST CARS, NOW FOREIGN OIL.
 Today at 12:10am
Today's Wall Street Journal contains some puzzling news for all
Americans who are impacted by high energy prices and who share the
goal of moving us toward energy independence.

For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have
been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their
own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development
would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health
benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money
for federal coffers that would potentially off-set the need for higher
income taxes, reduce the federal debt and deficits, or even help fund
a trillion dollar health care plan if one were so inclined to support
such a plan.

So why is it that during these tough times, when we have great needs
at home, the Obama White House is prepared to send more than two
billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to Brazil so that the nation's
state-owned oil company, Petrobras, can drill off shore and create
jobs developing its own resources? That's all Americans want; but such
rational energy development has been continually thwarted by rabid
environmentalists, faceless bureaucrats and a seemingly endless parade
of lawsuits aimed at shutting down new energy projects.

I'll speak for the talent I have personally witnessed on the oil
fields in Alaska when I say no other country in the world has a
stronger workforce than America, no other country in the world has
better safety standards than America, and no other country in the
world has stricter environmental standards than America. Come to
Alaska to witness how oil and gas can be developed simultaneously with
the preservation of our eco-system. America has the resources. We
deserve the opportunity to develop our resources no less than the
Brazilians. Millions of Americans know it is true: "Drill, baby,
drill." Alaska is proof you can drill and develop, and preserve
nature, with its magnificent caribou herds passing by the Trans Alaska
Pipeline System (TAPS), completely unaffected. One has to wonder if
Obama is playing politics and perhaps refusing a "win" for some states
just to play to the left with our money.

The new Gulf of Mexico lease sales tomorrow sound promising and
perhaps will move some states in the right direction, but we all know
that the extreme environmentalists who serve to block progress
elsewhere, including in Alaska, continue to block opportunities. These
environmentalists are putting our nation in peril and forcing us to
rely on unstable and hostile foreign countries. Mr. Obama can stop the
extreme tactics and exert proper government authority to encourage
resource development and create jobs and health benefits in the U.S.;
instead, he chooses to use American dollars in Brazil that will help
to pay the salaries and benefits for Brazilians to drill for resources
when the need and desire is great in America.

Buy American is a wonderful slogan, but you can't say in one breath
that you want to strengthen our economy and stimulate it, and then in
another ship our much-needed dollars to a nation desperate to drill
while depriving us of the same opportunity.

- Sarah Palin




On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Good grief, Do these Kennedys ever rear any children that have even a lick
> of common sense?? Hell, go to Texas, there's gas wells all over down there
> and once the drill rig is gone you can't hardly tell they're even there.
>
> Oh no .... much friggin' better to be beholden to the damned Saudis,
> Iranians and various other towelheads for the next few generations!!! I
> thought greenies we're supposed to be so in love with natural gas. It
> boggles the mind.
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> While we're still on energy, there's this -
>>
>> http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335400162148553
>>
>> Drilling for gas takes 1/4 the footprint that drilling 20 years ago
>> did, and fracking is old and safe technology. Someone needs to hold
>> Kennedy under water until he quits running his mouth.  Ask his Uncle
>> how it works.
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> On 8/18/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Rik,
>> >
>> > Don't forget, nuclear is good for Middle Easterners, but not for us -
>> >
>> >
>> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/20/obama_approves_nuclear_energy.html
>> >
>> > We're stuck with the 2 Billion dollars of windmills that T Boone
>> > Pickens walked away from because we have no way of getting the power
>> > to the people.
>> >
>> > Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about our future!
>> >
>> > Brad
>> >
>> > On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> Brad,
>> >>
>> >> Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose
>> >> he's
>> >> smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw,
>> >> that'd
>> >> be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
>> >> Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL
>> >>
>> >> "Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
>> >> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"
>> >>
>> >> That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works. Backwards.
>> >> Find
>> >> the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem and
>> >> then, GO FOR IT!!
>> >>
>> >> For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade. 3.
>> >> Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really big
>> >> ones.
>> >>
>> >> Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward logic
>> >> for
>> >> what it is.
>> >>
>> >> Rik
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
>> >>> borrow it from China?
>> >>>
>> >>> Brad
>> >>>
>> >>> ------------
>> >>>
>> >>> from WSJ
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> AUGUST 18, 2009
>> >>>
>> >>>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
>> >>>
>> >>> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
>> >>> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
>> >>> off Brazil.
>> >>>
>> >>> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned
>> >>> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
>> >>> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
>> >>> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
>> >>> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
>> >>> officials to talk about the loan.
>> >>>
>> >>> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
>> >>> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
>> >>> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im
>> >>> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
>> >>> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
>> >>> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
>> >>> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest
>> >>> corporations in the Americas.
>> >>>
>> >>> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore
>> >>> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
>> >>> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
>> >>> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline
>> >>> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
>> >>>
>> >>> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the outer
>> >>> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
>> >>> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
>> >>> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their favor.
>> >>> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was unsure
>> >>> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
>> >>> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
>> >>> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
>> >>> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the sales
>> >>> will go forward on August 19.
>> >>>
>> >>> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S. to
>> >>> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
>> >>> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil a
>> >>> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
>> >>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
>> >>> _______________________________________________
>> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
>> >> know-it-all
>> >> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
>> >> is
>> >> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>> >>
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 08:43:26 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:43:26 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Most Ethical Ever!
Message-ID: <400985d70908190543g32483017s261aa46a6d58ea1b@mail.gmail.com>

None of this will come as any surprise to anyone who studied Obama and
the Chicago Way prior to the election. Here's what we know to date;
the Obama administration met with Big Pharma in secret meetings and
they signed on to contribute $124 million to an ad campaign supporting
Obamacare.  Contracts were signed with David Axlerod's old firm which
he sold to join the administration.  But, that company owes Axlerod $2
million and his son still works there. Now in Chicago, most political
types would shrug and go, "so what?', what's the point of being in
politics in Chicago if you can't "spread the wealth" to your cronies?

The New York Times should be calling for a special prosecutor any
minute now, right?

Brad

--------------------

 Axelrod's ties targeted in health fight
By: Kenneth P. Vogel
August 19, 2009 04:45 AM EST

Critics of President Obama?s health-care overhaul are zeroing in on
his senior adviser David Axelrod, whose former partners at a
Chicago-based firm are the beneficiaries of huge ad buys?now at $24
million and counting?by White House allies in the reform fight.

The unwelcome scrutiny, largely from Republicans, comes at an
inopportune time as Obama seeks to shore up support for health care
reform. It revolves around two separate $12 million ad campaigns
advocating Obama?s health care plan that were produced and placed
partly by AKPD Message and Media, a firm founded by Axelrod that
employs his son and still owes Axelrod $2 million.

A separate firm, GMMB, is also handling the campaigns. Both AKPD and
GMMB did millions of dollars of work on Obama?s presidential campaign,
continue to tout their connections to the campaign and still maintain
close ties to his inner circle.

The two firms were hired to make the health-care ads by a pair of
linked coalitions supporting Obama?s health-care overhaul
proposal?Healthy Economy Now and a newer offshoot unveiled last week
called Americans for Stable Quality Care.

The Associated Press reported this month that Healthy Economy Now paid
AKPD and GMMB to produce a $12 million national ad campaign echoing
White House talking points supporting the health care overhaul.

And a spokesman for Americans for Stable Quality Care, which
essentially supplanted the now-defunct Healthy Economy Now, confirmed
that it is using the two Obama-linked firms to produce and air a
separate $12 million ad campaign launched Thursday designed to shore
up support among the conservative House Blue Dog Democrats and to
target swing senators. The ad, which is airing in a dozen states, is
the opening salvo in a campaign planned for this fall that will cost
tens of millions of dollars more.

The coalitions are a strange-bedfellows mix of business, labor and
health care groups including the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America (better known as PhRMA), the American Medical
Association, the Service Employees International Union and the liberal
group FamiliesUSA.

Neither coalition would reveal how much AKPD or GMMB was paid for its
work on the ads. The firms will likely net only a fraction of the $24
million total campaign price tag, but?unlike with election campaign
spending?there are no mandatory reporting requirements for such
so-called issue advocacy.

Some of the Healthy Economy Now ads began airing in June, around the
time PhRMA was negotiating with the Senate Finance Committee on an
eventual agreement to win the drug lobby?s support for a health care
overhaul by capping the costs the drug industry would absorb to $80
billion over 10 years.

The deal, which was blessed by the White House, has angered some
progressive activists and liberal House Democrats, who until recently
counted Big Pharma as both an impediment to health care reform efforts
and a Republican-aligned lobby.

Republicans are aggressively seeking to capitalize on the AKPD
connection, and the House Republican Conference distributed a one-page
talking points memo Tuesday asserting the White House-PhRMA deal
raises ?serious questions as to whether the drug lobby is helping to
bankroll a multimillion dollar severance package for one of the
President?s senior advisers.?

The memo points out that the drug industry will profit handsomely from
the deal and asks whether Axelrod ?recused himself from the PhRMA
?deal,? or will he work to defend an agreement with an industry that
is directly funding his son?s work, and indirectly funding his own $2
million severance package??

PhRMA vice president Ken Johnson said his group wasn?t involved in
selecting AKPD or GMMB, and that, in fact, he had no idea the
coalitions had picked the former Axelrod firm until he was asked about
it by a reporter from Bloomberg.

?We?re very involved in reviewing ad copy and determining targeted
districts and states, but not in determining which consultants are
hired to carry out the campaign. That?s left to the people who you
hire to manage it,? he said, adding that PhRMA had not hired either
firm for ad buys the group aired on its own, which will likely dwarf
the buys it helped fund as part of the coalition.

He declined to comment on the House GOP criticism, except to say,
?Unfortunately, we?re a talking point and I?m not going to talk about
the talking point.?

Spokesmen for Healthy Economy Now and Americans for Stable Quality
Care said their groups paid AKPD and GMMB to produce the ads because
they are considered top ad firms, not because of any connection to
Axelrod or the White House.

Indeed, AKPD is widely recognized as a talented Democratic consulting
firm with significant experience on health care-related issues.

They ?are among the best in the business, so it was a no-brainer to
hire them to help out this new effort to explain what health care
reform means for Americans,? said Phil Singer, a spokesman for
Americans for Stable Quality Care.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday dismissed a
reporter?s question about whether Axelrod was profiting from the
health care fight.

?That's ridiculous,? Gibbs said during a Tuesday afternoon briefing.
?David has left his firm to join public service.?

AKPD?s continued payments to Axelrod are based on ?an agreement, I
think, that was made because David started and owned the firm. He left
the firm, and if I'm not mistaken, is being paid for the fact that he
created it and sold it, which, I think, is somewhat based on the free
market.?

Financial disclosure records show that Axelrod, while preparing to
take a job in the White House at the end of last year, sold AKPD for
$2 million. And the records show that he sold a separate corporate
public relations firm he founded called ASK Public Strategies for $1
million at the end of 2008.

AKPD is now owned by a group of consultants who helped steer Obama?s
campaign, mostly while working at the firm, and ASK is owned Axelrod?s
former partners there. Both firms will pay his buyouts in preset
annual installments starting at the end of this year, terms that were
settled on prior to Axelrod?s White House service.

AKPD officials declined to speak publicly about the arrangement, but a
source familiar with the firm?s operations and finances said it is not
reliant on the revenue from the Healthy Economy Now and Americans for
Stable Quality Care campaigns to fulfill Axelrod?s annual payments,
which the source described as ?a fraction? of AKPD?s operating costs.

Additionally, the source said David Axelrod never discussed the
coalitions? campaigns with representatives from the firm or the
coalitions themselves. The source added that Axelrod?s son Michael is
a junior-level AKPD employee who has worked there for fewer than five
years and is not involved in the coalitions.

It?s difficult to determine the clientele of ASK or AKPD, since
neither are required to report them. But Axelrod?s disclosure
statement shows that before he left the firms, both represented
clients with business interests that stand to be affected by
administration policy.

AKPD, for instance, represented the AFL-CIO, while ASK has worked for
power concerns including Exelon and Commonwealth Edison Co. that could
be impacted by the administration?s push for a cap-and-trade system to
reduce carbon emissions. The company also has worked for the
non-profit corporation formed to lure the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, an
effort that the Obama administration has thrown its weight behind.
White House officials have said Axelrod was not involved in the
Olympic push.

On his first day in office, Obama unveiled a strict ethics policy
barring officials from working on issues ?directly and substantially
related? to their former clients or employers for two years.

The White House vigorously denied that Axelrod violated the spirit of
that policy. And, in fact, Axelrod's buyout agreements were cleared by
the independent Office of Government Ethics, which is headed by a
director appointed in 2006 to a five-year term by former President
George W. Bush.

?David Axelrod has fully complied with the toughest ever ethics rules
for administration officials, including divesting from AKPD before the
administration began,? said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt. ?The notion
that Mr. Axelrod should decline to participate in all health care
policy work because his former firm?from which he has divested
himself?has retained a single client which he has had no contact with
is absurd.?

Nonetheless, the selection of Axelrod?s former firm to push the
president?s top initiative raises appearance questions, particularly
since Axelrod?s son Michael still works there, said Bill Allison of
the Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for stricter government
disclosure and ethics rules.

?The big issue seems to me whether there is a quid pro quo with
PhRMA,? said Allison, adding ?there?s no evidence that Axelrod steered
the business to the firm. But the fact that special interests like
PhRMA and the American Medical Association working hand in glove with
the White House picked a firm that is so close to the White House
shows how incestuous Washington can be.?

? 2009 Capitol News Company, LLC


From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 09:12:21 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:12:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Are We Broke Yet?
Message-ID: <400985d70908190612t1748a5f9lc0636d368a17f570@mail.gmail.com>

Attached is an article from an interview with an Alabama Congressman
conducted yesterday. Hype?  I doubt it.  We've known for a long time
there was a crushing demographic wave coming. My sister is on the
leading edge and I'm riding somewhere out there 10 years behind. We've
gone from a 16 to 1 worker to recipient ratio in 1950 to a current 3.3
ratio.  It will be 2.2 in 2030. No sane and rational person can
explain this problem away without raising the retirement age, cutting
benefits, or both.  The Congressman is pointing out the obvious.
Federal revenues are currently down 18%.  We're borrowing from the
Chinese to meet our current obligations. You can't run your family or
business budget this way and neither can the federal government
(although plenty of people tried during the housing boom and we see
how well that worked out). We can hide the problem via inflation for
awhile, but there aren't enough productive wage-earners to tax our way
out of this conundrum. Now we're talking about adding a massive health
care spending package to the mix.  Hell, we may as well throw in free
cars, houses, and vacations in the mix.  None of this spending can be
paid for anyway, if we're going to dream, let's dream big!

Brad

---------------------

TUSCALOOSA | ?Social Security could face default within two years,?
U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus predicted here Tuesday. ?The situation is
much worse than people realize, especially because of the problems
brought on by the recession, near depression.

Congressman Spencer Bachus, who represents Alabama's 6th Congressional
District, visited the Tuscaloosa News on Tuesday morning for an
editorial board meeting. Bachus answered questions from associate
editor Tommy Stevenson and executive editor Doug Ray

?That?s not been on the board ? people don?t seem to know that,?
Bachus, the ranking member of the House Committee on Financial
Services, said in a wide-ranging interview with the Tuscaloosa News
Editorial Board. ?What this recession has done to Social Security is
pretty alarming.

?We?ve known for 15 years that we were going to have to make
adjustment to Social Security, but we still through that was seven or
eight years down the road,? he said. ?But if things don?t improve very
quickly, we?re going to be dealing with that problem before we know
it.?

The solvency of Social Security, which provides pensions for people
over 65, has not played a major role in the current debate over health
care in Congress and Bachus, a Vestavia Hills Republican who
represents part of Tuscaloosa County, said it will not likely be
addressed in any health care bill the House eventually passes,
although if a Social Security bail out is needed, it will invariably
impact government health care programs.

In the debate over health care, Bachus said that he could support a
bill that includes privately-administered health ?co-ops,? along with
the elimination of fraud and waste in existing government programs
like Medicaid and Medicare.

The creation of health care ?co-ops,? or non-profit health
cooperatives run by members, is an idea that has gained momentum as
Democrats and President Barack Obama seems to have moved away from the
idea of a ?government option,? which would be a government-run
alternative to private health care now offered by for-profit insurance
companies.

?I can not vote for a bill that has the government intruding into the
private sector, subsidizing health care and eventually putting the
insurance companies out of business,? he said.

As for the looming Social Security crisis, Bachus said options are
just now beginning to be discussed.

?We could raise the retirement age, or in the worst case, cut back on
some benefits,? he said. ?But that is something we are just now
beginning to get a handle on.?

Bachus visited The News the morning after a standing-room-only crowd
of 2,000 people attended a health care public forum he hosted in
Birmingham Monday night.

Unlike some town hall meetings that have turned chaotic across the
county as members of Congress have returned to their districts during
the August congressional recess, Bachus said there was ?only a little
friction? between opponents of various health care proposals advanced
by the Democratic majority in Congress and those who support those
proposals.

?I think everyone was for the most part civil and we had a lot of
people just agree to disagree,? he said. ?But you can tell that health
care is an issue that has energized the country, because I have never
had a town meeting with 2,000 people. And we even had to turn away a
lot of people because of fire department regulations.?


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 11:08:14 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:08:14 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Obama Says, Drill Baby, Drill!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908190443w3ab93d5bw22c444a1a8d24db5@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180735o4def37a9p4d92e659ade5b79c@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180818h62cfce3am554879e298b82401@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908180853g7a0812c2kc2e235a8bb8ccea4@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908181131y787f8786l358a8cd22c357a20@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908182138n2616064dmaa8944260f5e1a0@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908190443w3ab93d5bw22c444a1a8d24db5@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908190808p6b3ae0edpbf3a3fc17d00f250@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Zactly!!!

Hell, if we were drilling for our own gas and oil, WE MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE 2
billion to lend....

But no, not us. Better to borrow it so we can lend it to somebody else

Which brings me 'round to

END THE FED!!

Rik

http://www.dailypaul.com/node/103834

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 6:43 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> He, he, he, Sarah weighs in on energy.  I wonder if the light bulb has
> gone off for anyone yet that they should have left her alone in Alaska
> to fade away.
>
> Brad
>
> ------------------
>
> YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK: FIRST CARS, NOW FOREIGN OIL.
>  Today at 12:10am
> Today's Wall Street Journal contains some puzzling news for all
> Americans who are impacted by high energy prices and who share the
> goal of moving us toward energy independence.
>
> For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have
> been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their
> own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development
> would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health
> benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money
> for federal coffers that would potentially off-set the need for higher
> income taxes, reduce the federal debt and deficits, or even help fund
> a trillion dollar health care plan if one were so inclined to support
> such a plan.
>
> So why is it that during these tough times, when we have great needs
> at home, the Obama White House is prepared to send more than two
> billion of your hard-earned tax dollars to Brazil so that the nation's
> state-owned oil company, Petrobras, can drill off shore and create
> jobs developing its own resources? That's all Americans want; but such
> rational energy development has been continually thwarted by rabid
> environmentalists, faceless bureaucrats and a seemingly endless parade
> of lawsuits aimed at shutting down new energy projects.
>
> I'll speak for the talent I have personally witnessed on the oil
> fields in Alaska when I say no other country in the world has a
> stronger workforce than America, no other country in the world has
> better safety standards than America, and no other country in the
> world has stricter environmental standards than America. Come to
> Alaska to witness how oil and gas can be developed simultaneously with
> the preservation of our eco-system. America has the resources. We
> deserve the opportunity to develop our resources no less than the
> Brazilians. Millions of Americans know it is true: "Drill, baby,
> drill." Alaska is proof you can drill and develop, and preserve
> nature, with its magnificent caribou herds passing by the Trans Alaska
> Pipeline System (TAPS), completely unaffected. One has to wonder if
> Obama is playing politics and perhaps refusing a "win" for some states
> just to play to the left with our money.
>
> The new Gulf of Mexico lease sales tomorrow sound promising and
> perhaps will move some states in the right direction, but we all know
> that the extreme environmentalists who serve to block progress
> elsewhere, including in Alaska, continue to block opportunities. These
> environmentalists are putting our nation in peril and forcing us to
> rely on unstable and hostile foreign countries. Mr. Obama can stop the
> extreme tactics and exert proper government authority to encourage
> resource development and create jobs and health benefits in the U.S.;
> instead, he chooses to use American dollars in Brazil that will help
> to pay the salaries and benefits for Brazilians to drill for resources
> when the need and desire is great in America.
>
> Buy American is a wonderful slogan, but you can't say in one breath
> that you want to strengthen our economy and stimulate it, and then in
> another ship our much-needed dollars to a nation desperate to drill
> while depriving us of the same opportunity.
>
> - Sarah Palin
>
>
>
>
> On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > Good grief, Do these Kennedys ever rear any children that have even a
> lick
> > of common sense?? Hell, go to Texas, there's gas wells all over down
> there
> > and once the drill rig is gone you can't hardly tell they're even there.
> >
> > Oh no .... much friggin' better to be beholden to the damned Saudis,
> > Iranians and various other towelheads for the next few generations!!! I
> > thought greenies we're supposed to be so in love with natural gas. It
> > boggles the mind.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 1:31 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> While we're still on energy, there's this -
> >>
> >> http://ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=335400162148553
> >>
> >> Drilling for gas takes 1/4 the footprint that drilling 20 years ago
> >> did, and fracking is old and safe technology. Someone needs to hold
> >> Kennedy under water until he quits running his mouth.  Ask his Uncle
> >> how it works.
> >>
> >> Brad
> >>
> >> On 8/18/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> > Rik,
> >> >
> >> > Don't forget, nuclear is good for Middle Easterners, but not for us -
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/20/obama_approves_nuclear_energy.html
> >> >
> >> > We're stuck with the 2 Billion dollars of windmills that T Boone
> >> > Pickens walked away from because we have no way of getting the power
> >> > to the people.
> >> >
> >> > Yeah, I'm feeling pretty confident about our future!
> >> >
> >> > Brad
> >> >
> >> > On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >> Brad,
> >> >>
> >> >> Pretty safe to assume we borrowed it from somebody. I don't suppose
> >> >> he's
> >> >> smart enough to be making something on the interest spread ..... naw,
> >> >> that'd
> >> >> be way beyond his intelligence. Hell, he's probably listening to Paul
> >> >> Krugman and charging negative interest ......LOL
> >> >>
> >> >> "Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> >> >> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home"
> >> >>
> >> >> That's simple. It's follows exactly how his thinking works.
> Backwards.
> >> >> Find
> >> >> the most expensive and least likely to work solution to any problem
> and
> >> >> then, GO FOR IT!!
> >> >>
> >> >> For evidence see 1. the stimulus (porkulus) bill. 2. Cap and trade.
> 3.
> >> >> Healthcare. There's surely more, but these are the obvious, really
> big
> >> >> ones.
> >> >>
> >> >> Fortunately, some of us are finally waking up to see his backward
> logic
> >> >> for
> >> >> what it is.
> >> >>
> >> >> Rik
> >> >>
> >> >> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 9:35 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>> So here's my question, where did we get the 2 Billion?  Print it or
> >> >>> borrow it from China?
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Brad
> >> >>>
> >> >>> ------------
> >> >>>
> >> >>> from WSJ
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> AUGUST 18, 2009
> >> >>>
> >> >>>  Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Too bad it's not in U.S. waters. You read that headline correctly.
> >> >>> Unfortunately, the Obama Administration is financing oil exploration
> >> >>> off Brazil.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's
> state-owned
> >> >>> oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore
> >> >>> discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de
> >> >>> Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House
> >> >>> National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian
> >> >>> officials to talk about the loan.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary
> >> >>> commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has
> >> >>> discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount.
> Ex-Im
> >> >>> Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form
> >> >>> of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate
> >> >>> foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S.
> >> >>> Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the
> largest
> >> >>> corporations in the Americas.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced
> offshore
> >> >>> drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta
> >> >>> free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil
> >> >>> deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with
> gasoline
> >> >>> at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> The Bush Administration's five-year plan (2007-2012) to open the
> outer
> >> >>> continental shelf to oil exploration included new lease sales in the
> >> >>> Gulf of Mexico. But in 2007 environmentalists went to court to block
> >> >>> drilling in Alaska and in April a federal court ruled in their
> favor.
> >> >>> In May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said his department was
> unsure
> >> >>> whether that ruling applied only to Alaska or all offshore drilling.
> >> >>> So it asked an appeals court for clarification. Late last month the
> >> >>> court said the earlier decision applied only to Alaska, opening the
> >> >>> way for the sale of leases in the Gulf. Mr. Salazar now says the
> sales
> >> >>> will go forward on August 19.
> >> >>>
> >> >>> This is progress, however slow. But it still doesn't allow the U.S.
> to
> >> >>> explore in Alaska or along the East and West Coasts, which could be
> >> >>> our equivalent of the Tupi oil fields, which are set to make Brazil
> a
> >> >>> leading oil exporter. Americans are right to wonder why Mr. Obama is
> >> >>> underwriting in Brazil what he won't allow at home.
> >> >>> _______________________________________________
> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> >>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >> >>>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> >> >> know-it-all
> >> >> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is
> doing
> >> >> is
> >> >> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >> >>
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 11:13:43 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:13:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Iconography
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908190813j376d1cc9wa4be0e36c06a1cac@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Here's a great icon -

http://gunzip.weebly.com/line-by-line.html

I wouldn't mind having that made into a huge neon sign and put it in
my front yard!

Brad

On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> What I want to know is, Where can I get that LOL bumper sticker?? That's
> great!
>
> Rik
>
> On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Great material from Whittle -
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/qq5dja
>>
>> And the guy who created the "Obama as Joker" poster is from Chicago -
>>
>> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
>>
>> Who'da thunk? So much for that racial angle.
>>
>> Brad
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 12:34:39 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:34:39 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Are We Broke Yet?
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908190612t1748a5f9lc0636d368a17f570@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908190612t1748a5f9lc0636d368a17f570@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908190934i18c80431ubfd902013e8feb94@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Hype??? Yeah, I doubt it too.

Back in the early nineties I figured out that SS was nothing but a big ponsi
scheme. Actually that was when I first started really paying attention.
Since, I have been telling anyone who would listen, which admittedly isn't
many (what do I know, right??) that we should be putting our 6+ percent in
private saving accounts .... private, but mandatory. Not mutual funds, not
playing the stock market, but simple savings accounts or CDs that ain't
going nowhere. What do you suppose we'd have now if we'd been doing that for
the last 15 or 20 years instead of fucking around borrowing money against
paper assets hoping they'd never turn against us.

The average retirement savings in our country is around eighty thousand
dollars. That's average, that means the better share of folks have WAY less
than that. Who could possibly hope to retire for 20 years (assuming 65 to
85) on 80 grand?? What a joke!! And we won't even get into what the fed is
doing to people by driving interest rates to damned near nothing.

We have to start saving some money in this country or we're going in the
shitter ..... it's that simple

I have a friend who's been a cop for 20+ years. She's in one of those
structured pension plans that gov't people have and thinks her retirement is
pretty much a given. After all, there's a law, right?? No savings to speak
of and a house that's worth less by the minute. I've tried to tell her over
the years not to place so much faith in the gov't. but all I ever hear is
"it's a law". Here's a news flash for anybody who might care: One day soon
the Chinese and whoever else is borrowing us money are going to figure out
that we are a really stupid investment and their money will dry up like dew
in the hot sun. When that happens, all those laws ain't gonna mean shit!!

OK, that's enough ranting 'cause it's twenty years too late to do what I
wanted to do. So, what are we gonna do?? This is a hard question.

Rik

On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:12 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Attached is an article from an interview with an Alabama Congressman
> conducted yesterday. Hype?  I doubt it.  We've known for a long time
> there was a crushing demographic wave coming. My sister is on the
> leading edge and I'm riding somewhere out there 10 years behind. We've
> gone from a 16 to 1 worker to recipient ratio in 1950 to a current 3.3
> ratio.  It will be 2.2 in 2030. No sane and rational person can
> explain this problem away without raising the retirement age, cutting
> benefits, or both.  The Congressman is pointing out the obvious.
> Federal revenues are currently down 18%.  We're borrowing from the
> Chinese to meet our current obligations. You can't run your family or
> business budget this way and neither can the federal government
> (although plenty of people tried during the housing boom and we see
> how well that worked out). We can hide the problem via inflation for
> awhile, but there aren't enough productive wage-earners to tax our way
> out of this conundrum. Now we're talking about adding a massive health
> care spending package to the mix.  Hell, we may as well throw in free
> cars, houses, and vacations in the mix.  None of this spending can be
> paid for anyway, if we're going to dream, let's dream big!
>
> Brad
>
> ---------------------
>
> TUSCALOOSA | ?Social Security could face default within two years,?
> U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus predicted here Tuesday. ?The situation is
> much worse than people realize, especially because of the problems
> brought on by the recession, near depression.
>
> Congressman Spencer Bachus, who represents Alabama's 6th Congressional
> District, visited the Tuscaloosa News on Tuesday morning for an
> editorial board meeting. Bachus answered questions from associate
> editor Tommy Stevenson and executive editor Doug Ray
>
> ?That?s not been on the board ? people don?t seem to know that,?
> Bachus, the ranking member of the House Committee on Financial
> Services, said in a wide-ranging interview with the Tuscaloosa News
> Editorial Board. ?What this recession has done to Social Security is
> pretty alarming.
>
> ?We?ve known for 15 years that we were going to have to make
> adjustment to Social Security, but we still through that was seven or
> eight years down the road,? he said. ?But if things don?t improve very
> quickly, we?re going to be dealing with that problem before we know
> it.?
>
> The solvency of Social Security, which provides pensions for people
> over 65, has not played a major role in the current debate over health
> care in Congress and Bachus, a Vestavia Hills Republican who
> represents part of Tuscaloosa County, said it will not likely be
> addressed in any health care bill the House eventually passes,
> although if a Social Security bail out is needed, it will invariably
> impact government health care programs.
>
> In the debate over health care, Bachus said that he could support a
> bill that includes privately-administered health ?co-ops,? along with
> the elimination of fraud and waste in existing government programs
> like Medicaid and Medicare.
>
> The creation of health care ?co-ops,? or non-profit health
> cooperatives run by members, is an idea that has gained momentum as
> Democrats and President Barack Obama seems to have moved away from the
> idea of a ?government option,? which would be a government-run
> alternative to private health care now offered by for-profit insurance
> companies.
>
> ?I can not vote for a bill that has the government intruding into the
> private sector, subsidizing health care and eventually putting the
> insurance companies out of business,? he said.
>
> As for the looming Social Security crisis, Bachus said options are
> just now beginning to be discussed.
>
> ?We could raise the retirement age, or in the worst case, cut back on
> some benefits,? he said. ?But that is something we are just now
> beginning to get a handle on.?
>
> Bachus visited The News the morning after a standing-room-only crowd
> of 2,000 people attended a health care public forum he hosted in
> Birmingham Monday night.
>
> Unlike some town hall meetings that have turned chaotic across the
> county as members of Congress have returned to their districts during
> the August congressional recess, Bachus said there was ?only a little
> friction? between opponents of various health care proposals advanced
> by the Democratic majority in Congress and those who support those
> proposals.
>
> ?I think everyone was for the most part civil and we had a lot of
> people just agree to disagree,? he said. ?But you can tell that health
> care is an issue that has energized the country, because I have never
> had a town meeting with 2,000 people. And we even had to turn away a
> lot of people because of fire department regulations.?
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 13:08:25 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:08:25 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Iconography
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908190813j376d1cc9wa4be0e36c06a1cac@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908180629l38d4953et6eb0695f6e6a2366@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908180720o70c01c1fr3e8a1d9c231db1cf@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908190813j376d1cc9wa4be0e36c06a1cac@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908191008k2d882c2as1873625a8d2054a2@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Yeah, that's pretty cool too.

But, be careful. Put that in the front yard and some anti-gun liberal in a
purple shirt is likely to blow up your house. We can't be having no radical
extremism you know.

Rik



On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> Here's a great icon -
>
> http://gunzip.weebly.com/line-by-line.html
>
> I wouldn't mind having that made into a huge neon sign and put it in
> my front yard!
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/18/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > What I want to know is, Where can I get that LOL bumper sticker?? That's
> > great!
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Tue, Aug 18, 2009 at 8:29 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Great material from Whittle -
> >>
> >> http://tinyurl.com/qq5dja
> >>
> >> And the guy who created the "Obama as Joker" poster is from Chicago -
> >>
> >>
> http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/08/obama-joker-artist.html
> >>
> >> Who'da thunk? So much for that racial angle.
> >>
> >> Brad
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 21:30:03 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:30:03 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaaacism, With Guns!
Message-ID: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>

Nooooooo, there's no media bias, here's a news clip from MSNBC -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI&feature=player_embedded

Now here's another clip that didn't crop the man's face out of the video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=player_embedded

What a joke the MSM has become.

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 22:24:48 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:24:48 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaaacism, With Guns!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908191924n6de3a64ajd457913d6c3747a5@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

UNBELIEVABLE!!

And then, The stupid commentator (happens to be the black one, but the term
probably fits all of them) says, I think people are angry about having a
black president.... Jesus, what a moron. Nobody cares that Barack Obama is
black. Many of us were actually proud to some degree that Americans were
able to elect a black man. What they are angry about is that he is
stupid..... and a liar.... and he hasn't done one goddamned thing he
promised. 'Course some of us didn't figure out that was coming 'til it was
too late.

AND, excuse me honey, but that wasn't a MACHINE GUN. Just 'cause it's black
and looks military doesn't make it a machine gun. We should give our sweetie
a quarter so she can run uptown and see if she can't buy herself a life. I
wonder if she might be better off not knowing how many folks around her
might be carrying a firearm that she can't see. Ha ha, what a puss.

Rik



On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Nooooooo, there's no media bias, here's a news clip from MSNBC -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI&feature=player_embedded
>
> Now here's another clip that didn't crop the man's face out of the video -
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=player_embedded
>
> What a joke the MSM has become.
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Wed Aug 19 22:44:05 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:44:05 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] This Is UGLY!
Message-ID: <400985d70908191944h2f10e01aob0e45185555716d9@mail.gmail.com>

http://tinyurl.com/lqjpyn

Inflation to start in 5...4...3...2...1....

From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 10:24:47 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:24:47 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Enron - Chapter 2
Message-ID: <400985d70908200724s7094e694k1b467d253ef22205@mail.gmail.com>

Things that make you go, duuuuuuuh -

http://tinyurl.com/l6l86l

This is just the beginning.

Brad

From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Thu Aug 20 10:59:04 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:59:04 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Enron - Chapter 2
References: <400985d70908200724s7094e694k1b467d253ef22205@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <B4031488175B4244ABF38E5B27A58615@ebsoffice>

Brad,

First, the whole idea of taxing (VAT) a tax credit is absurd!

What are they thinking?  I know, I know ...

Welcome to The End.  Meet you in the Gulch.

Mike

From: "Brad Haslett" Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:24 AM
> Things that make you go, duuuuuuuh -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/l6l86l
>
> This is just the beginning.
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
> 


--
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
SPAMfighter has removed 3335 of my spam emails to date.
Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len

The Professional version does not have this message



From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 11:47:43 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:47:43 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Enron - Chapter 2
In-Reply-To: <B4031488175B4244ABF38E5B27A58615@ebsoffice>
References: <400985d70908200724s7094e694k1b467d253ef22205@mail.gmail.com>
	<B4031488175B4244ABF38E5B27A58615@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908200847x3e7bdc49r7f236558f3bd2af@mail.gmail.com>

Brad, Mike,

Not a lot different than what we do with S/S. They tax it away from your pay
your whole life, then have the balls to call it income when they give it
back and tax it again.

I think the DUH is that we haven't thrown the bastards out on their asses
yet!!! To add fuel to the fire, S/S isn't good enough for our law makers,
ain't they just special, and if Obamacare passes, they won't be saddled with
the results of that either. Time to purge the whole works and start over
with some folks who don't believe they're any more special than the people
who pay their salaries.

I'm having a bad week .... can you tell??

These guys can make up all the taxes they want, but they better know that
when it gets bad enough a good share of dealings will just move to the
bottom side of the table.

Rik

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com>wrote:

> Brad,
>
> First, the whole idea of taxing (VAT) a tax credit is absurd!
>
> What are they thinking?  I know, I know ...
>
> Welcome to The End.  Meet you in the Gulch.
>
> Mike
>
> From: "Brad Haslett" Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:24 AM
> > Things that make you go, duuuuuuuh -
> >
> > http://tinyurl.com/l6l86l
> >
> > This is just the beginning.
> >
> > Brad
> > _______________________________________________
> > SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> > SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 3335 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 12:59:42 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:59:42 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Enron - Chapter 2
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908200847x3e7bdc49r7f236558f3bd2af@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908200724s7094e694k1b467d253ef22205@mail.gmail.com>
	<B4031488175B4244ABF38E5B27A58615@ebsoffice>
	<6634e19e0908200847x3e7bdc49r7f236558f3bd2af@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908200959q3a37f991ned830ce9a79e9842@mail.gmail.com>

Mike and Rik,

W 43 melted down over Katrina.  I know a thing or two about that, but
that's not important these days with my local scope of what really
happened.

The MSM forgot to report that the Chicago City government was closed
on Monday because they don't have a working cash flow solution.

We don't have a cash flow solution as a nation.  Well, we do, the
chinks will loan us the money.

One small problem - they don't play by our rules.

Brad.
On 8/20/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad, Mike,
>
> Not a lot different than what we do with S/S. They tax it away from your pay
> your whole life, then have the balls to call it income when they give it
> back and tax it again.
>
> I think the DUH is that we haven't thrown the bastards out on their asses
> yet!!! To add fuel to the fire, S/S isn't good enough for our law makers,
> ain't they just special, and if Obamacare passes, they won't be saddled with
> the results of that either. Time to purge the whole works and start over
> with some folks who don't believe they're any more special than the people
> who pay their salaries.
>
> I'm having a bad week .... can you tell??
>
> These guys can make up all the taxes they want, but they better know that
> when it gets bad enough a good share of dealings will just move to the
> bottom side of the table.
>
> Rik
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Michael D. Weisner
> <mweisner at ebsmed.com>wrote:
>
>> Brad,
>>
>> First, the whole idea of taxing (VAT) a tax credit is absurd!
>>
>> What are they thinking?  I know, I know ...
>>
>> Welcome to The End.  Meet you in the Gulch.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>> From: "Brad Haslett" Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:24 AM
>> > Things that make you go, duuuuuuuh -
>> >
>> > http://tinyurl.com/l6l86l
>> >
>> > This is just the beginning.
>> >
>> > Brad
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> > SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
>> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
>> SPAMfighter has removed 3335 of my spam emails to date.
>> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>>
>> The Professional version does not have this message
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 13:23:12 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:23:12 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Enron - Chapter 2
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908200959q3a37f991ned830ce9a79e9842@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908200724s7094e694k1b467d253ef22205@mail.gmail.com>
	<B4031488175B4244ABF38E5B27A58615@ebsoffice>
	<6634e19e0908200847x3e7bdc49r7f236558f3bd2af@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908200959q3a37f991ned830ce9a79e9842@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908201023w44e8f9b1l9124928682d42c95@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Yep, we'll keep screwing around 'til the Chinese own us. They may take over
the place without firing a shot.

Borrowing has a price and it's never cheap.

Rik

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 11:59 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Mike and Rik,
>
> W 43 melted down over Katrina.  I know a thing or two about that, but
> that's not important these days with my local scope of what really
> happened.
>
> The MSM forgot to report that the Chicago City government was closed
> on Monday because they don't have a working cash flow solution.
>
> We don't have a cash flow solution as a nation.  Well, we do, the
> chinks will loan us the money.
>
> One small problem - they don't play by our rules.
>
> Brad.
> On 8/20/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad, Mike,
> >
> > Not a lot different than what we do with S/S. They tax it away from your
> pay
> > your whole life, then have the balls to call it income when they give it
> > back and tax it again.
> >
> > I think the DUH is that we haven't thrown the bastards out on their asses
> > yet!!! To add fuel to the fire, S/S isn't good enough for our law makers,
> > ain't they just special, and if Obamacare passes, they won't be saddled
> with
> > the results of that either. Time to purge the whole works and start over
> > with some folks who don't believe they're any more special than the
> people
> > who pay their salaries.
> >
> > I'm having a bad week .... can you tell??
> >
> > These guys can make up all the taxes they want, but they better know that
> > when it gets bad enough a good share of dealings will just move to the
> > bottom side of the table.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:59 AM, Michael D. Weisner
> > <mweisner at ebsmed.com>wrote:
> >
> >> Brad,
> >>
> >> First, the whole idea of taxing (VAT) a tax credit is absurd!
> >>
> >> What are they thinking?  I know, I know ...
> >>
> >> Welcome to The End.  Meet you in the Gulch.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >> From: "Brad Haslett" Thursday, August 20, 2009 10:24 AM
> >> > Things that make you go, duuuuuuuh -
> >> >
> >> > http://tinyurl.com/l6l86l
> >> >
> >> > This is just the beginning.
> >> >
> >> > Brad
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> > SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >> >
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> >> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> >> SPAMfighter has removed 3335 of my spam emails to date.
> >> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
> >>
> >> The Professional version does not have this message
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 15:18:24 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:18:24 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Compassion
Message-ID: <400985d70908201218s3778d897l39a1e3c9206dc020@mail.gmail.com>

How about this idea? We take the son of a bitch out back and shoot
him?  Better yet, transfer him to a "kinder and gentler" prison like a
local county jail.

http://tinyurl.com/kkqkbz

Compassion my ass!

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 22:21:26 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:21:26 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaaacism, With Guns!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908191924n6de3a64ajd457913d6c3747a5@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908191924n6de3a64ajd457913d6c3747a5@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908201921q425e48bfm6e3fe94093292f10@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Now I get it, hard times turns us all into racists.  Makes sense!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c6g6ZVeQBM&feature=player_embedded

Brad



On 8/19/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> UNBELIEVABLE!!
>
> And then, The stupid commentator (happens to be the black one, but the term
> probably fits all of them) says, I think people are angry about having a
> black president.... Jesus, what a moron. Nobody cares that Barack Obama is
> black. Many of us were actually proud to some degree that Americans were
> able to elect a black man. What they are angry about is that he is
> stupid..... and a liar.... and he hasn't done one goddamned thing he
> promised. 'Course some of us didn't figure out that was coming 'til it was
> too late.
>
> AND, excuse me honey, but that wasn't a MACHINE GUN. Just 'cause it's black
> and looks military doesn't make it a machine gun. We should give our sweetie
> a quarter so she can run uptown and see if she can't buy herself a life. I
> wonder if she might be better off not knowing how many folks around her
> might be carrying a firearm that she can't see. Ha ha, what a puss.
>
> Rik
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Nooooooo, there's no media bias, here's a news clip from MSNBC -
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> Now here's another clip that didn't crop the man's face out of the video -
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> What a joke the MSM has become.
>>
>> Brad
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 22:54:42 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:54:42 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaaacism, With Guns!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908201921q425e48bfm6e3fe94093292f10@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908191924n6de3a64ajd457913d6c3747a5@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908201921q425e48bfm6e3fe94093292f10@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908201954y5cac5839x10b5c3d88801e332@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Well, there you have it ..... Hero to zero

>From "the best of what the black church has to offer" to ..... under the
bus.

It makes you wonder how many of his political cronies realize, they could be
gone just as quick if they rub him the wrong way.

Rik

On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:21 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> Now I get it, hard times turns us all into racists.  Makes sense!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c6g6ZVeQBM&feature=player_embedded
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/19/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > UNBELIEVABLE!!
> >
> > And then, The stupid commentator (happens to be the black one, but the
> term
> > probably fits all of them) says, I think people are angry about having a
> > black president.... Jesus, what a moron. Nobody cares that Barack Obama
> is
> > black. Many of us were actually proud to some degree that Americans were
> > able to elect a black man. What they are angry about is that he is
> > stupid..... and a liar.... and he hasn't done one goddamned thing he
> > promised. 'Course some of us didn't figure out that was coming 'til it
> was
> > too late.
> >
> > AND, excuse me honey, but that wasn't a MACHINE GUN. Just 'cause it's
> black
> > and looks military doesn't make it a machine gun. We should give our
> sweetie
> > a quarter so she can run uptown and see if she can't buy herself a life.
> I
> > wonder if she might be better off not knowing how many folks around her
> > might be carrying a firearm that she can't see. Ha ha, what a puss.
> >
> > Rik
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Nooooooo, there's no media bias, here's a news clip from MSNBC -
> >>
> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI&feature=player_embedded
> >>
> >> Now here's another clip that didn't crop the man's face out of the video
> -
> >>
> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=player_embedded
> >>
> >> What a joke the MSM has become.
> >>
> >> Brad
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Thu Aug 20 23:16:47 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:16:47 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Raaaaaaacism, With Guns!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908201954y5cac5839x10b5c3d88801e332@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908191830p5c2f5e13m8cc68c0b8d3faf8a@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908191924n6de3a64ajd457913d6c3747a5@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908201921q425e48bfm6e3fe94093292f10@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908201954y5cac5839x10b5c3d88801e332@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908202016g5af585f0i1439d95d0137deb2@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Let A Thousand Programs Bloom!

(see attached)

Yeah, I've studied Mao so I have a clue how guys like "I One" operate.
When you read Malkin's book, you can't help but admire The One for his
record setting first six months.  He had more potential appointees
eliminated for ethical issues than all the previous Presidents did in
their entire term.

What a guy!

Brad

On 8/20/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Well, there you have it ..... Hero to zero
>
> >From "the best of what the black church has to offer" to ..... under the
> bus.
>
> It makes you wonder how many of his political cronies realize, they could be
> gone just as quick if they rub him the wrong way.
>
> Rik
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 9:21 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Rik,
>>
>> Now I get it, hard times turns us all into racists.  Makes sense!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c6g6ZVeQBM&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/19/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Brad,
>> >
>> > UNBELIEVABLE!!
>> >
>> > And then, The stupid commentator (happens to be the black one, but the
>> term
>> > probably fits all of them) says, I think people are angry about having a
>> > black president.... Jesus, what a moron. Nobody cares that Barack Obama
>> is
>> > black. Many of us were actually proud to some degree that Americans were
>> > able to elect a black man. What they are angry about is that he is
>> > stupid..... and a liar.... and he hasn't done one goddamned thing he
>> > promised. 'Course some of us didn't figure out that was coming 'til it
>> was
>> > too late.
>> >
>> > AND, excuse me honey, but that wasn't a MACHINE GUN. Just 'cause it's
>> black
>> > and looks military doesn't make it a machine gun. We should give our
>> sweetie
>> > a quarter so she can run uptown and see if she can't buy herself a life.
>> I
>> > wonder if she might be better off not knowing how many folks around her
>> > might be carrying a firearm that she can't see. Ha ha, what a puss.
>> >
>> > Rik
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Nooooooo, there's no media bias, here's a news clip from MSNBC -
>> >>
>> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKQJ4-N7LI&feature=player_embedded
>> >>
>> >> Now here's another clip that didn't crop the man's face out of the
>> >> video
>> -
>> >>
>> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7syx26QtQIM&feature=player_embedded
>> >>
>> >> What a joke the MSM has become.
>> >>
>> >> Brad
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> >>
>> >>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
>> know-it-all
>> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
>> is
>> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>> >
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 07:04:46 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:04:46 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chains You Can Believe In - The Religious Left
Message-ID: <400985d70908210404s4d2beddcka0be0aabfa370750@mail.gmail.com>

Good Lord I'm confused.  All this time I thought it was the "religious
right" I was supposed to fear. Whatever happened to those ignoramus's
"clinging to their guns and religion"? Now it's a good thing? Moses
isn't around to consult, but I always thought the 9th commandment,
"thou shalt not bear false witness" had to do with God, not the POTUS.
 Oh that's right, one and the same. Not to get sidetracked, but for me
personally, I would have spoken up about year 33 at a town hall
meeting and said, "Hey Mo!, hows' about we get a GPS, or maybe invent
the compass or sumpthin', this wondering around the wilderness shit is
getting really old".  But anyway, here we are in the 21st Century
looking for wilderness to get lost in - I'm lost already.

Obviously, other people feel the same way -

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-would-like-you-to-see-government.html

Since religion is now supposed to be our guidepost for health care,
why not put Rev. Wright in charge of it - that ought to solve the
problem!

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 08:23:10 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:23:10 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Pigs Fly!
Message-ID: <400985d70908210523q169f713dpbfcadb4863d6bb78@mail.gmail.com>

Credits to Michelle Malkin  for finding this one -

http://tinyurl.com/lqumnp

Axlerod on "Integrity in Public Service"?  As one pundit said, "what's
next, Clinton on virginity"?

So first we have God, er, I mean Obama asking us if we're not "our
brother's keeper" (which actually was a question to Cain about killing
his brother) and now the Astroturfer in Chief is lecturing on
integrity!

The end is near!

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 08:27:31 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:27:31 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Pigs Fly!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908210523q169f713dpbfcadb4863d6bb78@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908210523q169f713dpbfcadb4863d6bb78@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908210527o77147de8yfd41c66c82a4b2c7@mail.gmail.com>

Oops!  Better correct that before someone beats me to it.  That was
Cain's response to a question about his brother.

Maybe I'd better dust off the Old Testament since the Constitution
seems to be out of use these days.

Brad


On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Credits to Michelle Malkin  for finding this one -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/lqumnp
>
> Axlerod on "Integrity in Public Service"?  As one pundit said, "what's
> next, Clinton on virginity"?
>
> So first we have God, er, I mean Obama asking us if we're not "our
> brother's keeper" (which actually was a question to Cain about killing
> his brother) and now the Astroturfer in Chief is lecturing on
> integrity!
>
> The end is near!
>
> Brad
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 09:40:34 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 08:40:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Pigs Fly!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908210523q169f713dpbfcadb4863d6bb78@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908210523q169f713dpbfcadb4863d6bb78@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908210640s775c6854x6b42dd9541f48b24@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

After being around this (Obama's) crew for a while, I cannot imagine asking
for counsel from even one of them on ethics.

I have to admit to being entranced, like many, the first couple of times I
heard the messiah speak at the beginning of the campaign back in '08. But,
It didn't take long to realize, these guys were all talk and no useful
substance. Someone should get together a group to start a class action
lawsuit against the University of Nebraska for spending university funds to
peddle corruption. (I don't imagine Axelrod's services are cheap). It's
unfortunate that people this naive are in a possition to be teaching our
young people.

A really large bite out of their pocketbook might wake them up.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:23 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Credits to Michelle Malkin  for finding this one -
>
> http://tinyurl.com/lqumnp
>
> Axlerod on "Integrity in Public Service"?  As one pundit said, "what's
> next, Clinton on virginity"?
>
> So first we have God, er, I mean Obama asking us if we're not "our
> brother's keeper" (which actually was a question to Cain about killing
> his brother) and now the Astroturfer in Chief is lecturing on
> integrity!
>
> The end is near!
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From mweisner at ebsmed.com  Fri Aug 21 10:06:01 2009
From: mweisner at ebsmed.com (Michael D. Weisner)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:06:01 -0400
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers Program Extended to
	Beechcraft
Message-ID: <B989A209163C472F9A042704ACB55D33@ebsoffice>

Brad,

Maybe you can get a small Learjet instead as a Cash For Clunker trade-in on the Bo!!

I guess the "R" word has finally reached those folks in the EU & Canada who said that the problem was all about the US spending habits.

Mike


http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=213396

Bombardier Terminates $1.5B Jet Order
By Ross Marowits, Canadian Press Writer
Manufacturing.Net - August 20, 2009


MONTREAL (CP) -- Bombardier Inc. has lost one of the largest business jet orders in its history with its decision to cancel an order worth up to US$1.5 billion following the insolvency of private European company Jet Republic.

The Montreal-based plane and train maker said the cancellation affects a firm order for 25 Learjet 60 XR aircraft, valued at US$340 million, along with options to purchase 85 more. First delivery to Jet Republic was scheduled for October, with a further 14 deliveries in 2010.

"This is an unfortunate business decision and it's especially unfortunate for the Learjet team, however, we're working closely with them to re-energize sales and move forward," spokeswoman Danielle Boudreau said in an interview.

Like all aircraft manufacturers, Bombardier is feeling the effects of a slowdown in orders caused by the recession and global financial crisis. It plans to layoff 4,360 employees by Jan. 31, including 820 at the Wichita, Kan., plant where all Learjets are assembled.

Boudreau wouldn't say if the order cancellation will force the manufacturer to further reduce production rates of the mid-size business plane. A decision could be announced at its second-quarter results on Sept. 2.

"At this time there's no decision made so things remain as is. If we do have anything to announce, it would be then."

The Jet Republic cancellation marks the second time in about a week that Bombardier has taken the dramatic step. It previously cancelled an order for 15 remaining CRJ1000s from Italy's My Air, which also faced financial problems. The original 2006 order for 19 planes was worth about US$750 million.

Bombardier has said it expects business jet deliveries will fall 25 percent this year. But analysts believe the worsening situation will cause deeper production declines, especially in the small cabin Learjets.

Chris Murray of CIBC World Markets has forecast that total deliveries will be down 32 percent in fiscal 2010 and another 15 percent in fiscal 2011.

Even though the Jet Republic order was Bombardier's largest for Learjet 60 XRs, its cancellation will have a smaller impact on Bombardier aerospace's backlog, which was US$22.4 billion as of the first quarter, he said.

Murray said Bombardier's decision to cancel the order wasn't a surprise because fractional share operators like Jet Republic have been hit hard by the economic slowdown as businesses and wealthy individuals have reduced the use of private jets.

NetJets last week reported significant losses and has stopped taking new aircraft for the foreseeable future from Hawker Beechcraft and Cessna.

"While the cancellation is a negative, we believe Bombardier retains a strong backlog that should allow the company to manage through this current downturn," he wrote in a report.

Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners said the order cancellation "highlights the ongoing difficulties facing the business jet market."

"Given the challenges facing the aerospace segment we expect Bombardier's earnings to remain depressed through fiscal 2011," he wrote in a report.

Doerksen added that the Jet Republic cancellation raises questions about whether Bombardier will experience further backlog erosion through order cancellations.

The analyst this week said Bombardier recently asked suppliers for price concessions as it tries to reduce costs.

Bombardier's suppliers are currently delivering fewer parts as the global recession saps aircraft demand.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Bombardier shares fell to $3.94 in midday trading, a drop of 20 cents or nearly five percent.


--
I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 10:35:02 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:35:02 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Clunkers Program Extended to
	Beechcraft
In-Reply-To: <B989A209163C472F9A042704ACB55D33@ebsoffice>
References: <B989A209163C472F9A042704ACB55D33@ebsoffice>
Message-ID: <400985d70908210735x50fe56e7p946ca9dd26c1ab77@mail.gmail.com>

Mike,

General Aviation is hurting!  Mr. "I One" ran his mouth off about
corporate jets this spring and the cancellations started piling up
(same thing happened to Vegas hotel room bookings).  Business was
going to be down anyway because of the recession, but corporate jets
have a long lead time and often a secondary market develops for
delivery positions when the business cycle swings the opposite
direction.  There won't be a secondary market to be developed this
time - there is no delivery pipeline. The one bright spot was the
Congress authorized funds for the purchase of $550 million of
Gulfstreams and Boeing 737's for themselves (the Air Force didn't
request the funding) but now that order is in jeopardy since the
public found out about the order.

Here's an interesting tidbit about the "Cash for Clunkers" program.
The paperwork processing center is in the FAA office complex in
Oklahoma City and uses a faa.gov e-mail address.  Other than being
under the DOT, why the hell is the FAA involved in the C4C program?

The next wave of bad economic news will be in commercial real estate.
No one even wants to contemplate municipal bankruptcies yet (nah,
can't happen, California is just a fluke).

But hey, at least we don't have to worry about the dollar losing
value, right? See new program starting soon below the signature -

Brad

-------------

Democrats, realizing the big success of the President's "Cash For
Clunkers" rebate program, have revamped a major portion of the
Obama Nationalization - Health Care Plan.
President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, and Sen. Reid are expected to make
this major announcement at a joint news conference later this week.  I
have obtained an advanced copy of the proposal which is named....
"CASH FOR CODGERS" and it works like this... Couples wishing to
access health care funds in order to pay for the delivery of a
child will be required to turn in one old person on the day of
delivery. The amount the government grants them will be fixed
according to a sliding scale. Older and more prescription dependent
codgers will garner the highest amounts.
Special "Bonuses" will be paid for those submitting codgers in
targeted groups, such as smokers, alcohol drinkers, persons 10
pounds over their government prescribed weight, - and any member of
the Republican Party.
Smaller bonuses will be given for codgers who consume beef, soda,
fried foods, potato chips, lattes, whole milk, dairy products,
bacon, Brussel sprouts, cheese, or Girl Scout Cookies.
All codgers will be rendered totally useless via a toxic injection,
similar to that given to the engines of the 'clunker'
trade ins. This will insure that they like the vehicle 'clunkers'
are not secretly resold (traded in) or their body parts harvested
to keep other codgers in repair and among society.

On 8/21/09, Michael D. Weisner <mweisner at ebsmed.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Maybe you can get a small Learjet instead as a Cash For Clunker trade-in on
> the Bo!!
>
> I guess the "R" word has finally reached those folks in the EU & Canada who
> said that the problem was all about the US spending habits.
>
> Mike
>
>
> http://www.manufacturing.net/article.aspx?id=213396
>
> Bombardier Terminates $1.5B Jet Order
> By Ross Marowits, Canadian Press Writer
> Manufacturing.Net - August 20, 2009
>
>
> MONTREAL (CP) -- Bombardier Inc. has lost one of the largest business jet
> orders in its history with its decision to cancel an order worth up to
> US$1.5 billion following the insolvency of private European company Jet
> Republic.
>
> The Montreal-based plane and train maker said the cancellation affects a
> firm order for 25 Learjet 60 XR aircraft, valued at US$340 million, along
> with options to purchase 85 more. First delivery to Jet Republic was
> scheduled for October, with a further 14 deliveries in 2010.
>
> "This is an unfortunate business decision and it's especially unfortunate
> for the Learjet team, however, we're working closely with them to
> re-energize sales and move forward," spokeswoman Danielle Boudreau said in
> an interview.
>
> Like all aircraft manufacturers, Bombardier is feeling the effects of a
> slowdown in orders caused by the recession and global financial crisis. It
> plans to layoff 4,360 employees by Jan. 31, including 820 at the Wichita,
> Kan., plant where all Learjets are assembled.
>
> Boudreau wouldn't say if the order cancellation will force the manufacturer
> to further reduce production rates of the mid-size business plane. A
> decision could be announced at its second-quarter results on Sept. 2.
>
> "At this time there's no decision made so things remain as is. If we do have
> anything to announce, it would be then."
>
> The Jet Republic cancellation marks the second time in about a week that
> Bombardier has taken the dramatic step. It previously cancelled an order for
> 15 remaining CRJ1000s from Italy's My Air, which also faced financial
> problems. The original 2006 order for 19 planes was worth about US$750
> million.
>
> Bombardier has said it expects business jet deliveries will fall 25 percent
> this year. But analysts believe the worsening situation will cause deeper
> production declines, especially in the small cabin Learjets.
>
> Chris Murray of CIBC World Markets has forecast that total deliveries will
> be down 32 percent in fiscal 2010 and another 15 percent in fiscal 2011.
>
> Even though the Jet Republic order was Bombardier's largest for Learjet 60
> XRs, its cancellation will have a smaller impact on Bombardier aerospace's
> backlog, which was US$22.4 billion as of the first quarter, he said.
>
> Murray said Bombardier's decision to cancel the order wasn't a surprise
> because fractional share operators like Jet Republic have been hit hard by
> the economic slowdown as businesses and wealthy individuals have reduced the
> use of private jets.
>
> NetJets last week reported significant losses and has stopped taking new
> aircraft for the foreseeable future from Hawker Beechcraft and Cessna.
>
> "While the cancellation is a negative, we believe Bombardier retains a
> strong backlog that should allow the company to manage through this current
> downturn," he wrote in a report.
>
> Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners said the order cancellation "highlights
> the ongoing difficulties facing the business jet market."
>
> "Given the challenges facing the aerospace segment we expect Bombardier's
> earnings to remain depressed through fiscal 2011," he wrote in a report.
>
> Doerksen added that the Jet Republic cancellation raises questions about
> whether Bombardier will experience further backlog erosion through order
> cancellations.
>
> The analyst this week said Bombardier recently asked suppliers for price
> concessions as it tries to reduce costs.
>
> Bombardier's suppliers are currently delivering fewer parts as the global
> recession saps aircraft demand.
>
> On the Toronto Stock Exchange, Bombardier shares fell to $3.94 in midday
> trading, a drop of 20 cents or nearly five percent.
>
>
> --
> I am using the free version of SPAMfighter.
> We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam.
> SPAMfighter has removed 3401 of my spam emails to date.
> Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len
>
> The Professional version does not have this message
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 11:18:07 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:18:07 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chains You Can Believe In - The Religious
	Left
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908210404s4d2beddcka0be0aabfa370750@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908210404s4d2beddcka0be0aabfa370750@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908210818w636f414ai6dc8fb6ee8ff2c59@mail.gmail.com>

Even more people are having the same reaction -

http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_13172480

Brad

On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> Good Lord I'm confused.  All this time I thought it was the "religious
> right" I was supposed to fear. Whatever happened to those ignoramus's
> "clinging to their guns and religion"? Now it's a good thing? Moses
> isn't around to consult, but I always thought the 9th commandment,
> "thou shalt not bear false witness" had to do with God, not the POTUS.
>  Oh that's right, one and the same. Not to get sidetracked, but for me
> personally, I would have spoken up about year 33 at a town hall
> meeting and said, "Hey Mo!, hows' about we get a GPS, or maybe invent
> the compass or sumpthin', this wondering around the wilderness shit is
> getting really old".  But anyway, here we are in the 21st Century
> looking for wilderness to get lost in - I'm lost already.
>
> Obviously, other people feel the same way -
>
> http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-would-like-you-to-see-government.html
>
> Since religion is now supposed to be our guidepost for health care,
> why not put Rev. Wright in charge of it - that ought to solve the
> problem!
>
> Brad
>

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 12:41:20 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:41:20 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Chains You Can Believe In - The Religious
	Left
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908210818w636f414ai6dc8fb6ee8ff2c59@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908210404s4d2beddcka0be0aabfa370750@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908210818w636f414ai6dc8fb6ee8ff2c59@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908210941t68071cdcl5d93c9d505079854@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

I like this guy. Should be required reading :-)

Rik

___________
http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_13010417
Harsanyi: Presenting new rules for radicals
*By David Harsanyi*<dharsanyi at denverpost.com?subject=The%20Denver%20Post:%20Harsanyi:%20Presenting%20new%20rules%20for%20radicals>
Posted: 08/07/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

If you're a virtuous and patriotic American, you may find this column either
offensive or misleading. If so, please forward it to White House authorities
at the Department of Fishy Activity. (E-mail the good people at
flag at whitehouse.gov.)

As many of you have heard, the White House now requests that the public
tattle on those of us spreading "fishy disinformation" regarding
Washington's proposed takeover . . . oops, I mean "reform" . . . of your
health care. This step, naturally, is for our own good.

Now, don't get overly paranoid, you freaky right-wing zealots. Judging from
the Obama administration's track record, the program will do absolutely
nothing other than add billions to the deficit.

The vital thing to bear in mind, though, is that the nation needs a
concerted plan to corral this wacko "mob" of "thugs" who recklessly use the
First Amendment to decelerate all this forward progress.

We are talking about a moral imperative here. As one senator asserted this
week, passing government-run health care is the "sacred duty" of Congress.
(Boy, it's a good thing we banished all that moral preening from
Washington.)

When your mission is the same as that of the Lord himself, well, you can
imagine the kind of scandalous characters populating the opposition camp. It
is the type of individual that Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
astutely points out has the tendency to carry "swastikas and symbols like
that" to local town hall meetings on health care.

You might be curious to find out what symbols Pelosi believes are "like"
swastikas. Maybe she's referring to the Gadsden flag.

In any event, it's true that people who believe in health-care choices and
free markets are zombies. For one thing, they are entirely too well dressed
to contemplate serious issues independently ? and thank you, California Sen.
Barbara Boxer, for pointing this out. A man without Birkenstocks, after all,
is a man without a soul.

Organizing and protesting, as any sensible and compassionate citizen already
understands, is exclusively the bailiwick of ideologically diverse and
free-thinking groups like unions.

And, really, the most galling aspect of this entire spurious uprising are
the rumors that protesters are actually *organized*. Can you imagine?

The question now becomes: How can we, thinking people, stop this horde of
well-heeled, Nazi-loving, insurance-industry funded (and possibly organized)
robots? What can we do to destroy our health care?

Well, as always, the president has crafted a glorious plan forward. In an
e-mail to the nation, President Barack Obama begins by telling Americans,
"This is the moment our movement was built for."

"That's why Organizing for America is putting together thousands of events
this month," the president goes on, his words stirring even in pixel form,
"where you can reach out to neighbors, show your support, and make certain
your members of Congress know that you're counting on them to act."

Who knew? "Organizing" for America? Movements? Sounds familiar.

For those of you who will gleefully point out the hypocrisy of Democrats
grousing about organized grassroots activism ? whether well-funded or
organic ? you just don't get it. It is imperative that we start thinking
about the world in a counterintuitive way.

In today's world, the "radicals" are the ones who protest the takeover of a
huge swath of the economy by government bureaucrats who have proven they
can't even run a program that gives free money away to car buyers properly.
It is radicals who want to preserve the pillars of a system that over 80
percent of Americans still believe works ? though certainly not perfectly.

In this new world, radicals are the ones who protest adding trillions to our
debt and who have the temerity to ask if legislators have read the bills
they sign. You've seen them. Those radicals who are ranting and raving about
silly things like the Constitution.

So here is a plan. Instead of making the case for health care "reform,"
let's launch an offensive against citizens. Nazis. Fanatics. Mobs. Thugs.
Whatever you call them.

And if you're really patriotic, you can even report them.


On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Even more people are having the same reaction -
>
> http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_13172480
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Good Lord I'm confused.  All this time I thought it was the "religious
> > right" I was supposed to fear. Whatever happened to those ignoramus's
> > "clinging to their guns and religion"? Now it's a good thing? Moses
> > isn't around to consult, but I always thought the 9th commandment,
> > "thou shalt not bear false witness" had to do with God, not the POTUS.
> >  Oh that's right, one and the same. Not to get sidetracked, but for me
> > personally, I would have spoken up about year 33 at a town hall
> > meeting and said, "Hey Mo!, hows' about we get a GPS, or maybe invent
> > the compass or sumpthin', this wondering around the wilderness shit is
> > getting really old".  But anyway, here we are in the 21st Century
> > looking for wilderness to get lost in - I'm lost already.
> >
> > Obviously, other people feel the same way -
> >
> >
> http://althouse.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-would-like-you-to-see-government.html
> >
> > Since religion is now supposed to be our guidepost for health care,
> > why not put Rev. Wright in charge of it - that ought to solve the
> > problem!
> >
> > Brad
> >
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 15:47:42 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:47:42 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Video Without Comment
Message-ID: <400985d70908211247j864b7bar406995ed0c7abba3@mail.gmail.com>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R4KfYuDrvU&feature=player_embedded

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 16:48:13 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:48:13 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Video Without Comment
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908211247j864b7bar406995ed0c7abba3@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211247j864b7bar406995ed0c7abba3@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908211348y6b88b63eud969ac7de37b2e83@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Aaahh ...... that just gets me all wee wee'd up ..... just a second, gotta
wipe a tear.

My god, can you imagine how rich this guy would be if bullshit were
pennies???

Rik

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 2:47 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R4KfYuDrvU&feature=player_embedded
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 17:18:09 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:18:09 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Will Teddy get his way again??
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908211418t250e3cfalab7b8fae8368c8bb@mail.gmail.com>

Good afternoon All

Personally, I'd like to see Massachuesetts without a senator for five months
or so. It would certainly be an improvement over having Ted Kennedy spouting
his usual liberal, self serving crap on us day in and day out.

Ted should have retired months ago, but many folks I know would have been
far happier if he had done it years ago.

Sorry you're not well Teddy, but don't worry, we'll get by just fine without
you .... or yours

Rik

_______________
http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/21/ted-kennedys-last-will-and-tes
Ted Kennedy's Last Will and
Testament<http://spectator.org/archives/2009/08/21/ted-kennedys-last-will-and-tes>

By Daniel J. Flynn <http://spectator.org/people/daniel-j-flynn> on 8.21.09 @
6:09AM

"It is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs
of its citizens and two votes in the Senate in the approximately five months
between a vacancy and an election," an ailing Ted Kennedy wrote the leaders
of the Massachusetts General Court in a letter made public yesterday. "I
therefore am writing to urge you to work together to amend the law through
the normal legislative process to provide for a temporary gubernatorial
appointment until the special election occurs."

Five years ago, with high hopes of electing their junior U.S. senator to the
presidency, the Massachusetts state legislature stripped the governor of the
power to fill senatorial vacancies. Every Democrat voted for the measure.
Then, the governor, Mitt Romney, was a Republican. Now, the governor is a
Democrat.

Welcome to the banana commonwealth of Massachusetts, where more than fifty
years of one-party dominance has fostered a
make-up-the-rules-as-you-go-along mentality among those who make the rules.
Almost a half century ago, in the infancy of the Democrats' Bay State
hegemony, Jack Kennedy maneuvered his baby brother Ted into a Senate seat,
though he had never held a steady paying job (save a stint as an army
private) prior to that point.

After his election to the presidency, John Kennedy refused to resign his
Senate seat until the outgoing governor, a Democrat, agreed to appoint a
seatwarmer senator -- John Kennedy's Harvard roommate -- who would
essentially cede the seat to Ted once he became constitutionally eligible.
President-elect Kennedy threatened to allow the incoming Republican governor
to make the appointment if the outgoing Democrat didn't do his bidding.

With both nephew Joe Kennedy and wife Vicki Kennedy reportedly interested in
the seat, Ted Kennedy seeks to orchestrate for the benefit of his relatives
a repeat performance of the skullduggery that helped make him a senator in
1962. The banana commonwealth way of doing political business a half-century
ago is still the way of doing political business in Massachusetts today. So
is Ted Kennedy's habit of abandoning professed principles for personal
benefit.

Today, Ted Kennedy earns the moniker Senator Abortion. Thirty-four years ago
this month, Kennedy wrote that "the legalization of abortion on demand is
not in accordance with the value which our civilization places on human
life." He added that society has a "responsibility to its children from the
very moment of conception."

"The president is not above the law; he is not King George," Kennedy wrote
of George W. Bush in the *Boston Globe* in 2005. "Yet, with sorrow, we are
now learning that in this great land we have an administration that has
refused to follow well-crafted, longstanding procedures that require the
president to get a court order before spying on people within the United
States. With outrage, we learn that this administration believes that it
does not have to follow the law of the land."

Where was the "outrage" from Ted Kennedy when Attorney General Robert
Kennedy authorized warrantless wiretapping on American citizens during John
Kennedy's Administration? Back then, Ted Kennedy rationalized that the
snooping that his brothers proposed involved "wiretaps which would be in
cases of national security" -- the same argument advanced by "King George"
forty years later.

By the early 1970s, Ted Kennedy claimed that President Richard Nixon
prolonged the Vietnam War to enhance his chances of reelection. When the
Vietnam War became unpopular in Massachusetts, he lamely claimed to have
always opposed it. But in the mid-1960s, when the Vietnam War was still seen
as fulfilling John Kennedy's commitment to containing Communism in Asia, Ted
Kennedy rallied hawks against the war's critics, saying, "I wish they had
raised their voices against Viet Cong terrorism, against Viet Cong murder,
kidnapping, and political assassination." Channeling his inner-Curtis LeMay,
Senator Kennedy argued: "Any facilities in North Vietnam strengthening the
Viet Cong should be bombed."

As on Vietnam, abortion, warrantless wiretapping, and a host of other
issues, Ted Kennedy has found a new position on filling Senate vacancies to
better serve his interests. Brad Jones, Republican leader of the lower house
of the Massachusetts General Court, claimed he was "shocked and appalled by
the blatant hypocrisy being displayed in regards to the potential
replacement of Senator Ted Kennedy." Anyone following the career of Ted
Kennedy might be appalled at this latest instance of hypocrisy. But
"shocked"?

If Ted Kennedy, who has cast ballots on just 3 percent of the votes in the
111th Congress, were really concerned about Massachusetts losing full
representation in the Senate, he would have resigned his seat fifteen months
ago. Instead, the absentee senator's motive, like his brother's almost a
half century ago, is to bequeath a Senate seat belonging to the voters of
Massachusetts to a Kennedy heir. You can't take a Senate seat with you. But
you can will it to your wife or nephew -- at least in Massachusetts.


-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 20:48:34 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 19:48:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
Message-ID: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>

AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.

The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
announcement.

Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
buyers of U.S. debt.

Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
did not ask Congress for that money.

Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
overhauls in health care and the environment.

Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.

Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.

Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
would shrink by 2.2% this year.

In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
$50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.

Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.

Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 21:13:22 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:13:22 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908211813p2983d720scb3da15c87a8c7a5@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Well, we shouldn't be too surprised. these dumbasses couldn't see the
beginning of this thing coming when it was looming over them like a damned
freight train. We sure as hell shouldn't be surprised that they can't tell
it hasn't hit bottom yet.

That's what we get for electing a guy that wouldn't know how to run a hotdog
stand.

Hell, most of his advisers haven't either. Acedemics ..... not of the real
world

Rik

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:48 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
> WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
> over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
> estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
> president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.
>
> The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
> 2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
> estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
> economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
> spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
> announcement.
>
> Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
> But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
> President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
> buyers of U.S. debt.
>
> Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
> deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
> trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
> White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
> the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
> did not ask Congress for that money.
>
> Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
> huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
> overhauls in health care and the environment.
>
> Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
> Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
> he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
> measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
> make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.
>
> Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
> now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
> predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
> shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
>
> Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
> announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
> more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
> earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
> 2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
> would shrink by 2.2% this year.
>
> In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
> manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
> projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
> optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
> $50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.
>
> Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
> cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.
>
> Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
> take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
> Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
> effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
> taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 21:59:22 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:59:22 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908211859h759cd68cyd130409c5dfc4cbc@mail.gmail.com>

One more time - here is the big picture. (attached)

On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
> WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
> over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
> estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
> president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.
>
> The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
> 2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
> estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
> economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
> spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
> announcement.
>
> Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
> But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
> President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
> buyers of U.S. debt.
>
> Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
> deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
> trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
> White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
> the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
> did not ask Congress for that money.
>
> Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
> huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
> overhauls in health care and the environment.
>
> Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
> Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
> he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
> measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
> make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.
>
> Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
> now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
> predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
> shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
>
> Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
> announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
> more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
> earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
> 2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
> would shrink by 2.2% this year.
>
> In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
> manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
> projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
> optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
> $50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.
>
> Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
> cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.
>
> Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
> take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
> Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
> effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
> taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.
>
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 22:10:10 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:10:10 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908211859h759cd68cyd130409c5dfc4cbc@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908211859h759cd68cyd130409c5dfc4cbc@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908211910r533bf429r24c25e089b400e08@mail.gmail.com>

Hey wait!  I just had a great idea!  Let's tax the rich!

http://tinyurl.com/mlcuyt

On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> One more time - here is the big picture. (attached)
>
> On 8/21/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>> AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
>> WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
>> over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
>> estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
>> president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.
>>
>> The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
>> 2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
>> estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
>> economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
>> spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
>> announcement.
>>
>> Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
>> But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
>> President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
>> buyers of U.S. debt.
>>
>> Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
>> deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
>> trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
>> White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
>> the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
>> did not ask Congress for that money.
>>
>> Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
>> huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
>> overhauls in health care and the environment.
>>
>> Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
>> Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
>> he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
>> measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
>> make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.
>>
>> Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
>> now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
>> predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
>> shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
>>
>> Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
>> announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
>> more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
>> earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
>> 2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
>> would shrink by 2.2% this year.
>>
>> In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
>> manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
>> projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
>> optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
>> $50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.
>>
>> Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
>> cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.
>>
>> Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
>> take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
>> Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
>> effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
>> taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.
>>
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Fri Aug 21 22:28:21 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 21:28:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] She Just Won't Keep Her Mouth Shut!
Message-ID: <400985d70908211928l3a4c9193ob623005412b7be08@mail.gmail.com>

She spots, she aims, she shoots!  You Go Girl!

No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform
 Today at 7:03am
President Obama's health care "reform" plan has met with significant
criticism across the country. Many Americans want change and reform in
our current health care system. We recognize that while we have the
greatest medical care in the world, there are major problems that we
must face, especially in terms of reining in costs and allowing care
to be affordable for all. However, as we have seen, current plans
being pushed by the Democratic leadership represent change that may
not be what we had in mind -- change which poses serious ethical
concerns over the government having control over our families? health
care decisions. In addition, the current plans greatly increase costs
of health care, while doing lip service toward controlling costs.

We need to address a REAL bipartisan reform proposition that will have
REAL impacts on costs and quality of patient care.

As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for
frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote
that?). I went my whole life without needing a lawyer on speed-dial,
but all that changes when you become a target for opportunists and
people with no scruples. Our nation?s health care providers have been
the targets of similar opportunists for years, and they too have found
themselves subjected to false, frivolous, and baseless claims. To
quote a former president, ?I feel your pain.?

So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without
tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed
justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care.
As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, ?If Mr. Obama is serious about
lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in
medicine?especially programs like Medicare.? [1] Two examples of these
?economic structures? are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted
on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as ?high health
care costs?) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine.

Dr. Stuart Weinstein, with the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons, recently explained the problem:

?The medical liability crisis has had many unintended consequences,
most notably a decrease in access to care in a growing number of
states and an increase in healthcare costs.
Access is affected as physicians move their practices to states with
lower liability rates and change their practice patterns to reduce or
eliminate high-risk services. When one considers that half of all
neurosurgeons?as well as one third of all orthopedic surgeons, one
third of all emergency physicians, and one third of all trauma
surgeons?are sued each year, is it any wonder that 70 percent of
emergency departments are at risk because they lack available on-call
specialist coverage?? [2]

Dr. Weinstein makes good points, points completely ignored by
President Obama. Dr. Weinstein details the costs that our
out-of-control tort system are causing the health care industry and
notes research that ?found that liability reforms could reduce
defensive medicine practices, leading to a 5 percent to 9 percent
reduction in medical expenditures without any effect on mortality or
medical complications.? Dr. Weinstein writes:

?If the Kessler and McClellan estimates were applied to total U.S.
healthcare spending in 2005, the defensive medicine costs would total
between $100 billion and $178 billion per year. Add to this the cost
of defending malpractice cases, paying compensation, and covering
additional administrative costs (a total of $29.4 billion). Thus, the
average American family pays an additional $1,700 to $2,000 per year
in healthcare costs simply to cover the costs of defensive medicine.
Excessive litigation and waste in the nation?s current tort system
imposes an estimated yearly tort tax of $9,827 for a family of four
and increases healthcare spending in the United States by $124
billion. How does this translate to individuals? The average
obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) delivers 100 babies per year. If
that OB-GYN must pay a medical liability premium of $200,000 each year
(which is the rate in Florida), $2,000 of the delivery cost for each
baby goes to pay the cost of the medical liability premium.? [3]

You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would
include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama?s plan
to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs.

So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why
continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of
dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care
reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?

Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on
lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and
found that one county?s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent,
and another study found a ?55 percent decline? after reform measures
were passed. [4] That?s one step in health care reform. Limiting
lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act,
is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the ?loser pays? rule
in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making
the loser partially pay the winner?s legal bills. Preventing quack
doctors from giving ?expert? testimony in court against real doctors
is another reform.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform
measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas
?skyrocketed by 57 percent? and that the tort reforms ?brought
critical specialties to underserved areas.? These are real reforms
that actually improve access to health care. [5]

Dr. Weinstein?s research shows that around $200 billion per year could
be saved with legal reform. That?s real savings. That?s money that
could be used to build roads, schools, or hospitals.
If you want to save health care, let?s listen to our doctors. There
should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no
true health care reform without legal reform.

- Sarah Palin

[1] See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350370729883030.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
[2] See http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov08/managing7.asp
[3] Id.
[4] See http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/new_laws_and_med_mal_damage_caps_devastate_plaintiff_and_defense_firms_alik/print/
[5] See http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Tort-reform-must-be-part-of-health-care-reform-8096175.html


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 00:26:11 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:26:11 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] She Just Won't Keep Her Mouth Shut!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908211928l3a4c9193ob623005412b7be08@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211928l3a4c9193ob623005412b7be08@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908212126h1097d07byd6cbccb19ba15430@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

WAY too much good sense for an average lib to grasp.

But she's right. screwing around worrying about how we're gonna spread the
cost the way they are now is just treating the symptom. It does nothing to
improve the high cost, which is the core of the problem.

I really agree with her on the loser pays plan. Been saying that for years.
That could be put to good use in far more than just the area of medical
malpractice. We'd see the number of BS lawsuits drop like a rock. Might be
some lawyers looking for jobs as plumbers or truck drivers or some other
useful occupation.

Rik

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:28 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> She spots, she aims, she shoots!  You Go Girl!
>
> No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform
>  Today at 7:03am
> President Obama's health care "reform" plan has met with significant
> criticism across the country. Many Americans want change and reform in
> our current health care system. We recognize that while we have the
> greatest medical care in the world, there are major problems that we
> must face, especially in terms of reining in costs and allowing care
> to be affordable for all. However, as we have seen, current plans
> being pushed by the Democratic leadership represent change that may
> not be what we had in mind -- change which poses serious ethical
> concerns over the government having control over our families? health
> care decisions. In addition, the current plans greatly increase costs
> of health care, while doing lip service toward controlling costs.
>
> We need to address a REAL bipartisan reform proposition that will have
> REAL impacts on costs and quality of patient care.
>
> As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for
> frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote
> that?). I went my whole life without needing a lawyer on speed-dial,
> but all that changes when you become a target for opportunists and
> people with no scruples. Our nation?s health care providers have been
> the targets of similar opportunists for years, and they too have found
> themselves subjected to false, frivolous, and baseless claims. To
> quote a former president, ?I feel your pain.?
>
> So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without
> tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed
> justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care.
> As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, ?If Mr. Obama is serious about
> lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in
> medicine?especially programs like Medicare.? [1] Two examples of these
> ?economic structures? are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted
> on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as ?high health
> care costs?) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine.
>
> Dr. Stuart Weinstein, with the American Academy of Orthopaedic
> Surgeons, recently explained the problem:
>
> ?The medical liability crisis has had many unintended consequences,
> most notably a decrease in access to care in a growing number of
> states and an increase in healthcare costs.
> Access is affected as physicians move their practices to states with
> lower liability rates and change their practice patterns to reduce or
> eliminate high-risk services. When one considers that half of all
> neurosurgeons?as well as one third of all orthopedic surgeons, one
> third of all emergency physicians, and one third of all trauma
> surgeons?are sued each year, is it any wonder that 70 percent of
> emergency departments are at risk because they lack available on-call
> specialist coverage?? [2]
>
> Dr. Weinstein makes good points, points completely ignored by
> President Obama. Dr. Weinstein details the costs that our
> out-of-control tort system are causing the health care industry and
> notes research that ?found that liability reforms could reduce
> defensive medicine practices, leading to a 5 percent to 9 percent
> reduction in medical expenditures without any effect on mortality or
> medical complications.? Dr. Weinstein writes:
>
> ?If the Kessler and McClellan estimates were applied to total U.S.
> healthcare spending in 2005, the defensive medicine costs would total
> between $100 billion and $178 billion per year. Add to this the cost
> of defending malpractice cases, paying compensation, and covering
> additional administrative costs (a total of $29.4 billion). Thus, the
> average American family pays an additional $1,700 to $2,000 per year
> in healthcare costs simply to cover the costs of defensive medicine.
> Excessive litigation and waste in the nation?s current tort system
> imposes an estimated yearly tort tax of $9,827 for a family of four
> and increases healthcare spending in the United States by $124
> billion. How does this translate to individuals? The average
> obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) delivers 100 babies per year. If
> that OB-GYN must pay a medical liability premium of $200,000 each year
> (which is the rate in Florida), $2,000 of the delivery cost for each
> baby goes to pay the cost of the medical liability premium.? [3]
>
> You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would
> include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama?s plan
> to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs.
>
> So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why
> continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of
> dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care
> reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?
>
> Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on
> lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and
> found that one county?s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent,
> and another study found a ?55 percent decline? after reform measures
> were passed. [4] That?s one step in health care reform. Limiting
> lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act,
> is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the ?loser pays? rule
> in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making
> the loser partially pay the winner?s legal bills. Preventing quack
> doctors from giving ?expert? testimony in court against real doctors
> is another reform.
>
> Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform
> measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas
> ?skyrocketed by 57 percent? and that the tort reforms ?brought
> critical specialties to underserved areas.? These are real reforms
> that actually improve access to health care. [5]
>
> Dr. Weinstein?s research shows that around $200 billion per year could
> be saved with legal reform. That?s real savings. That?s money that
> could be used to build roads, schools, or hospitals.
> If you want to save health care, let?s listen to our doctors. There
> should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no
> true health care reform without legal reform.
>
> - Sarah Palin
>
> [1] See
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350370729883030.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
> [2] See http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov08/managing7.asp
> [3] Id.
> [4] See
> http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/new_laws_and_med_mal_damage_caps_devastate_plaintiff_and_defense_firms_alik/print/
> [5] See
> http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Tort-reform-must-be-part-of-health-care-reform-8096175.html
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 08:44:01 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:44:01 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] BIRTH CERTIFICATE FOUND!
Message-ID: <400985d70908220544p5fc468b3t6e1f129898d227c8@mail.gmail.com>

It's about time!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8215112.stm

Brad

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 08:49:34 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:49:34 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] She Just Won't Keep Her Mouth Shut!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908212126h1097d07byd6cbccb19ba15430@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211928l3a4c9193ob623005412b7be08@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908212126h1097d07byd6cbccb19ba15430@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908220549m1196ba4fnff264f5c6ba12902@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

It does make a lot of sense.  The White House can't afford to ignore
private citizen Palin and isn't.

http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/palins-facebook-megaphone-big-and-getting-bigger

Brad

On 8/21/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> WAY too much good sense for an average lib to grasp.
>
> But she's right. screwing around worrying about how we're gonna spread the
> cost the way they are now is just treating the symptom. It does nothing to
> improve the high cost, which is the core of the problem.
>
> I really agree with her on the loser pays plan. Been saying that for years.
> That could be put to good use in far more than just the area of medical
> malpractice. We'd see the number of BS lawsuits drop like a rock. Might be
> some lawyers looking for jobs as plumbers or truck drivers or some other
> useful occupation.
>
> Rik
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 9:28 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> She spots, she aims, she shoots!  You Go Girl!
>>
>> No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform
>>  Today at 7:03am
>> President Obama's health care "reform" plan has met with significant
>> criticism across the country. Many Americans want change and reform in
>> our current health care system. We recognize that while we have the
>> greatest medical care in the world, there are major problems that we
>> must face, especially in terms of reining in costs and allowing care
>> to be affordable for all. However, as we have seen, current plans
>> being pushed by the Democratic leadership represent change that may
>> not be what we had in mind -- change which poses serious ethical
>> concerns over the government having control over our families? health
>> care decisions. In addition, the current plans greatly increase costs
>> of health care, while doing lip service toward controlling costs.
>>
>> We need to address a REAL bipartisan reform proposition that will have
>> REAL impacts on costs and quality of patient care.
>>
>> As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for
>> frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote
>> that?). I went my whole life without needing a lawyer on speed-dial,
>> but all that changes when you become a target for opportunists and
>> people with no scruples. Our nation?s health care providers have been
>> the targets of similar opportunists for years, and they too have found
>> themselves subjected to false, frivolous, and baseless claims. To
>> quote a former president, ?I feel your pain.?
>>
>> So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without
>> tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed
>> justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care.
>> As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, ?If Mr. Obama is serious about
>> lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in
>> medicine?especially programs like Medicare.? [1] Two examples of these
>> ?economic structures? are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted
>> on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as ?high health
>> care costs?) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine.
>>
>> Dr. Stuart Weinstein, with the American Academy of Orthopaedic
>> Surgeons, recently explained the problem:
>>
>> ?The medical liability crisis has had many unintended consequences,
>> most notably a decrease in access to care in a growing number of
>> states and an increase in healthcare costs.
>> Access is affected as physicians move their practices to states with
>> lower liability rates and change their practice patterns to reduce or
>> eliminate high-risk services. When one considers that half of all
>> neurosurgeons?as well as one third of all orthopedic surgeons, one
>> third of all emergency physicians, and one third of all trauma
>> surgeons?are sued each year, is it any wonder that 70 percent of
>> emergency departments are at risk because they lack available on-call
>> specialist coverage?? [2]
>>
>> Dr. Weinstein makes good points, points completely ignored by
>> President Obama. Dr. Weinstein details the costs that our
>> out-of-control tort system are causing the health care industry and
>> notes research that ?found that liability reforms could reduce
>> defensive medicine practices, leading to a 5 percent to 9 percent
>> reduction in medical expenditures without any effect on mortality or
>> medical complications.? Dr. Weinstein writes:
>>
>> ?If the Kessler and McClellan estimates were applied to total U.S.
>> healthcare spending in 2005, the defensive medicine costs would total
>> between $100 billion and $178 billion per year. Add to this the cost
>> of defending malpractice cases, paying compensation, and covering
>> additional administrative costs (a total of $29.4 billion). Thus, the
>> average American family pays an additional $1,700 to $2,000 per year
>> in healthcare costs simply to cover the costs of defensive medicine.
>> Excessive litigation and waste in the nation?s current tort system
>> imposes an estimated yearly tort tax of $9,827 for a family of four
>> and increases healthcare spending in the United States by $124
>> billion. How does this translate to individuals? The average
>> obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) delivers 100 babies per year. If
>> that OB-GYN must pay a medical liability premium of $200,000 each year
>> (which is the rate in Florida), $2,000 of the delivery cost for each
>> baby goes to pay the cost of the medical liability premium.? [3]
>>
>> You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would
>> include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama?s plan
>> to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs.
>>
>> So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why
>> continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of
>> dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care
>> reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients?
>>
>> Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on
>> lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and
>> found that one county?s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent,
>> and another study found a ?55 percent decline? after reform measures
>> were passed. [4] That?s one step in health care reform. Limiting
>> lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act,
>> is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the ?loser pays? rule
>> in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making
>> the loser partially pay the winner?s legal bills. Preventing quack
>> doctors from giving ?expert? testimony in court against real doctors
>> is another reform.
>>
>> Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform
>> measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas
>> ?skyrocketed by 57 percent? and that the tort reforms ?brought
>> critical specialties to underserved areas.? These are real reforms
>> that actually improve access to health care. [5]
>>
>> Dr. Weinstein?s research shows that around $200 billion per year could
>> be saved with legal reform. That?s real savings. That?s money that
>> could be used to build roads, schools, or hospitals.
>> If you want to save health care, let?s listen to our doctors. There
>> should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no
>> true health care reform without legal reform.
>>
>> - Sarah Palin
>>
>> [1] See
>> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350370729883030.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
>> [2] See http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov08/managing7.asp
>> [3] Id.
>> [4] See
>> http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/new_laws_and_med_mal_damage_caps_devastate_plaintiff_and_defense_firms_alik/print/
>> [5] See
>> http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Tort-reform-must-be-part-of-health-care-reform-8096175.html
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From ragdollelle at yahoo.com  Sat Aug 22 10:04:06 2009
From: ragdollelle at yahoo.com (elle)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:04:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
Message-ID: <872526.11477.qm@web111216.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

Hi, guys,
?
This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
?
elle

--- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:


From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM








HSA 8
You don't get much--but it's free!










I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
?
Donna
?
?
Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
http://AnnMeekins.com
?










?











Subject: In God We Trust Poll












Will NBC be surprised??*

Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith in God, as a nation..

NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American currency.

Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this important subject.

Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is still open so you can vote:

CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/?

If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.?

By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.











?



      
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 10:21:54 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:21:54 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <872526.11477.qm@web111216.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
References: <872526.11477.qm@web111216.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908220721o2e94774er2e686a6f61e46a19@mail.gmail.com>

Elle,

So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
leave "In God We Trust" on our money.

That won't please some!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded

BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!

Brad



On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi, guys,
>
> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>
> elle
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HSA 8
> You don't get much--but it's free!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>
> Donna
>
>
> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
> http://AnnMeekins.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Will NBC be surprised??*
>
> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith
> in God, as a nation..
>
> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American
> currency.
>
> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this important
> subject.
>
> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is
> still open so you can vote:
>
> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>
> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>
> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 10:34:28 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:34:28 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908211813p2983d720scb3da15c87a8c7a5@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908211813p2983d720scb3da15c87a8c7a5@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908220734g5f87b772t1e4122c5efa719@mail.gmail.com>

Rik,

Whew!  Seems we were worried for nothing.  Somehow I missed this
article from last February -

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19124.html

Damn, that's a helluva lot better.  HALF!  Man, I was worried there for a bit.

Brad

On 8/21/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Well, we shouldn't be too surprised. these dumbasses couldn't see the
> beginning of this thing coming when it was looming over them like a damned
> freight train. We sure as hell shouldn't be surprised that they can't tell
> it hasn't hit bottom yet.
>
> That's what we get for electing a guy that wouldn't know how to run a hotdog
> stand.
>
> Hell, most of his advisers haven't either. Acedemics ..... not of the real
> world
>
> Rik
>
> On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:48 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
>> WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
>> over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
>> estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
>> president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.
>>
>> The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
>> 2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
>> estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
>> economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
>> spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
>> announcement.
>>
>> Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
>> But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
>> President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
>> buyers of U.S. debt.
>>
>> Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
>> deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
>> trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
>> White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
>> the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
>> did not ask Congress for that money.
>>
>> Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
>> huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
>> overhauls in health care and the environment.
>>
>> Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
>> Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
>> he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
>> measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
>> make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.
>>
>> Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
>> now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
>> predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
>> shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
>>
>> Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
>> announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
>> more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
>> earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
>> 2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
>> would shrink by 2.2% this year.
>>
>> In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
>> manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
>> projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
>> optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
>> $50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.
>>
>> Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
>> cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.
>>
>> Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
>> take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
>> Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
>> effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
>> taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 11:04:18 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:04:18 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Recession Over!
Message-ID: <400985d70908220804i3545be8co5cbf7e4ff0aed8f2@mail.gmail.com>

Well, over for France and Germany -

"Unlike America, France and Germany had no government stimulus worth
speaking of, the Germans declining to go the Obama route on the quaint
grounds that they couldn't afford it."


Friday, August 21, 2009

Mark Steyn: Stimulus hits a pothole And Obamacare can't be
rationalized on economic or medical grounds because it's not about
that. It's about moving America left.

By MARK STEYN
Syndicated columnist

The other day, wending my way from Woodsville, N.H., 40 miles south to
Plymouth, I came across several "stimulus" projects ? every few miles,
and heralded by a two-tone sign, a hitherto rare sight on Granite
State highways. The orange strip at the top said "PUTTING AMERICA BACK
TO WORK" with a silhouette of a man with a shovel, and the green part
underneath informed you that what you were about to see was a "PROJECT
FUNDED BY THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT." There then
followed a few yards of desolate, abandoned scarified pavement,
followed by an "END OF ROAD WORKS" sign, until the next "stimulus"
project a couple of bends down a quiet rural blacktop.

I don't know why one of the least fiscally debauched states in the
Union needs funds from "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" to
repair random stretches of highway, especially stretches that were
perfectly fine until someone came along to dig them up in order to
access "stimulus" funding. I would have asked one of those men with a
shovel, as depicted on the sign. But there were none to be found.
Usually in New Hampshire, they dig up the road, regrade or repave it,
while the flagmen stand guard until it's all done. But here a certain
federal torpor seemed to hang in the eerie silence.

Still, what do I know? Evidently, it's stimulated the sign-making
industry, putting America back to work by putting up "PUTTING AMERICA
BACK TO WORK" signs every 200 yards across the land. And at 300 bucks
a pop the signage alone should be enough to launch an era of
unparalleled prosperity, assuming America's gilded sign magnates don't
spend their newfound wealth on Bahamian vacations and European
imports. Perhaps if the president were to have his All-Seeing O logo
lovingly hand-painted onto each sign, it would stimulate the economy
even more, if only when they were taken down and auctioned on eBay.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, India, China, Japan and much of Continental
Europe the recession has ended. In the second quarter this year, both
the French and German economies grew by 0.3 percent, while the U.S.
economy shrank by 1 percent. How can that be? Unlike America, France
and Germany had no government stimulus worth speaking of, the Germans
declining to go the Obama route on the quaint grounds that they
couldn't afford it. They did not invest in the critical
signage-in-front-of-holes-in-the-road sector. And yet their recession
has gone away. Of the world's biggest economies, only the U.S.,
Britain and Italy are still contracting. All three are big
stimulators, though Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi can't compete
with Obama's $800 billion porkapalooza. The president has borrowed
more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet.

Actually, when I say "to less effect," that's not strictly true: Due
to Obama, one of the least-indebted developed nations is now one of
the most indebted ? and getting ever more so. We've become the third
most debt-ridden country, after Japan and Italy. According to last
month's IMF report, general government debt as a percentage of GDP
will rise from 63 percent in 2007 to 88.8 percent this year and to
99.8 percent of GDP next year.

Of course, the president retains his formidable political skills,
artfully distracting attention from his stimulus debacle with his
health care debacle. But there are diminishing returns to his serial
thousand-page, trillion-dollar boondoggles. They may be too long for
your representatives to bother reading before passing into law, but,
whatever the intricacies of Section 417(a) xii on page 938, people are
beginning to spot what all this stuff has in common: He's spending
your future. And by "future" I don't mean 2070, 2060, 2040, but the
day after tomorrow. Democrats can talk about only raising taxes on
"the rich," but more and more Americans are beginning to figure out
what percentage of them will wind up in "the richest 5 percent" before
this binge is over. According to Gallup, nearly 70 percent of
Americans now expect higher taxes under Obama.

But the silver-tongued salesman sails on. Why be scared of a
government health program? After all, says the president, "Medicare is
a government program that works really well," and if "we're able to
get something right like Medicare," we should have more "confidence"
about being able to do it for everyone.

On the other hand, says the president, Medicare is "unsustainable" and
"running out of money."

By the way, unlike your run-of-the-mill politician's contradictory
statements, these weren't made a year or even a week apart, but during
the same presidential speech in Portsmouth, N.H. At any rate, in order
to "control costs," Obama says we need to introduce a new
trillion-dollar government entitlement. It's a good thing he's the
smartest president of all time and the greatest orator since Socrates
because otherwise one might easily confuse him with some birdbrained
Bush type. But, if we take him at his word, then a trillion-dollar
public expenditure that "controls costs" presumably means he's
planning on reducing private health expenditure ? such as, say, your
insurance plan ? by at least a trillion. Or he'll be raising a
trillion dollars' worth of revenue. Either way, under Obama nothing is
certain but death panels and taxes ? i.e., a vast enervating statism
and the confiscation of the fruits of your labors required to pay for
it.

That's why the "stimulus" flopped. It didn't just fail to stimulate,
it actively deterred stimulation, because it was the first explicit
signal to America and the world that the Democrats' political
priorities overrode everything else. If you're a business owner, why
take on extra employees when cap-and-trade is promising increased
regulatory costs, and health "reform" wants to stick you with an 8
percent tax for not having a company insurance plan? Obama's leviathan
sends a consistent message to business and consumers alike: When he's
spending this crazy, maybe the smart thing for you to do is hunker
down until the dust's settled, and you get a better sense of just how
broke he's going to make you. For this level of "community
organization," there aren't enough of "the rich" to pay for it. That
leaves you.

For Obama, government health care is the fastest way to a permanent
left-of-center political culture in which all elections and most
public discourse will be conducted on Democrat terms. It's no surprise
that the president can't make a coherent economic or medical argument
for Obamacare because that's not what it's about ? and for all his
cool he can't quite disguise that. Apropos a new poll, the Associated
Press reports that Americans "are losing faith in Barack Obama."

"Losing faith"? Oh, no! Fall on your knees and beseech the One: "Give
me a sign, O Lord!"

But he has. They're all along empty highways across rural New
Hampshire: "This Massive Expansion Of Wasteful Statism Brought To You
By Obama Marketing Inc."

?MARK STEYN


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 11:04:21 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:04:21 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] No Shit Sherlock!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220734g5f87b772t1e4122c5efa719@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908211748hd32ecf0u47648118cacc174b@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908211813p2983d720scb3da15c87a8c7a5@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908220734g5f87b772t1e4122c5efa719@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908220804k52d7fa8cyd283ad661212acc6@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

What was I saying earlier about if bullshit were pennies???

" will be ?honest in its accounting.?"

Please .... ANYBODY ..... point out to me one thing this admin has promised
that has actually been fulfilled

Can we fire a president??? I don't suppose. But I reckon we will probably
live long enough to wish we could!!

Rik

On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 9:34 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rik,
>
> Whew!  Seems we were worried for nothing.  Somehow I missed this
> article from last February -
>
> http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19124.html
>
> Damn, that's a helluva lot better.  HALF!  Man, I was worried there for a
> bit.
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/21/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Brad,
> >
> > Well, we shouldn't be too surprised. these dumbasses couldn't see the
> > beginning of this thing coming when it was looming over them like a
> damned
> > freight train. We sure as hell shouldn't be surprised that they can't
> tell
> > it hasn't hit bottom yet.
> >
> > That's what we get for electing a guy that wouldn't know how to run a
> hotdog
> > stand.
> >
> > Hell, most of his advisers haven't either. Acedemics ..... not of the
> real
> > world
> >
> > Rik
> >
> > On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:48 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> AP sources: $2 trillion higher deficit projected
> >> WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Obama administration expects the federal deficit
> >> over the next decade to be $2 trillion bigger than previously
> >> estimated, White House officials said Friday, a setback for a
> >> president already facing a Congress and public wary over spending.
> >>
> >> The new projection, to be announced on Tuesday, is for a cumulative
> >> 2010-2019 deficit of $9 trillion instead of the $7 trillion previously
> >> estimated. The new figure reflects slumping revenues from a worse
> >> economic picture than was expected earlier this year. The officials
> >> spoke only on the condition of anonymity ahead of next week's
> >> announcement.
> >>
> >> Ten-year forecasts are volatile figures subject to change over time.
> >> But the higher number will likely create political difficulties for
> >> President Obama in Congress and could create anxiety with foreign
> >> buyers of U.S. debt.
> >>
> >> Earlier this week, the White House revealed that it expects a budget
> >> deficit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 to be nearly $1.6
> >> trillion. That figure was lower than initially projected because the
> >> White House scratched out $250 billion that it had initially added to
> >> the budget as a bank rescue contingency. The administration ultimately
> >> did not ask Congress for that money.
> >>
> >> Still that number, together with the 10-year projection, represents a
> >> huge obstacle for an administration trying to undertake massive policy
> >> overhauls in health care and the environment.
> >>
> >> Economists predict a slow recovery from the recession, further testing
> >> Obama's goal of cutting the deficit to $512 billion in 2013. Even as
> >> he seeks higher revenues to pay for new climate change and health care
> >> measures, the president could face pressure to increase revenues or
> >> make deep spending cuts to tame the deficit.
> >>
> >> Earlier long-term estimates released in February and May relied on
> >> now-outdated projections of economic growth. Then, the White House
> >> predicted the economy would shrink by 1.2% this year, but the economy
> >> shrank 6.4% in the first quarter, the worst in nearly three decades.
> >>
> >> Both the White House and the Congressional Budget Office scheduled
> >> announcements for Tuesday on their new budget estimates. Relying on
> >> more pessimistic economic projections than the White House, the CBO
> >> earlier this year predicted deficits totaling $9.1 trillion over
> >> 2010-19. Those predictions were based on expectations that the economy
> >> would shrink by 2.2% this year.
> >>
> >> In its earlier projections, the White House said the deficit would be
> >> manageable if it slides to 3% of gross domestic product. Earlier
> >> projections barely met that standard ? even after relying on
> >> optimistic assumptions like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan costing
> >> $50 billion a year instead of the $130 billion budgeted for 2010.
> >>
> >> Now, the deficits could easily exceed 4% of GDP, even after
> >> cost-cutting efforts or new revenues claimed in Obama's budget.
> >>
> >> Such deficits have always prompted Congress and the White House to
> >> take politically painful steps to curb them, such as former President
> >> Bill Clinton's tax-heavy 1993 deficit reduction plan. A companion
> >> effort by Obama could force him to break his promise to not raise
> >> taxes on individuals making less than $200,000 a year.
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> >> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> >>
> >>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little
> know-it-all
> > sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing
> is
> > actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From ragdollelle at yahoo.com  Sat Aug 22 11:06:48 2009
From: ragdollelle at yahoo.com (elle)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:06:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220721o2e94774er2e686a6f61e46a19@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <286346.57605.qm@web111214.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to remake my country. 
?
I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political situation does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
?
A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that 'well, of? course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's now....." 
?
?Something tells me that the 60's were? just practice.....
?
Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
?
elle

--- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM


Elle,

So nice to hear from you!? I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
leave "In God We Trust" on our money.

That won't please some!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded

BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
as Deuchland Uber Alles.? You can't make shit like this up!

Brad



On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi, guys,
>
> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>
> elle
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HSA 8
> You don't get much--but it's free!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>
> Donna
>
>
> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
> http://AnnMeekins.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Will NBC be surprised??*
>
> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our faith
> in God, as a nation..
>
> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our American
> currency.
>
> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this important
> subject.
>
> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is
> still open so you can vote:
>
> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>
> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>
> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette



      
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 11:25:58 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:25:58 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220721o2e94774er2e686a6f61e46a19@mail.gmail.com>
References: <872526.11477.qm@web111216.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
	<400985d70908220721o2e94774er2e686a6f61e46a19@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908220825v3a268807w45ee998a3f8c07b8@mail.gmail.com>

Elle, Brad,

Good to see you Elle.

I wonder if all of us 88% should arrange to stay indoors for a couple of
days and do nothing. Let them get by without us for a little bit .... if
they can. That might drive home a message.... a much needed wake up call.

Rik

On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 9:21 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Elle,
>
> So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>
> That won't please some!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>
> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
> as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Hi, guys,
> >
> > This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
> >
> > elle
> >
> > --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
> > Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> > To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
> > Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > HSA 8
> > You don't get much--but it's free!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
> >
> > Donna
> >
> >
> > Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
> > Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
> > Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
> > Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
> > http://AnnMeekins.com
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Subject: In God We Trust Poll
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Will NBC be surprised??*
> >
> > Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
> faith
> > in God, as a nation..
> >
> > NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
> American
> > currency.
> >
> > Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
> important
> > subject.
> >
> > Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll
> is
> > still open so you can vote:
> >
> > CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
> >
> > http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
> >
> > If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
> >
> > By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
> > I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 11:28:05 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:28:05 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <286346.57605.qm@web111214.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
References: <400985d70908220721o2e94774er2e686a6f61e46a19@mail.gmail.com>
	<286346.57605.qm@web111214.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908220828i5c5766aas5e0ab1a0beeb6eec@mail.gmail.com>

Elle,

As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
organized but has overwhelming numbers.  The town hall meetings are
announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
their finest shorts and baseball caps.  The 'Tea Party' movement has
no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
get bigger with each passing month.  You'll have to do some snooping
around in your local area to find one.  There are no secret handshakes
or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.

What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
in a million is able to diagnose.?

Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
they are not) we simply can't afford them.

Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!

Brad


On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually
> do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
> remake my country.
>
> I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political situation
> does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that
> this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
> away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
> frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
>
> A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that 'well,
> of  course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
> same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
> now....."
>
>  Something tells me that the 60's were  just practice.....
>
> Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
>
> elle
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>
> That won't please some!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>
> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
> as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Hi, guys,
>>
>> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>>
>> elle
>>
>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> HSA 8
>> You don't get much--but it's free!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>>
>> Donna
>>
>>
>> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
>> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
>> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
>> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
>> http://AnnMeekins.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Will NBC be surprised??*
>>
>> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
>> faith
>> in God, as a nation..
>>
>> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
>> American
>> currency.
>>
>> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
>> important
>> subject.
>>
>> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is
>> still open so you can vote:
>>
>> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>>
>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>>
>> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>>
>> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
>> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
>


From ragdollelle at yahoo.com  Sat Aug 22 11:30:12 2009
From: ragdollelle at yahoo.com (elle)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:30:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Recession Over!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220804i3545be8co5cbf7e4ff0aed8f2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <219677.72514.qm@web111213.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

OMG!
?
We have several of these 'repavings to nowhere' right here in VA's Northern Neck...while stretches of I-295 around richmond have potholes that can swallow my car. 
?
Yout tax dollars at work.
elle

--- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Recession Over!
To: "Letters to the Editor" <swiftwatergazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com>
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:04 AM


Well, over for France and Germany -

"Unlike America, France and Germany had no government stimulus worth
speaking of, the Germans declining to go the Obama route on the quaint
grounds that they couldn't afford it."


Friday, August 21, 2009

Mark Steyn: Stimulus hits a pothole And Obamacare can't be
rationalized on economic or medical grounds because it's not about
that. It's about moving America left.

By MARK STEYN
Syndicated columnist

The other day, wending my way from Woodsville, N.H., 40 miles south to
Plymouth, I came across several "stimulus" projects ? every few miles,
and heralded by a two-tone sign, a hitherto rare sight on Granite
State highways. The orange strip at the top said "PUTTING AMERICA BACK
TO WORK" with a silhouette of a man with a shovel, and the green part
underneath informed you that what you were about to see was a "PROJECT
FUNDED BY THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT." There then
followed a few yards of desolate, abandoned scarified pavement,
followed by an "END OF ROAD WORKS" sign, until the next "stimulus"
project a couple of bends down a quiet rural blacktop.

I don't know why one of the least fiscally debauched states in the
Union needs funds from "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" to
repair random stretches of highway, especially stretches that were
perfectly fine until someone came along to dig them up in order to
access "stimulus" funding. I would have asked one of those men with a
shovel, as depicted on the sign. But there were none to be found.
Usually in New Hampshire, they dig up the road, regrade or repave it,
while the flagmen stand guard until it's all done. But here a certain
federal torpor seemed to hang in the eerie silence.

Still, what do I know? Evidently, it's stimulated the sign-making
industry, putting America back to work by putting up "PUTTING AMERICA
BACK TO WORK" signs every 200 yards across the land. And at 300 bucks
a pop the signage alone should be enough to launch an era of
unparalleled prosperity, assuming America's gilded sign magnates don't
spend their newfound wealth on Bahamian vacations and European
imports. Perhaps if the president were to have his All-Seeing O logo
lovingly hand-painted onto each sign, it would stimulate the economy
even more, if only when they were taken down and auctioned on eBay.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, India, China, Japan and much of Continental
Europe the recession has ended. In the second quarter this year, both
the French and German economies grew by 0.3 percent, while the U.S.
economy shrank by 1 percent. How can that be? Unlike America, France
and Germany had no government stimulus worth speaking of, the Germans
declining to go the Obama route on the quaint grounds that they
couldn't afford it. They did not invest in the critical
signage-in-front-of-holes-in-the-road sector. And yet their recession
has gone away. Of the world's biggest economies, only the U.S.,
Britain and Italy are still contracting. All three are big
stimulators, though Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi can't compete
with Obama's $800 billion porkapalooza. The president has borrowed
more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet.

Actually, when I say "to less effect," that's not strictly true: Due
to Obama, one of the least-indebted developed nations is now one of
the most indebted ? and getting ever more so. We've become the third
most debt-ridden country, after Japan and Italy. According to last
month's IMF report, general government debt as a percentage of GDP
will rise from 63 percent in 2007 to 88.8 percent this year and to
99.8 percent of GDP next year.

Of course, the president retains his formidable political skills,
artfully distracting attention from his stimulus debacle with his
health care debacle. But there are diminishing returns to his serial
thousand-page, trillion-dollar boondoggles. They may be too long for
your representatives to bother reading before passing into law, but,
whatever the intricacies of Section 417(a) xii on page 938, people are
beginning to spot what all this stuff has in common: He's spending
your future. And by "future" I don't mean 2070, 2060, 2040, but the
day after tomorrow. Democrats can talk about only raising taxes on
"the rich," but more and more Americans are beginning to figure out
what percentage of them will wind up in "the richest 5 percent" before
this binge is over. According to Gallup, nearly 70 percent of
Americans now expect higher taxes under Obama.

But the silver-tongued salesman sails on. Why be scared of a
government health program? After all, says the president, "Medicare is
a government program that works really well," and if "we're able to
get something right like Medicare," we should have more "confidence"
about being able to do it for everyone.

On the other hand, says the president, Medicare is "unsustainable" and
"running out of money."

By the way, unlike your run-of-the-mill politician's contradictory
statements, these weren't made a year or even a week apart, but during
the same presidential speech in Portsmouth, N.H. At any rate, in order
to "control costs," Obama says we need to introduce a new
trillion-dollar government entitlement. It's a good thing he's the
smartest president of all time and the greatest orator since Socrates
because otherwise one might easily confuse him with some birdbrained
Bush type. But, if we take him at his word, then a trillion-dollar
public expenditure that "controls costs" presumably means he's
planning on reducing private health expenditure ? such as, say, your
insurance plan ? by at least a trillion. Or he'll be raising a
trillion dollars' worth of revenue. Either way, under Obama nothing is
certain but death panels and taxes ? i.e., a vast enervating statism
and the confiscation of the fruits of your labors required to pay for
it.

That's why the "stimulus" flopped. It didn't just fail to stimulate,
it actively deterred stimulation, because it was the first explicit
signal to America and the world that the Democrats' political
priorities overrode everything else. If you're a business owner, why
take on extra employees when cap-and-trade is promising increased
regulatory costs, and health "reform" wants to stick you with an 8
percent tax for not having a company insurance plan? Obama's leviathan
sends a consistent message to business and consumers alike: When he's
spending this crazy, maybe the smart thing for you to do is hunker
down until the dust's settled, and you get a better sense of just how
broke he's going to make you. For this level of "community
organization," there aren't enough of "the rich" to pay for it. That
leaves you.

For Obama, government health care is the fastest way to a permanent
left-of-center political culture in which all elections and most
public discourse will be conducted on Democrat terms. It's no surprise
that the president can't make a coherent economic or medical argument
for Obamacare because that's not what it's about ? and for all his
cool he can't quite disguise that. Apropos a new poll, the Associated
Press reports that Americans "are losing faith in Barack Obama."

"Losing faith"? Oh, no! Fall on your knees and beseech the One: "Give
me a sign, O Lord!"

But he has. They're all along empty highways across rural New
Hampshire: "This Massive Expansion Of Wasteful Statism Brought To You
By Obama Marketing Inc."

?MARK STEYN

_______________________________________________
SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette



      
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From ragdollelle at yahoo.com  Sat Aug 22 11:40:39 2009
From: ragdollelle at yahoo.com (elle)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 08:40:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220828i5c5766aas5e0ab1a0beeb6eec@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

Brad,
?
Actually one of the earliest Tea Parties was organized right here in Heathsville, Va....just down the road apiece from my home...BTW...with the Northern Neck's rich history of birthing founding Fathers, these folks 'don't take no sh-t from nobody.'
?
But I do have a question...my BF & I keep up w/all this on fox ...and in response to my comments that these folks (O.MAN, axelrod, Acorn, etc....) want to destroy our country...his question is to me is, Why ? What good is it to them then? 
?
I cannot answer that....
?
Why? Is the ideological battle so important that it supersedes keeping our economy robust?
?
?
elle
?
?
--- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:28 AM


Elle,

As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
organized but has overwhelming numbers.? The town hall meetings are
announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
their finest shorts and baseball caps.? The 'Tea Party' movement has
no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
get bigger with each passing month.? You'll have to do some snooping
around in your local area to find one.? There are no secret handshakes
or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.

What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
in a million is able to diagnose.?

Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
they are not) we simply can't afford them.

Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!

Brad


On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually
> do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
> remake my country.
>
> I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political situation
> does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that
> this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
> away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
> frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
>
> A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that 'well,
> of? course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
> same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
> now....."
>
>? Something tells me that the 60's were? just practice.....
>
> Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
>
> elle
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> So nice to hear from you!? I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>
> That won't please some!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>
> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
> as Deuchland Uber Alles.? You can't make shit like this up!
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Hi, guys,
>>
>> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>>
>> elle
>>
>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> HSA 8
>> You don't get much--but it's free!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>>
>> Donna
>>
>>
>> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
>> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
>> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
>> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
>> http://AnnMeekins.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Will NBC be surprised??*
>>
>> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
>> faith
>> in God, as a nation..
>>
>> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
>> American
>> currency.
>>
>> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
>> important
>> subject.
>>
>> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is
>> still open so you can vote:
>>
>> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>>
>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>>
>> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>>
>> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
>> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
>

_______________________________________________
SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette



      
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From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 11:51:00 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:51:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Recession Over!
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908220804i3545be8co5cbf7e4ff0aed8f2@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908220804i3545be8co5cbf7e4ff0aed8f2@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908220851y68dc66acs2f89fe4e8c77af6e@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

But, you see, France and Germany being members of the EU don't get to just
print money and throw it around like confetti. They have to run their
finances the rest of us quaint citizens. Got too much debt??? slow down the
spending .... What a concept.

I wish I had all the money they pissed away on those stupid signs. I
wouldn't have a care in the world. Hell, you could come and move in with us,
there'd be plenty for all of us. This just might be the longest campaign in
history. The PR just never seems to end. It would be a hell of an
improvement if he'd finally break his arm while patting himself on the back.

Rik


On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 10:04 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Well, over for France and Germany -
>
> "Unlike America, France and Germany had no government stimulus worth
> speaking of, the Germans declining to go the Obama route on the quaint
> grounds that they couldn't afford it."
>
>
> Friday, August 21, 2009
>
> Mark Steyn: Stimulus hits a pothole And Obamacare can't be
> rationalized on economic or medical grounds because it's not about
> that. It's about moving America left.
>
> By MARK STEYN
> Syndicated columnist
>
> The other day, wending my way from Woodsville, N.H., 40 miles south to
> Plymouth, I came across several "stimulus" projects ? every few miles,
> and heralded by a two-tone sign, a hitherto rare sight on Granite
> State highways. The orange strip at the top said "PUTTING AMERICA BACK
> TO WORK" with a silhouette of a man with a shovel, and the green part
> underneath informed you that what you were about to see was a "PROJECT
> FUNDED BY THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT." There then
> followed a few yards of desolate, abandoned scarified pavement,
> followed by an "END OF ROAD WORKS" sign, until the next "stimulus"
> project a couple of bends down a quiet rural blacktop.
>
> I don't know why one of the least fiscally debauched states in the
> Union needs funds from "the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" to
> repair random stretches of highway, especially stretches that were
> perfectly fine until someone came along to dig them up in order to
> access "stimulus" funding. I would have asked one of those men with a
> shovel, as depicted on the sign. But there were none to be found.
> Usually in New Hampshire, they dig up the road, regrade or repave it,
> while the flagmen stand guard until it's all done. But here a certain
> federal torpor seemed to hang in the eerie silence.
>
> Still, what do I know? Evidently, it's stimulated the sign-making
> industry, putting America back to work by putting up "PUTTING AMERICA
> BACK TO WORK" signs every 200 yards across the land. And at 300 bucks
> a pop the signage alone should be enough to launch an era of
> unparalleled prosperity, assuming America's gilded sign magnates don't
> spend their newfound wealth on Bahamian vacations and European
> imports. Perhaps if the president were to have his All-Seeing O logo
> lovingly hand-painted onto each sign, it would stimulate the economy
> even more, if only when they were taken down and auctioned on eBay.
>
> Meanwhile, in Brazil, India, China, Japan and much of Continental
> Europe the recession has ended. In the second quarter this year, both
> the French and German economies grew by 0.3 percent, while the U.S.
> economy shrank by 1 percent. How can that be? Unlike America, France
> and Germany had no government stimulus worth speaking of, the Germans
> declining to go the Obama route on the quaint grounds that they
> couldn't afford it. They did not invest in the critical
> signage-in-front-of-holes-in-the-road sector. And yet their recession
> has gone away. Of the world's biggest economies, only the U.S.,
> Britain and Italy are still contracting. All three are big
> stimulators, though Gordon Brown and Silvio Berlusconi can't compete
> with Obama's $800 billion porkapalooza. The president has borrowed
> more money to spend to less effect than anybody on the planet.
>
> Actually, when I say "to less effect," that's not strictly true: Due
> to Obama, one of the least-indebted developed nations is now one of
> the most indebted ? and getting ever more so. We've become the third
> most debt-ridden country, after Japan and Italy. According to last
> month's IMF report, general government debt as a percentage of GDP
> will rise from 63 percent in 2007 to 88.8 percent this year and to
> 99.8 percent of GDP next year.
>
> Of course, the president retains his formidable political skills,
> artfully distracting attention from his stimulus debacle with his
> health care debacle. But there are diminishing returns to his serial
> thousand-page, trillion-dollar boondoggles. They may be too long for
> your representatives to bother reading before passing into law, but,
> whatever the intricacies of Section 417(a) xii on page 938, people are
> beginning to spot what all this stuff has in common: He's spending
> your future. And by "future" I don't mean 2070, 2060, 2040, but the
> day after tomorrow. Democrats can talk about only raising taxes on
> "the rich," but more and more Americans are beginning to figure out
> what percentage of them will wind up in "the richest 5 percent" before
> this binge is over. According to Gallup, nearly 70 percent of
> Americans now expect higher taxes under Obama.
>
> But the silver-tongued salesman sails on. Why be scared of a
> government health program? After all, says the president, "Medicare is
> a government program that works really well," and if "we're able to
> get something right like Medicare," we should have more "confidence"
> about being able to do it for everyone.
>
> On the other hand, says the president, Medicare is "unsustainable" and
> "running out of money."
>
> By the way, unlike your run-of-the-mill politician's contradictory
> statements, these weren't made a year or even a week apart, but during
> the same presidential speech in Portsmouth, N.H. At any rate, in order
> to "control costs," Obama says we need to introduce a new
> trillion-dollar government entitlement. It's a good thing he's the
> smartest president of all time and the greatest orator since Socrates
> because otherwise one might easily confuse him with some birdbrained
> Bush type. But, if we take him at his word, then a trillion-dollar
> public expenditure that "controls costs" presumably means he's
> planning on reducing private health expenditure ? such as, say, your
> insurance plan ? by at least a trillion. Or he'll be raising a
> trillion dollars' worth of revenue. Either way, under Obama nothing is
> certain but death panels and taxes ? i.e., a vast enervating statism
> and the confiscation of the fruits of your labors required to pay for
> it.
>
> That's why the "stimulus" flopped. It didn't just fail to stimulate,
> it actively deterred stimulation, because it was the first explicit
> signal to America and the world that the Democrats' political
> priorities overrode everything else. If you're a business owner, why
> take on extra employees when cap-and-trade is promising increased
> regulatory costs, and health "reform" wants to stick you with an 8
> percent tax for not having a company insurance plan? Obama's leviathan
> sends a consistent message to business and consumers alike: When he's
> spending this crazy, maybe the smart thing for you to do is hunker
> down until the dust's settled, and you get a better sense of just how
> broke he's going to make you. For this level of "community
> organization," there aren't enough of "the rich" to pay for it. That
> leaves you.
>
> For Obama, government health care is the fastest way to a permanent
> left-of-center political culture in which all elections and most
> public discourse will be conducted on Democrat terms. It's no surprise
> that the president can't make a coherent economic or medical argument
> for Obamacare because that's not what it's about ? and for all his
> cool he can't quite disguise that. Apropos a new poll, the Associated
> Press reports that Americans "are losing faith in Barack Obama."
>
> "Losing faith"? Oh, no! Fall on your knees and beseech the One: "Give
> me a sign, O Lord!"
>
> But he has. They're all along empty highways across rural New
> Hampshire: "This Massive Expansion Of Wasteful Statism Brought To You
> By Obama Marketing Inc."
>
> ?MARK STEYN
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 12:00:00 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
References: <400985d70908220828i5c5766aas5e0ab1a0beeb6eec@mail.gmail.com>
	<867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908220900t4f1c225dj9b5025067bb4f506@mail.gmail.com>

Elle,

That's an excellent question! Let me suggest reading the book "Liberal
Fascism" by Jonah Goldberg (downloaded on my new Kindle - you gotta
get one). The concept of "Heaven on Earth" is one of those ideas that
just won't go away, and every generation a new group of 'apostles' and
a new 'Dear Leader' appears.  People like the O, Axlerod, Emmanuel, et
al, are driven by power more than money.  But they make a lot of money
as well. These people are insulated from the damage they do. Another
great read is "Liberty and Tyranny" by Mark Levin.  Levin has a
fantastic radio show broadcast late afternoons on satellite radio.

I'm very critical of all MSM news sources, Fox included. You can stay
at least a day ahead of the news cycles by reading blogs but you have
to sort through them with a critical eye for prejudice. It's time
consuming and I'm starting Boeing 777 school next week, so someone
else will have to keep me up to date. We are in the midst of the most
important ideological battle of our lifetime.

We have yet begun the fight!

Brad

On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Actually one of the earliest Tea Parties was organized right here in
> Heathsville, Va....just down the road apiece from my home...BTW...with the
> Northern Neck's rich history of birthing founding Fathers, these folks
> 'don't take no sh-t from nobody.'
>
> But I do have a question...my BF & I keep up w/all this on fox ...and in
> response to my comments that these folks (O.MAN, axelrod, Acorn, etc....)
> want to destroy our country...his question is to me is, Why ? What good is
> it to them then?
>
> I cannot answer that....
>
> Why? Is the ideological battle so important that it supersedes keeping our
> economy robust?
>
>
> elle
>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:28 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
> organized but has overwhelming numbers.  The town hall meetings are
> announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
> their finest shorts and baseball caps.  The 'Tea Party' movement has
> no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
> get bigger with each passing month.  You'll have to do some snooping
> around in your local area to find one.  There are no secret handshakes
> or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
> ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.
>
> What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
> inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
> a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
> secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
> citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
> on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
> in a million is able to diagnose.?
>
> Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
> they are not) we simply can't afford them.
>
> Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually
>> do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
>> remake my country.
>>
>> I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political
>> situation
>> does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that
>> this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
>> away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
>> frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
>>
>> A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that
>> 'well,
>> of  course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
>> same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
>> now....."
>>
>>  Something tells me that the 60's were  just practice.....
>>
>> Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
>>
>> elle
>>
>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
>>
>>
>> Elle,
>>
>> So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
>> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>>
>> That won't please some!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
>> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
>> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
>> as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> Hi, guys,
>>>
>>> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>>>
>>> elle
>>>
>>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
>>> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>>> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
>>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> HSA 8
>>> You don't get much--but it's free!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>>>
>>> Donna
>>>
>>>
>>> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
>>> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
>>> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
>>> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
>>> http://AnnMeekins.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Will NBC be surprised??*
>>>
>>> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
>>> faith
>>> in God, as a nation..
>>>
>>> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
>>> American
>>> currency.
>>>
>>> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
>>> important
>>> subject.
>>>
>>> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll
>>> is
>>> still open so you can vote:
>>>
>>> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>>>
>>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>>>
>>> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>>>
>>> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
>>> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 12:06:58 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 11:06:58 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
References: <400985d70908220828i5c5766aas5e0ab1a0beeb6eec@mail.gmail.com>
	<867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908220906r3d385adem5a69f6b279edc3ca@mail.gmail.com>

Elle,

It's about gaining and keeping control. If enough of the voters become
dependents, then it's likely they will feel the need to see that their
provider remains in place.

Let's face it, there's an awful lot of people out there anymore who wouldn't
know how to get by without help from the gov't.

Rik

On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Brad,
>
> Actually one of the earliest Tea Parties was organized right here in
> Heathsville, Va....just down the road apiece from my home...BTW...with the
> Northern Neck's rich history of birthing founding Fathers, these folks
> 'don't take no sh-t from nobody.'
>
> But I do have a question...my BF & I keep up w/all this on fox ...and in
> response to my comments that these folks (O.MAN, axelrod, Acorn, etc....)
> want to destroy our country...his question is to me is, Why ? What good is
> it to them then?
>
> I cannot answer that....
>
> Why? Is the ideological battle so important that it supersedes keeping our
> economy robust?
>
>
> elle
>
>
> --- On *Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:28 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
> organized but has overwhelming numbers.  The town hall meetings are
> announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
> their finest shorts and baseball caps.  The 'Tea Party' movement has
> no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
> get bigger with each passing month.  You'll have to do some snooping
> around in your local area to find one.  There are no secret handshakes
> or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
> ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.
>
> What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
> inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
> a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
> secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
> citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
> on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
> in a million is able to diagnose.?
>
> Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
> they are not) we simply can't afford them.
>
> Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ragdollelle at yahoo.com>>
> wrote:
> > Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't
> usually
> > do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
> > remake my country.
> >
> > I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political
> situation
> > does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe
> that
> > this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
> > away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
> > frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
> >
> > A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that
> 'well,
> > of  course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
> > same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
> > now....."
> >
> >  Something tells me that the 60's were  just practice.....
> >
> > Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
> >
> > elle
> >
> > --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=flybrad at gmail.com>>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=flybrad at gmail.com>
> >
> > Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> > To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com>
> > Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
> >
> >
> > Elle,
> >
> > So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
> > leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
> >
> > That won't please some!
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
> >
> > BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
> > for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
> > them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
> > as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!
> >
> > Brad
> >
> >
> >
> > On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ragdollelle at yahoo.com>>
> wrote:
> >> Hi, guys,
> >>
> >> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
> >>
> >> elle
> >>
> >> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=windlass at yahoo.com>>
> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=windlass at yahoo.com>
> >
> >> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> >> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=ragdollelle at yahoo.com>
> >> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> HSA 8
> >> You don't get much--but it's free!
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
> >>
> >> Donna
> >>
> >>
> >> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
> >> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
> >> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
> >> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com>
> >> http://AnnMeekins.com <http://annmeekins.com/>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Will NBC be surprised??*
> >>
> >> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
> >> faith
> >> in God, as a nation..
> >>
> >> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
> >> American
> >> currency.
> >>
> >> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
> >> important
> >> subject.
> >>
> >> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll
> is
> >> still open so you can vote:
> >>
> >> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
> >>
> >> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
> >>
> >> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
> >>
> >> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
> >> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> > SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com>
> >
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com<http://us.mc1112.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com>
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>


-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
-------------- next part --------------
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From ragdollelle at yahoo.com  Sat Aug 22 12:55:02 2009
From: ragdollelle at yahoo.com (elle)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:55:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908220906r3d385adem5a69f6b279edc3ca@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <681138.24836.qm@web111211.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>

>Let's face it, there's an awful lot of people out there anymore who wouldn't know how to >get by without help from the gov't.
?
Are you ever so right....down here we have 'help wanted' signs everywhere...and loads of folks on the dole....dont'cha love the guy who had the cahunas to say that some people don't have insurance because they'd rather buy stuff...(was it rims for their cars??). That's the situation here...you'll see a POS gov't trailer w/the Escalade out front....
?
?
What GALLS me is their saying that they're gonna pass the health stuff no matter what the voters think..(or words to that effect).....?if they get more of their claws in w/the health care push...think of the info they will have at their fingertips...
?
I don't get involved in politics but I'm madder 'n hell and not going to take this?shoved down my throat....and?you KNOW there is more to it than Obammy's ?'concern' for the uninsured, 'cause if that were the motivation he would address just that segment.....and BTW...they haven't got the numbers right yet....
?
OK..I'll sit back & read....y'all have probably already discussed this so I will go back several weeks & catch up...at least until my BP starts to rise...
?
;^)
?
elle

--- On Sat, 8/22/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 12:06 PM


Elle,

It's about gaining and keeping control. If enough of the voters become dependents, then it's likely they will feel the need to see that their provider remains in place.

Let's face it, there's an awful lot of people out there anymore who wouldn't know how to get by without help from the gov't.

Rik


On Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:






Brad,
?
Actually one of the earliest Tea Parties was organized right here in Heathsville, Va....just down the road apiece from my home...BTW...with the Northern Neck's rich history of birthing founding Fathers, these folks 'don't take no sh-t from nobody.'
?
But I do have a question...my BF & I keep up w/all this on fox ...and in response to my comments that these folks (O.MAN, axelrod, Acorn, etc....) want to destroy our country...his question is to me is, Why ? What good is it to them then? 
?
I cannot answer that....
?
Why? Is the ideological battle so important that it supersedes keeping our economy robust?

?
?
elle
?
?
--- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:



From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:28 AM





Elle,

As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
organized but has overwhelming numbers.? The town hall meetings are
announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
their finest shorts and baseball caps.? The 'Tea Party' movement has
no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
get bigger with each passing month.? You'll have to do some snooping
around in your local area to find one.? There are no secret handshakes
or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.

What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
in a million is able to diagnose.?

Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
they are not) we simply can't afford them.

Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!

Brad


On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually
> do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
> remake my country.
>
> I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political situation
> does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that
> this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
> away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
> frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
>
> A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that 'well,
> of? course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
> same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
> now....."
>
>? Something tells me that the 60's were? just practice.....
>
> Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
>
> elle
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> So nice to hear from you!? I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>
> That won't please some!
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>
> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
> as Deuchland Uber Alles.? You can't make shit like this up!
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Hi, guys,
>>
>> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>>
>> elle
>>
>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> HSA 8
>> You don't get much--but it's free!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>>
>> Donna
>>
>>
>> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
>> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
>> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
>> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
>> http://AnnMeekins.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Will NBC be surprised??*
>>
>> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
>> faith
>> in God, as a nation..
>>
>> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
>> American
>> currency.
>>
>> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
>> important
>> subject.
>>
>> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll is
>> still open so you can vote:
>>
>> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>>
>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>>
>> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>>
>> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
>> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
>

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_______________________________________________
SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
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-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is actually working? .... Thomas Sowell


-----Inline Attachment Follows-----


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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 21:28:48 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:28:48 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cheddars Never Prosper
Message-ID: <400985d70908221828k27e5ae6cv135f0776dcd029e6@mail.gmail.com>

Scott Ott's Examiner Scrappleface: Clunker program spent, dealers to
get government cheese

By: Scott Ott
Examiner Columnist
August 21, 2009

News fairly unbalanced. We report. You decipher.

Uncle Sam's Cash-for-Clunkers program has already spent its allotted
$3 billion, making it by government standards an instant success, and
forcing Democrats look for alternative ways to compensate auto
retailers for the deeply-discounted deals they've made on some 457,000
vehicles.

Many car dealers have yet to receive a nickel from the federal
government after waving goodbye to dozens of customers who drove off
of their lots in new cars marked down by up to $4,500.

However, President Barack Obama today told dealers not to "worry about
reimbursement because if cash runs out, we have warehouses across the
land stacked high with government-surplus cheese, canned hams and
other tangible commodities every bit as good as cash in these tough
economic times."

The president hailed the "surprise success" of the program, noting
that "from all I know about economics and business, I never expected
that drastically reducing the price of a new car would increase sales
like that. It's like there's some kind of magical power that turns
lookers into buyers when you slash the sticker. Who knew?"

Obama said he has assigned some of the best and brightest minds from
top Ivy League universities to "flesh out" his new economic theory
that substantially lower prices can drive demand even during times
when people are carefully regulating their spending.

"If the principle I've discovered holds true for other products as
well," he said, "then for all intents and purposes, this economic
crisis is over. I'll just sign an executive order commanding all
retailers to cut their prices in exchange for a government promise to
reimburse them at a later date."

Examiner columnist Scott Ott is editor in chief of ScrappleFace.com,
the world's leading family-friendly news satire source.

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sat Aug 22 22:53:02 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:53:02 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Swear Words
Message-ID: <400985d70908221953y4b1efe00m8d6f1c70c3fab025@mail.gmail.com>

This could come in handy these days - Brad

--------------


The word ?swear? has two meanings, or at least it seems that way.
Swearing, as in swearing an oath, means making a solemn promise,
whereas swearing also means using foul language. The two meanings are
closely related since the swearing of an oath traditionally involved
swearing on the Bible or in God?s name. So when, in the 16th century,
people developed a habit of invoking ?sacred names? when no oath was
being made, they were guilty of ?taking sacred names in vain.?  Such
an act was profane (the opposite of sacred) and the word used to
describe such a horrendous sin was profanity.

The same applies to cursing, since cursing traditionally involved
invoking sacred names (or even demonic names) and wishing ill upon
someone. So inappropriate cursing is also profanity.  Here is a list
of 10 words that you?ve probably not met with before, which relate to
swear words and curse words in one way or another.

1. Etymon. As a general rule, swearing of any kind is frowned on in
polite society and has been through the ages. So there is a tendency
to invent euphemisms for swear words, so that they might be used in a
milder form. In the Middle Ages, the fashion was for religious swear
words like egad and zounds. Egad was a simple substitute for ?God?.
Zounds was a shortening of ?God?s wounds? as was ? excuse my French ?
woundikins.  Odds bodkins was ?God?s body? and gadzooks was ?God?s
hooks? referring to the nails that pinned Christ on the cross.

You might think that the creation of such religious swear words has
stopped, but it hasn?t. The newer ones simply don?t sound so archaic.
Gee whiz and jeez (for Jesus) are quite recent, as are; jeepers
creepers (for Jesus Christ), doggone (for God damn), gosh (for God)
and great Scott (for good God). Also recent is the use of the names
Christopher Columbus, Judas Priest and Jiminy Cricket as mild swear
words, for which the etymon is Jesus Christ ? but you probably
wouldn?t know that unless you were told. An etymon, by the way, is a
root word from which other words derive and etymology is, of course,
the study of etymons.

2.  Execration: To most people, the use of such religious swear words
is now regarded as tame and has no real place in execration. When you
really want to express yourself in a curse, obscure Christian
euphemisms no longer cut the mustard. However direct curses are rarely
offensive in the words they employ, since they whole point is to wish
ill on someone rather than deliver a spirited insult.

Take for example the Chinese curse; ?may you come to the attention of
the authorities!? It may sound a little lame at first blush, but
that?s probably because a certain amount of  bile has been lost in
translation. I?m told by US tax offenders that ?May you come to the
attention of the IRS!? is about as mean as a curse can get.  Even so,
it doesn?t have the poetic grit of my favorite Arab curse ?May wild
asses defile the grave of your grandmother!? and neither does it have
the surreal spitefulness of my favorite Liverpool curse ?May the hairs
on your arse turn to hammers and beat your balls to death!?

3. Cambronne: ?It?s a load of old cambronne? is a phrase that used to
be heard in the tea rooms and coffee houses of 19th century England
when someone doubted the veracity of some idea or opinion. Sadly it
has fallen out of use and lives on only in foot notes to treatises on
latrinalia (the definition of which is discussed below). The word
cambronne is eponymous as every Frenchman surely knows. Here?s one
version of its origin:

The scene is the final hours of the battle of Waterloo and General
Pierre Cambronne finds himself heavily outnumbered and surrounded by
English soldiers and cannon. Commanding the British troops, the
generous General Colville with his young interpreter Charles
Bartleby-Snobsworth by his side, calls to General Cambronne with the
words;

?I say, old boy, no need for any further nastiness, why not lay down
your weapons and we can all watch the rest of the pyrotechnics from
here.?

Colville unfortunately cannot speak a word of French, and
Bartleby-Snobsworth, his interpreter, actually skipped French classes
at Eton to play Cricket, so he only knows ?un mot ou deux.? General
Cambronne, who speaks flawless English, chooses foolishly to respond
in French, shouting out bravely; ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!?

Bartleby-Snobsworth doesn?t understand a word of this and mishears it
anyway, thinking Cambronne said merde not muert. So when Colville asks
him what Cambronne said, he replies;

?Shit!, sir. The Frenchy said ?shit?.?

?That?s hardly polite,? mutters General Colville as he signals the
orders to fire the cannons.
?~~~~~~~~~~~~?

That?s one version of what happened at Waterloo and it?s a load of old
cambronne, but the fact is that no-one seems to know the truth.
After-battle commentary included both Cambronne saying ?Merde!? and
Cambronne saying ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!? (The Guard dies
and does not surrender!) Cambronne, who survived but was wounded,
denied saying either of these things. Nevertheless merde became known
in France as le mot Cambronne and in Britain cambronne became an
eponymous euphemism.

4. Quadriliteral:
?Good authors too, who once knew betters words,
Now only use four letter words, writing prose
Anything goes.?
Or at least that?s what the lyrics of the Cole Porter song will
insist. However, quadriliteral words (four letter words) are still
largely avoided in many situations. The f-word, king of the
quadriliterals, was in common usage in the 16th Century and only
became a vulgar term in the 18th century ? banned even from the Oxford
English Dictionary. It was outlawed in print in England, by the
Obscene Publications Act of 1857 and in the U.S. by the Comstock Act
of 1873. The censorship didn?t persist because writers saw the need to
use the f-word.

Norman Mailer tried to reintroduce the word in his novel The Naked and
the Dead in 1948. He was prevailed upon by his publisher to replace
the offensive quadriliteral with the word fug throughout and he
agreed. When, at some later date, he was introduced to Dorothy Parker,
she greeted him with, ?So you?re the man who can?t spell fuck.?

By  1950 James Jones? From Here to Eternity was published with the
inclusion of 50 f-words. By the time the 1960s came around, the f-word
was slipping past the censors on a regular basis and Kenneth Tynan,
the English Theatre critic, made a name for himself world-wide by
becoming the first person to use the questionable quadriliteral on
live television.

5. Hadeharia. I was informed by my parents at an early age that the
f-word, the king of the quadriliterals, was a word that I should never
use. When I was growing up, I spent copious amounts of time working
with some down-to-earth working men with whom with the use of the
f-word as an adjective (f-ing) was pretty much constant and liberally
mixed with the use of the f-word as a noun. I estimated that the
f-word made up about 10 percent of all the words that came out of
their mouths. They had even developed inventive usages for the f-word
like fuckface, fuckworthy and fucktard.

Later on in life, when I saw Reservoir Dogs at the movies, I realized
that Quentin Tarantino must have run into exactly the same group of
guys. I?d love to find a word that describes the habit of constantly
using the f-word but I don?t think there is one. However there is a
word, hadeharia, which means the constant use of the word ?hell?.
Sadly I?ve never met a hadeharian. I presume the word dates back to
the time when ?hell? was consider a strong word. We should replace it
with the word fugaharia in memory of Norman Mailer.

6. Lalochezia: Lalochezia is the use of foul or abusive language in
response to sudden stress or pain. It?s a quirk of many people, in my
experience ? with the most common expletive being the s-word or the
f-word. However lalochezia need not be confined to such unimaginative
expletives. It can be flowery.

I remember, for example, a relative of mine working on a boat engine.
He pushed too hard on a wrench, which promptly slipped off the bolt it
was gripping and this caused him to smash his hand into the engine
casing. ?You snot gobbling bastard!? he screamed at the motor, which
struck me as delightfully inappropriate.

My mother, from whom I never heard a single swear word in my life, was
inclined to simply shout ?Damn! Damn! Damn!? when pain moved her to
explete. Very mild indeed, but at least it was a quadriliteral. In any
event, from my observations, euphemisms seem to work just as well as
the foulest of language. I remember a very polite aunt of mine
shouting ?sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar!? when her hammer hit her
thumb and then muttering ?sugar? under her breath when she realized I
was watching her.

Personally, my habit is to make a lot of noise. Indeed, it seems quite
inappropriate to me to try to articulate anything in response to
unwelcome sensory stimuli. So, I just scream my heart out.
?~~~~~~~~~~~~?

7. Latrinalia: The c-word is undoubtedly the queen of all swear words
and, as in the game of chess, the queen is  more powerful than the
king, at least in its putative ability to offend. It wasn?t always
like that. Most people will be surprised to discover that London once
boasted a district called Gropecunte Lane, named in honor of the
prostitutes that worked there. When Londoners eventually decided that
a name change was in order, they decided on the euphemism Threadneedle
Street so that the essential character of the locale would not be
lost.

This is the street on which the Bank of England was eventually built
and, oddly, the Bank of England became affectionately known as ?The
Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.? However, that title was not in honor
of any of the ladies that were affectionately known in Threadneedle
Street prior to the appearance of the bank. It was to honor the memory
of Sarah Whitehead whose brother Philip, a former employee of the
bank, was executed for the crime of forgery. This caused poor Sarah to
lose her mind and, after his execution, she turned up at the bank
asking for him every day for 25 years, until she died of old age.

Latrinalia, as you may be able to deduce from its etymons, refers to
words like the c-word that are fit only for restroom walls.  The
British punk band, The Sex Pistols, made a spirited attempt to bring
the c-word into common usage with a song, Pretty Vacant, with the word
vacant being pronounced vay-kunt, as in ?we?re vay-kunt ?and we don?t
care? In doing this, they were doubtless following the artistic
tradition of William Shakespeare, who put the following words into the
mouth of Malvolio in Twelfth Night; ?These be her very c?s, her u?s,
and her t?s, and thus she makes her great p?s? However, neither
Shakeseare nor the Sex Pistols succeeded in popularizing its common
usage.

8. Dysphemism: The abusive British word berk is a euphemism for the
c-word from cockney rhyming slang; berk being short for Berkshire
Hunt. So is Oxford, which is short for Oxford punt. Other non-rhyming
slang euphemisms include the velvet glove, the oval office and the
sausage wallet. There are many more. Euphemisms grow wild in the field
of latrinology, but dysphemisms are less common.

A dysphemism is the opposite of a euphemism. It refers to the
deliberate use of a more, rather than less, vulgar term. A simple
example would be to call someone a fuckwit rather than a fool. The
meaning is the same, but the word used is somewhat more expressive.
It?s interesting that some apparent dysphemisms are, technically, not
dysphemisms at all. For instance the word cock-up derives from the
habit brewers had of turning the spigot or cock of a barrel upwards if
the beer inside had spoiled.

If you choose to describe a fool as a prick rather than a fuckwit, you
might believe you?re inferring that he?s a penis. That?s the common
belief, but the derivation is otherwise. In farming equipment used to
yoke oxen to ploughs there was a shaft of sharpened wood, called a
prick, used to keep the oxen in place. If oxen didn?t pull as
directed, the prick dug into them. Kicking against the prick, as oxen
sometimes did,  thus became a metaphor for resisting authority
stupidly.

In the UK, the French Connection, a chain of boutiques, hit on the
idea of rebranding itself as French Connection UK or FCUK for short.
To my mind that counts as a deliberate dysphemism. Nevertheless, it
turned out to be a fcuking brilliant marketing ploy that attracted
more than a little attention, especially when they came out with
their Eau De Toilette, which they simply named FCUK Her.

9.  Grawlix: Grawlixes are typographical symbols that appear in
dialogue balloons in graphical comics to indicate that some swear word
or other is implied. The term was coined by the Mort Walker, the
Beetle Bailey cartoonist after he?d been using grawlixes for a while.
Using grawlixes, the f-word becomes f@&# or if you want to be less
specific about which unacceptably offensive word is used, you can
simply plump for something like *$&#%!

This is not the only strategy available if you want to partially
censor words. You can modify the words with asterisks as in what the
f***, disemvowel them as in what the fck or resort to abbreviation as
in wtf. You can substitute euphemism like effing or freaking (but
please, not fugging.)

There?s also bleeping as in ?why don?t you take a flying bleep at a
rolling doughnut.? This technique is often used for text that is
intended to be read out. However, as the example demonstrates, with
bleeping you can easily lose a very effective alliteration. Apropos of
which, the flying bleep is not a meaningless poetic idea. In earlier
times, it was a term used to describe having sex on horseback while
the horse was in motion and thus gaining entry to the 5 foot high
club.
?~~~~~~~~~~~~?

10. Scatolinguistics: Scatolinguistics started out as meaning the
study of words related to excrement. The word was coined by James
McCawley who was an influential linguist and, for much of his life,
professor of linguistics  at Chicago University. He wrote his
scatolinguistic treatises under the pseudonyms of Quang Phuc Dong and
Yuck Foo of the nonexistent South Hanoi Institute of Technology.

For want of appropriate terms, scatolinguistics has now come to mean
the study of the etymology and usage of all vulgar and profane
expressions. To my mind, there ought to be special area of study
within this for the distinction between British and American
profanity. In some areas the words are identical, which is fine, but
there are jarring differences. For example, fanny in America is a mild
alternative to  ass, whereas in the UK it is a profanity only slightly
less severe than the c-word.

The British use both wanker and tosser as insults (meaning
masturbator) and America simply has no equivalents. The British don?t
use motherf*cker, which has to do with tradition. The word was coined
by African slaves to describe the slave owners who had raped their
mothers. While Americans are likely to say butt-naked, the British
equivalent is bollock-naked. Americans say bullshit when Brits would
say bollocks. This is odd because the word bollocks is from the Old
English word beallucas, meaning testicles. One can only assume that
the word bollocks was regarded as offensive to idealistic Protestants
and thus didn?t make it onto the Mayflower.


From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug 23 09:03:00 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 08:03:00 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Health Care - The Chicago Way
Message-ID: <400985d70908230603g3868ad71k4c9aaff4885f330a@mail.gmail.com>

For those of you who read Bill E's and my posts about Illinois
politics, the corruption of politicians in Illinois trading hospital
Certificate of Needs (CON's, what an appropriate acronym), and The
One's direct involvement with CON's, especially one Tony Rezko,
nothing in this article will surprise you. Remember, the highest
paying job Michelle O ever had was working for a Chicago hospital.
The only notable accomplishment she is remembered for there was her
"patient dumping" scheme. Her salary was tripled when her husband was
elected US Senator and her job so important that it was immediately
eliminated after she left for the White House.  The hospital did get a
one million ear-mark however, so maybe she was worth the money.  What
could go wrong allowing these people to be put in charge of health
care nationwide?

Brad

--------------

Obama?s Record on Health Care in Illinois: The Chicago Way of Medicine
Heartland Institute 21 August 2009 No Comment

When you boil off all the frothy rhetoric, what health reform is
really all about is a power grab. It is 16 percent of the national
economy and $2.7 trillion in annual spending. It is the biggest
opportunity politicians and their cronies have ever seen for enriching
themselves.

For a sneak peak at what lies ahead, look at the city where Barack
Obama cut his teeth first as a community organizer then as a state
legislator, then as U.S. Senator: Chicago. Extortion, bribery, back
scratching, and nepotism are all coins of the realm in Chicago. It?s
how business gets done.

It?s been going on since the days of Al Capone and isn?t much better
today. Except today it isn?t confined to bootleg whiskey, prostitution
and the numbers racket. No, today it involves hospital construction,
the state Medicaid program, and other areas that have yet to be
exposed.

Take Medicaid, the federal/state program to provide health care
coverage to the poor. In 2005, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich
decided to take personal credit for the program as his re-election
campaign was gearing up. So he used state funds to send a letter to
each of 236,000 recipients explaining how glad he was that he was able
to help them in their time of need.

The gambit worked so well that two years later he decided to expand
Medicaid to an additional 717,000 people at a cost of $463 million.
The state legislature decided the state couldn?t afford it and voted
it down, so he used his ?executive authority? to do it anyway.

Medicaid is a good way to garner votes, but what good are votes if you
can?t get any money out of it? People on Medicaid don?t have the money
to enrich a politician. That kind of dough has to come from people
with business interests before the state. Not to worry. As governor,
Mr. Blagojevich had the power to appoint all the members of the
state?s Health Facilities Planning Board, which must authorize any new
services a hospital or nursing home would like to provide to the
community.

In 2004, Edward Hospital in Naperville wanted to build another
facility in Plainfield, but it was required to get approval from the
state planning board. A member of the board told hospital CEO Pam
Davis that the request would be denied unless she agreed to hire a
specific company for the construction work. She alerted federal
authorities and ended up wearing a wire for the FBI to gain evidence
of the extortion.

The man she taped, Stuart Levine, was convicted and imprisoned as a
result of the shake-down, but in 2008 the planning board rejected the
application anyway, this time ostensibly because rival hospitals
objected to have a competitor on their turf.

But also in 2008 Provena Health was approved for a new heart program
by the board after it donated $25,000 to the governor?s campaign fund,
and Children?s Memorial Hospital was threatened with the withholding
of state funds unless the CEO ponied up $50,000 for the campaign fund.

The planning board also approved an application for a new
proton-therapy cancer treatment center for Northern Illinois
University, but denied one for Central DuPage Hospital. Who knows why?
The Chicago Tribune editorialized that the whole process is ?a vestige
of a command-and control era of health care.?

The planning board was set to expire this year, but the politicians
just can?t let go of something that delivers such power to them. So
the legislature has not only extended it but expanded it ? from five
members to nine, all appointed by whoever happens to be governor. The
abuses are not confined to the discredited governor Blagojevich, but
will continue many years into the future.

It isn?t just Medicaid and health planning that are subject to this
kind of corruption in health care. There is state insurance
regulation. Which insurance companies get approved and which are
denied? There are mandated benefits requiring coverage of certain
services. How many campaign donations are required to get a particular
service mandated on insurance customers? There is the state employee
benefits program. How much money is paid out in bribes to get those
contracts?

We are already seeing Chicago-style shenanigans in Washington as deals
are cut with special interests to buy their support. What kind of deal
did Obama make with PhRMA to secure its promise of a $150 million
advertising campaign in support of ObamaCare? What threats were made
to the AMA to get them on board?

If a bill passes that will just be the beginning of the corruption.
There will be hundreds of commissions, panels, advisors, and thousands
of bureaucrats, all with life or death power over private businesses.
How well a business pleases its customers will take a back seat to how
well it pleases the politicians.

Even beyond outright corruption, the whole premise of controlling the
entire health care system from an office in Washington is, as the
Chicago Tribune writes, ?a vestige of a command-and control era of
health care? that fails every time it is tried.

All of the rest of the world and all of the rest of the economy has
entered an era of individual empowerment, choice and competition. This
is not the time for ?standardized? treatment, but customized care,
where we each get the treatment that is precisely tailored to our
individual needs.

The world of health care is bursting with innovation, both in
treatment and in service delivery. This is not the time to slam the
breaks on new ideas by imposing old-style bureaucratic influence
peddling.

**

Greg Scandlen is director of Consumers for Health Care Choices (CHCC),
national nonprofit organization devoted to empowering health care
consumers to preserve individual freedom and the quality of care in
America?s health care system. CHCC is a  project of the Chicago-based
Heartland Institute. This article will be posted on Scandlen?s Web
site, http://www.chcchoices.org/ Aug. 26, 2009.


From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug 23 10:59:33 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 09:59:33 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Dear Elderly: Drop Dead!
Message-ID: <400985d70908230759v78523404n317ce67d11eadd66@mail.gmail.com>

Allow me to remind everyone that it was the "Witch of Wasilla" that
coined the phrase "death panel". What Sarah actually said was that the
natural progress of the provisions for "end of life counseling" would
morph into "death panels". We all know of course that she's too stupid
to be capable of nuance, like say Dear Leader.  Perhaps you recall
what Camille Paglia had to say last fall -

"One of the most idiotic allegations batting around out there among
urban media insiders is that Palin is "dumb." Are they kidding? What
level of stupidity is now par for the course in those musty circles?
(The value of Ivy League degrees, like sub-prime mortgages, has
certainly been plummeting. As a Yale Ph.D., I have a perfect right to
my scorn.) People who can't see how smart Palin is are trapped in
their own narrow parochialism -- the tedious, hackneyed forms of their
upper-middle-class syntax and vocabulary."

Anyway, the "death panel" part of the bill that we are constantly
being told by the intelligentsia never existed, has been dropped in
the Senate (waiting for re-insertion at reconciliation with the
House). If it didn't exist and there's nothing to worry about, why all
the over-reaction to some private citizen housewife from the boonies?

Brad

--------------

Paul Rahe - Obama to Elderly: Drop Dead

August 23, 2009

Hillsdale College history professor Paul Rahe writes to comment on the
current political scene:

    Why are the Democrats in such trouble? I think that the answer is
three-fold.

    First, as I argued in my last Powerline (post, the so-called
"stimulus bill" was passed in both the House and the Senate in a
manner suggestive of tyranny. It was written in camera with the help
of a legion of lobbyists, and it was presented and shoved through
before anyone in Congress even had a chance to read it, much less
think about it, and the same argument could be made concerning the
passage of the cap-and-trade bill in the House and the Obama
administration's handling of the bailout and the bankruptcy
proceedings of Chrysler and General Motors.

    Second, the first of these bills was an obvious scam - a massive
pay-off to Democratic party constituencies at the expense of the
American taxpayer on a scale that guarantees much higher taxes before
long and that almost certainly will drive up interest rates. In the
long run, it is not a stimulus bill in any shape or form. It is the
sort of spending certain to retard growth.

    Third - as I argued in some detail in "Obama's tyrannical
ambition," rationing was the point of the Obamacare proposal.

    By now, of course, everyone - apart from those so partisan that
they believe every lie foisted upon them by the party apparat and
those who flack for it at CNN, ABC, MSNBC, and the like - understands
as much. They recognize that all of the talk, dripping with
compassion, about the supposed health care crisis and the need to
cover the uninsured was a cover for an attempt to do away with
Medicare and replace it with something less costly. And this prospect
they do not like it one bit.

    Consider Lee Siegel. He prefaces his recent piece in the Daily
Beast with the announcement that he considers "the absence of
universal healthcare . . . America's burning shame." Then, however, he
acknowledges that "on one point the plan's critics are absolutely
correct. One of the key ideas under consideration - which can be read
as expressing sympathy for limitations on end-of-life care - is
morally revolting."

        Make no mistake about it. Determining which treatments are
"cost effective" at the end of a person's life and which are not is
one of Obama's priorities. It's one of the principal ways he counts on
saving money and making universal healthcare affordable.

        This reeks of the Big Brother nightmare of oppressive
government that the shrewd propagandists on the right are always
blathering on about. Except that this time, they could not be more
right. . . .

    Siegel is not an isolated figure. In Salon, Camille Paglia makes
much the same point, praising Sarah Palin for her "shrewdly timed
metaphor," which "spoke directly to the electorate's unease with the
prospect of shadowy, unelected government figures controlling our
lives. A death panel not only has the power of life and death but is
itself a symptom of a Kafkaesque brave new world where authority has
become remote, arbitrary and spectral."

    Even The New York Times is coming around. On August 13, Jim
Rutenberg and Jackie Calmes, writing in the news pages, played the
conspiracy card, charging that the concerns evidenced at the town-hall
meetings were the product of a systematic attempt on the part of
conservatives to mislead the gullible. Precisely one week later,
however, the same newspaper published another news article by Robert
Pear, acknowledging that "Medicare beneficiaries and insurance
counselors say the concerns are not entirely irrational," and adding
that "the zeal for cutting health costs, combined with proposals to
compare the effectiveness of various treatments and to counsel seniors
on end-of-life care, may explain why some people think the legislation
is about rationing, which could affect access to the most expensive
services in the final months of life."

    Even more to the point, at the end of his article, Pear notes,

        If a bill becomes law, no one can say for sure how it may be
applied or extended. The 1965 law that created Medicare prohibited
"any federal interference" in "the practice of medicine or the manner
in which medical services are provided," or in the operation of any
institution providing health care. Sara Rosenbaum, a professor of
health law and policy at George Washington University, called this "a
majestic message from Congress about how it expected the Medicare
program to be run." But the meaning of that guarantee has shrunk as
Medicare officials and Congress have set more detailed standards for
doctors, hospitals, nursing homes, and others in Medicare.

    If we are to understand fully what is going on when we see
generally mild-mannered, older people showing up in coats and ties to
shout at their Congressman, we must keep in mind that for 44 years
working Americans in their generation have been paying in to Medicare.
They expect, when they retire, to receive the level of medical care
that they were promised, that they paid for, that was provided over
the last 44 years to those who paid in for a shorter time or paid in
not at all. Obama's attempt to renege on the commitment to them has
them hopping mad, for they know a broken promise when they see one.

    This is all a portent of trouble to come. Medicare is on the verge
of bankruptcy, and the same is true of Social Security. Virtually
every state in the Union has promised retired teachers and civil
servants pensions that were never properly funded. The bill will soon
come due; taxes will be raised - but it is not clear that they can be
raised high enough, for tax rates that stifle growth reduce receipts.
The welfare state we had before Barack Obama became President was
insupportable. Ours will soon be a regime of broken promises, and
there will be hell to pay. The first installment will come due on the
first Tuesday in November, 2010.

Paul A. Rahe holds the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in the
Western Heritage at Hillsdale College. He is the author, most
recently, of Montesquieu and the Logic of Liberty: War, Religion,
Commerce, Climate, Terrain, Technology, Uneasiness of Mind, the Spirit
of Political Vigilance, and the Foundations of the Modern Republic and
Soft Despotism, Democracy's Drift: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Tocqueville,
and the Modern Prospect.

From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug 23 13:52:57 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 12:52:57 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Swear Words
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908221953y4b1efe00m8d6f1c70c3fab025@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908221953y4b1efe00m8d6f1c70c3fab025@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908231052s3eefa7femfac54b9be24cb57e@mail.gmail.com>

Oh good grief!  A good swear word would come in handy right now!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6806502.ece

Boy, I better hope I never slip-up and accuse my wife or daughter of
having "a yellow streak".

Brad

On 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> This could come in handy these days - Brad
>
> --------------
>
>
> The word ?swear? has two meanings, or at least it seems that way.
> Swearing, as in swearing an oath, means making a solemn promise,
> whereas swearing also means using foul language. The two meanings are
> closely related since the swearing of an oath traditionally involved
> swearing on the Bible or in God?s name. So when, in the 16th century,
> people developed a habit of invoking ?sacred names? when no oath was
> being made, they were guilty of ?taking sacred names in vain.?  Such
> an act was profane (the opposite of sacred) and the word used to
> describe such a horrendous sin was profanity.
>
> The same applies to cursing, since cursing traditionally involved
> invoking sacred names (or even demonic names) and wishing ill upon
> someone. So inappropriate cursing is also profanity.  Here is a list
> of 10 words that you?ve probably not met with before, which relate to
> swear words and curse words in one way or another.
>
> 1. Etymon. As a general rule, swearing of any kind is frowned on in
> polite society and has been through the ages. So there is a tendency
> to invent euphemisms for swear words, so that they might be used in a
> milder form. In the Middle Ages, the fashion was for religious swear
> words like egad and zounds. Egad was a simple substitute for ?God?.
> Zounds was a shortening of ?God?s wounds? as was ? excuse my French ?
> woundikins.  Odds bodkins was ?God?s body? and gadzooks was ?God?s
> hooks? referring to the nails that pinned Christ on the cross.
>
> You might think that the creation of such religious swear words has
> stopped, but it hasn?t. The newer ones simply don?t sound so archaic.
> Gee whiz and jeez (for Jesus) are quite recent, as are; jeepers
> creepers (for Jesus Christ), doggone (for God damn), gosh (for God)
> and great Scott (for good God). Also recent is the use of the names
> Christopher Columbus, Judas Priest and Jiminy Cricket as mild swear
> words, for which the etymon is Jesus Christ ? but you probably
> wouldn?t know that unless you were told. An etymon, by the way, is a
> root word from which other words derive and etymology is, of course,
> the study of etymons.
>
> 2.  Execration: To most people, the use of such religious swear words
> is now regarded as tame and has no real place in execration. When you
> really want to express yourself in a curse, obscure Christian
> euphemisms no longer cut the mustard. However direct curses are rarely
> offensive in the words they employ, since they whole point is to wish
> ill on someone rather than deliver a spirited insult.
>
> Take for example the Chinese curse; ?may you come to the attention of
> the authorities!? It may sound a little lame at first blush, but
> that?s probably because a certain amount of  bile has been lost in
> translation. I?m told by US tax offenders that ?May you come to the
> attention of the IRS!? is about as mean as a curse can get.  Even so,
> it doesn?t have the poetic grit of my favorite Arab curse ?May wild
> asses defile the grave of your grandmother!? and neither does it have
> the surreal spitefulness of my favorite Liverpool curse ?May the hairs
> on your arse turn to hammers and beat your balls to death!?
>
> 3. Cambronne: ?It?s a load of old cambronne? is a phrase that used to
> be heard in the tea rooms and coffee houses of 19th century England
> when someone doubted the veracity of some idea or opinion. Sadly it
> has fallen out of use and lives on only in foot notes to treatises on
> latrinalia (the definition of which is discussed below). The word
> cambronne is eponymous as every Frenchman surely knows. Here?s one
> version of its origin:
>
> The scene is the final hours of the battle of Waterloo and General
> Pierre Cambronne finds himself heavily outnumbered and surrounded by
> English soldiers and cannon. Commanding the British troops, the
> generous General Colville with his young interpreter Charles
> Bartleby-Snobsworth by his side, calls to General Cambronne with the
> words;
>
> ?I say, old boy, no need for any further nastiness, why not lay down
> your weapons and we can all watch the rest of the pyrotechnics from
> here.?
>
> Colville unfortunately cannot speak a word of French, and
> Bartleby-Snobsworth, his interpreter, actually skipped French classes
> at Eton to play Cricket, so he only knows ?un mot ou deux.? General
> Cambronne, who speaks flawless English, chooses foolishly to respond
> in French, shouting out bravely; ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!?
>
> Bartleby-Snobsworth doesn?t understand a word of this and mishears it
> anyway, thinking Cambronne said merde not muert. So when Colville asks
> him what Cambronne said, he replies;
>
> ?Shit!, sir. The Frenchy said ?shit?.?
>
> ?That?s hardly polite,? mutters General Colville as he signals the
> orders to fire the cannons.
> ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
>
> That?s one version of what happened at Waterloo and it?s a load of old
> cambronne, but the fact is that no-one seems to know the truth.
> After-battle commentary included both Cambronne saying ?Merde!? and
> Cambronne saying ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!? (The Guard dies
> and does not surrender!) Cambronne, who survived but was wounded,
> denied saying either of these things. Nevertheless merde became known
> in France as le mot Cambronne and in Britain cambronne became an
> eponymous euphemism.
>
> 4. Quadriliteral:
> ?Good authors too, who once knew betters words,
> Now only use four letter words, writing prose
> Anything goes.?
> Or at least that?s what the lyrics of the Cole Porter song will
> insist. However, quadriliteral words (four letter words) are still
> largely avoided in many situations. The f-word, king of the
> quadriliterals, was in common usage in the 16th Century and only
> became a vulgar term in the 18th century ? banned even from the Oxford
> English Dictionary. It was outlawed in print in England, by the
> Obscene Publications Act of 1857 and in the U.S. by the Comstock Act
> of 1873. The censorship didn?t persist because writers saw the need to
> use the f-word.
>
> Norman Mailer tried to reintroduce the word in his novel The Naked and
> the Dead in 1948. He was prevailed upon by his publisher to replace
> the offensive quadriliteral with the word fug throughout and he
> agreed. When, at some later date, he was introduced to Dorothy Parker,
> she greeted him with, ?So you?re the man who can?t spell fuck.?
>
> By  1950 James Jones? From Here to Eternity was published with the
> inclusion of 50 f-words. By the time the 1960s came around, the f-word
> was slipping past the censors on a regular basis and Kenneth Tynan,
> the English Theatre critic, made a name for himself world-wide by
> becoming the first person to use the questionable quadriliteral on
> live television.
>
> 5. Hadeharia. I was informed by my parents at an early age that the
> f-word, the king of the quadriliterals, was a word that I should never
> use. When I was growing up, I spent copious amounts of time working
> with some down-to-earth working men with whom with the use of the
> f-word as an adjective (f-ing) was pretty much constant and liberally
> mixed with the use of the f-word as a noun. I estimated that the
> f-word made up about 10 percent of all the words that came out of
> their mouths. They had even developed inventive usages for the f-word
> like fuckface, fuckworthy and fucktard.
>
> Later on in life, when I saw Reservoir Dogs at the movies, I realized
> that Quentin Tarantino must have run into exactly the same group of
> guys. I?d love to find a word that describes the habit of constantly
> using the f-word but I don?t think there is one. However there is a
> word, hadeharia, which means the constant use of the word ?hell?.
> Sadly I?ve never met a hadeharian. I presume the word dates back to
> the time when ?hell? was consider a strong word. We should replace it
> with the word fugaharia in memory of Norman Mailer.
>
> 6. Lalochezia: Lalochezia is the use of foul or abusive language in
> response to sudden stress or pain. It?s a quirk of many people, in my
> experience ? with the most common expletive being the s-word or the
> f-word. However lalochezia need not be confined to such unimaginative
> expletives. It can be flowery.
>
> I remember, for example, a relative of mine working on a boat engine.
> He pushed too hard on a wrench, which promptly slipped off the bolt it
> was gripping and this caused him to smash his hand into the engine
> casing. ?You snot gobbling bastard!? he screamed at the motor, which
> struck me as delightfully inappropriate.
>
> My mother, from whom I never heard a single swear word in my life, was
> inclined to simply shout ?Damn! Damn! Damn!? when pain moved her to
> explete. Very mild indeed, but at least it was a quadriliteral. In any
> event, from my observations, euphemisms seem to work just as well as
> the foulest of language. I remember a very polite aunt of mine
> shouting ?sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar!? when her hammer hit her
> thumb and then muttering ?sugar? under her breath when she realized I
> was watching her.
>
> Personally, my habit is to make a lot of noise. Indeed, it seems quite
> inappropriate to me to try to articulate anything in response to
> unwelcome sensory stimuli. So, I just scream my heart out.
> ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
>
> 7. Latrinalia: The c-word is undoubtedly the queen of all swear words
> and, as in the game of chess, the queen is  more powerful than the
> king, at least in its putative ability to offend. It wasn?t always
> like that. Most people will be surprised to discover that London once
> boasted a district called Gropecunte Lane, named in honor of the
> prostitutes that worked there. When Londoners eventually decided that
> a name change was in order, they decided on the euphemism Threadneedle
> Street so that the essential character of the locale would not be
> lost.
>
> This is the street on which the Bank of England was eventually built
> and, oddly, the Bank of England became affectionately known as ?The
> Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.? However, that title was not in honor
> of any of the ladies that were affectionately known in Threadneedle
> Street prior to the appearance of the bank. It was to honor the memory
> of Sarah Whitehead whose brother Philip, a former employee of the
> bank, was executed for the crime of forgery. This caused poor Sarah to
> lose her mind and, after his execution, she turned up at the bank
> asking for him every day for 25 years, until she died of old age.
>
> Latrinalia, as you may be able to deduce from its etymons, refers to
> words like the c-word that are fit only for restroom walls.  The
> British punk band, The Sex Pistols, made a spirited attempt to bring
> the c-word into common usage with a song, Pretty Vacant, with the word
> vacant being pronounced vay-kunt, as in ?we?re vay-kunt ?and we don?t
> care? In doing this, they were doubtless following the artistic
> tradition of William Shakespeare, who put the following words into the
> mouth of Malvolio in Twelfth Night; ?These be her very c?s, her u?s,
> and her t?s, and thus she makes her great p?s? However, neither
> Shakeseare nor the Sex Pistols succeeded in popularizing its common
> usage.
>
> 8. Dysphemism: The abusive British word berk is a euphemism for the
> c-word from cockney rhyming slang; berk being short for Berkshire
> Hunt. So is Oxford, which is short for Oxford punt. Other non-rhyming
> slang euphemisms include the velvet glove, the oval office and the
> sausage wallet. There are many more. Euphemisms grow wild in the field
> of latrinology, but dysphemisms are less common.
>
> A dysphemism is the opposite of a euphemism. It refers to the
> deliberate use of a more, rather than less, vulgar term. A simple
> example would be to call someone a fuckwit rather than a fool. The
> meaning is the same, but the word used is somewhat more expressive.
> It?s interesting that some apparent dysphemisms are, technically, not
> dysphemisms at all. For instance the word cock-up derives from the
> habit brewers had of turning the spigot or cock of a barrel upwards if
> the beer inside had spoiled.
>
> If you choose to describe a fool as a prick rather than a fuckwit, you
> might believe you?re inferring that he?s a penis. That?s the common
> belief, but the derivation is otherwise. In farming equipment used to
> yoke oxen to ploughs there was a shaft of sharpened wood, called a
> prick, used to keep the oxen in place. If oxen didn?t pull as
> directed, the prick dug into them. Kicking against the prick, as oxen
> sometimes did,  thus became a metaphor for resisting authority
> stupidly.
>
> In the UK, the French Connection, a chain of boutiques, hit on the
> idea of rebranding itself as French Connection UK or FCUK for short.
> To my mind that counts as a deliberate dysphemism. Nevertheless, it
> turned out to be a fcuking brilliant marketing ploy that attracted
> more than a little attention, especially when they came out with
> their Eau De Toilette, which they simply named FCUK Her.
>
> 9.  Grawlix: Grawlixes are typographical symbols that appear in
> dialogue balloons in graphical comics to indicate that some swear word
> or other is implied. The term was coined by the Mort Walker, the
> Beetle Bailey cartoonist after he?d been using grawlixes for a while.
> Using grawlixes, the f-word becomes f@&# or if you want to be less
> specific about which unacceptably offensive word is used, you can
> simply plump for something like *$&#%!
>
> This is not the only strategy available if you want to partially
> censor words. You can modify the words with asterisks as in what the
> f***, disemvowel them as in what the fck or resort to abbreviation as
> in wtf. You can substitute euphemism like effing or freaking (but
> please, not fugging.)
>
> There?s also bleeping as in ?why don?t you take a flying bleep at a
> rolling doughnut.? This technique is often used for text that is
> intended to be read out. However, as the example demonstrates, with
> bleeping you can easily lose a very effective alliteration. Apropos of
> which, the flying bleep is not a meaningless poetic idea. In earlier
> times, it was a term used to describe having sex on horseback while
> the horse was in motion and thus gaining entry to the 5 foot high
> club.
> ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
>
> 10. Scatolinguistics: Scatolinguistics started out as meaning the
> study of words related to excrement. The word was coined by James
> McCawley who was an influential linguist and, for much of his life,
> professor of linguistics  at Chicago University. He wrote his
> scatolinguistic treatises under the pseudonyms of Quang Phuc Dong and
> Yuck Foo of the nonexistent South Hanoi Institute of Technology.
>
> For want of appropriate terms, scatolinguistics has now come to mean
> the study of the etymology and usage of all vulgar and profane
> expressions. To my mind, there ought to be special area of study
> within this for the distinction between British and American
> profanity. In some areas the words are identical, which is fine, but
> there are jarring differences. For example, fanny in America is a mild
> alternative to  ass, whereas in the UK it is a profanity only slightly
> less severe than the c-word.
>
> The British use both wanker and tosser as insults (meaning
> masturbator) and America simply has no equivalents. The British don?t
> use motherf*cker, which has to do with tradition. The word was coined
> by African slaves to describe the slave owners who had raped their
> mothers. While Americans are likely to say butt-naked, the British
> equivalent is bollock-naked. Americans say bullshit when Brits would
> say bollocks. This is odd because the word bollocks is from the Old
> English word beallucas, meaning testicles. One can only assume that
> the word bollocks was regarded as offensive to idealistic Protestants
> and thus didn?t make it onto the Mayflower.
>


From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Sun Aug 23 15:21:08 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 14:21:08 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Swear Words
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908231052s3eefa7femfac54b9be24cb57e@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908221953y4b1efe00m8d6f1c70c3fab025@mail.gmail.com>
	<400985d70908231052s3eefa7femfac54b9be24cb57e@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908231221k5962d01we54d71da40cdbe1a@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

A sign of our over indulged society I'm afraid. Some of us have too much
time on our hands.

Would we be better off if we had less time to look for reasons to be
offended??

No doubt

Rik

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 12:52 PM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh good grief!  A good swear word would come in handy right now!
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6806502.ece
>
> Boy, I better hope I never slip-up and accuse my wife or daughter of
> having "a yellow streak".
>
> Brad
>
> On 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
> > This could come in handy these days - Brad
> >
> > --------------
> >
> >
> > The word ?swear? has two meanings, or at least it seems that way.
> > Swearing, as in swearing an oath, means making a solemn promise,
> > whereas swearing also means using foul language. The two meanings are
> > closely related since the swearing of an oath traditionally involved
> > swearing on the Bible or in God?s name. So when, in the 16th century,
> > people developed a habit of invoking ?sacred names? when no oath was
> > being made, they were guilty of ?taking sacred names in vain.?  Such
> > an act was profane (the opposite of sacred) and the word used to
> > describe such a horrendous sin was profanity.
> >
> > The same applies to cursing, since cursing traditionally involved
> > invoking sacred names (or even demonic names) and wishing ill upon
> > someone. So inappropriate cursing is also profanity.  Here is a list
> > of 10 words that you?ve probably not met with before, which relate to
> > swear words and curse words in one way or another.
> >
> > 1. Etymon. As a general rule, swearing of any kind is frowned on in
> > polite society and has been through the ages. So there is a tendency
> > to invent euphemisms for swear words, so that they might be used in a
> > milder form. In the Middle Ages, the fashion was for religious swear
> > words like egad and zounds. Egad was a simple substitute for ?God?.
> > Zounds was a shortening of ?God?s wounds? as was ? excuse my French ?
> > woundikins.  Odds bodkins was ?God?s body? and gadzooks was ?God?s
> > hooks? referring to the nails that pinned Christ on the cross.
> >
> > You might think that the creation of such religious swear words has
> > stopped, but it hasn?t. The newer ones simply don?t sound so archaic.
> > Gee whiz and jeez (for Jesus) are quite recent, as are; jeepers
> > creepers (for Jesus Christ), doggone (for God damn), gosh (for God)
> > and great Scott (for good God). Also recent is the use of the names
> > Christopher Columbus, Judas Priest and Jiminy Cricket as mild swear
> > words, for which the etymon is Jesus Christ ? but you probably
> > wouldn?t know that unless you were told. An etymon, by the way, is a
> > root word from which other words derive and etymology is, of course,
> > the study of etymons.
> >
> > 2.  Execration: To most people, the use of such religious swear words
> > is now regarded as tame and has no real place in execration. When you
> > really want to express yourself in a curse, obscure Christian
> > euphemisms no longer cut the mustard. However direct curses are rarely
> > offensive in the words they employ, since they whole point is to wish
> > ill on someone rather than deliver a spirited insult.
> >
> > Take for example the Chinese curse; ?may you come to the attention of
> > the authorities!? It may sound a little lame at first blush, but
> > that?s probably because a certain amount of  bile has been lost in
> > translation. I?m told by US tax offenders that ?May you come to the
> > attention of the IRS!? is about as mean as a curse can get.  Even so,
> > it doesn?t have the poetic grit of my favorite Arab curse ?May wild
> > asses defile the grave of your grandmother!? and neither does it have
> > the surreal spitefulness of my favorite Liverpool curse ?May the hairs
> > on your arse turn to hammers and beat your balls to death!?
> >
> > 3. Cambronne: ?It?s a load of old cambronne? is a phrase that used to
> > be heard in the tea rooms and coffee houses of 19th century England
> > when someone doubted the veracity of some idea or opinion. Sadly it
> > has fallen out of use and lives on only in foot notes to treatises on
> > latrinalia (the definition of which is discussed below). The word
> > cambronne is eponymous as every Frenchman surely knows. Here?s one
> > version of its origin:
> >
> > The scene is the final hours of the battle of Waterloo and General
> > Pierre Cambronne finds himself heavily outnumbered and surrounded by
> > English soldiers and cannon. Commanding the British troops, the
> > generous General Colville with his young interpreter Charles
> > Bartleby-Snobsworth by his side, calls to General Cambronne with the
> > words;
> >
> > ?I say, old boy, no need for any further nastiness, why not lay down
> > your weapons and we can all watch the rest of the pyrotechnics from
> > here.?
> >
> > Colville unfortunately cannot speak a word of French, and
> > Bartleby-Snobsworth, his interpreter, actually skipped French classes
> > at Eton to play Cricket, so he only knows ?un mot ou deux.? General
> > Cambronne, who speaks flawless English, chooses foolishly to respond
> > in French, shouting out bravely; ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!?
> >
> > Bartleby-Snobsworth doesn?t understand a word of this and mishears it
> > anyway, thinking Cambronne said merde not muert. So when Colville asks
> > him what Cambronne said, he replies;
> >
> > ?Shit!, sir. The Frenchy said ?shit?.?
> >
> > ?That?s hardly polite,? mutters General Colville as he signals the
> > orders to fire the cannons.
> > ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
> >
> > That?s one version of what happened at Waterloo and it?s a load of old
> > cambronne, but the fact is that no-one seems to know the truth.
> > After-battle commentary included both Cambronne saying ?Merde!? and
> > Cambronne saying ?La garde meurt et ne se rend pas!? (The Guard dies
> > and does not surrender!) Cambronne, who survived but was wounded,
> > denied saying either of these things. Nevertheless merde became known
> > in France as le mot Cambronne and in Britain cambronne became an
> > eponymous euphemism.
> >
> > 4. Quadriliteral:
> > ?Good authors too, who once knew betters words,
> > Now only use four letter words, writing prose
> > Anything goes.?
> > Or at least that?s what the lyrics of the Cole Porter song will
> > insist. However, quadriliteral words (four letter words) are still
> > largely avoided in many situations. The f-word, king of the
> > quadriliterals, was in common usage in the 16th Century and only
> > became a vulgar term in the 18th century ? banned even from the Oxford
> > English Dictionary. It was outlawed in print in England, by the
> > Obscene Publications Act of 1857 and in the U.S. by the Comstock Act
> > of 1873. The censorship didn?t persist because writers saw the need to
> > use the f-word.
> >
> > Norman Mailer tried to reintroduce the word in his novel The Naked and
> > the Dead in 1948. He was prevailed upon by his publisher to replace
> > the offensive quadriliteral with the word fug throughout and he
> > agreed. When, at some later date, he was introduced to Dorothy Parker,
> > she greeted him with, ?So you?re the man who can?t spell fuck.?
> >
> > By  1950 James Jones? From Here to Eternity was published with the
> > inclusion of 50 f-words. By the time the 1960s came around, the f-word
> > was slipping past the censors on a regular basis and Kenneth Tynan,
> > the English Theatre critic, made a name for himself world-wide by
> > becoming the first person to use the questionable quadriliteral on
> > live television.
> >
> > 5. Hadeharia. I was informed by my parents at an early age that the
> > f-word, the king of the quadriliterals, was a word that I should never
> > use. When I was growing up, I spent copious amounts of time working
> > with some down-to-earth working men with whom with the use of the
> > f-word as an adjective (f-ing) was pretty much constant and liberally
> > mixed with the use of the f-word as a noun. I estimated that the
> > f-word made up about 10 percent of all the words that came out of
> > their mouths. They had even developed inventive usages for the f-word
> > like fuckface, fuckworthy and fucktard.
> >
> > Later on in life, when I saw Reservoir Dogs at the movies, I realized
> > that Quentin Tarantino must have run into exactly the same group of
> > guys. I?d love to find a word that describes the habit of constantly
> > using the f-word but I don?t think there is one. However there is a
> > word, hadeharia, which means the constant use of the word ?hell?.
> > Sadly I?ve never met a hadeharian. I presume the word dates back to
> > the time when ?hell? was consider a strong word. We should replace it
> > with the word fugaharia in memory of Norman Mailer.
> >
> > 6. Lalochezia: Lalochezia is the use of foul or abusive language in
> > response to sudden stress or pain. It?s a quirk of many people, in my
> > experience ? with the most common expletive being the s-word or the
> > f-word. However lalochezia need not be confined to such unimaginative
> > expletives. It can be flowery.
> >
> > I remember, for example, a relative of mine working on a boat engine.
> > He pushed too hard on a wrench, which promptly slipped off the bolt it
> > was gripping and this caused him to smash his hand into the engine
> > casing. ?You snot gobbling bastard!? he screamed at the motor, which
> > struck me as delightfully inappropriate.
> >
> > My mother, from whom I never heard a single swear word in my life, was
> > inclined to simply shout ?Damn! Damn! Damn!? when pain moved her to
> > explete. Very mild indeed, but at least it was a quadriliteral. In any
> > event, from my observations, euphemisms seem to work just as well as
> > the foulest of language. I remember a very polite aunt of mine
> > shouting ?sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar! sugar!? when her hammer hit her
> > thumb and then muttering ?sugar? under her breath when she realized I
> > was watching her.
> >
> > Personally, my habit is to make a lot of noise. Indeed, it seems quite
> > inappropriate to me to try to articulate anything in response to
> > unwelcome sensory stimuli. So, I just scream my heart out.
> > ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
> >
> > 7. Latrinalia: The c-word is undoubtedly the queen of all swear words
> > and, as in the game of chess, the queen is  more powerful than the
> > king, at least in its putative ability to offend. It wasn?t always
> > like that. Most people will be surprised to discover that London once
> > boasted a district called Gropecunte Lane, named in honor of the
> > prostitutes that worked there. When Londoners eventually decided that
> > a name change was in order, they decided on the euphemism Threadneedle
> > Street so that the essential character of the locale would not be
> > lost.
> >
> > This is the street on which the Bank of England was eventually built
> > and, oddly, the Bank of England became affectionately known as ?The
> > Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.? However, that title was not in honor
> > of any of the ladies that were affectionately known in Threadneedle
> > Street prior to the appearance of the bank. It was to honor the memory
> > of Sarah Whitehead whose brother Philip, a former employee of the
> > bank, was executed for the crime of forgery. This caused poor Sarah to
> > lose her mind and, after his execution, she turned up at the bank
> > asking for him every day for 25 years, until she died of old age.
> >
> > Latrinalia, as you may be able to deduce from its etymons, refers to
> > words like the c-word that are fit only for restroom walls.  The
> > British punk band, The Sex Pistols, made a spirited attempt to bring
> > the c-word into common usage with a song, Pretty Vacant, with the word
> > vacant being pronounced vay-kunt, as in ?we?re vay-kunt ?and we don?t
> > care? In doing this, they were doubtless following the artistic
> > tradition of William Shakespeare, who put the following words into the
> > mouth of Malvolio in Twelfth Night; ?These be her very c?s, her u?s,
> > and her t?s, and thus she makes her great p?s? However, neither
> > Shakeseare nor the Sex Pistols succeeded in popularizing its common
> > usage.
> >
> > 8. Dysphemism: The abusive British word berk is a euphemism for the
> > c-word from cockney rhyming slang; berk being short for Berkshire
> > Hunt. So is Oxford, which is short for Oxford punt. Other non-rhyming
> > slang euphemisms include the velvet glove, the oval office and the
> > sausage wallet. There are many more. Euphemisms grow wild in the field
> > of latrinology, but dysphemisms are less common.
> >
> > A dysphemism is the opposite of a euphemism. It refers to the
> > deliberate use of a more, rather than less, vulgar term. A simple
> > example would be to call someone a fuckwit rather than a fool. The
> > meaning is the same, but the word used is somewhat more expressive.
> > It?s interesting that some apparent dysphemisms are, technically, not
> > dysphemisms at all. For instance the word cock-up derives from the
> > habit brewers had of turning the spigot or cock of a barrel upwards if
> > the beer inside had spoiled.
> >
> > If you choose to describe a fool as a prick rather than a fuckwit, you
> > might believe you?re inferring that he?s a penis. That?s the common
> > belief, but the derivation is otherwise. In farming equipment used to
> > yoke oxen to ploughs there was a shaft of sharpened wood, called a
> > prick, used to keep the oxen in place. If oxen didn?t pull as
> > directed, the prick dug into them. Kicking against the prick, as oxen
> > sometimes did,  thus became a metaphor for resisting authority
> > stupidly.
> >
> > In the UK, the French Connection, a chain of boutiques, hit on the
> > idea of rebranding itself as French Connection UK or FCUK for short.
> > To my mind that counts as a deliberate dysphemism. Nevertheless, it
> > turned out to be a fcuking brilliant marketing ploy that attracted
> > more than a little attention, especially when they came out with
> > their Eau De Toilette, which they simply named FCUK Her.
> >
> > 9.  Grawlix: Grawlixes are typographical symbols that appear in
> > dialogue balloons in graphical comics to indicate that some swear word
> > or other is implied. The term was coined by the Mort Walker, the
> > Beetle Bailey cartoonist after he?d been using grawlixes for a while.
> > Using grawlixes, the f-word becomes f@&# or if you want to be less
> > specific about which unacceptably offensive word is used, you can
> > simply plump for something like *$&#%!
> >
> > This is not the only strategy available if you want to partially
> > censor words. You can modify the words with asterisks as in what the
> > f***, disemvowel them as in what the fck or resort to abbreviation as
> > in wtf. You can substitute euphemism like effing or freaking (but
> > please, not fugging.)
> >
> > There?s also bleeping as in ?why don?t you take a flying bleep at a
> > rolling doughnut.? This technique is often used for text that is
> > intended to be read out. However, as the example demonstrates, with
> > bleeping you can easily lose a very effective alliteration. Apropos of
> > which, the flying bleep is not a meaningless poetic idea. In earlier
> > times, it was a term used to describe having sex on horseback while
> > the horse was in motion and thus gaining entry to the 5 foot high
> > club.
> > ?~~~~~~~~~~~~?
> >
> > 10. Scatolinguistics: Scatolinguistics started out as meaning the
> > study of words related to excrement. The word was coined by James
> > McCawley who was an influential linguist and, for much of his life,
> > professor of linguistics  at Chicago University. He wrote his
> > scatolinguistic treatises under the pseudonyms of Quang Phuc Dong and
> > Yuck Foo of the nonexistent South Hanoi Institute of Technology.
> >
> > For want of appropriate terms, scatolinguistics has now come to mean
> > the study of the etymology and usage of all vulgar and profane
> > expressions. To my mind, there ought to be special area of study
> > within this for the distinction between British and American
> > profanity. In some areas the words are identical, which is fine, but
> > there are jarring differences. For example, fanny in America is a mild
> > alternative to  ass, whereas in the UK it is a profanity only slightly
> > less severe than the c-word.
> >
> > The British use both wanker and tosser as insults (meaning
> > masturbator) and America simply has no equivalents. The British don?t
> > use motherf*cker, which has to do with tradition. The word was coined
> > by African slaves to describe the slave owners who had raped their
> > mothers. While Americans are likely to say butt-naked, the British
> > equivalent is bollock-naked. Americans say bullshit when Brits would
> > say bollocks. This is odd because the word bollocks is from the Old
> > English word beallucas, meaning testicles. One can only assume that
> > the word bollocks was regarded as offensive to idealistic Protestants
> > and thus didn?t make it onto the Mayflower.
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Sun Aug 23 17:22:46 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2009 16:22:46 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
In-Reply-To: <867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
References: <400985d70908220828i5c5766aas5e0ab1a0beeb6eec@mail.gmail.com>
	<867034.1127.qm@web111201.mail.gq1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908231422m3b6a32cbpae5cc6c1c62a476d@mail.gmail.com>

Elle,

Obviously, a lot of other folks are scratching their heads and asking
themselves the same questions as yourself....why do these people want
to destroy our country?

Andrew McCarthy tackles that question today in the National Review,
taking on his own employer and fellow pundits in the process
(attached).

Like many, I convinced myself that Obama sat in that pew at Rev.
Wright's church for 20 years for political reasons.  Now I'm convinced
he's a true disciple of Wright, Ayers, Davis, et al.

Scary times!

Brad

----------

Killing Obamacare
?Death panels? cuts to the chase, which is the only way Democrats can
be stopped.

By Andrew C. McCarthy

Earlier this week, some of my National Review colleagues recoiled from
Sarah Palin?s bracing allegation that Obamacare would foist government
?death panels? on vulnerable Americans. I recoiled from the recoil,
which I thought exemplified the same sort of ?hysteria? the editorial
in question, ?Rationing and Rationality,? condemned. There followed a
debate (see The Corner archives for August 17 and 18), largely a fine
parsing of how ? rationally, of course ? the term ?death panel? ought
to be defined. As we went back and forth, I kept having this nagging
thought:

We could still blow this thing.

Obamacare and its proponents have taken a drubbing in the polls.
Americans are passionate about matters of life and death and who gets
to decide them. Unlike appropriations for the F-22 or another billion
or so in ?stimulus? so the NEA can underwrite simulated-sex dances,
the health-care issue aroused the public. Citizens read the bill
(something their legislators haven?t been anxious to do) and blew a
gasket. Saul Alinsky?s bag of tricks doesn?t say what to do when the
opponent to be smeared in the public mind is the public itself. So our
organizer-in-chief is adrift at sea, and sinking.

But this battle is far from over. Since Barack Obama first emerged in
national politics, it?s been chattering-class wisdom to throw both
caution and Occam?s Razor to the wind. No need for concern, the
pundits proclaimed, about Ayers and Dohrn and Khalidi and Wright and
Pfleger and Frank Marshall Davis and ACORN and the Chicago New Party
and infanticide and . . . and . . . and . . . . No matter the fever
swamps of his past, they insisted, Obama has a first-rate intellect
and a winning temperament ? why, he even writes his own books (about
himself) and knows who Reinhold Niebuhr was. Once he takes the reins
and grapples with the concrete complexities of governing, we were
assured, ideology will dissolve. He?ll become moderate and pragmatic,
if for no other reason than his own political survival.

But we knuckle-draggers figured that if it walks like a radical and
quacks like a radical it?s probably not all that moderate and
pragmatic. Nothing we?ve seen so far calls for revising that
assessment. If anything, these last seven months ought to tell us that
the usual political rules don?t apply when predicting this president?s
behavior. His purpose is revolutionary change in an American society
he grew up understanding to be fundamentally unjust, racist,
materialist, imperialist, and the agent of global misery. He is in
Washington to transform the nation from the top down. Nationalized
health care is key for him. If he gets it, sovereignty shifts from the
citizen to the state. By law, government will be empowered to manage
minute details of our lives. Over time ? when, as the American
Thinker?s Joseph Ashby observes, a ?1,000-page health-care law
explodes into many thousands of pages of regulatory codes? ? that is
precisely what government will do.

Obama is not a normal politician. He?s a visionary, and using health
care to radically expand the scope of government happens to be central
to his vision. For my money (if I have any left), achieving it is more
important to him than is getting reelected. His poll numbers and those
of congressional Democrats may keep plunging (for the latter, there
must come a point where that is statistically impossible), but they
have the votes to Rahm this thing through.

To be sure, Washington is still populated with normal politicians, and
that is why you can almost touch the Democrats? desperation. They
don?t want to walk this plank, and they are praying to Gaia, night and
day, for that magic moment when the usual RINO rabbits spring from the
bipartisan hat to give them cover from their fuming constituents. But
at its highest levels, this Democratic government is being steered by
the party?s most extreme leftists. Obamacare is their life?s dream,
they have the power to make it happen, and if they have to go it
alone, they will try going it alone.

Even if Obama were a normal politician, 2012 is three years away, and
he?ll worry about that later, if he has to worry at all: With his
Justice Department green-lighting election fraud, ACORN and the New
Black Panther party riding high, and amnesty for millions of illegal
aliens on the horizon, 2012 may take care of itself.

Things may appear to be going well at the moment for opponents of
Obamacare, but the stubborn fact remains that only one thing can stop
this monstrosity: wavering congressional Democrats? discovery that
they have more to fear from their districts than from their leadership
and the White House. The ardor of public opposition will determine
whether this battle is won or lost.

That?s why I found our ?death panel? debate so disconcerting. The
editorial that pooh-poohed the label acknowledged, as my friend Rich
Lowry later emphasized, that the legislation gave great reason (I?d
say grave reason) to be concerned about ?government rationing and a
general slide toward euthanasia.? The editorial?s contention was that
there wouldn?t ?literally? be death panels. To me, that?s not much
different from quibbling over ?what the meaning of ?is? is.? The
stakes here couldn?t be higher, time is short, and ?death panel? cuts
to the chase.

What, after all, is ?end of life? counseling in a bill that, we here
all agree, rations care (i.e., redirects it away from those who
consume most of it now: the elderly and the infirm) and raises
fast-track-to-euthanasia worries? In the Wall Street Journal, former
Bush White House official Jim Towey alerts us that, at the Veterans
Administration, Obama has reinstated a 52-page ?end of life planning
document? authored by a medical ethicist who has advocated
doctor-assisted suicide in a Supreme Court brief. This Orwellian ?Your
Life, Your Choices? questionnaire, in the familiar ?push poll? manner,
methodically steers the patient toward the notion that he is a
malingering near-vegetable causing a ?severe emotional burden? for his
family. I don?t know what the correct, non-hysterical term for such a
process is, but ?Grim Government Reaper? strikes me as more accurate
than ?Your Life, Your Choices.?

Imagine a woman lying dead of stab wounds and a man holding a bloody
knife in his hand. If the reaction of the first cop on the scene is,
?You killed her,? I don?t think that?s hyperbole. Most of us would
find it weird if he instead said, ?Well, now, wait just a second.
There are complex issues of causation here, to say nothing of the
epistemology of mind ? intentional, involuntary, insanity, crime of
passion? Let?s scrutinize this dispassionately, have the five-week
trial with all the due-process trimmings, and then rationally decide
what to call this. No point in leaping to rash conclusions.?

The second reaction might be sound, but it?s neither natural nor
practical. Like your health, murder is a gripping matter ? it?s not
your everyday material misstatement in the exchange of commercial
paper. ?You killed her? gets to the heart of the matter, to the big
things you need to think about. Plus, most of us don?t have a year for
scrutiny, discovery, and settlement negotiations. We have lives to
live. What we need to know is whether he probably did kill her, so we
can evaluate some practical concerns, like whether he should be free
to walk the streets while he waits for his five-week trial.

Obama, of course, wanted health-care ?reform? done ? all 1,000-plus
pages of it ? before the summer recess. In essence, Democrats want to
repeal individual liberty; move one-sixth of the private sector into
the same government-controlled model that has produced bankruptcy in
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; add additional trillions to
the already exploded national debt; and they want to do it all right
now ? no discovery, no settlement negotiations, no five-week trial, no
delays.

Given this Democratic whirlwind, I don?t see why we owe them better
than ?death panels.? They are what we?re sure to get if Obamacare
isn?t killed first.

? National Review?s Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at the
National Review Institute and the author of Willful Blindness: A
Memoir of the Jihad (Encounter Books, 2008).
On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Actually one of the earliest Tea Parties was organized right here in
> Heathsville, Va....just down the road apiece from my home...BTW...with the
> Northern Neck's rich history of birthing founding Fathers, these folks
> 'don't take no sh-t from nobody.'
>
> But I do have a question...my BF & I keep up w/all this on fox ...and in
> response to my comments that these folks (O.MAN, axelrod, Acorn, etc....)
> want to destroy our country...his question is to me is, Why ? What good is
> it to them then?
>
> I cannot answer that....
>
> Why? Is the ideological battle so important that it supersedes keeping our
> economy robust?
>
>
> elle
>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 11:28 AM
>
>
> Elle,
>
> As you've probably already discovered, "the fight" isn't very
> organized but has overwhelming numbers.  The town hall meetings are
> announced on short notice and yet, hundreds manage to show, dressed in
> their finest shorts and baseball caps.  The 'Tea Party' movement has
> no central organization, no leader, and no funding, yet, the rallies
> get bigger with each passing month.  You'll have to do some snooping
> around in your local area to find one.  There are no secret handshakes
> or official T-shirts, no party affiliations, and no one gives a rat's
> ass about your color, gender, or social-economic position.
>
> What Warren Buffet said in his NYT's editorial this week about
> inflation is what is most worrisome. Quoting John Maynard Keynes, ?By
> a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate,
> secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their
> citizens.... The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law
> on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man
> in a million is able to diagnose.?
>
> Even if some of these programs were good ideas (and I vehemently think
> they are not) we simply can't afford them.
>
> Keep your powder dry and your knives sharpened!
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Thanks, Brad....please forward that to everyone you know...I don't usually
>> do things of that sort but I have had enough of these folks wanting to
>> remake my country.
>>
>> I've been reading SWG but have to say that this current political
>> situation
>> does rile me...so I have to stay away for a while....I cannot believe that
>> this man & his socialist buddies think they can take this country so far
>> away from its roots.....USA is in a huge ideological battle...it is
>> frightening.....hopefully there are more of us than there are of them...
>>
>> A sidenote...on Fox recently a reporter commented to the effect that
>> 'well,
>> of  course these people are demonstrating in the streets...these are the
>> same folks who demonstrated in the 60's...they're just in their 70's
>> now....."
>>
>>  Something tells me that the 60's were  just practice.....
>>
>> Hi to all & keep up the good fight.
>>
>> elle
>>
>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> From: Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Swiftwater Gazette] Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>> To: SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 10:21 AM
>>
>>
>> Elle,
>>
>> So nice to hear from you!  I just voted and the current vote is 88% to
>> leave "In God We Trust" on our money.
>>
>> That won't please some!
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVxwb58XfZA&feature=player_embedded
>>
>> BTW, Happy Rhamidan (sic). In other news, the music that was played
>> for the 1000 rabbis while waiting on hold for the POTUS to address
>> them was Haydn's String Quarted in C Major Opus 76,3, otherwise known
>> as Deuchland Uber Alles.  You can't make shit like this up!
>>
>> Brad
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8/22/09, elle <ragdollelle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> Hi, guys,
>>>
>>> This was sent to me & I thought you'd like to see it. Is it legit?
>>>
>>> elle
>>>
>>> --- On Sat, 8/22/09, windlass <windlass at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: windlass <windlass at yahoo.com>
>>> Subject: Fw: In God We Trust Poll on MSN
>>> To: ragdollelle at yahoo.com
>>> Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009, 9:30 AM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> HSA 8
>>> You don't get much--but it's free!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I checked it out it goes right to the poll and it is an MSN/NBC site.
>>>
>>> Donna
>>>
>>>
>>> Donna Erwin, Realtor ABR, E-Pro
>>> Ann Meekins Realtors, Urbanna,VA
>>> Cell 804.694.9848 Fax 804.758.9602
>>> Mailto:DonnaErwin at AnnMeekins.com
>>> http://AnnMeekins.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Subject: In God We Trust Poll
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Will NBC be surprised??*
>>>
>>> Here's your chance to let the media know where the people stand on our
>>> faith
>>> in God, as a nation..
>>>
>>> NBC is presently taking a poll on "In God We Trust" to stay on our
>>> American
>>> currency.
>>>
>>> Please send this to every person you know so they can vote on this
>>> important
>>> subject.
>>>
>>> Please do it right away, before NBC takes this off their web page. Poll
>>> is
>>> still open so you can vote:
>>>
>>> CLICK ON BELOW, VOTE & THEN FORWARD TO FRIENDS
>>>
>>> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10103521/
>>>
>>> If you agree forward it, if you don't, delete it.
>>>
>>> By my forwarding it, you know how I feel.
>>> I'll bet this is going to be a surprise to NBC.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>
>
>
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 24 11:15:38 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:15:38 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Crap
Message-ID: <400985d70908240815l1b47e1cfx3917c6293b4592a6@mail.gmail.com>

Where the hell do we begin with this one?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090824/bs_bw/aug2009db20090821304909

This is great news for us personally.  The ice-maker on our fridge has
been out for some time.  We make ice-cubes the old fashioned way, in
trays, and they are dispersed through the door via that sub-system
that still works. This will be great as long as the appliance sellers
don't mark the retail price up by the margin of the goobermint credit
(did anyone try and bargain off the sticker price of a new car during
C4C?).

The only difference I can tell from Dear Leader and Chairman Mao is
that Mao liked 15 year-old girls by the thousands and Dear Leader is
as chaste as Adolph.  Go ahead and turn me into fishy.gov.  I'm not a
Kool-Aide drinker.

For God's sake people, (it's OK to speak of God and Goobermint at the
same time now, Dear Leader said so) where-the-hell is this money
coming from?

Someone, anyone, please sneak me a copy of the draft version of the
next "Five Year Plan". I'd like to know what Asian country to invest
in!

Brad

From sanderico1 at gmail.com  Mon Aug 24 11:52:33 2009
From: sanderico1 at gmail.com (Eric Sandberg)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 10:52:33 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Crap
In-Reply-To: <400985d70908240815l1b47e1cfx3917c6293b4592a6@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908240815l1b47e1cfx3917c6293b4592a6@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <6634e19e0908240852v65bf2b3bxa7979cd67b9a9c1@mail.gmail.com>

Brad,

Oh good, I was thinking about giving a new refrigerator to the neighbors.
Now I won't have to go shopping.

I didn't take part in the C4C program even though I have a pickup that would
have fit the bill, because I refuse to be part of the problem. I won't take
part in this program for exactly the same reason, even though we don't have
a washer/dryer at home. We are in our current dilemma because far too many
people were spending money they hadn't earned yet to acquire fancy gadgets
that they probably could have just as easily done without. It doesn't matter
if it's personal borrowing or gov't borrowing, it's still future earnings
spent and it will do no good for the economy and in fact may just make
things worse.

Time to get back to reality and living within a realistic expectation, ie,
not spending money we don't have to buy things we don't need and saving
instead of borrowing. Unfortunately, That means the folks who were selling
us those things that we really would have normally been buying 2 or 3 years
from now are going to see a slump in sales. Guess they should have saved up
a couple years worth of those future profits to pull them through the future
slump. Oh but wait, nobody could have seen this coming .....

Well, sure as hell, nobody listened to those that did!!

Rik

On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 10:15 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Where the hell do we begin with this one?
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090824/bs_bw/aug2009db20090821304909
>
> This is great news for us personally.  The ice-maker on our fridge has
> been out for some time.  We make ice-cubes the old fashioned way, in
> trays, and they are dispersed through the door via that sub-system
> that still works. This will be great as long as the appliance sellers
> don't mark the retail price up by the margin of the goobermint credit
> (did anyone try and bargain off the sticker price of a new car during
> C4C?).
>
> The only difference I can tell from Dear Leader and Chairman Mao is
> that Mao liked 15 year-old girls by the thousands and Dear Leader is
> as chaste as Adolph.  Go ahead and turn me into fishy.gov.  I'm not a
> Kool-Aide drinker.
>
> For God's sake people, (it's OK to speak of God and Goobermint at the
> same time now, Dear Leader said so) where-the-hell is this money
> coming from?
>
> Someone, anyone, please sneak me a copy of the draft version of the
> next "Five Year Plan". I'd like to know what Asian country to invest
> in!
>
> Brad
> _______________________________________________
> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>
> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>



-- 
How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
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From flybrad at gmail.com  Mon Aug 24 12:58:41 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:58:41 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Cash for Crap
In-Reply-To: <6634e19e0908240852v65bf2b3bxa7979cd67b9a9c1@mail.gmail.com>
References: <400985d70908240815l1b47e1cfx3917c6293b4592a6@mail.gmail.com>
	<6634e19e0908240852v65bf2b3bxa7979cd67b9a9c1@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <400985d70908240958g37fbac6dm2b73d5dc35a62359@mail.gmail.com>

Rik

Sane and rational people know there is no way we can pay for all this.
 "Dear Leaders" only need 10 to 15% of the sane and rational, they
have the given 40% of the 'gullible' that will always be there for
them.

None of this silliness needs to be explained to Fan - she lived
through it!  Americans think "it can't happen here".  BULLSHIT!  It is
happening right before your eyes!

Time to man up!

Got Tea?

Brad

On 8/24/09, Eric Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Oh good, I was thinking about giving a new refrigerator to the neighbors.
> Now I won't have to go shopping.
>
> I didn't take part in the C4C program even though I have a pickup that would
> have fit the bill, because I refuse to be part of the problem. I won't take
> part in this program for exactly the same reason, even though we don't have
> a washer/dryer at home. We are in our current dilemma because far too many
> people were spending money they hadn't earned yet to acquire fancy gadgets
> that they probably could have just as easily done without. It doesn't matter
> if it's personal borrowing or gov't borrowing, it's still future earnings
> spent and it will do no good for the economy and in fact may just make
> things worse.
>
> Time to get back to reality and living within a realistic expectation, ie,
> not spending money we don't have to buy things we don't need and saving
> instead of borrowing. Unfortunately, That means the folks who were selling
> us those things that we really would have normally been buying 2 or 3 years
> from now are going to see a slump in sales. Guess they should have saved up
> a couple years worth of those future profits to pull them through the future
> slump. Oh but wait, nobody could have seen this coming .....
>
> Well, sure as hell, nobody listened to those that did!!
>
> Rik
>
> On Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 10:15 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Where the hell do we begin with this one?
>>
>> http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20090824/bs_bw/aug2009db20090821304909
>>
>> This is great news for us personally.  The ice-maker on our fridge has
>> been out for some time.  We make ice-cubes the old fashioned way, in
>> trays, and they are dispersed through the door via that sub-system
>> that still works. This will be great as long as the appliance sellers
>> don't mark the retail price up by the margin of the goobermint credit
>> (did anyone try and bargain off the sticker price of a new car during
>> C4C?).
>>
>> The only difference I can tell from Dear Leader and Chairman Mao is
>> that Mao liked 15 year-old girls by the thousands and Dear Leader is
>> as chaste as Adolph.  Go ahead and turn me into fishy.gov.  I'm not a
>> Kool-Aide drinker.
>>
>> For God's sake people, (it's OK to speak of God and Goobermint at the
>> same time now, Dear Leader said so) where-the-hell is this money
>> coming from?
>>
>> Someone, anyone, please sneak me a copy of the draft version of the
>> next "Five Year Plan". I'd like to know what Asian country to invest
>> in!
>>
>> Brad
>> _______________________________________________
>> SwiftwaterGazette mailing list
>> SwiftwaterGazette at mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com
>>
>> http://mailman.theswiftwatergazette.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/swiftwatergazette
>>
>
>
>
> --
> How long will it be before the public gets tired of the little know-it-all
> sermonettes by Barack Obama ? especially since nothing that he is doing is
> actually working? .... Thomas Sowell
>


From flybrad at gmail.com  Tue Aug 25 11:46:04 2009
From: flybrad at gmail.com (Brad Haslett)
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:46:04 -0500
Subject: [Swiftwater Gazette] Numbers
Message-ID: <400985d70908250846i3b2a4d9fyca36e0b1b23372d0@mail.gmail.com>

Here's the latest economic news -

http://tinyurl.com/kjlslu

Did it ever occur to anyone that perhaps The One is clueless as to the
workings of basic economics, or worse, he's on