Posts

Posted on

Dems bend over for a lame duck President – again

Remember all the brouhaha about warantless eavesdropping by the NSA that President Bush kept arguing was needed to “fight terrorism”? Remember how the Democratic leadership went nuts and threatened legal action and hearings etc… etc..?

If not read this NSA warrantless surveillance controversy

Well in an about face, some Dems broke ranks and voted to approve S. 1927 that now makes such wiretapping “legal”.

The bill passed the Senate 60 to 28 (16 Democrats sold out our rights) and passed the House 227 to 183 (with 43 Democrats selling us out).

The bill allows the government to intercept phone calls and e-mails from anyone including US citizens as long as there is some thread of connection to terrorism. It also removed oversight of the taps from the secret FISA court and gave it to the Attorney General – the guys who likes to lie to Congress.

The bill, listed on the House roll call list, is titled “Protect America Act” but they left off the rest. The full title should be “Protect America Act from stupid terrorists who use common methods to transmit information about their activities”.

The point of some Democrats passing the bill is summed up in this quote:

They also appeared worried about the political repercussions of being perceived as interfering with intelligence gathering. But the disputes were significant enough that they are likely to resurface before the end of the year.

House Approves Changes in Eavesdropping

Once again the Dems bend over for a lame duck President with a 28% approval rating – amazing.

For more info on this stupid action check out:

Why I won’t contribute to the DCCC

Senate Democrats Bend Over, Hand Bush The K-Y And Vote For Warrantless Wiretaps For No Reason Other Than Craven Cowardice

Posted on

I’ve won a prize

A few months back I entered the Humanist Vision contest sponsored by the American Humanist Association. The challenge was to create a “commercial” about Humanism and post it on YouTube. There was prize money involved and the goodwill of the Humanist movement.

My entry was based on a slideshow I am working on for my local Humanist group.

I didn’t win the top prizes but my entry did get Honorable Mention. That meant that not only was my entry shown at the AHA Conference in Portland, back in June, but that I also got a book from Humanist Press. The book I got was “Freethought Across the Centuries: Toward a New Age of Enlightenment” by Gerald A Larue.

I haven’t agreed with everything Larue has written in the past but the book is an interesting look at the history of Freethought.

So here is my winning entry as posted on YouTube:

Posted on

New Orleans residents who had insurance policies that excluded water damage lose in court

Saw this on the net today:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS — Hurricane Katrina victims whose homes and businesses were destroyed when floodwaters breached levees in the 2005 storm cannot recover money from their insurance companies for the damages, a federal appeals court ruled today.

“This event was excluded from coverage under the plaintiffs’ insurance policies, and under Louisiana law, we are bound to enforce the unambiguous terms of their insurance contracts as written,” Judge Carolyn King wrote for a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

As a result, the panel found those who filed the suit “are not entitled to recover under their policies,” she said.

More than a dozen insurance companies, including Allstate and Travelers, were defendants.

The decision overturns a ruling by U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr., who in November sided with policyholders arguing that language excluding water damage from some of their insurance policies was ambiguous.

Duval said the policies did not distinguish between floods caused by an act of God — such as excessive rainfall — and floods caused by an act of man, which would include the levee breaches following Katrina’s landfall.

But the appeals panel concluded that “even if the plaintiffs can prove that the levees were negligently designed, constructed, or maintained and that the breaches were due to this negligence, the flood exclusions in the plaintiffs’ policies unambiguously preclude their recovery.”

Court rules against Katrina victims in flood insurance case

Who in their right mind would NOT buy insurance that covers flood damage if you live in a flood prone area like the bowl we call New Orleans?

No one would.

Then again, if you live in a flood prone area – you can’t get regular insurance coverage for water damage. You must buy flood insurance from the federal government.

My guess is average people don’t know that and I also guess that some of that info may have been withheld so the broker could make a sale on the policy. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Posted on

Courier finally uses some ink on Democrat in Mayor’s race

Sorry I am tardy on this post but I kind of overlooked the recent article on the campaign of Thomas Knopf, who is running for the now open Mayor’s office in Findlay, Ohio, against Republican Pete Sehnert in November. Sehnert beat current Mayor Tony Iriti in the recent primary.

Staff writer John Graber used about 800 words on the front page of the July 20th edition to talk about Knopf and point out that unlike Sehnert, Knopf has some actual ideas about what he wants to do in office when he is elected.

That is more ink for Knopf than I have read since the election season began. Most articles before now usually added him at the end with a kind of “oh, by the way Thomas Knopf is running too” in an article focused on Republicans.

Graber makes an interesting point:

A quick glance at the numbers do suggest that Knopf’s got a chance. Of the 26,424 registered voters in Findlay, 10,027 are registered Republicans. The Democrats have just 1,663 voters filling out their roster, but 14,734 registered voters in Findlay have no party affiliation.

Can Dems win city mayor’s office? Little-known GOP candidate giving them high hopes July 20, 2007

Local Democrats plan on a big push for Knopf after the Hancock County Fair at the end of August. I do hope Knopf doesn’t ignore the biggest event in the county. I remember as a lad that you weren’t a serious candidate unless you had a booth at the fair or at least grab hands with your presence there.

For more info:

Thomas Knopf for Mayor

Posted on

Goodbye Sports Arena

The Toledo Blade had an article today giving an obituary for the Sports Arena.

Toledo is going to build a new 8,000 seat arena downtown and the owners of the Sports Arena sold it to the city and it is due to be torn down in the next few months.

Built is 1947, it was already old when I got to see my first concert ever in the mid 80’s. My friend talked me into going to the concert by Brian Adams since I had use of a car and he didn’t. The problem was my Mom refused to let me go. She didn’t want me driving the 40 miles to Toledo.

Like any teen, I didn’t take no for answer. I fed her a story that I couldn’t go anyway because I had to work that night. In reality I got the night off. My friend had real religious parents so he also got the night off work but told them he had to work late.

We stopped at the rest stop outside of Bowling Green to change to regular clothes and arrived at the arena shortly before the concert. The parking lot was full so we found a spot at a nearby school and practically ran to get to the place. We got inside as the opening act Survivor was on stage.

This was my first concert so I assumed we had seats on the floor. I found out that we were on the floor but there were no seats. We stood in the back for the entire show.

I had a good time, even after just being missed being hit but a pop thrown from someone who actually had a seat in the stands.

The one other time I remember going to the Sports Arena was for a circus when I was a boy. All I remember was the animal smell mixed in with the smell of straw. It was a fun time.

The Blade has an excellent series of articles from people who also attended events at the arena. Give it a read:

Only memories remain for once-bustling arena

About Proudly powered by WordPress