Monster Worldwide's Troubles

Well isn't this peachy...

Monster Worldwide's stock has been up and down throughout this year. 

First, they're being investigated due to the stock option grant review.  (Backdating stock options)

Then, as of September 1, they recently sold off their last TMP Worldwide holdings for a loss. 

On Oct. 9th, Andrew J. McKelvey, the founder of TMP Worldwide (not Monster, as has been reported) resigns as CEO and President because he McKelvey said "he can't dedicate the number of hours required by the 'additional demands of time associated with the ongoing historical stock option grant review.'" (find quote here)
 
Then it has been reported that McKelvey has resigned from the Monster's Board "after refusing to be interviewed for the company's internal stock option investigation."

Well, isn't that just peachy.  Due to the investigation, I couldn't sell off any of my Monster stock, so I'm stuck with a 401k that is 37% Monster stock!  Won't that be great when I want to retire? 

I was mad when I found out Monster had sold off the division for whom I worked, but now, I'm glad I'm not a Monster employee!  I just wish I hadn't put so many eggs in the Monster Worldwide basket!

God Bless

Just Say No To Casinos...

Has anyone really stopped to take a look at what happens at a casino? People go in, put their money in a slot machine or down on a table and the casino takes it. Sure, they give some of it back via winnings, but for the most part, the house wins.

Plus, while I know that most people can control their gambling, some can't. A co-worker of mine told me about how his aunt eventually lost her house because of her habit.

Is the casino to blame? No, no more than the alcohol companies are to blame for drunks and bars are to blame for drunk drivers. It's a free country and if you want to ruin your life with gambling, well, you should be allowed to do so.

But why does Kenosha want to encourage this behavior?

Dollar signs. The whole world comes down to greed. Rather that come up with some other way to use the land at the dog track, the first thought is "Hey, let's build a casino!" No one in Kenosha would consider building a crack house to earn money, but to some people, that's exactly what a casino is.

But, hey, who cares? As long as the state has their handout, the county and city get their cut, let's build a casino!

An alternative would be to build something the whole family could enjoy, such as a waterpark or an amusement park such as Green Bay has with Bay Beach. But, no, let's build a casino!

Typical when business is being conducted by someone who saids "If you're coming into Kenosha, you have to know who would have the baseball bat - and I know how to use the baseball bat."

God Bless

Milwaukee Public Museum with Da Boys

Can there possibly be anything better than taking a little guy to the public museum to go trick or treating?

Yeah, taking two little guys!

Last night, the museum held one of its members only nights. We went -- Cheryl, Kim, Danny, Alex and I. Along for the ride was my boss, Carmen, and her three kids -- Emily, Greg and Eric. (Greg and Eric are 7 year old twins.)

Carmen, her kids and I went to see Aliens of the Deep at the Imax. That was so cool and I highly recommend it. Kim, Cheryl and da boys met up with us afterward. The boys are too small to attend movies. Maybe next year.

I wish I had taken a picture of Carmen and her kids, as I had wanted to, but as we struck out one big happy "family" of nine, we soon discovered that the kids had different ideas in mind. Carmen's kids were much faster at looking at the exhibits and the boys meandered here and there. So, we did split up and, alas, I didn't get a picture of all of them.
I did get a couple of Danny with Carmen.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of her!

I had, also, wanted to get one of the five kids sans adults, but I didn't manage that one, either. I did get one of Alex (face turned of course) and Emily. So, at least I got a shot of one of Carmen's kids! Oh well, there's always next year and maybe da boys will be able to keep up with the older ones.

The boys really liked all the exhibits.

As a matter of fact, Danny especially got into them.

Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all!

We're taking them trick or treating on Sunday -- so watch for more pictures!

God Bless!

What did he say?

I'm not going to say that Cheney advocates Water Boarding (see CNN article), but what exactly was said? And, who did he say it to? Aren't we jumping the gun a bit? Just a little bit? The first I see of this supposed quote advocating a torture technique is the above mentioned CNN article, but I'm not sure just what Cheney said.

Why is the White House on the defensive and the media not giving us a complete transcript?

God Bless

Gas Prices

Can someone explain to me how gas can be $2.15 per gallon on Tuesday and by Wednesday morning rise to $2.25? I just don't get it. Is demand really that high on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday? Or, is that just some myth that we use more gas, so they have to raise prices. I get supply and demand, I took economics, but gas isn't the same. Case in point, if demand is high for an HDTV, the store can charge premium price for it because he only has so many to sell. I just wouldn't buy the TV while prices are high. But, gas, I don't have a choice. I need gas to get to work, the store, church, etc.

Well, I'm just complaining, as I filled up on Tuesday and didn't have to pay the $2.25. I do have a new strategy for gas purchasing. When I see a low price, I fill up. That way I can usually ride out the weekend's premium price.

But that's just me.

God Bless

The 700 mile Border Fence

Truth be told, I'm not sure if I support a 700 mile fence along the US - Mexican border. On one hand, I think it is a needless expense. On the other hand, the economy could use the jobs it would create.

But, I do know this, I don't support Bush signing a law authorizing the fence, but no authorizing the money. Just how much is this fence going to cost us? According to CNN, "The act provides no funding mechanism for the fence, though a $1.2 billion appropriation was approved as part of a bill the president signed this month. There are no concrete numbers, but estimates suggest the fence would cost twice that amount. The earlier bill, however, stipulates that the $1.2 billion could be used for a fence, lighting, vehicle barriers and high-tech equipment." So, could this fence really cost us $2.4 billion? And, who's going to pay for that? Will we cut federal school money to pay for it? How are the owners' of the property the fence cuts through going to be compensated?

Did anyone really think about this?

How do the border guards feel? They're the ones that'll end up maintaining/watching over it?

Will these questions ever be answered?

Stay tuned. :-)

God Bless

Endorsements...

Senator: Kohl. No reason other than I just like the man.


Governor: Doyle. He inherited a state that was massively in debt, even after those good years in the 90s, and he's been handling it well. He's stood up and vetoed the bills that needed to be vetoed (remember concealed carry?). Mark Green has been in Washington way to long to be a good governor for our state.


State Senator: Lehman. 1) Lehman's is a good representative. He response to his constituents. Case in point, I sent out identical emails to him and Cathy Stepp regarding people being denied home owner's insurance because of their breed of dog. The response from Stepp was thanks for your letter, I haven't heard of this happening. Have a good day. Lehman sent a reply that said, I've never heard of this, let me research it. I'll get back to you. And he did! He wrote a bill that then was killed in the Insurance committee, but he tried. 2) All McReynolds has done for Racine is a $19 million dollar jail and cut the budgets for the Racine Museum and the zoo. Gee thanks a lot for nothing. Oh, he did sell the county sheriff's department bumpers for their cars.

Congressman: Ryan. I don't always agree with Paul Ryan, I really don't. If I write him a letter about how I think things ought to be, he usually replies that he's still voting for or against an issue. But, anytime I've ever contacted him for anything, I've received a reply within weeks. And, everytime I wanted information about a subject, he sent it. I wanted the Army of Engineers report about the levees in New Orleans, two weeks later, I had it. Maybe, he and I don't see eye to eye about some of the issues -- we do agree once in a while, but those are the times I don't write him -- but Paul Ryan is good at what we pay him to do. He informs his constituents about issues, he holds listening sessions. He's a good guy.

One last thing I'd like to point out. I've seen the ads being run about how Doyle didn't do anything and Honda built their plant somewhere else. Lehman voted against the job creation bill and Honda build their plant somewhere else. What these misleading commercials haven't told you is that Honda never wanted to build their plant in Wisconsin. We weren't even on the short list. But you won't see that ad, will you? Oh and the Job Creation Bill passed and was signed into law by Governor Doyle and Honda still built their plant somewhere else. And, the "Job Creation Act" hasn't created one job.

God Bless

Tell Me Something I Don't Know...

CNN has a quiz where if you answer the questions, you get to find out just where you stand politically. So, for fun, I took the quiz, but really, I didn't learn anything except that in today's society, you're on the left if you're against the War in Iraq, but on the right if you oppose gay marriage.

The only questions on the quiz were basically about the War in Iraq, gay marriage, abortion and estate taxes (yes, I've left out a couple). But, I wonder are these really the only topics that determine where you stand?

I took a political science/speech class once where we had to take a 100 question quiz in order to determine where we stood politically. Then, our class was broken down by our answers. Much to my then Republican beliefs, I ended up on the left of center of the classroom. The questions covered a lot of topics and I really wish I had that test today.

Later in life, I took another test that placed me firmly in the Libertarian camp.

Now, I take this test on CNN and I'm back in the left of middle section.

I've just blabbed a lot because I'm just wondering out loud (and off the top of my head) what has happened to politics in this country and to us as citizens of the greatest country on earth? Have we really been reduced to just a few questions? Isn't there more to life?

God Bless

Unions -- Some of the Positives

This week's Human Resource Management class assignment is to find an article that deals with a subject we're currently studying and write a small summary on it. Well, surfing the net, I found an article on the Economic Policy Institutes's website about Unions. I thought it might be of interest and I thought I'd pass along some of the information I learned. The article was written in August of 2003.

Did you know:

• Unions raise wages of unionized workers by roughly 20% and raise compensation, including both wages and benefits, by about 28%.

• Unions reduce wage inequality because they raise wages more for low- and middle-wage workers than for higher-wage workers, more for blue-collar than for white-collar workers, and more for workers who do not have a college degree.

• Strong unions set a pay standard that nonunion employers follow. For example, a high school graduate whose workplace is not unionized but whose industry is 25% unionized is paid 5% more than similar workers in less unionized industries.

• The impact of unions on total nonunion wages is almost as large as the impact on total union wages.

• The most sweeping advantage for unionized workers is in fringe benefits. Unionized workers are more likely than their non unionized counterparts to receive paid leave, are approximately 18% to 28% more likely to have employer-provided health insurance, and are 23% to 54% more likely to be in employer-provided pension plans.

• Unionized workers receive more generous health benefits than non unionized workers. They also pay 18% lower health care deductibles and a smaller share of the costs for family coverage. In retirement, unionized workers are 24% more likely to be covered by health insurance paid for by their employer.

• Unionized workers receive better pension plans. Not only are they more likely to have a guaranteed benefit in retirement, their employers contribute 28% more toward pensions.

• Unionized workers receive 26% more vacation time and 14% more total paid leave (vacations and holidays).

Since unions seem to get a bad rap these days, I thought I'd pass along just some of the positives.

God Bless

William D. Perez

I saw the headline on The Wall Street Journal and I had to stop and read it. Could it really be the same Perez who worked for SC Johnson and spent 8 years as the CEO?

And, well, it is. How nice for him. He's taking over the reigns at Wrigley when their stock is in a slump, but maybe he can turn it around for them. I wonder if this would be a good time to buy some Wrigley stock?

Quite a few years ago, Mr. Perez and I disagreed because of a statement he made to the Racine Journal Times. I'm not going to go into the whole discussion, but after I wrote a letter to the Racine Journal Times, Mr. Perez sent me a letter re-explaining his position. While I don't remember if it changed my mind or not, it did impress me that he would go out of his way to send a letter to someone who disagreed with him. Since that time, I've silently cheered him on.

So, kudos to you, Mr. Perez. I hope you do a terrific job with Wrigley.

God Bless

OLD NEWS: MGM Mirage not building Casino in Kenosha

This is old news, but a little relavant especially since I am still receiving comments on the Kenosha casino blog I wrote way back in July. I still stand behind that blog, by the way. Kenosha doesn't need a casino. Kenosha needs to be courting Chrysler to build it's proposed engine plant I've heard rumors about.

Apparently, the MGM Mirage Casino in Las Vegas was in talks with the Menominee tribe to bring a MGM casino here. But, the Menominee tribe was insistent that Dennis Troha be involved and the MGM people said no.

Wonder why?

Actually, they said it was because they needed no more partners, but the Menominee tribe insisted that Troha's political clout was needed and that was the end of talks with MGM. Real shame, as the MGM Mirage people really know how to run a casino, afterall they run 15 of them worldwide.

So, if Troha had done the right thing and walked away, would Kenosha have a casino? I don't know. Doyle seems to pretty much squash that bug by selling "the Potawatomi a gaming monopoly covering a 50-mile radius from its Milwaukee casino", which really makes all this casino talk pretty much moot.

Also, from what I can tell the bills in both the House and the Senate that would limit off-reservation gambling look stalled, unless I just didn't find the article that said they passed. Somehow, even with bipartisan support, Congress can't pass the bills, but I'm still researching this, as I can't find an article that includes the number of the bills.

In any case, I'm still against a casino in Kenosha. But, why don't we take that dog track land and build a water park and a small amusement park? Why let Gurnee have all the fun? Plus, that would provide entertainment the entire family could enjoy. Green Bay has a little park with small rides and a wading pool and on the day we were there, it was packed with people. (I think it's called Bay Beach.) I'm sure Kenosha could do something like that.

But, that'll never happen because some moron would probably stand in the way of good, clean fun and prevent it from happening.

God Bless

PS. I'd like to offer a special blessing to my new pal who writes anonymous comments attacking me and my weight, because obviously he isn't smart enough or have enough confidence in himself to make an educated comment without being mean spirited. Nor, since he keeps insisting that I'm unemployed, uneducated and uninsured, is he someone who even knows anything about me. So, let's all ask God to watch over him, because I'm sure he needs special care.

Madonna adoption

Frankly, I don't care one way or another what Madonna does. I don't buy her CDs, I've only seen a couple of her movies and I'm not a Material Girl...

But...

No one in Malawi was going to adopt this boy, David Banda. No one was coming for him. His mother is dead and his father can't afford to feed him. The orphanage can barely afford to clothe and feed all the children in this poor country. Madonna didn't jump in line and push a Malawi citizen out of her way. She didn't take advantage of her celebritiy to deny a Malawi citizen the right to adobt David.

What she did do was make a connection with a child and offer him a place where he can lay his head, be clothed, fed and cared for. She did what Jesus told us to do -- clothe the naked, feed the hungry.

And what does she get for it?

The so-called Human Rights groups all over her for the adoption.

What in God's good name is wrong with these people? This child will grow up with not one, but two parents (Madonna is married). AND, David now has one brother and one sister, as Madonna and her husband, Guy Richie, have two children. He's gaining a ready-made family.

David's father is thrilled that his son will be taken care of by Madonna, so the rest of us need to butt out.

Frankly, I could give a rat's ass about a law prohibiting Malawi's orphaned and unwanted children to be adopted by foreigners. Just who in the holy hell do they think can take better care of this child? Certainly no one in Malawi. They can't afford to.

I am singing Madonna's praises for her actions. She'll give this child a good life. And, maybe, when David grows up, he'll be able to return the favor for another poor and unfortunate child.

God Bless

Removed Comment

I have never before removed a comment from my blog, but this one went too far and I won't be called trailer trash by someone who doesn't have enough guts to be anything but anonymous. The post that was removed said the following:

"I'm surprised you don't support a local casino because they usually have buffets and I'm sure you wouldn't mind the "all-you-can-eat" fare. Why is all the compaining always coming from trailer trash who criticize, but don't do anything themselves to make improvements in the community?"

I guess I should be happy that the jerk who posted it could at least spell all the words right.

If you want to post on my blog and say you don't agree with me, fine, I don't care, but you're not sticking around if you're going to attack me personally. You have no idea what I do or don't do for my community. You have no idea what I spend my life doing, so don't make judgements about me.

But, since you didn't leave your name, then I'm sure I'm not out of line to refer to you as a coward. Plain and simple -- coward.

God Bless you anyway, you'll need it.

Why I use Hostek

I use Hostek for all of my web hosting needs -- except I do use Blogger for the blog parts -- but my sites, topofmyhead.info, sixbooks.net, eskielover.com are all hosted using Hostek.

Why?

Well, for one thing, the support is out of this world. I have never had an issue that Hostek was not able to resolve. Even when I did have an issue between sixbooks.net and Blogger, Hostek never said we don't support blogger, deal with them. They kept at it until we resolved the issue. Their email support -- on weekends, because that seems to be when I'm having problems -- responses within four hours. Either the issue is resolved or they need more information, whatever, they contact me within four hours.

Next, their webhosting prices are very, very reasonable, which is how I can afford to host so many sites. And, if you're a church, the price is even better.

So, why do I mention this?

Well, I had some issues recently and thought I should sing their praises, so everyone can use the best hosting company with which I've ever dealt!

My Favorite Niece...

Caitlen Totsch, my favorite niece, has a cool opportunity to go to Washington D.C. next spring with her class. This is an expensive trip and to help with the costs, the school is planning a fund raiser.

So, if you have some spare cash and want to purchase anything from the below link, that would be great!

God Bless

http://www.eZfundraising.com/customer/customer.asp?evtId=75373&parId=88134

"Values" Disappear when you have no money

According to a CNN article from today, married women are turning away from the Republican party and George W. Bush. Married women had been drawn to Bush during the 2004 election because they "had a general fondness for the man himself." I can understand that, most of them are probably married to good old boys like Bush and he is a better looking guy than Kerry. Plus, Bush likes his wife and is good to his mom. I'm not saying Kerry doesn't like his wife and isn't good to his mom, but George W. Bush is exceptional in this regard.

But, I digress, as this is not my point.

Tina Wagner, a stay-at-home mom, (most of the interviewees were stay-at-home-moms) stated the she might vote for the Democrat "if they fit my values." I just wonder what those values are?

More money in your pocket? Healthcare for all? A job that pays the bills?

Or, did she mean, no marriage for gays? And, prayer in school? Like praying in school could be stopped. I prayed more in school as a child than I think I do in church as an adult and, yet again, I digress.

Apparently, we only have moral values when the economy doesn't suck. Nobody cared that Clinton was a pig when no one had a job, we voted for the man. But, once the economy was booming, suddenly where he stuck a cigar was big news. Now, the Republicans are feeling the heat. Tax breaks for the upper 1% of the nation, no healthcare for all and a war less than 40% of the nation still reports, they can't afford a mess like Foley.

Because, now, they're losing the women that put them where they are today.

God Bless

Shameless Plugs...

I know that this is just Oct, but Christmas is really just around the corner. Ever since the birth of my grandsons, I have been aware of the lack of items for parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents who have twins or even triplets in their families. Multiples account for roughly 2% of all births in our great nation and yet, it's hard to find a t-shirt that says I have twins or triplets.

So, I designed some myself and I sell them on CafePress. Money from those sales help keep my blogs free and, since money is tight this year, it'll help pay for some Christmas presents of my own. So, if you have twins or triplets or just know someone who does, please consider some of the below products.

God Bless
All of the Twin items can be found at cafepress/topofmyhead/twins

Bush Supports Hastert

Isn't that nice? President Bush is standing next to House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Nice to know that the leader of the free world is standing beside a man who let a child molester stay in Congress.

The CNN article goes on to say, "House Majority Leader John Boehner, of Ohio, attributed the scandal to partisan dirty tricks and said the uncovering of the messages just weeks before midterm elections 'is concerning, at a minimum.'"

Really? Because Hastert "insisted he learned about the sexually explicit messages last Friday, when they were released."

But, "A former House staffer has said he told Hastert's office before 2005 that there were concerns about Foley."

So, who's at fault? The Democrats because this scandal happened to hit a little more than a month before the mid-term elections or the Republicans for keeping this quite for at least a year?

My guess is that it is the Republicans.

I can't believe the nerve of Hastert, according to the article, "'I'm going to run and presumably win in this election, and when I do I expect to run for speaker,' Hastert told reporters at his district office outside Chicago."

He should be running away with his Republican tail between his legs.

This is the party that spent millions to find out what was on a blue dress and where a cigar had been, but they couldn't make sure that a member of their party didn't send inappropriate emails and IMs to Pages?

And, how dare the Republicans claim this is some ploy from the left to ruin their election -- the left didn't need this to win, the sagging economy and war in Iraq was taking care of that. (Plus, am I the only one who thinks it is odd that suddenly the price of a barrel of oil has dropped right before the mid-term elections? But, that's fodder for another article.)

I have to stop now, because I need to go throw up.

God Bless

Why I won't be voting for any Republican Candidates

Just once, I'd like to vote for a Republican -- just once. I haven't voted for any Republican candidate since the 80's. None of them stand for that in which I believe. And, isn't that a shame? You would think that I would agree with at least one Republican.

I'm not voting for the Republican candidate for Governor, Mark Green, for a couple of reasons. First, he agreed with George W. Bush way too many times and he voted that way. Since the country is faced with stragflation that we haven't seen since the 70's, agreeing with Bush wasn't the right thing to do. Plus, the man has no balls. I haven't seen one news report where he stood up and fought for anything. Add on the fact that according to the AARP 2006 Voters' Guide for Wisconsin Governor, Mark Green has no opinion on a "health care system with a shared approach to funding that provides comprehensive, affordable, quality health care services for all Wisconsinites". Instead of saying Support or Oppose, his statement is as follows:

"Rather than increasing the government’s role in health care, I’ll empower patients with more information so they can work with their physician to make good decisions. I also believe we need to do more to prevent disease and avoid expensive treatments. As governor, I’ll promote and provide incentives for regular check-ups and healthy living choices.

I’ll also take steps to reduce health care costs that have nothing to do with providing health care. A chunk of our health care spending is directly related to frivolous lawsuits. I want your health care dollars going to keep you well, not to line the pockets of well-off trial attorneys.

Finally, I disagree with Governor Doyle’s veto of the increase in Medicaid reimbursements for nursing homes and pharmacists."

That doesn't look like an answer to me. At least not the answer to the question. Just how does he think he'll "empower" patients with more information if they don't have the money or health insurance to actually go to the doctor? If you can't afford a checkup, all the information in the world isn't going to help you. Next, why is it that Republicans only discuss frivolous lawsuits when it comes to healthcare. Why don't they talk about stiffer penalties when doctors are found guilty of malpractice? And, finally, did you know a lot of nursing homes require that you buy your medication through them? This goes for Assisted Living facilities, as well. The price for buying from them can be 1/3 more or even 50% more than if you were allowed to purchase the medications from your own pharmacy. So, tossing more money at them doesn't help the situation.

Okay, enough of Mark Green, let's talk about McReynolds. Don't vote for the man. He's left Racine County trying to figure out how to pay for a 19 million dollar jail AND he cut the funding to both the zoo and the Racine Museum. Now, the funding for the zoo was a drop in the bucket compared to a 19 million dollar jail -- we don't need, by the way -- Plus, our zoo was one of the last 8 free zoos in the nation. And, I'm sure that we get more money for a longer period of time from out of towners visiting the zoo than we'll ever see from the jail. How many people are going to show up to tour the jail? We needed to fund improvements at the zoo to make it an even better place to visit. Have you seen it lately, it's a sad looking place and it could be so much more.

Plus, I'm a little miffed that the Rock County District Attorney, David O'Leary, didn't find any wrong doing in the sale of "bumpers to the Racine County Sheriff's Department while McReynolds was both sheriff and county executive." McReynolds owns 1/3 of Force Engineering, which sold the bumpers. And, there isn't an ethics violation? I really believe that Force Engineering had the best bumpers and the best prices -- yeah, right. Mr. O'Leary is a Republican, McReynolds is a Republican and Michael Nieskes (Racine's own District Attorney) is a Republican. Just how did you think O'Leary would decide whether McReynolds had any ethics violations? He certainly isn't going to say, hey, my fellow Republican is an ethics violator. Afterall, Republicans will let a child molester keep his Congressional seat just so they don't lose it to a Democrat.

Now, I'm running out space and time, so I will just say this:

When you go to vote on November 7, stop and think about what our Republican led State Legistlature did this past year.

They passed and Governor Doyle signed the Job Creation Act and Wisconsin's job market didn't gain one job. Not one from it, so that was a waste of tax payer time.

Next, take a look at the ballot, our Republican led Legistlature has planted the death penalty right there to be voted upon. Excuse me, but since when is this a pressing matter?

Take a look at that wonderful amendment banning gay marriages and civil unions of both the straight and gay kind. Isn't that lovely for our great progressive state? Thank the Republicans!

Finally, isn't it time to give the other side a chance? The Republicans have been in charge long enough and it's time to say Adios, amigos! We'll clean up your mess and take it from here!

God Bless

Hastert -- Won't give up Post

Now the House Ethics Committee has met behind closed doors and said, "Hey, do you think NOW we should investigate Foley for being a prev?"

A little late -- it's like closing the cat door after the dog has come through it!

Oh, I'm so glad that House Speaker Dennis "I'll look the other way while you molest that child" Hastert isn't stepping down. I have NEVER in my life been so proud to say I no longer live in Illinois.

Will it never end?

God Bless

Forcing abortions is sick...

First, let me say again, that anyone forcing anyone else to have an abortion is a sick human being.

That said, I just wonder if the parents would be charged with terrorizing their daughter, if they had kidnapped her to prevent her from having an abortion?

Just a thought, as in this day and age, I'm sure they wouldn't.

God Bless

The So-called Moral Party

You know what is really pissing me off about the Foley scandal. It's not there's another prevert in our midst, I've come to expect that. It's the rare good person in the world I'm surprised to meet.

No, what really gets my goat, is that for the last 12 years, the Republicans have stood up as some moral compass for our country. They've claimed that they are the moral ones and they protected Foley and allowed him to molest children, as if this is okay. Well, he's just one prev in a long line of them, but he's our prev and that's what counts. The Congressional seat was more important than the well being of children.

The entire Republican party needs to be punished for Foley's crimes and the lack of leadership they have shown in the matter.

The moral compass of our nation needs to be leaders who lead, not bobbleheads who just go along for the ride.

God Bless

These are in total bad taste...

Okay, tonight I'm sitting here pissed off at the Republicans and some t-shirt ideas come to me. I thought mine were pretty bad, but I saw worse on CafePress, so I'm not the only sick person around.

Foley is full of it...

I don't care that Foley was molested as a child. That's no excuse for becoming a sick, son-of-a-bitch as an adult. He's not some poor sap for whom we should waste any amount of sorrow upon. He's a rich bastard who can afford the healthcare to get better, but no, he choose to molest little boys.

Now, he's announced that he's gay. No, you sick son-of-a -bitch, you're not gay, you're a prevert. Thanks a f*cking lot because now you're the poster child for the right wing to continue believing that all gays are sick sons-of-bitches and we're not.

If I owned a gun, I'd use it to shoot you and every sick, rotten bastard child molester on the planet. I don't want to hear you pansy-assed whining "I've been hurt" bullsh*t. I want your fairy ass in jail -- and not in protective custody -- I want you where the general population -- who are usually considered the scum of the earth -- can teach you who is the lowlife on the food chain.

No, these aren't Christian thoughts, but I'll bet even Jesus Christ Himself has some limits.

By the way, I personally know plenty of people who were molested as children or teenagers who have grown up to be productive members of society -- not creeps like Foley.

Oh, and I'm not letting off the hook the rotten Republican bastards who knew what was going on and turned their backs to protect a f*cking congressional seat.

I hope you all rot in Hell.

To the rest of us,

God Bless

Guest Blog -- Moderate Republicans, Congressional Elections and Foley

In the closing weeks of the 2006 Congressional Elections, Republican incumbents should be very worried about the impact of Congressman Foley’s sexual misdeeds and the widespread cover-up by top Republican Congressional leaders. Many Republicans in Congress have carefully crafted public images as “independent” or “moderate” politicians that often do not reflect their actual voting records. Voting for these Republicans helps keep in power the same Congressional leaders involved in the cover-up. This in turn keeps in place the unpopular, corrupt policies of the Republicans on issues like Iraq, media concentration, campaign finance, prescription drugs and taxes.

Will the voters make the connection in local races? If they do, Republican Congressmen like Mike Castle in Delaware and Wayne Gilchrest in Maryland may see safe seats seriously threatened. Democratic challengers like Dennis Spivack in Delaware and Jim Corwin in Maryland may quickly see large increases in the amount of campaign cash flowing into their efforts. If they get funds to air TV and radio ads making the connection between the Republican incumbents and keeping the corrupt national leaders in control of Congress, campaigns like these will show surprising life.

Foley is part of a national pattern of Republican scandals. Delay in Texas, Ney and Taft in Ohio, Cunningham in California are joined by hundreds of other Republican politicians mired in various public scandals at all levels of government reaching into almost every state in the nation. Jack Abramoff opened many eyes and scandals keep piling on. Republicans are facing an internal corruption crisis. However, the Foley incident has the strongest potential to influence the Election.

Foley victimized children. His actions are likely to be the final straw for large numbers of Christian voters. The Republican Right has used gay-bashing to gain Christian votes in many past elections and the tactic looks likely to come back to bite them this Fall. Many of these Christians will react strongly against the Republican scandals by voting Democratic or not voting. These voters are already uneasy with the financial corruption tied to the Republicans. Republicans cannot win in many places around the nation without these voters.

Senate candidates will be impacted as well by the public revulsion and outrage against Republican hypocrisy. Democrat Harold Ford is looking more like a winner in Tennessee. Republican Lincoln Chafee is more likely to lose in Rhode Island. Missouri and Montana are looking much better for the Democrats. Republicans are very unlikely to retain the Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Even Snowe in Maine may face a newly reinvigorated challenge from her Democratic opponent. Moral issues might be the key to outcomes in those states and not be favorable to the Republicans.

The Bush White House is intentionally downplaying the significance of the Foley emails and instant messages. Those efforts are actually linking the White House to Foley in the minds of many voters. The Republican Congressional campaign committee efforts to get Foley to donate his campaign kitty of $2.7 million will hurt Congressman Tom Reynolds who heads the committee. Reynolds has been implicated in the cover-up along with the Speaker of the House and the Republican Majority Leader according to published reports.

Tom Delay is not the only Congressional Republican leader to be disgraced this year. Unlike Delay, the current scandal is unlikely to be off the front pages of newspapers or televised news reports before the voters go to the polls.

Written by Stephen Crockett (co-host of Democratic Talk Radio http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com ). Mail: P.O. Box 283, Earleville, Maryland 21919. Phone: 443-907-2367. Email: midsouthcm@aol.com .

Bush is a JackAss and keeps getting worse...

Bush said, "If you listen closely to some of the leaders of the Democratic Party, it sounds like -- it sounds like -- they think the best way to protect the American people is, wait until we're attacked again." He said it at a fundraiser. He wants you to believe that Republicans know what they're doing in Congress. He's coming out swinging because no matter what happened in the ten years prior to his administration, 9/11 happened on his watch. According to recent news releases, his administration ignored warnings as early as July, 2001. It was his administration who decided that we should attack Iraq. His administration who demostrated the idea to attack Iraq way back in Feb. 2001.

Now, we learn that Republican leaders in Congress knew that a member of Congress was a child molester and they did nothing about it! They were worried about losing votes, not protecting children. Does this sound like a group that has it together? Does this sound like a group that has the nation's best interests at heart?

It doesn't to me and we, as the American public, should join together and send them a message: "To the Republican Party of the United States: You're fired!"

God Bless