Archive for May, 2008
The fight between the two contenders for the Democratic nomination for president are creating strife and ammunition for the Republicans in the fall. Something needs to be done to patch up things within the party for a victory in the fall for the Democrats. The drubbing Clinton took in North Carolina coupled with the narrow victory in Indiana – a state she was supposed to win handily – show she is losing ground even further to Obama. I have always been an independent and voted the way I felt was best irregardless of which party they were from, but feel that we can not afford four more years of spend and borrow economy by the government or four more years in Iraq, much less the hundred that John McCain mentioned. The best two candidates are running against one another. It is a shame they can not patch up their differences and team up together to take back the White House for the citizens of this country and not special interest groups.
I know that today they are going to the polls in my neighboring state of North Carolina and in Indiana as well but what has really gotten my attention is a Judge in Ohio. He has ruled that medical examiners autopsies be overturned when they had ruled that tasers contributed to their death. How can a judge know more than a trained medical examiner? What it is, is the fact that Taser International is trying to intimidate medical examiners across the country from telling the truth as they see it. They [Taser International] have done absolutely no medical research into the 50,000 volt devices yet have the arrogance to force a change in autopsy reports. This is just a ploy for them to keep selling them to police across the country and say they are safe. They may be safer than a bullet but they can still kill some people. Police must know this and not have cases decided by Taser International or a judge who sees things in a favorable light to them. The U.N. of which we are a charter member has denounced the use of tasers as torture but we go right on using them without a thought to the safety of those on the receiving end of one. From the numerous videos across the web you can see police officers reaching for a taster first thing rather than trying any other method of subduing a suspect, even those that are not violent routinely get tasered as some officers seem to enjoy see a suspect getting 50,000 volt jolts of electricity coursing through their body. This case is going to be appealed. Lets hope that this time they get a judge with some common sense.
Cuba makes another step into the modern world this week as President Raul Castro lifted the ban on personal computers. The desktop computers cost almost $800 in a country that the average wage is under $20 a month. Some Cubans have plenty of extra spending money as their relatives send it to them. Right now they are restricted to certain workplaces schools and universities. It is unable to connect to giant fiber-optic undersea cables due to the U.S. trade embargo. However Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, Cuba’s ally and a critic of the US, is laying a new cable under the Caribbean. It remains to be seen once they are connected if they will have uncensored internet or not.
Cubans have recently been allowed such items as cell phones and DVD players. How much longer are we going to maintain our embargo on Cuba? Doesn’t it seem to have gone on long enough? I know it does to me.
The North Atlantic Right Whale – so named by whalers of days bygone – is the most critically endangered species on the planet with less than 350 left alive. Man hunted this spectacular animal into the brink of extinction and even though it is protected by the Endangered Species Act, is still in serious trouble. One problem that has been a serious problem for years is they are often surprised and badly injured or killed by large commercial shipping going too fast in the waters they prefer. Marine biologists and NOAA have been trying to get a speed limit of 10 knots imposed on these waters. Since 1989 there have been at least 19 known deaths that are believed to have been caused by large ships. I know 19 doesn’t sound like a large number but when there are so few of these animals left and then taking into consideration the time required for them to reach maturity and able to breed.
An attempt to protect them by making all large ships slow down a little in their areas has languished for over a year partially because the office of the Vice President questions the conclusions of the governments own scientists. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif released documents yesterday that questioned why White House officials have raised baseless objections over the data gathered by government scientists who have been studying this problem for years. “I question why White House economic advisers are apparently conducting their own research on right whales and why the vice president’s staff is challenging the conclusions of the government’s scientific experts,” Waxman wrote. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the White House interference in a wide range of areas from regulating toxic chemicals to climate change and protecting endangered species.
I find myself sitting here trying to find works to type for todays post with no real feelings in me. Just a lost feeling in the pit of my stomach is all.I went to the doctor earlier in the week and he had me come in the next morning after breakfast for lab work. The vampriss was quite good at her job and hit my hard to find veins first time with barely a pin prick to be felt. The doctor himself called me today with the results. He said my sugar was up to 276 and that I am diabetic. I am hoping I skewed the results with my high dosage of sugar for breakfast that morning. I had french toast with lots of syrup and a big glass of orange juice. Both of those can raise your sugar levels but still 276 is really high they say. This is going to be extra tough to handle as I am a sugar addict. It looks as if I am headed for an intervention.