In Kentucky we have a deep and rich history of political and government involvement. We have had presidents and statesmen alike come from our humble state. One of the most famous might very well be Henry Clay. Clay enjoyed a very active political career in his day. He was a U.S ambassador and peace negotiator to several states of the former Soviet Union among many other things. Clay left a legacy that his fellow Kentuckians can still be proud of to this day. In fact this legacy has meant so much that the Henry Clay Center for statesmanship has recently opened it doors in Lexington. This new center hopes to build off of Clays approach to finding the middle ground. The new center hopes to begin a new program reaching out to college students and to teach them about statesmanship in a one week class for college juniors. This program will consist of fifty students representing each state. During the week that will learn and put in to practice these new political skills that they have learned. The hope is that Kentucky will continue to build is legacy of great statesmanship within her borders and around the world. I believe that such a program will be a great advantage for our sate but more so for the students that have an opportunity to attend. I believe that any program that offers hand on education is the best possible way to learn. Yet polices can be very complicated and daunting to a young student. A program teaching them the basics and giving them the opportunity to practice there negotiating skill and will give great benefits to these students and hopefully to our political system as a whole. By better preparing our nation’s future leaders we will be better prepared for what the future holds.
Mayor Connlley of Berea is all about political speak. When questioned whether he’d be for or against alcohol sales in Berea restaurants he simply stated he's still undecided on how he'll vote. He went on to say” It will be a success either way.” He did a fine job by taking neither side of the moist wet issue in Berea. About a year ago this same issue was voted upon in Danville where alcohol arrests naturally went up but other crime has failed to be affected either way, since drinking in restraints was voted in. My personally belief is that I have yet to see anything positive ever come from the use of alcoholic beverages, although I have been know to have some wine with my meal and even on rare occasion have a beer or two at a ballgame. For a community to vote for alcohol sales with the idea in mind that it will make their community look more progressive and therefore more appealing to outsiders is a farce. Berea is a special community all on it’s own, with it’s own nuances and character, it doesn’t need alcohol sales. But, if the majority of voters in Berea feel differently then so be it. I’ll probably eat and drink in Berea too. I feel the churches in Berea and in particular the church leaders are again sticking their noses in where it does not belong. Religion should stay out of politics and the government’s business and focus on what they are supposed to be good at which is saving souls, feeding the poor and ministering to people in need. To read more click on the following link: http://www.kentucky.com/454/story/130748.html
In December of last year a man named John Parsons was imprisoned for reportedly killing a cop in Chillicothe, Ohio. He then escaped from a federal prison by making a rope out of bed sheets and toilet paper and then scaling over razor wire to get outside the facility. He was on the run for a few months. He quickly became one of the top targets for FBI searches and his name was all over the news. There were searches in the woods around my house because Parsons was believed to be heading this way (I live about 20 minutes outside of Chillicothe). He was finally found in Chillicothe. Anyways, that was just some background information. The article is about Parsons’ half brother, Chad Johnson. Johnson was just sentenced three years in prison on counts of having a weapon under a disability and tampering with evidence. Johnson admitted to disposing of a handgun for Parsons on the day he shot a Chillicothe police officer. Johnson also admitted to helping Parsons get rid of the clothes he wore while he shot the officer. It is a law in Ohio that a convicted felon can not possess a weapon after their release from prison unless they petition a court to have permission. Johnson also never received that permission. He was sent to the prison in Orient until he receives his permanent assignment.
I got this article on yahoo news and its title is “Edwards returns lobbyist money.” John Edwards a democrat looking to be elected for the Presidential election returned $3,400 from lobbyist. He had recently announced he wasn’t going to except money from special interest groups. This wasn’t the first time he had done this since his announcement. He returned money just last week to a registered lobbyist. He also claims that he has never accepted money from Washington lobbyist or PAC’s of any kind. I discussed this topic in a blog earlier in the summer. Obviously not every candidate running for any position can do this. Usually candidates running for President can afford not to accept money from lobbyist. As I discussed before just about every President is rich before they run for office. It takes lots money to get your name out there. I don’t know how I feel about John Edwards doing this though. I wonder if he thinks he will gain respect from people for not accepting the money. A part of me wants to think he’s dumb for not accepting the money like the majority of the candidates. The other part wants to respect his decision and hope others will follow in his footsteps. But I know that is wishful thinking, as long as there is money out there for people to take they will. Like I discussed before, usually in other positions, especially local candidates, the more money you have the better chances you have.
State officials in Ohio have decided to freeze tuition at state universities for two years, while private college tuition continues to rise. This comes as a blow to many college students who have committed to out-of-state universities for a lower cost. I love Eastern, but one of the deciding factors for me, was the cost. I would have loved to go to the Ohio State University or another Ohio university or college, but the cost was just outrageous. This freeze is also making matters worse for parents who invested in the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority Guaranteed Savings Fund. This freeze is a good thing for the money issue of college, but it is bad timing for some people that already chose a different school or invested in certain funds. The parents that invested in the Ohio Trust can transfer their money into any of 32 OTTA College Advantage plans. Once the money is withdrawn from the Trust though, they cannot return to the trust because new enrollments are not permitted. I think that Ohio is starting to take the right direction and this freeze was due to Ted Strickland. The cost for going to college and obtaining a higher level of education has gotten out of hand. Education should be something that is available to anyone that wants it to be, but with the high cost of attending, there are many people that can not take the opportunity to advance their knowledge. http://www.topix.net/content/kri/2007/07/tuition-freeze-halts-returns-for-investors-in-state-fund
Currently, there is a governor’s election here in Kentucky. The two candidates, Governor Fletcher and Democratic challenger Steve Beshear are facing each other. The problem is that since the primary election, even prior to the primary election, there seemed to be low interest in this race. Most people probably do not know that the two candidates battled verbally before a Kentucky Farm Bureau forum in Louisville recently. This could be viewed as a debate. Too bad that most Kentuckians did not even know, or care that these two even had a heated talk over issues. I only heard of these talk on the radio, after the fact and it seems the issues were casinos and the Democratic challenger is using the old “flip-flop” tactic on the governor over this issue. Just how Senator Kerry was seen as a “flip-flopper,” back in the 2004 Presidential election. I came across an article at http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=6807071&nav=menu31_3_10 , which was titled “Governor and challenger clash over issues.” The problems that I read in this article was, one, it was too short, and two, the issues seemed to be casino gambling and a short sentence about tobacco settlement money and alternative fuels. This campaign race is shaping up to me to be about just how boring this election race is and will anyone show up at the polls come November. Because this article is dated July 18th, and I did not even hear about it until this past weekend. I am one who keeps up on politics and I fear that those who do not pay attention will not even know that there is even a governor’s race this year among all the hoopla about that overshadowing 2008 Presidential election.
In response to Tpittman’s comments on Edwards returning lobbyist money. I think the same on this issue. Part of me sees that Former Senator Edwards is doing the noble thing and returning lobbyist money. I remember his doing this before. Now days, even if you are thinking of running for President, you have to be independently wealthy. If you do not have the money or the connections (to get money), you do not stand a snowballs chance. As for Edwards, he is a millionaire and not taking lobbyist money is nothing to him financially, but morally, it makes him appear that he is taking the higher ground (road) in the election. Will it help him win the Democratic nomination? He does not have a chance with Senator Clinton and Obama in the lead. All he can hope for is wins in the early primaries or nice second place finishes, which could propel him into the vice president post a second time.
Due to the Democratic Debate held on Monday evening at the Citadel in South Carolina, many of the candidates are still in this area campaigning. John Edwards being one of the top democratic candidates, especially in the Carolinas was in Georgetown (South Carolina) Tuesday, July 24th. Senator Edwards was on his “Road to One America” campaign tour and spoke on his intent on pulling the troops out of Iraq, devote more money to medicate AIDS patients, to stop the “torture” of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and to fight global warming. The reason Senator Edwards has chosen the name for his campaign as the “Road to One America” is because he feels that there are two Americas, one that is very rich and one for everyone else. Two of the ways he plans on pulling the “two Americas” together is to increase minimum wage and work to make health insurance affordable for all Americans. He made the comment several times during his speech that America “needs a big change, not just small changes”. Many of the audience members were very interested in knowing his intentions on his commitment to fighting the AIDS epidemic and ending genocide in Darfur. One of the ways that Senator Edwards plans to fight the genocide would be to install peace-keeping forces from the United Nations in Darfur. From watching the local news in Myrtle Beach and reading the local papers, Senator Edwards seems to really be committed to making the people in the United States believe in him, especially in his native Carolina states. He is on the front page of papers, top stories on the news at 6:00 and me being from out of town, I find it interesting to see how fond the media is to their own candidate.
In response to Darryl Saylor’ s comment I agree that this governor’s race is not really talked about as much as past elections. But coming from a family of politicians I definitely hear about it and know that this race is very important. I hear positive and negative things about both candidates, that is why I’m having problems deciding on who I want to vote for. Although, my family is strong democrats I have always been one to vote for the person and not the party. Here are some of the issues that I continue to hear about on a regular basis… First, the gambling issue. This will bring in some revenue to the state as well as jobs. I am for gambling in the state of Kentucky, however I do see why a lot of fellow Kentuckians are against it. Being right in the middle of the Bible belt, a lot of our churches are against it due to “gambling” being a sin. I however see nothing wrong with it as long as the gambling is done in moderation. Second, a lot of southeastern Kentuckians really do like Fletcher due to the many positive things that he has done for their counties. I have family in Bath County and Owsley County and have heard many positive things come from my family. Specifically my family members in Owsley County really backing him for paving roads that past governors would not help them in getting done and in Bath County he has given a large amount of money for the agricultural extension office to improve the farmer’s market and keep the farming money in Bath County. Both of these issues might seem to some of you irrelevant, but in these two counties, these issues are very important and something that really means a lot to both county’s revenue.
A judge in Harrodsburg ruled today that the 18 year old, Lee Anderson could face life in prison without parole if he is found guilty for the stabbing death of a retired teacher in 2006. When the stabbing took place, Anderson was only 17 years old. The Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile offenders can be sentenced to prison but not sentenced to execution. So, the judge in Harrodsburg heard oral arguments on the extent that Anderson could be sentenced and determined that life without parole would be within the confines of the Supreme Court ruling about execution. The issue of the death penalty has been a historically heated issue. I just wonder if there are those that would prefer the death penalty sentence for this person. My personal feelings are that until a person is 18, the court must approach any decision based on the fact that they are not an adult, thus are incapable of making adult decisions. However, I am unsure about my feelings for the death penalty all together. I can not say that I am opposed because if I had a child and they were murdered, I don’t know how I would feel. Or, if my child committed a murder, I don’t know how I would feel. I have read that it costs more money to execute a prisoner than it does to keep them in prison until they die. Personally, I think that life in prison seems to be a much harsher punishment. Life without parole is a punishment that will always be with the perpetrator. They will never have a free minute and there will always be bars to remind them of their actions. To me, this seems more reasonable, but I guess none of us really know until we are in that kind of situation.
If you've had a traffic ticket recently, you likely are in the privately run database of criminals and potential terrorists being kept by [Texas Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry's office.The TDEx database is managed by Appriss Inc. of Louisville, Ky., and is an extension of its JusticeXchange program to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with a unified national crime database."" I did not know that hmmmm. Well I actualy got a ticket coming back from mexico in june so I found that to be quite interesting and obesered is there not better things and better things to do with the money they are using for this database and put it towards stopping the immigrants from coming over here and proceeding to multiply.The database has information ranging from intelligence on potential terrorists to standard criminal convictions to drug investigations to speeding tickets and red-light violations.Don't you think that it's just a little too much or is it just me over exagerating again. I think that with our use and power as citizens we dont use it for the right things and as the goverment using our money we think of too many petty ways to be protected do you really need a database for me running a red light??? Hey but who am I maybe I'm wrong!!! chastity
I found a local story about a politician who is returning money similar to that of John Edwards returning money to a lobbyist. I read the story several weeks ago, but thought that it would be interesting to compare with Edwards. From the Portsmouth Daily Times: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11A93C0D1D836B80&p_docnum=1&s_accountid=AC0107072800170018091&s_orderid=NB0107072800141927714&s_dlid=DL0107072800171418105&s_ecproduct=DOC&s_username=uglytuba&s_accountid=AC0107072800170018091&s_upgradeable=no. (Don't click on the link, it will cost you!) To summarize, the Portsmouth City Solicitor was granted a $10,000 raise as was the City Auditor. Traditionally, the solicitor and auditor positions had been paid identical amounts. The auditor requested the raise despite predicting a nearly half million dollar deficit for the year. City Council approved the raise along with one for the Mayor. The solicitor automatically received the raise along with the auditor. The solicitor returned the amount of the raise to the city to help pay for renovations to a local pool and the remainder to pay for shortages in salaries for police and fire departments. The solicitor stated that he didn't request the raise, so he wanted it to be put toward the anticipated deficit. Interestingly, the auditor and mayor stated they had no intentions of returning the raises. Both the solicitor and auditor are up for reelection in November. Whether the solicitor made the gesture in anticipation of a close race in November is anybody's guess, but for the mayor and the auditor to request raises knowing there was going to be a deficit raises a question of local fiscal responsibility. Its one thing for the federal government to run in the red, it has the means to "juggle" the budget, but a city the size of Portsmouth has no business trying run a budget deficit. Real money is being played with. People's salaries and our aging infrastructure is at stake. If the past few years are any indication, when Portsmouth faces a budget deficit, a few police officers and a few firemen find themselves without a paycheck for a few weeks. While this probably has very little effect on the city itself for a couple of weeks, it doesn't do much for those that were laid off. Since we are a small city, I know some of the players in this story personally. It's disappointing when some of your friends behave in an irresponsible manner. Friend or not, some of my voting patterns will probably change as a result of this revelation in our city's politics.
14 comments:
In Kentucky we have a deep and rich history of political and government involvement.
We have had presidents and statesmen alike come from our humble state. One of the most famous might very well be Henry Clay. Clay enjoyed a very active political career in his day. He was a U.S ambassador and peace negotiator to several states of the former Soviet Union among many other things. Clay left a legacy that his fellow Kentuckians can still be proud of to this day. In fact this legacy has meant so much that the Henry Clay Center for statesmanship has recently opened it doors in Lexington. This new center hopes to build off of Clays approach to finding the middle ground. The new center hopes to begin a new program reaching out to college students and to teach them about statesmanship in a one week class for college juniors. This program will consist of fifty students representing each state. During the week that will learn and put in to practice these new political skills that they have learned. The hope is that Kentucky will continue to build is legacy of great statesmanship within her borders and around the world.
I believe that such a program will be a great advantage for our sate but more so for the students that have an opportunity to attend. I believe that any program that offers hand on education is the best possible way to learn. Yet polices can be very complicated and daunting to a young student. A program teaching them the basics and giving them the opportunity to practice there negotiating skill and will give great benefits to these students and hopefully to our political system as a whole. By better preparing our nation’s future leaders we will be better prepared for what the future holds.
this story also came from fridays lexington herald
Mayor Connlley of Berea is all about political speak. When questioned whether he’d be for or against alcohol sales in Berea restaurants he simply stated he's still undecided on how he'll vote. He went on to say” It will be a success either way.” He did a fine job by taking neither side of the moist wet issue in Berea. About a year ago this same issue was voted upon in Danville where alcohol arrests naturally went up but other crime has failed to be affected either way, since drinking in restraints was voted in. My personally belief is that I have yet to see anything positive ever come from the use of alcoholic beverages, although I have been know to have some wine with my meal and even on rare occasion have a beer or two at a ballgame. For a community to vote for alcohol sales with the idea in mind that it will make their community look more progressive and therefore more appealing to outsiders is a farce. Berea is a special community all on it’s own, with it’s own nuances and character, it doesn’t need alcohol sales. But, if the majority of voters in Berea feel differently then so be it. I’ll probably eat and drink in Berea too. I feel the churches in Berea and in particular the church leaders are again sticking their noses in where it does not belong. Religion should stay out of politics and the government’s business and focus on what they are supposed to be good at which is saving souls, feeding the poor and ministering to people in need. To read more click on the following link: http://www.kentucky.com/454/story/130748.html
http://www.centralohio.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/B8/20070724/NEWS01/707240306/1002
In December of last year a man named John Parsons was imprisoned for reportedly killing a cop in Chillicothe, Ohio. He then escaped from a federal prison by making a rope out of bed sheets and toilet paper and then scaling over razor wire to get outside the facility. He was on the run for a few months. He quickly became one of the top targets for FBI searches and his name was all over the news. There were searches in the woods around my house because Parsons was believed to be heading this way (I live about 20 minutes outside of Chillicothe). He was finally found in Chillicothe. Anyways, that was just some background information. The article is about Parsons’ half brother, Chad Johnson. Johnson was just sentenced three years in prison on counts of having a weapon under a disability and tampering with evidence. Johnson admitted to disposing of a handgun for Parsons on the day he shot a Chillicothe police officer. Johnson also admitted to helping Parsons get rid of the clothes he wore while he shot the officer. It is a law in Ohio that a convicted felon can not possess a weapon after their release from prison unless they petition a court to have permission. Johnson also never received that permission. He was sent to the prison in Orient until he receives his permanent assignment.
I got this article on yahoo news and its title is “Edwards returns lobbyist money.” John Edwards a democrat looking to be elected for the Presidential election returned $3,400 from lobbyist. He had recently announced he wasn’t going to except money from special interest groups. This wasn’t the first time he had done this since his announcement. He returned money just last week to a registered lobbyist. He also claims that he has never accepted money from Washington lobbyist or PAC’s of any kind. I discussed this topic in a blog earlier in the summer. Obviously not every candidate running for any position can do this. Usually candidates running for President can afford not to accept money from lobbyist. As I discussed before just about every President is rich before they run for office. It takes lots money to get your name out there. I don’t know how I feel about John Edwards doing this though. I wonder if he thinks he will gain respect from people for not accepting the money. A part of me wants to think he’s dumb for not accepting the money like the majority of the candidates. The other part wants to respect his decision and hope others will follow in his footsteps. But I know that is wishful thinking, as long as there is money out there for people to take they will. Like I discussed before, usually in other positions, especially local candidates, the more money you have the better chances you have.
State officials in Ohio have decided to freeze tuition at state universities for two years, while private college tuition continues to rise. This comes as a blow to many college students who have committed to out-of-state universities for a lower cost. I love Eastern, but one of the deciding factors for me, was the cost. I would have loved to go to the Ohio State University or another Ohio university or college, but the cost was just outrageous. This freeze is also making matters worse for parents who invested in the Ohio Tuition Trust Authority Guaranteed Savings Fund. This freeze is a good thing for the money issue of college, but it is bad timing for some people that already chose a different school or invested in certain funds. The parents that invested in the Ohio Trust can transfer their money into any of 32 OTTA College Advantage plans. Once the money is withdrawn from the Trust though, they cannot return to the trust because new enrollments are not permitted. I think that Ohio is starting to take the right direction and this freeze was due to Ted Strickland. The cost for going to college and obtaining a higher level of education has gotten out of hand. Education should be something that is available to anyone that wants it to be, but with the high cost of attending, there are many people that can not take the opportunity to advance their knowledge.
http://www.topix.net/content/kri/2007/07/tuition-freeze-halts-returns-for-investors-in-state-fund
Currently, there is a governor’s election here in Kentucky. The two candidates, Governor Fletcher and Democratic challenger Steve Beshear are facing each other. The problem is that since the primary election, even prior to the primary election, there seemed to be low interest in this race. Most people probably do not know that the two candidates battled verbally before a Kentucky Farm Bureau forum in Louisville recently. This could be viewed as a debate. Too bad that most Kentuckians did not even know, or care that these two even had a heated talk over issues. I only heard of these talk on the radio, after the fact and it seems the issues were casinos and the Democratic challenger is using the old “flip-flop” tactic on the governor over this issue. Just how Senator Kerry was seen as a “flip-flopper,” back in the 2004 Presidential election. I came across an article at http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=6807071&nav=menu31_3_10 , which was titled “Governor and challenger clash over issues.” The problems that I read in this article was, one, it was too short, and two, the issues seemed to be casino gambling and a short sentence about tobacco settlement money and alternative fuels. This campaign race is shaping up to me to be about just how boring this election race is and will anyone show up at the polls come November. Because this article is dated July 18th, and I did not even hear about it until this past weekend. I am one who keeps up on politics and I fear that those who do not pay attention will not even know that there is even a governor’s race this year among all the hoopla about that overshadowing 2008 Presidential election.
In response to Tpittman’s comments on Edwards returning lobbyist money. I think the same on this issue. Part of me sees that Former Senator Edwards is doing the noble thing and returning lobbyist money. I remember his doing this before. Now days, even if you are thinking of running for President, you have to be independently wealthy. If you do not have the money or the connections (to get money), you do not stand a snowballs chance. As for Edwards, he is a millionaire and not taking lobbyist money is nothing to him financially, but morally, it makes him appear that he is taking the higher ground (road) in the election. Will it help him win the Democratic nomination? He does not have a chance with Senator Clinton and Obama in the lead. All he can hope for is wins in the early primaries or nice second place finishes, which could propel him into the vice president post a second time.
The Sun News – Myrtle Beach, SC
Due to the Democratic Debate held on Monday evening at the Citadel in South Carolina, many of the candidates are still in this area campaigning. John Edwards being one of the top democratic candidates, especially in the Carolinas was in Georgetown (South Carolina) Tuesday, July 24th. Senator Edwards was on his “Road to One America” campaign tour and spoke on his intent on pulling the troops out of Iraq, devote more money to medicate AIDS patients, to stop the “torture” of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and to fight global warming. The reason Senator Edwards has chosen the name for his campaign as the “Road to One America” is because he feels that there are two Americas, one that is very rich and one for everyone else. Two of the ways he plans on pulling the “two Americas” together is to increase minimum wage and work to make health insurance affordable for all Americans. He made the comment several times during his speech that America “needs a big change, not just small changes”. Many of the audience members were very interested in knowing his intentions on his commitment to fighting the AIDS epidemic and ending genocide in Darfur. One of the ways that Senator Edwards plans to fight the genocide would be to install peace-keeping forces from the United Nations in Darfur. From watching the local news in Myrtle Beach and reading the local papers, Senator Edwards seems to really be committed to making the people in the United States believe in him, especially in his native Carolina states. He is on the front page of papers, top stories on the news at 6:00 and me being from out of town, I find it interesting to see how fond the media is to their own candidate.
In response to Darryl Saylor’ s comment I agree that this governor’s race is not really talked about as much as past elections. But coming from a family of politicians I definitely hear about it and know that this race is very important. I hear positive and negative things about both candidates, that is why I’m having problems deciding on who I want to vote for. Although, my family is strong democrats I have always been one to vote for the person and not the party. Here are some of the issues that I continue to hear about on a regular basis…
First, the gambling issue. This will bring in some revenue to the state as well as jobs. I am for gambling in the state of Kentucky, however I do see why a lot of fellow Kentuckians are against it. Being right in the middle of the Bible belt, a lot of our churches are against it due to “gambling” being a sin. I however see nothing wrong with it as long as the gambling is done in moderation. Second, a lot of southeastern Kentuckians really do like Fletcher due to the many positive things that he has done for their counties. I have family in Bath County and Owsley County and have heard many positive things come from my family. Specifically my family members in Owsley County really backing him for paving roads that past governors would not help them in getting done and in Bath County he has given a large amount of money for the agricultural extension office to improve the farmer’s market and keep the farming money in Bath County. Both of these issues might seem to some of you irrelevant, but in these two counties, these issues are very important and something that really means a lot to both county’s revenue.
A judge in Harrodsburg ruled today that the 18 year old, Lee Anderson could face life in prison without parole if he is found guilty for the stabbing death of a retired teacher in 2006. When the stabbing took place, Anderson was only 17 years old. The Supreme Court has ruled that juvenile offenders can be sentenced to prison but not sentenced to execution. So, the judge in Harrodsburg heard oral arguments on the extent that Anderson could be sentenced and determined that life without parole would be within the confines of the Supreme Court ruling about execution. The issue of the death penalty has been a historically heated issue. I just wonder if there are those that would prefer the death penalty sentence for this person. My personal feelings are that until a person is 18, the court must approach any decision based on the fact that they are not an adult, thus are incapable of making adult decisions. However, I am unsure about my feelings for the death penalty all together. I can not say that I am opposed because if I had a child and they were murdered, I don’t know how I would feel. Or, if my child committed a murder, I don’t know how I would feel. I have read that it costs more money to execute a prisoner than it does to keep them in prison until they die. Personally, I think that life in prison seems to be a much harsher punishment. Life without parole is a punishment that will always be with the perpetrator. They will never have a free minute and there will always be bars to remind them of their actions. To me, this seems more reasonable, but I guess none of us really know until we are in that kind of situation.
If you've had a traffic ticket recently, you likely are in the privately run database of criminals and potential terrorists being kept by [Texas Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry's office.The TDEx database is managed by Appriss Inc. of Louisville, Ky., and is an extension of its JusticeXchange program to provide state and local law enforcement agencies with a unified national crime database."" I did not know that hmmmm. Well I actualy got a ticket coming back from mexico in june so I found that to be quite interesting and obesered is there not better things and better things to do with the money they are using for this database and put it towards stopping the immigrants from coming over here and proceeding to multiply.The database has information ranging from intelligence on potential terrorists to standard criminal convictions to drug investigations to speeding tickets and red-light violations.Don't you think that it's just a little too much or is it just me over exagerating again. I think that with our use and power as citizens we dont use it for the right things and as the goverment using our money we think of too many petty ways to be protected do you really need a database for me running a red light??? Hey but who am I maybe I'm wrong!!!
chastity
http://havenworks.com/kentucky/
Sorry this is the site
Have a great summer and hope you all passed!! How about them hard quizzes.....
I found a local story about a politician who is returning money similar to that of John Edwards returning money to a lobbyist. I read the story several weeks ago, but thought that it would be interesting to compare with Edwards. From the Portsmouth Daily Times: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=11A93C0D1D836B80&p_docnum=1&s_accountid=AC0107072800170018091&s_orderid=NB0107072800141927714&s_dlid=DL0107072800171418105&s_ecproduct=DOC&s_username=uglytuba&s_accountid=AC0107072800170018091&s_upgradeable=no. (Don't click on the link, it will cost you!) To summarize, the Portsmouth City Solicitor was granted a $10,000 raise as was the City Auditor. Traditionally, the solicitor and auditor positions had been paid identical amounts. The auditor requested the raise despite predicting a nearly half million dollar deficit for the year. City Council approved the raise along with one for the Mayor. The solicitor automatically received the raise along with the auditor. The solicitor returned the amount of the raise to the city to help pay for renovations to a local pool and the remainder to pay for shortages in salaries for police and fire departments. The solicitor stated that he didn't request the raise, so he wanted it to be put toward the anticipated deficit. Interestingly, the auditor and mayor stated they had no intentions of returning the raises. Both the solicitor and auditor are up for reelection in November. Whether the solicitor made the gesture in anticipation of a close race in November is anybody's guess, but for the mayor and the auditor to request raises knowing there was going to be a deficit raises a question of local fiscal responsibility. Its one thing for the federal government to run in the red, it has the means to "juggle" the budget, but a city the size of Portsmouth has no business trying run a budget deficit. Real money is being played with. People's salaries and our aging infrastructure is at stake. If the past few years are any indication, when Portsmouth faces a budget deficit, a few police officers and a few firemen find themselves without a paycheck for a few weeks. While this probably has very little effect on the city itself for a couple of weeks, it doesn't do much for those that were laid off. Since we are a small city, I know some of the players in this story personally. It's disappointing when some of your friends behave in an irresponsible manner. Friend or not, some of my voting patterns will probably change as a result of this revelation in our city's politics.
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