ParrotHead

Re: New York Animal Cruelty Bill Will Make Criminals!! [ QUOTE ] Not trying to bash, I just know that from previous cut and pastes from NRA-ILA that they have a habit of not posting the whole story or making things seem worse than they are. With the advent of technoology and the internet I am amazed that any organization, political or otherwise, would post erroneous information when it is possible to dispute allegations within a matter of minutes. Of course, most people aren't going to bother with fact checking, so more often than not they get away with it. [/ QUOTE ] It didn't stop CBS from airling it to a live audience what they had "cut and pasted" - why would think anyone else would be different?

Re: Heavy woman filing suit Leave it to Jesse Jackson and his natural wisdom and creativity of the Enlglish laungage to come up with "black fatism" next. Black Fatism - The racial discremination against a fat black person! Can I get a AMEN?

Re: BigBuckShooter knows his stuff For the typical liberal and the average idiot, a "good debate" only consist of one-liners based of myth and not fact. This can only lead us to believe that in the world of a few (and that number is growing) is that someone with a quick wit that shoots from the hip is qualified to be heard...or herd in some languages.

Re: What do you think of the NRA [ QUOTE ] They are a group that seeks to take in money which they can use to protect gun ownership rights. [/ QUOTE ] You got half that statement correct....

Re: Really irritates me Send the officers a note - shoot all the criminals and you won't have the problem of them having guns.

Re: Has Bush Reneged On a Popular Promise. [ QUOTE ] 'Promises remain unfulfilled' In his Beliefnet column, Kuo said it was "a dream come true for me" when Bush promised in 2000 that in his first year in office he would provide $6 billion in tax incentives for private charitable giving, $1.7 billion for groups that care for the poor and $200 million for a Compassion Capital Fund to assist local faith-based organizations. [/ QUOTE ] Oh my, we have a BUSINESS that’s complaining because they’re not getting their fare share of handouts all in the name of charity. Here’s a novel idea – tell all these so-called “charitable causes” to stick it right up there behinds and start handing out the dollars to those who exactly need it – THE POOR! How much you want to wager that the management of this so-called charity relizes solely on the government handouts for the poor? That the majority of that $1.7 Billion goes into the pockets of people living wealthy lifestyles!

Re: Is our system really the best? [ QUOTE ] The electoral college is essential for our form of government--it works for us as William said--and was set up to create a balance between each state's influence on the federal level. No, our system definitely isn't perfect--but with the size of our nation alone, direct democracy would not work at all. [/ QUOTE ] Give me a break - while I'm thankful that Al Gore never made it to the pulpit in 2000 he did recieve the majority of the voteing population. Reverse this and Bush loses to Kerry after pulling down the majority of the vote and you'd have a different view of electorial colleges.

Re: Is our system really the best? [ QUOTE ] You have to look at all the candidates as being from a different party. The last German election had 7 or 8 parties represented. It was all very close in the 1st vote, but the 2nd vote was the landslide. Schroeder got like 82% of the vote. [/ QUOTE ] 7 or 8 parties….have you lost your mind? The way this country changes it’s mind on a whim, just imagine if we had 8 different parties running every 4 years just how screwed up things would get. A whole lot more screwed up than they are today with just 2 parties! How many parties can we come up with? Extremely Right Republican Party Middle of the Road Right Republican Party Extremely Left Democratic Party Extremely Extremely Extremely Left Kennedy, Clinton and Kerry Party Independent Party Libertarian Party Course, we’d have a few knucklehead parties sprout up like…. Gay Party All White Party All Black Party Everybody Else That Isn’t White or Black Party Ok, that 10 representatives running for President in the year 2004 so lets look at our candidates EERP - George W. Bush MRRRP – John McCain ELDP – John Kerry EEELP – Hillary Clinton IP – Ralph Nader for the 97th time LP – Neal Boortz GP – The queer from queer eye AWP – David Dukes ABP – Al Sharpton EETIWBP – George Lopez Ok, I’m thinking our system while flawed a little by electorial colleges isn’t all that bad!

Re: Is our system really the best? In theroy your plan works however, as long as you have multiple parties you WON'T have a party running against a seated President. [ QUOTE ] not really a true democracy is it [/ QUOTE ] This country wasn't founded under the "democracy" flag but rather was founded as a Republic. Check history - democracies don't last - nor will ours.

Re: Changing the Daytona 500 Ok lets look at it this way - say Rockingham was the first race of the year - just how exciting would that be to kick off a season? Leave it alone - it's worked pretty **** good for 40 years or so.

Re: I\'ll go ahead and mention it. [ QUOTE ] i agree 100% The Bush administration has screwed this country up big time!! [/ QUOTE ] Oh please do tell - give us some enlightened vision to your analogy of "screwed this country up big time", I can't wait to read it.

Re: OK ALL YOU POLITICAL KNOW IT ALLS Why are we not messing with Korea? Because those little jokers have been wanting to detanate a nuke for years now and are just looking for the first suspect. Those little idiots over there are suicidal - have nothing to live for thus all the more reason to reek havic amoung those that do.

Re: Thought this was interesting. [ QUOTE ] hey man i am a liberal i dont belive in social secutiy reform no way. Why mess with the most succeful social program of all time you are insane if you think so!!! [/ QUOTE ] The most successful? I DON'T THINK SO! The best social program ever is a system of economic liberty featuring capitalism and free enterprise operating under a system based on the rule of law. No program, private or public, has ever done so much to raise so many from the depths of poverty and despair as has capitalism. When the government steps aside and lets free people react freely with one another, amazing things happen. It's really too bad that Americans have fallen out of love with freedom and so in love with government-provided security.

Re: California Bill Would Issue Tags for Mountain Lion Here ya go.... California and the Big Cats - Three Decades of Folly By: Dan Johnson In 1971, California passed legislation that ended the sport hunting of mountain lions. Environmentalists celebrated and the majority of Californians, sheltered in their city apartments and suburban homes, could now watch the big cats on the nature channel secure in the knowledge the slaughter had ended. Everyone was happy, except for the hunters, ranchers, and wildlife management experts who warned of problems to come. Five year old, Laura Small was no doubt happy too as she was playing on a spring day in 1986 in Caspers Regional Park in Orange County, until she became the first person in California to be attacked by a healthy mountain lion in nearly 100 years. Adults came to her rescue, but not in time to prevent the lion from inflicting enough damage to leave her partially paralyzed and blind in one eye. Environmentalist and the media declared it was an isolated attack and predicted no further problems from the naturally shy and elusive animals. But just seven months later, another child was attacked in the same park and all agreed some action must be taken. It seemed clear now that lions will occasionally attack small children and stricter adult supervision was called for. So, in a typical display of modern day logic, children were banned from the park. But the attacks had just begun. In 1994, just four years after the voters approved Proposition 117, guaranteeing the lion’s permanent protection, two women were killed in separate attacks. The lion’s defenders were forced to modify their advice. Their stance now was; mountain lions will occasionally attack not only children but also lone women. A person of larger statue and anyone in a group was deemed safe. Most of the literature on lion country safety still states the best defense is to make oneself appear larger. The more effective solution of carrying a firearm is never mentioned. A liberal press continues to downplay the facts and even misstated one victim’s physical statistics. They widely reported that Barbara Schoener was 5' 8" and 120 pounds when in fact, at 5’ 11" and 140-150 pounds, she was as large as a majority men. She was also a long distance runner in excellent physical condition yet was killed by an eighty pound lion. While their advocates sought to minimize the danger, the mountain lions quickly dispelled any claims of discrimination and expanded their attacks to include all manner of people from men on bicycles to women on horseback and even people in groups, including a determined charge on three armed wildlife officers at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. These politically correct felines even expanded their base of operations and moved into urban areas. In 1995, a seventeen-year-old girl was charged by a mountain lion in her driveway as she was getting her schoolbooks out of her car. As the controversy over the attacks escalated, the lion advocate’s most potent defense was the fact that attacks were also on the increase in states where hunting was allowed. This argument, more than any other, was instrumental in defeating a move to repeal Proposition 117 in 1996, since pro-lion groups could by now point to two deaths and numerous attacks in other western states. But, as with most statistics, a closer look often reveals the real story. In assessing the occurrence of unprovoked attacks, it is logical to discount incidents where the lion had some provocation or was perhaps unaware his prey was human. There have been several accounts, for example, of lions responding to turkey calls resulting in an unintentional conflict with the hunter. But if one focuses solely on unprovoked attacks in the U.S. occurring in the 20th Century, they will find that at least 80% of these took place in National and State Parks and other areas where hunting is not allowed, and where, it may be noted, the possession of firearms is routinely prohibited. While hunting in any given area causes the lions to be more timid, the main cause of the increasing attacks is an expanding population of the species. Even the mountain lion’s staunchest supporters have been forced to admit this, though they prefer to state it as humans encroaching on the lion’s territory. Terry Mansfield, Chief of Wildlife Management at California Fish and Game, had a different perspective however when he testified before the State Senate in 1995 concerning a “substantial increase in the number of lions in areas which were long ago urbanized”. Undeniably, most attacks are perpetrated by young animals displaced by the increasing lion populations and forced to find new territories and new prey. These lions find themselves alone for the first time in their lives and with limited hunting skills are often desperate enough to try for whatever prey presents itself, even humans. In addition to the concern for public safety, other problems were revealed in the Senate hearings in 1995. As a result of their booming populations, lion predations on livestock and pets increased from an average of ten confirmed incidents per year prior to 1970 to 322 in 1994. A drastic decline in bighorn sheep populations during the same period was also noted and much of this decline was attributed to lion depredation. Still, the voters decided not to return management of mountain lions back over to the experts and are now reaping the consequences. Just last year, the federal government had to step in and try to save the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. Since Proposition 117 prevents state agencies from killing mountain lions in defense of wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife was forced to declare the sheep an Endangered Species so that federal officers could kill lions on big horn ranges. A majority of Californians seem willing to ignore the consequences of continued protection in order minimize the killing of mountain lions. Ironic considering an average of only 59 lions per year were harvested by hunters prior to the ban, with an additional one to five problem lions killed each year by Fish and Game. While in 1994 alone, California Fish and Game killed 131 lions under a public safety and livestock depredation clause in Proposition 117. An amazing footnote to this 30-year-old controversy, especially set against the backdrop of a nationwide concern for school safety, is the widely accepted policy in California that the presence of a mountain lion on school grounds is not just cause for the animal’s removal. Official procedure is to simply notify the public of the lion’s presence.

Re: California Bill Would Issue Tags for Mountain Lion I've got a story a good friend of mine did for Petersens a few years back about the California cats - I'll dig it up and post it. Interesting piece.

The United States Senate finally passed a useful piece of legislation yesterday. It's called The Class Action Fairness Act, and it passed 72-26. The democrats had filibustered it in the last Congress. Not so now, with most of the democrats put out to pasture in the last election. So what's this about? Mainly it has to do with class action lawsuits. You know, the ones where you get a letter in the mail from an attorney telling you that you're part of a lawsuit over a can opener you bought 15 years ago. The lawsuit is filed in some small, lawsuit-friendly county in Illinois somewhere, and in the end the lawyers make tens of millions of dollars and you get a coupon good for $10 off a new can opener. What a deal, huh? You make lawyers rich and get ten bucks for your trouble. This new law would require large class-action lawsuits to be bumped up to federal court, eliminating the jurisdiction shopping that goes on and it also reduces the amount of money the ambulance chasers can skim off the top. Naturally, the trial lawyers were none too happy about this.

Re: Clinton Impeachment I'm just impressed that some on here remember how to copy and paste......

Re: Muslim Religion.. Must read [ QUOTE ] Yeah...we have a group here in the USA and Canada called the KKK who claim to be God fearing Christians who are on the same level as these terrorists. [/ QUOTE ] Not even close - terrorist fly planes into building, the KKK would be driving pickup trucks into them..... On a much serious note - if you even begin to think the Klan and the Muslims are equal then you're misguided. The Klan has no direction, has no focuc, no eductation and no will to proceed with anything much more than a march. However, Muslims are highly educted, well motivated, focused on their cause and will see that cause through to the end. It's sad to say but nearly half of America can't stay focused on a 30 minute sit-com - muchless a cause.

Re: I\'ll go ahead and mention it. Now here's where I have a problem with your statement. You don't care what Clinton did but you do care what Bush does. There's still a double-sided view going on here....

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan [ QUOTE ] Calm down Parrothead, if you have a problem with the post e-mail the non-partisan factcheck.com people, I didn't write it, all they do is clarify the spin that both parties put out regarding whatever is going on. I for one don't and won't put my money in the stock market, or a 401K, there is no guarantee on return but "historically" it has shown a good return, well, "historically" people lost everything and threw themselves out of windows when the stock market crashed 70 years ago. I would rather put my money in something that is guaranteed to gain interest ( CD's, I Bonds or EE Bonds) than put it in the stock market and hope everything goes well. [/ QUOTE ] All I asked was "why". Why some out there think it's a bad idea to give citizens a little more freedom to plan for themselves instead of having/relying on the governmnent to do ti for you.

Re: I\'ll go ahead and mention it. Perjury is against the law - how do you feel about that one?

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan Ok, lets examine this… President Bush said again that the Social Security system is headed for "bankruptcy," In the 70’s, the social security program was found to be stable. In the 80’s the social security program was found to be stable after COLAs were increased to respond to minor inflation levels. In 1993, the amount of taxable benefits was increased to 85 percent on retirees. In 1996, a trustee’s report stated that the Social Security system would start to run deficits in 2012, and the trust funds would be exhausted by 2029. All members of the Advisory Panel agreed that some or all of Social Security's funds should be invested in the private sector. To keep the unchanged system actuarially sound, payroll taxes would have to be increased 50%, to 18% of payroll, or benefits would have to be slashed by 30%. 1997 - All members of the presidentially-appointed Social Security Advisory Panel agreed that some or all of Social Security's funds should be invested in the private sector. To keep the unchanged system actuarially sound, payroll taxes would have to be increased 50%, to 18% of payroll, or benefits would have to be slashed by 30%." 1999 - The Social Security Trustees' Report stated the Social Security Retirement System's unfunded liability increased by $752 billion since the 1998 Trustee Report was published. This brings the total long-term unfunded liability to more than $19 trillion. So if memory serves me correctly, it wasn’t President Bush that came up with the hair-brained idea of actually letting people be somewhat responsible for their future and retirement, it was an advisory panel appointed by Slick Willie. So what did ole Slick do with this advise? He did what every democrat would have done, he raised taxes. “three-quarters of the benefits promised” Ever ask someone that received social security if they could live on 75 percent of what they’re getting now? How about asking a few and see what they say, my guess is not only NO, but **** NO. nobody can predict what stock and bond markets will do in the future. First, the stock market is a gamble, anyone going into it needs to know this. But history also shows that the more money you pour into the stock market, the better it does. As for your last statement – what is different between this and a 401k? Nothing is different except the fact that you have more control over what you can do with it. What’s the big deal here folks, does it really piss the left off that some people actually want accountability and responsibility over their lives? Do you really hate those that have taken all the advantages this country offers and have actually done well for themselves? What exactly is your problem with this other than President Bush spoke about it and is in favor of it? Can you logically explain what bug you have up your **** about giving society a little more freedom to plan for their future? Are you afraid that your sorry asses are going to get left behind by those that go out and make more money when you’ve chosen not to?

Re: I\'ll go ahead and mention it. The GAO? You're getting your legal advise from the GAO? While I don;t condone spending tax payers money on much of anything whether it's Clinton, Kerry, Bush or Mickey Mouse in the White House I can't for the life of me see where it's breaking a law and to date I've asked and no one has been able to tell me what law was broken. Unethical? Maybe - but ethics in this group can be wide spread. Illegal? Again, show me the law that prevents this.

Re: Why I am an education major. [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] one of my requirements will be to correctly identify the states and their capitals. [/ QUOTE ] Hey Slugo, where's Waldo??? [/ QUOTE ] Now that was funny!

Re: Why I am an education major. No child is left behind because they're holding back those that want to learn. The education system has been a bust since we created the federal education agency. Nothing has changed, in fact it's gotten worse with every administrations attempt to improve it. It's time to cut the cord on government education.