For those who may have been wondering, Vulture 6 has been busy with personal affairs, specifically getting ready to move into his new house. Once he's all settled in, he'll make his grand return to the Blogosphere.
Thanks for your patience.
-Darth Apathy
Vulture 6 MIA?
Why I hate Lawyers 3
20041117.002
Another contestant in the Litigation Lottery!
from Fox News
Caution: Do Not Walk on Tracks
A Pennsylvania woman who was struck by a train has sued the rail company — for failing to warn her that trains travel on railroad tracks.
Patricia M. Frankhouser filed suit on Nov. 4 seeking damages in excess of $30,000 from Norfolk Southern Corp. (search), according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Last January, Frankhouser was hit by a train as she walked along railroad tracks in her hometown of Jeannette, Pa., a southeastern suburb of Pittsburgh.
Amazingly, she came away from the encounter with only a broken finger, some cuts and, according to the lawsuit, "pain."
Apparently, however, the incident was traumatic enough for her to hire a lawyer.
"Defendant's failure to warn plaintiff of the potential dangers negligently provided plaintiff with the belief she was safe in walking near the train tracks," Frankhouser's suit asserts.
It goes on to state that Norfolk Southern, based in Norfolk, Va., should have posted signs warning passersby "of the dangers of walking near train tracks and that the tracks were actively in use."
Nowhere in the filing does it say whether Frankhouser heard the train coming, why she failed to get out of the way or even whether she was walking alongside or in between the rails.
Her attorney did not return the Tribune-Review's call.
Huh, wonder why he wont call back.
Vulture 6
Yellow Journalism isn’t just for America Anymore
20041116.003
Some one needs to call Dan Rather and let him know that there is a new player in town. Al-Jazeera has shown its agenda by not playing tape of the murder of Margaret Hassan after it has played several videos of Americans being murdered by beheading. The statement says that they are not going to air the video out of respect to the sensitivities of their viewers. I ask is this because it is a woman? Is the difference due to that she is an Iraqi? Is it because she is Muslim? Or is this sudden compassion simply due to the fact that she is not an American and showing her death at the hands of terrorists would be harmful to the Anti-American culture they are propagating?
Aid Worker Hassan Apparently Killed by Captors
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
AP via FOX NEWS
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan (search) was believed to be dead Tuesday after a video received by Al-Jazeera television showed a hooded figure shooting a blindfolded woman in the head.
The British government and Hassan's family in London said they believed the longtime director of CARE (search) in Iraq was the victim. CARE said it was in mourning for the 59-year-old Briton who worked for decades providing food, medicine and humanitarian aid to Iraqis.
The station initially said it would air parts of the video, but Ballout then said it would not.
Hassan was abducted in Baghdad on Oct. 19, the most prominent of more than 170 foreigners kidnapped in Iraq this year. Her captors later issued videos showing her pleading for Britain to withdraw its troops from Iraq and calling for the release of female Iraqi prisoners.
Ballout said the station received the tape a few days ago but had not been sure of its authenticity.
Vulture 6
Wow, this will stop the violence, Just ask Iraq
20041116.001
This will show those mean old nasty rebels and end the horror!
U.N. orders Ivory Coast arms ban
Tuesday, November 16, 2004 Posted: 5:18 AM EST (1018 GMT)
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council has voted to impose a 13-month arms embargo on the Ivory Coast.
Battles between government and rebel forces in the troubled African nation prompted the intervention of French troops and the evacuations of foreign nationals earlier this month.
The resolution on Monday was backed by the European Union, the African Union and France, a permanent member of the Security Council and the former colonial power in Ivory Coast.
The embargo takes effect immediately -- a move French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said was made at the request of African states.
"In our first draft, our cosponsors didn't ask for immediate sanctions," he said. "But the AU considered it was necessary."
According to the French Foreign Ministry, more than 5,000 of its citizens been repatriated since November 10. "More than ever, there can only be a political exit to the crisis," the foreign ministry said Tuesday, regarding current tensions in Ivory Coast.
An estimated 10,000 citizens of other African nations have also fled to neighboring countries.
French troops are part of a U.N.-backed peacekeeping effort to monitor a cease-fire between government forces in the mostly Christian south and rebel forces who took over the mostly Muslim north after a failed coup in 2002.
Ivorian Ambassador Philippe Djangone-bi complained the embargo was "unfair and conducted in an unfair manner."
"How do we ensure the security of our own people from the rebels without arms?" he asked.
The Ivorian government broke a cease-fire agreement November 4 by launching airstrikes against rebel positions and bombed a French position two days later in an apparent accident. The raid killed nine French soldiers and an American aid worker.
The French retaliated by destroying two Ivorian air force planes and three helicopters.
Tens of thousands of Ivorians roared into the streets afterward, protesting the French and accusing them of trying to overthrow President Laurent Gbagbo.
Thousands massed around Abidjan's Hotel Ivoire, where French troops had erected barricades and said they were using the facility to safeguard foreign nationals.
Ivorians demanded that the French leave the country and destroyed most of Abidjan's French-speaking schools.
The violence prompted the evacuations of thousands of French nationals, about 400 Britons and nonessential U.N. staff.
More
Vulture 6
Another Victory for the Religion of Peace
20041116.002
Yahoo News Reports
Tuesday November 16, 05:53 PM
Video believed to show murder of British-Irish aid worker: embassy
BAGHDAD (AFP) - A video appears to show the murder of British Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan, kidnapped in Iraq last month, and is "probably genuine", a spokeswoman at the British embassy in Baghdad said.
How many are going to die before good muslim people the world over take back their religion from those who would hijack it for their own gains in the same manner that Jim Jones and David Koresh did? I don't beleive the terrorists represent Islam any more than Koresh represented Christianity. When people seek to use religion for gain be it political or for monatery puropses it is the duty of the religion to rise up and defend their faith from the enemies within.
Vulture 6
Thank You
20041111.001
Today is Veterans Day. The day was first earmarked to recognize the signing of the armistice that ended World War One. It has become a day to pay tribute to all veterans. As a person who spent ten years on active duty, I k now what sacrifices soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coastguardsmen make every day.
I would like to challenge every one of you to say thank you to any uniformed people you know, see or meet this week. Being in the military is hard, not just during times of war, but also during peace time. It is hard for the wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters who have a loved one away for months at a time. It’s hard for the lonely sailor on lookout in the cold dead of night in the north Atlantic, who learned his wife just had a baby that he will not see for five more months. It is hard for the airmen working round the clock to make sure the planes that protect our cities are ready to scramble at a moments notice. It is hard for the Soldiers in bunkers along the DMZ in Korea, knowing that their families are home safe and secure. IT is hard for the marine walking the fences in Getmo.
It is a sacrifice that they make every day of the year day in and day out. That makes me admire them most out of any people in the world. They are the heroes doing a job that most would shun. They do it because they love their country; they love the being able to serve. Military people are special breed; they do a job that not everyone could. They do it with pride and they deserve to be respected.
I say thank you to each veteran, service member, and to their families. Thank you to them for putting your life on the line each day for me, thank you for protecting my family, thank you for giving millions of people the world over freedom. Thank you for the sacrifices you make each day. Your service is noted and well appreciated by a humble American living free because of you.
Vulture 6
2 Dead 35 Marines Captured
20041109.001
I take this story with a 5 pound bag of salt considering its source.
If it is true and they did take 35 marines hostage at one time, I might kinda feel sorry for the captors except for the fact that they are TERRORISTS!
Simper Fi!
FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Mosques in Iraq's restive city of Fallujah announced on Monday that the fighters inside the city have captured 35 US soldiers.
Loud speakers of the mosques blared out the news as US forces were trying to penetrate the rebel-held city, but the news could not be independently confirmed.
US troops and Iraqi special forces stormed into the western districts of Fallujah early Monday and seized the main city hospital and two key bridges over the Euphrates River.
US officials said there may be more fierce fighting to come if US forces try to enter downtown Fallujah on the east bank of the river. Enditem
Vulture 6
A good day
20041106.001
It was beautiful out here today. This day started chilly, warmed up nice and there was none of the killer humidity that we have here all the time. It was a good day to go out house hunting.
Vulturette and I are trying to take the next step along the American dream, but it’s been a rough search, looking for all the features we want and need.
Today has been a good day. I even left some nice comments on some lefty blogs, trying to make up and tell them that the world is not over.
Vulture 6
337,000 New Jobs
20041105.001
Over twice the number of new jobs expected were added to the rolls. Damn, I wish the economy would turn around.
"It looks like the job situation is improving and that this will support consumer spending going into the holidays and offset some of the drag caused by high oil prices this year," said economist Gary Thayer of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St, Louis, Missouri.
I mean 5.5% unemployment, why if only we could be more like Europe:
Unemployment Rates of Europe:
Germany 10.7%
France: 8.9%
Russia: 8.6%
Spain: 10.6 %
Poland: 18.7%
Slovakia 18%
Lithuania 10.4%
Italy: 8.4%
John Edwards was right, we should work on the economy.
We should simplify the US Tax Code.
According to Congressman George Radanovich of California’s 19th congressional District states on his website:
There are approximately 700 separate sections of the Tax Code that apply to individuals. There are over 1,500 separate provisions that apply to businesses. As of May 2000, before passage of the last two tax bills, the Tax Code contained 1,395,028 words – nearly 319 times the number of words in the Constitution. IRS Regulations contain over 8,551,444 words – over 11 times the number of words in the King James Bible. The IRS produces 649 separate forms, schedules, and instructions with approximately 16,100 lines. Publications providing guidance to taxpayers alone total about 13,400 pages.
Ten years ago, the IRS said it took the average person 9 ½ hours to complete the 1040. Today, it takes 13 hours – time enough to complete at least 4 baseball games. This year, Americans will spend an estimated 5.8 billion hours complying with the tax code – 5.8 billion hours ago was 660,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
It will cost taxpayers an estimated $194 billion this year just to comply with the tax code – that is enough money to buy 4.7 million brand new Cadillac DeVille 4-Door Sedans at retail price. The IRS’s budget is $10 billion a year – equal to the size of the budgets for the FBI, the DEA, and INS Border Enforcement combined.
As of last March, the IRS employed 104,900 people – four times as many people as work for the FBI. Yet, with all these resources, last year the IRS answered less than 60% of the phone calls they received requesting information or assistance. When they did answer, one out of every four answers they provided was either incomplete or incorrect.
How is a person to understand all of this? They are not meant to. They have to hire accountants and CPA’s to help them, creating a whole new industry.
I advocate a flat tax rate. It has worked in Russian, Hong Kong and every where else it has tried. No money and effort is spent to hide money as there are no loop holes to exploit as Theresa Heinz-Kerry does, paying 12% on her millions while I pay 20% on my thousands that I make a year. Some claim it’s un fair that the rich should pay more. They would.
At 10% Flat tax person making $50,000 a year would pay $5,000 in taxes. A person making $5,000,000 would pay $500,000 a year at 10%. I’m no math wiz but
500,000-5,000= 495,000 and that would be MORE than the poor would pay.
It is the same rate, but the poor would be paying less, and some proposals even have those making less than 35,000 a year totally exempt from paying.
If the people with the money to invest take that money and expand their businesses they will hire more people. Those people will have money to spend on goods and services, allowing the business to re-invest. When you stifle the owners the whole economy will suffer.
The 337,000 new jobs is a great start, but we need to continue to make strides to help the businesses employ and empower the consumer-workers of our nation.
Vulture 6
Unity or the Lack Of
20041104.001
I was looking at the map of the returns; boy does Osama have a lot of work cut out for him. I was amused by the fact that the Mason Dixon Line was almost clear in the east.
Not that I’m advocating cessation or anything, but IF we can not over come the animosity that has built from the last few election cycles, maybe we should look at splitting up into several countries, united in defense only.
The three west coast states are very liberal and socialist leaning; they can become The Peoples Republic of Pacifica.
The North east is known for being elitist and we all know how much better they are than the rest of us so we can let them become the nation of New Europe.
The upper Midwest is a problem. My first instinct was to call this new nation, The Great Mistakes, but I doubt the residents would be open to this. I would suggest Utopia Major,
I’m open to input from all of you out there.
Vulture 6
Glad it’s Over
20041103.001
Man, I am glad it’s over. I really feared that Senator Kerry would drag the country through the mud trying to hold onto the slim hope that he might find the magic ballot box somewhere.
I’m also glad there was no fighting, no rioting, no hate displayed at the polls. There may have been some incidents here and there, but nothing major.
A 3.5 million lead in the popular vote putting him over 51%. President Bush has a mandate from the people that states we prefer his action to the proposed talking with the terrorists.
I’m heartened by the civility of the process this year and I welcome the chance to heal the rift that has been caused by the extreme partizians on both sides.
I also am happy to observe here that Michael Moore, Leo DiCaprieo, Springsteen, the Dixie Chicks and others really had no influence on the electorate. Maybe there is hope yet.
Vulture 6
PS: Nanny, Nanny Boo, Boo, we won and you didn’t.
Year in Review Installment 1
20041102.002
Don’t you just love all those end of the year retrospectives that always flood the airwaves in December? Well in keeping with the spirit of Wal-Mart putting out Christmas decorations in August this year, I will start a mini-feature of looking back at some of the things that have happened this year. I will look at some of the stories and some of the news events and put my own personal comments on said events. I know that the world is waiting with baited breath so here it is.
Can we afford to be members?
The Most under Reported Story of the Year:
Oil for Food Scandal Coverage
The oil for food program was set up after Gulf War I to assist the people of Iraq get needed food and medical supplies. The UN had sanctions in place to help Hussein conform to the terms of the Cease Fire Agreement that limited hostilities from 1990-2003. The UN however had accepted bribes from Hussein in the form of oil and payments to look the other way while member nations of the UN profited from breaking the sanctions they had put into place. This incident is further proof that the UN is a morally corrupt organization, whose ideas are great, but in fact has become a useless debating society. The Oil for Food Program coupled with the inability and their unwillingness to enforce their own mandates has castrated the United Nations.
In case you missed coverage of this story here are some links
Washington Times
The Economist
News Max
The Australian
Vulture 6
Breaking Election News
20041102.001
D-DAY
Drudge is reporting that over 2000 votes have been found on voting machines in Philadelphia, PA. No word on who the votes had been cast for. The story is still developing.
Vulture 6
Tomorrow We Find Out
20041101.003
Tomorrow we find out if the election process is about voting for the best man for the job or wither the election has degraded down to the level of the 7th grade class president. If John Kerry is elected, I believe it will be by the “Anybody But Bush” crowd. This means that these people voted Against a person, not FOR ideas. It’s a sad thought.
Vulture 6
Bin Laden in Election Kerfuffle!
20041101.002
WE have Bin Laden now! We have iron clad LEGAL justification to go after him! He violated the McCain Feingold Campaign Finance Reform when he released his tape. He is clearly calling for the electorate to vote for Kerry based on the issue of terrorism. And as we all know, issue oriented ads are forbidden 60 days before an election.
Here you go Mr. Kerry, you wanted to go get bin Laden on a legal basis, not a military option.
Vulture 6
The Presses Crazy Old Aunt in the Attic Weighs In
20041101.001
Helen Thomas weighs in on the presidential election. In her latest tirade the “objective” reported spews forth hatred filled with venom as she rails against President Bush. Her ranting only lacks the Bush is Hitler mantra of the loony left.
She again repeats the claim that President Bush will reinstitute the Draft, ignoring the facts that the President has stated again and again that he will not call for a draft, and that a draft would have to be done in congress, not the White House.
She derides the school voucher plan that he has suggested. I guess that pro-choice one the left is only limited to murder.
She also touches on my biggest pet peeve, the Litigation Industry by stating “Bush also wants to cater to corporate interests by capping damages in medical malpractice suits at $250,000.” Excuse me? It doesn’t limit the liability and the need to pay for damages, it only limits ECONOMIC DAMAGES, the “punishment” that the plaintiff gets and the slimy trial lawyers take OVER HALF OF!
And her lovely piece concludes with the following three lines.
“If reelected, Bush -- who has injected religion into public affairs more than any president has in modern times -- is expected to continue his messianic mission in the White House. He will blur even more the separation of church and state."
**It’s about time, Helen. For way too many years we as a nation have not held ourselves to any principle other than hedonism. A good role model for our children is not a bad thing.
"For women and minorities who support abortion rights and affirmative action, there is the scary prospect that the candidate who wins Tuesday may be able to appoint three, perhaps even four Supreme Court justices."
**That is the problem for you on the left isn’t it? You fear you will not be able to litigate legislation. Your policies fail to meet the needed votes, so as an end run you have judges create laws. If strict constitutionalists are in place, you can not get your agenda advanced through the back door.
"Bush undoubtedly will see his reelection as a mandate to push the country further to the right. And if he is elected, he will be answerable to no one."
** Dear, Dear Crazy old Aunt Helen... Do you not know of the laws we have? If the President violates our laws he will be held accountable. Your fellow ‘journalists” will make sure of that, they would never let a sitting President a way with something like lying under oath…oh wait…
Vulture 6
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