I guess this is part of playing politics

I admit it is one way to insure an easier path for your "real" candidate. Yesterday's election was more than just voting for your favorite person. Souce phillyburbs

Republicans switched for variety of reasons

By JENNA PORTNOY
The Intelligencer

Republicans-turned-Democrats flocked to the polls Tuesday for lots of reasons.

Some became disillusioned with the GOP. Some admitted they wanted to clear their real favorite's path to the White House in November. And others simply wanted a say in the historic primary.

In Bucks and Montgomery counties, the race attracted 50,000 new Democrats to the party. Statewide, they were joined by another 100,000.

One of them, Dan Henrich of Upper Moreland, called himself a “Democrat for the day.”

Last month he switched his party registration from Republican to vote for Barack Obama because in Pennsylvania voters must be registered members of a political party to vote in that party's primary.

“I'm not thrilled with [John] McCain,” he said. “I think Obama will bring a good amount of reform. Hillary [Clinton] makes me sick.”

But the 20-year-old Temple University political science student is a Republican at heart, especially when it comes to abortion.

“I am strongly pro-life,” said Henrich, who foresees the next president wielding tremendous influence in this area given the advanced ages of several Supreme Court justices.

He plans to go back to the GOP, primarily for local election reasons, but is still undecided if the November general election battle is between McCain and Obama.

Henrich said he does have reservations about the Arizona senator, especially over the war in Iraq and his plan to continue some Bush policies. But a McCain-Clinton race is a no-brainer for him.

Republican re-registration cards were available at every polling place, geared toward people like Henrich who have strayed from the flock for this monumental day but are truly Republicans. The message is clear — we will welcome you back with open arms.

In Langhorne, more than a dozen voters in the borough snatched forms to re-register as Republicans after casting their votes for one of the two Democrat candidates, poll workers said.

A Quote for the Day

Today give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day.

One Way to know our military is stretched...

constant lowering of standards/eligibility

via aolnews: click the link for the complete article

More Convicted Felons Allowed to Enlist

By LOLITA C. BALDOR,

AP

Posted: 2008-04-22 07:46:52

Filed Under: Nation News

WASHINGTON (April 21) - Under pressure to meet combat needs, the Army and Marine Corps brought in significantly more recruits with felony convictions last year than in 2006, including some with manslaughter and sex crime convictions.

Data released by a congressional committee shows the number of soldiers admitted to the Army with felony records jumped from 249 in 2006 to 511 in 2007. And the number of Marines with felonies rose from 208 to 350.

Those numbers represent a fraction of the more than 180,000 recruits brought in by the active duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2007. But they highlight a trend that has raised concerns both within the military and on Capitol Hill.

The bulk of the crimes involved were burglaries, other thefts, and drug offenses, but nine involved sex crimes and six involved manslaughter or vehicular homicide convictions. Several dozen Army and Marine recruits had aggravated assault or robbery convictions, including incidents involving weapons.

Both the Army and Marine Corps have been struggling to increase their numbers as part of a broader effort to meet the combat needs of a military fighting wars on two fronts. As a result, the number of recruits needing waivers for crimes or other bad conduct has grown in recent years, as well as those needing medical or aptitude waivers.

Happy Earth Day!

MySpace OurPlanet Environmental Tips

Quote for the day

could be a repeat but I like it. I've been complaining a bit too much this past week

Pain is inevitable, misery is an option

Came across this widget

does anyone know how accurate it is?








click here to learn more

Quote for the day

There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. - Psalm 139:4

Being a Californian this bothers me - UNEMPLOYMENT

especially with the mayor and our council people approving hikes for LADWP (on top of all the surcharges LADWP tack on each month anyway). I'm glad the LA Times is covering it, the full article is on their page:


By Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
12:22 PM PDT, April 18, 2008
SACRAMENTO -- California's unemployment rate rose by a whopping half a percentage point in March, reaching 6.2% as a weakening economy shed jobs in the ailing construction and financial activities sectors. In all, 1.13 million were unemployed.

The Economic Development Department reported that March's unemployment was the highest since July 2004, when the rate was also 6.2%.

Unemployment is up 1.2% from a year ago, with 229,000 more Californians looking for work.

Although total nonfarm jobs increased by 1,000 compared to February, the number of unemployed people rose by 84,000 last month, the state said.

"This is a huge increase," said Howard Roth, chief economist for the state Department of Finance. He blamed the steady rise in joblessness -- up from 5.0% in March 2007 -- on deterioration of the crucial housing market. "The bubble has a slow leak, so it's hard to tell how long it will take" to fully deflate, he said.

The rise in unemployment during March affected all of Southern California, with the worst effects in the Inland Empire. The rate in Riverside County -- not seasonally adjusted -- rose to 7.4% from 7.0%, while in San Bernardino County it rose to 6.7% from 6.3%.

Unemployment in Los Angeles County hit 5.8%, up three-tenths of a percentage point from the previous month.

The uptick in people losing their jobs "means more bad news ahead for state and local [government] budgets," said Stephen Levy, director and chief economist of the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.

Next month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers must grapple with plunging tax revenue and a projected $8-billion-plus budget deficit as they prepare the state's spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

I honestly did not see this endorsement coming

Robert Reich endorses Obama via his blog. Actually he has an interesting blog, today was my first time reading it so I encourage you to read his blog at this link:

Anyway, here is a partial of what was written in his blog today:

Friday, April 18, 2008
Obama for President

The formal act of endorsing a candidate is generally (and properly)limited to editorial pages and elected officials whose constituents might be influenced by their choice. The rest of us shouldn't assume anyone cares. My avoidance of offering a formal endorsement until now has also been affected by the pull of old friendships and my reluctance as a teacher and commentator to be openly partisan. But my conscience won't let me be silent any longer.

I believe that Barack Obama should be elected President of the United States.

Although Hillary Clinton has offered solid and sensible policy proposals, Obama's strike me as even more so. His plans for reforming Social Security and health care have a better chance of succeeding. His approaches to the housing crisis and the failures of our financial markets are sounder than hers. His ideas for improving our public schools and confronting the problems of poverty and inequality are more coherent and compelling. He has put forward the more enlightened foreign policy and the more thoughtful plan for controlling global warming.

He also presents the best chance of creating a new politics in which citizens become active participants rather than cynical spectators. He has energized many who had given up on politics. He has engaged young people to an extent not seen in decades. He has spoken about the most difficult problems our society faces, such as race, without spinning or simplifying. He has rightly identified the armies of lawyers and lobbyists that have commandeered our democracy, and pointed the way toward taking it back.

In the News: Marriage Scams and the Military

I'm sure things like this have been going on for years. CNN posted this online today, of course their website will have the complete article. I commend those in the military and any profession that speak out against people in their ranks that give them a bad name. :

Prosecutors: U.S. sailors' marriages a scam

NEW YORK, New York (CNN) -- It was a scam involving green cards and greed, prosecutors said Thursday.

Dozens of young Eastern European women have been accused of marrying U.S. sailors not for love but for the right to stay in the United States. The sailors received marriage benefits they were not entitled to, court papers said.

In recent days, federal authorities have arrested 33 couples in eight states, including New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California, and charged them with marriage fraud.

One woman taken into custody Wednesday by U.S. marshals in Queens, New York, was found in an apartment with her boyfriend. Handcuffed and put into a police car, she denied the charge, saying, "It's not an illegal marriage."

Agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said the sailors were in on the scam, which ultimately cost the Navy about $500,000.

What we see are small pockets of friends forming this conspiracy," said Samuel Worth, special agent in charge of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service in Norfolk, Virginia.

The sailors, based at Naval Station Norfolk, are said to have met the women at bars and restaurants in nearby Virginia Beach or were set up by Navy buddies.

In some cases, documents show, the couples married within hours of meeting.

"I don't know if they targeted sailors, but they did meet them, befriended them, and a verbal contract was formed," said Deputy Chief Jim Cervera of the Virginia Beach Police Department.

According to the indictment, the sailors are accused of receiving thousands of dollars in housing allowances to which they were not entitled. The women, most of whom are from Russia or Ukraine and had arrived on work or student visas, got a fast track to citizenship.

Some of them received military identification cards from the Defense Department, exposing a security vulnerability, Worth said. "In these cases, we don't know where they come from or what their intentions are."

Five of the accused sailors served on the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship. Two others served on the USS Wasp, also an amphibious assault ship. Those on active duty were taken from the ships to face charges in Virginia, which added another cost.

"There's an impact to mission readiness," Worth said. "Those sailors have to be replaced, and the replacements have to be trained."

I admit I voted for Bill Clinton, but the man just lies

like no one I know. It really is driving me nuts. Anyway, here is another example. To be fair I believe all politicians lie. They embellish. I guess I'm just a bit worn about this entire over-blowing of the bitter thing. I'm just saying. I think too it is because I honestly did not believe the Clintons had to resort to some of the tactics they've done recently. It's more like they turned me off rather than other candidates turning me on.

Over seven stops in North Carolina, Clinton said "Everywhere I go there are all these people with signs, saying I'm not bitter - I'm not bitter."

Clinton said during a stop in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania "this fellow said to me... "President Clinton, we are not bitter, we just want to turn the country around." Clinton said another supporter in North Carolina said "I hunt 'cause I like to and I go church 'cause I need to. And if I were a millionaire, I would still hunt and go to church.' He said what we need is to get this country together, get it on the road and go forward. So that is what this election is about. And we all gotta go forward together. We all have to go forward together."

The strong sentiments were appreciated by the crowd, but were not entirely accurate. During Clinton's seven stops in North Carolina on Saturday there were no "I'm not bitter" signs. There was a small assortment of people at his later events wearing stickers with the slogan, but many of those sporting the stickers weren't even sure what they meant. Clinton also was a bit confused about his encounter in Pennsylvania. The conversation actually took place at an earlier event in Bloomsburg, PA - or so Clinton told the crowd in Bloomsburg.

More in the news about food situation

Found via CNN today. Check their website for the complete article:

U.N.: N. Korea faces food crisis

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea faces a looming food crisis due to floods last year, the U.N. food agency said.

Food prices at North Korean markets have doubled while state rations are dwindling, the World Food Program said Wednesday.

Key donors such as China and South Korea are not expected to send as much direct assistance to the North as they have in the past.

"The food security situation in the (North) is clearly bad and getting worse," Tony Banbury, WFP Asia regional director, said in a statement. "It is increasingly likely that external assistance will be urgently required to avert a serious tragedy."

Jean-Pierre de Margerie, WFP's country director in North Korea, said by telephone from Pyongyang that North Korean officials were admitting for the first time that the state ration system -- already erratic in providing food to the country's 23 million people -- was breaking down.

"It's a bit of a perfect storm shaping up," he said.

Prices of staple foods have doubled in the past year in the capital. A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice now costs about a third of a typical worker's monthly salary of 6,000 won (about US$2), WFP said.

In another blow to the food situation, direct aid from North Korea's two top donors -- China and South Korea -- is also expected to decline this year.

Due to rising food prices, China has restricted its exports and is not expected to send as much to its communist ally as in the past, de Margerie said.

Is anyone paying attention?

Sometimes there are things that are happening that I personally believe deserves more coverage than if Britney Spears got her restraining order extended. So many people are affected by this yet so many decide to spend their lives on things that really don't matter. I understand that when things are crazy people like to surround themselves with fluff but ignoring pressing issues does not make them go away. Anyway, this coverage about food supply is taken from the New York Times. You can find the complete article by clicking this link. - a Thnker

A Drought in Australia, a Global Shortage of Rice

By KEITH BRADSHER

Published: April 17, 2008

DENILIQUIN, Australia — Lindsay Renwick, the mayor of this dusty southern Australian town, remembers the constant whir of the rice mill. “It was our little heartbeat out there, tickety-tick-tickety,” he said, imitating the giant fans that dried the rice, “and now it has stopped.”

The Deniliquin mill, the largest rice mill in the Southern Hemisphere, once processed enough grain to meet the needs of 20 million people around the world. But six long years of drought have taken a toll, reducing Australia’s rice crop by 98 percent and leading to the mothballing of the mill last December.

Ten thousand miles separate the mill’s hushed rows of oversized silos and sheds — beige, gray and now empty — from the riotous streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but a widening global crisis unites them.

The collapse of Australia’s rice production is one of several factors contributing to a doubling of rice prices in the last three months — increases that have led the world’s largest exporters to restrict exports severely, spurred panicked hoarding in Hong Kong and the Philippines, and set off violent protests in countries including Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Haiti, Indonesia, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, the Philippines, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Yemen.

Drought affects every agricultural industry based here, not just rice — from sheepherding, the other mainstay in this dusty land, to the cultivation of wine grapes, the fastest-growing crop here, with that expansion often coming at the expense of rice.

The drought’s effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production.

It is difficult to definitely link short-term changes in weather to long-term climate change, but the unusually severe drought is consistent with what climatologists predict will be a problem of increasing frequency.

Indeed, the chief executive of the National Farmers’ Federation in Australia, Ben Fargher, says, “Climate change is potentially the biggest risk to Australian agriculture.”

Another Quote for the Day

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance

I can't imagine the horror his daughters witnessed

Read about this Shea stadium fan and I really can't imagine. I pray for his family, especially his two daughters. Complete article found at Sports Illustrated at this link:

Fan falls to death at Shea Stadium

NEW YORK (AP) -- A man attending a New York Mets game with his family lost his balance on an escalator and fell two stories to his death, police said.

Antonio Nararainsami, 36, and several relatives, including his two young daughters, were leaving the stadium at the end of Tuesday night's game against the Washington Nationals when he fell in a section below the left field stands and landed on a concrete floor. Nararainsami, a Guyanese native who lived in Brooklyn, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead half an hour later.

Kevin Prashad, a cousin who attended the game, said Nararainsami was walking down the escalator, which wasn't moving, and was holding the hand rail when he "lost his footing."

The Mets said in a statement that they had been "advised of a tragic accident that resulted in the death of a fan." They said team officials and police were investigating.

"Our deepest and heartfelt condolences go out to the fan's family," the team's statement said.

The death of Nararainsami, who was wearing a Mets cap when he fell, appeared to be an accident, and no charges had been filed, police said.

Nararainsami installed heating and air conditioning systems for a living, loved sports and was the captain of a local cricket club, his relatives said. His wife, pregnant with their third child, had stayed home while he attended the game.

Nararainsami's death wasn't the first at Shea. In 1985, a 21-year-old Yonkers man fell 100 feet from an escalator and was killed.