Saturday, August 29, 2009

And The Beat Goes On...

Another example of the sad trend of Obama continuing on with highly questionable practices of the Bush administration.....

The Obama administration will largely preserve Bush-era procedures allowing the government to search -- without suspicion of wrongdoing -- the contents of a traveler's laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device, although officials said new policies would expand oversight of such inspections.

"It's a disappointing ratification of the suspicionless search policy put in place by the Bush administration," said Catherine Crump, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. "It provides a lot of procedural safeguards, but it doesn't deal with the fundamental problem, which is that under the policy, government officials are free to search people's laptops and cellphones for any reason whatsoever."

Nothing Fails Like Prayer


I will be happy when these parents go to prison for a good long time....although apparently some parents are allowed to murder their children in this fashion under Washington law....



CARLTON — Zachery Swezey lay in his parents' bed, his breathing labored.
When he fell ill March 15, the 17-year-old Carlton boy's parents, Greg and JaLea Swezey, thought he had food poisoning. But over the next three days, they realized it was something else, perhaps the flu. He'd had a fever, and was vomiting with severe diarrhea.
During those three days, aunts, uncles and grandparents came to his bedside to pray. On March 17, his father did not call a doctor or an ambulance. Instead, he called elders from their church. They came to the house and anointed Zakk with olive oil, and prayed for him as Zakk's family waited outside in the hall. Members of the Church of the First Born, the Swezeys believe in faith healing.
At midday on March 18, Zakk told his mother he loved her, and asked for his father to come to his bedside.
Shortly before 1 p.m, his breathing slowed. His hands got cold and turned a bluish color. With both of his parents at his bedside, Zakk Swezey died.
An autopsy later revealed the Pateros High School student died of a ruptured appendix.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

When Will California Wake Up And Follow Suit?


Denver reduced its fine for marijuana possession to $1.00. Here is the key part of the story....


"By setting the fine at just $1, we are sending a message to Denver officials that the era of citing adults for using a less harmful drug than alcohol is over. It's simply not worth the city's time or resources,"

Monday, August 24, 2009

Lets Start At The Top.....


When people start talking about waste in the health care system, I say this is the place to look first....



The top five executives of the half dozen of the largest health insurance companies took home $169,837,696 in 2008. And that was a bad year for executives, with the collapsing stock market.