That made my day. I needed a lift. nm

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In my local newspaper, it states "More proposals waiting in wings" then it goes on to state "The obama adminstration is developing proposals to help rescue the banking system that could cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars beyond the $700 bililion bailout Congress already has approved.

Details are still being worked out but the administration is looking to spend hundreds of billions more to address the foreclosure crisis, help banks get out from under weighty bad assets and expand liquidity programs."

I'm really starting to get sick literally over this. We can't spend billions of dollars when the money isn't coming into the treasury. We can't printing money without anything to back it up.

If any of you think these packages will not help the economy, please, I'm almost begging you, email or call your reps and get it stopped.

7/27/2006 11:02:00 AM

To: National and State Desks

Contact: Rebecca Sawyer of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, 202-328-3244 ext. 102 or rasawyer@sldn.org

WASHINGTON, July 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. Army recently discharged a highly regarded Arabic linguist who was the target of an anonymous email outing campaign. Former Sergeant Bleu Copas was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and was a member of the prestigious 82nd Airborne Division. A decorated Sergeant who received impressive performance reviews, Copas also performed in the 82nd Airborne Chorus. His dismissal, under the federal Don't Ask, Don't Tell ban on lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel, brings the total number of Arabic language specialists dismissed under the ban to at least 55. Neither Copas nor his command know who was the source of the email campaign.

'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' has become a far too effective, and convenient, weapon of vengeance in our armed forces, said Sharra E. Greer, director for law and policy for Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which provided legal counsel to Copas. Anyone with an axe to grind -- a former partner or roommate, or an angry relative, for example -- can end an otherwise promising career simply by employing rumor and hearsay. Service members like Sergeant Copas, who are making important contributions to our national defense, are finding themselves increasingly vulnerable under the law. The only way to protect our men and women in uniform from such insidious outing campaigns is to repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' once and for all.

In August 2005, an anonymous individual emailed Copas's unit, alleging there was an online profile of a unit member identifying them as gay. Despite clear instructions that investigations into sexual orientation are only to be commenced when a service member's command has credible evidence indicating the service member is gay, Copas's command nonetheless asked him about his sexual orientation and went on to launch a full investigation into allegations about him. The command-appointed investigating officer interviewing Copas asked such questions as, Do you work off duty with the local community theater? and Do you know or are you aware of anyone who believes you are a homosexual? He also recommended conducting an inquiry ... into the possibility of further homosexual conduct by member(s) of the (unit). Despite never learning who made the original allegations against him, Sergeant Copas was dismissed from the Army in January.

The ban on gay service members serves no purpose except to further discrimination at the expense of our military readiness, said Copas. Most troops care about their colleagues' job performance, not their sexual orientation, and this law is past due for repeal. Those of us who want to serve our country should not be barred from doing so simply because of outdated prejudice. The gay ban punishes every service member, even those who never tell and the straight troops who lose trusted, and trained, fellow soldiers.

Since 1993, more than 11,000 service members have been dismissed under the gay ban, according to the Department of Defense. A February 2005 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that the Pentagon has fired 322 language specialists who had ... skills in a foreign language that DoD had considered to be especially important. The report also found that nearly 800 specialists, including intelligence analysts, divers and combat controllers, were fired despite having some training in an occupation identified ... as 'critical.' The House of Representatives is currently considering legislation to repeal the law, with 118 bi-partisan members supporting the measure.

For more information on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, visit http://www.sldn.org.

---

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network is a national, non-profit legal services, watchdog and policy organization dedicated to ending discrimination against and harassment of military personnel affected by Don't Ask, Don't Tell and related forms of intolerance. For more information, visit http://www.sldn.org.

http://www.usnewswire.com/

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/� 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

decision without thinking about all she might miss with her kids. My mom was at a lot of the things I did in school. However, my dad was at work. He was supporting his family by making a living. He was making our situation better by working that overtime so we could afford stuff. Would I have liked my dad to be at my tennis match.....sure. But the reality is that even though he wasn't there watching, he still was literally the one supporting me and I appreciated and loved him for that.

As for Palin, did you ever think that maybe....just maybe she is willing to sacrifice time with her kids to make a better country for them as well as all of us? Have they asked Obama about sacrificing time with his kids? No....because we all just assume Michelle will take care of the kids.

And, yes, those dang whacko liberals like Robert F. Kennedy and those of his ilk should be ashamed of themselves for connecting the presence of thimerosal in vaccines and resultant autism and attempting to STOP it. Who cares about the children who are already here? The most important thing is that we make sure not to hurt those inanimate cells in a petrie dish.

And, yes, it's certainly has been proven that there can be side effects associated with the smallpox vaccine where a small percentage of people might get sick and die. We COULD maybe let the people CHOOSE whether they want the vaccine or not (if enough of it ever actually EXISTED to protect the entire country), but, no, free choice isn't a very "red" thing to do. So the only logical thing to do is make sure that we deny the vaccine to all Americans so we can ALL die if terrorists decide to use that as a form of bio warfare. (By the way, I truly doubt that lawsuits will be much of an issue if we're all DEAD.)

Right? I mean, you "red" guys know what should be allowed and denied in the life of every single American, don't you? You've got some kind of special "divine knowledge" where you know what I should be "allowed" to do with my own personal body, who I'm "allowed" to love, how I'm "allowed" to plan my family, when I decide I'm "allowed" to die, and which God I'm "allowed" to worship without being doomed to eternal damnation?

Title of you post is lifted straight out of TT112OldTimer's post responding to Free Speech Rocks. When spinning soooo out of control that the brain becomes blank, you can always resort to plagiary. Hello. Are you listening? Vitriol out, vitriol in. You might be shocked by how much respect you earn with just the simple gesture of extending some. Respect is NOT a 4-letter word.

Common sense is exactly what I used when I decided to attack my own bigoted tendencies back when I was still a teenager. I did not learn any of that from books or courses I took in school. I took it to the streets and reaped benefits beyond measure from those lessons.

Au contraire. The bluster of bigots is easy to bury under fact and logic. No need to be thwarted by that. Their reservoir of insults runs very shallow, but the intellect is a well that one can dig as deep as is necessary. Fact/truth is another arch-enemy of the bigot. You at least had the wisdom not to attempt to ridicule the context post since you knew you would be in way over your head and besides, you are allergic to the other side of the coin. As they say, if you can�t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It can�t be much fun to find yourself dumbfounded by your own narrow mind. Frustrating too...remember it well.

On the shortcut post: That was your snipe, not mine. Snipe begets tripe. Vtriol out/vitriol in. Garbage out/garbage in. Is there an echo in here?

Not the slightest bit interested in agreement, validation or vindication. I am secure enough by now not to need all of that. But in political contexts, the journey down the road to consensus will never begin in the absence of flexibility, open-mindedness and a good dose of patience.

What part of my posts reflect your tactics do you not understand? You absolutely refuse to look at yourself in the mirror, but you do know enough to be outranged when someone sends you your own reflection. It�s not a pretty sight and furthermore, you become every bit as enraged as you seem to think I am. You are constitutionally incapable of seeing what a spiteful little vixen you become when your brick-wall logic is thrown back in you face.

No surprise there. Bigotry is always blind. Here�s another example you are bound to ignore: You are so driven by your hatred of illegals that you would actually weigh in on the side of transnationals and cast your vote for the party who empowers them to outsource your profession overseas and drive your own wages into the ground.

Well shut my mouth! Could it be that you have finally run out of insults in the face of the realities of logic and have arrived on the threshold of the next level where most other right-wingers eventually find themselves...running for the hills and back into the open arms of the choir members? You are big on clich�. Here�s one for you...you can run, but you can�t hide. Have a safe journey and I am �sending up a prayer� that you find the sanctuary you seek.