anybody would be dog tired with the schedules they were keeping then! nm

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isn't about any of the things you name. It comes from inside, a peace of spirit and soul. It needs no outside influence except, in my case, my love for God and his for me. My glass has always been half full. And it always will be because He is with me always.

It�s something of a tradition� administrations using their final weeks in power to ram through a slew of federal regulations. With the election grabbing the headlines, outgoing federal bureaucrats quietly propose and finalize rules that can affect the health and safety of millions.

The Bush administration has followed this tradition and expanded it. Up to 90 proposed regulations could be finalized before President George W. Bush leaves office Jan. 20. If adopted, these rules could weaken workplace safety protections, allow local police to spy in the �war on terror� and make it easier for federal agencies to ignore the Endangered Species Act.

What�s more, the administration has accelerated the rule-making process to ensure that the changes it wants will be finalized by Nov. 22.

That�s a key date, Nov. 22. It is 60 days before the next administration takes control � and most federal rules go into effect 60 days after they have been finalized. It would be a major bureaucratic undertaking for the Obama administration to reverse federal rules already in effect.

�The Bush administration has thought through last-minute regulations much more than past administrations,� said Rick Melberth, director of OMB Watch, a nonprofit group that tracks federal regulations. �They�ve said, �Let�s not only get them finalized; let�s get them in effect.��

The Washington Independent has highlighted five regulations notable for their potential effect and the way they slipped through the regulatory process. Four could to be finalized by Nov. 22. One was already � on Election Day.

1) The Dept. of Labor proposed a regulation Aug. 30 that changes how workplace safety standards are met. Labor experts contend that the administration, which previously issued only one new workplace safety standard and that under court order, is trying to make it a bureaucratic nightmare for future administrations to make workplace safety rules.

Currently, if the Occupational Safety and Health Admin. or the Mine Health and Safety Admin. want to introduce a new safety standard on, say, the level of exposure to toxic chemicals, it issues what is called a notice of proposed rule-making. This notice is published in the Federal Register and then debated by labor, business and relevant federal agencies.

The new regulation would add an �advanced notice of proposed rule-making,� meaning OSHA and MSHA would have prove that, say, the said chemical was seriously harming workers.

This would open the door for industry to challenge the validity of the risk assessment and then, if necessary, the actual safety standard that may come from that risk assessment.

�The purpose of this sort of rule is to require agencies to spend more time on a regulation which gives them less of a chance to actually regulate,� said David Michaels, a professor of workplace safety at George Washington University, �You�re adding at least a year, maybe two years, to the process.�

2) The administration proposed a rule that changes the employer-employee relationship laid out in the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act.

The Family and Medical Leave Act says that employers must give their workers 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they are sick or need to take care of a family member or newborn. The employer�s health-care staff can check the legitimacy of the family or medical leave claim with the employee�s doctor or health-care provider.

The proposed regulation would allow the employer to directly speak with the employee�s doctor or health-care provider. The employer could also ask employees to provide more medical documentation of their conditions.

Why such a rule � which may threaten an employee�s privacy� is needed is unclear. The only study the Labor Dept. has done on the act was in 2000. The department collected comments from employers before issuing the proposed regulation, but a report analyzing the comments was never issued.

The regulation also would gives employees the right to waive their rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act, making it the first national labor law to be optional. A worker, for instance, cannot waive his right to earn a minimum wage or get paid more for overtime.

3) The Dept. of Health and Human Services proposed a rule Sept. 26 that would expand the reasons that physicians or health care entities could decline to provide any procedure to include moral and religious grounds. The language of the regulation says the department hopes to correct �an attitude toward the health-care profession that health-care professionals and institutions should be required to provide or assist in the provision of medicine or procedures to which they object, or else risk being subjected to discrimination.�

The rule change seems to apply to abortion. But they are already several rules that say physicians or health-care entities can deny an abortion request. Some women�s health advocates contend that the proposed regulation�s broad language is meant to increase the number of physicians who not only don�t provide abortions but don�t provide contraception.

�Contraception is certainly the target of this rule,� contends Marylin Keefe, director for Reproductive Health at the National Partnership for Women and Families. �The moral and religious objections of health-care workers are now starting to take precedence over patients.�

The regulation is notable for another reason. A rule involving an employee�s religious rights must be referred to the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission, yet the commission was never told of this proposed regulation.

A bureaucratic battled erupted when EEOC�s legal counsel, Reed Russell, wrote a regulation comment (pdf) blasting both the substance of the proposed rule and its disregard for the rule-making process.

4) On July 31, the Justice Dept. proposed a regulation that would allow state and local law enforcement agencies to collect �intelligence� information on individuals and organizations even if the information is unrelated to a criminal matter.

�This is a continuum that started back on 9/11 to reform law enforcement and the intelligence community to focus on the terrorism threat,� said Bush homeland security adviser Kenneth L. Wainstein in a statement.

�It expands local law enforcement�s ability to investigate criminal activity that it deems suspicious,� said Melberth of OMB Watch. �But what�s suspicious to you may not be suspicious to me. They could be investigating community organizations they think are two or three steps away from a terrorist group.�

5) Before a federal agency approves any construction project� anything from building a dam to a post office � government officials must consult the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. These two agencies enforce the Endangered Species Act, and they can veto any project that adversely affects an animal on the endangered species list.

A regulation proposed by the Interior Dept. Aug. 12 would end this approval process. �It destroys a system of checks and balances that have been in place for two decades,� claimed Bob Davison, senior scientist at Defenders of the Wildlife. �[A federal agency] wants to go forward with a project that [it wants] to do. So you need an independent agency to look at the decision.�

Davison is not the only conservation advocate up in arms. The Interior Dept. has received 200,000 public comments, which may affect the final rule.

Or not � the department shortened the comment period from 60 to 30 days in its effort to get the regulation finalized.

In May, White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten vowed that the administration would propose no regulations after June 1. He and White House spokesman Tony Fratto have repeatedly stated their contempt for what they call �midnight regulations.�

Yet with the exception of the Family and Medical Leave changes, each of these regulations were proposed after June 1. And if finalized, they will effect worker�s safety, women�s health-care choices, local police powers and endangered species.

�It was a pretty resounding election,� said Keefe of the National Partnership for Women and Families. �But this administration acts like it still has a mandate.�

Nope, let's spend a few million and buy new furniture for homeland security and a few million more to buy hybrids for congress.

Can they not deduce that keeping corporate America from offshoring jobs will actually create more jobs, thereby lower the unemployment rate, and put more money in American's pocket for them to spend? Cut all tax cuts given to companies for offshoring and give the tax cuts to companies to strive to keep jobs in America?

And here's another V8 moment -- how about we buy American? Maybe increase tariffs on imported goods to discourage American companies from importing so much crapy and thereby necessitating said crap be sold at higher prices in an effort to discourage Americans from buying imports?

The ONLY way to help the American economy is to employ Americans and buy American! It's that simple!

http://www.usflag.org/history/pledgeofallegiance.html

The original Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands- one nation indivisible-with liberty and justice for all.

It was brought to a vote and that is that. We come from a place where it was once taboo to be gay. You had to hide your sexual orientation. Now you can go out with your partner and live your life for all to see. I don't agree with that kind of lifestyle, but they are free to choose what kind of lifestyle they wish to live and who am I to judge. However, I feel that marriage should be defined as one man and one woman. To redefine marriage, I think, is wrong. If they want to be life partners and have a small ceremony joining them in some sort of civil union.....go ahead but marriage should be left alone as a man and a woman. I am sick and tired of redefining everything to make it politically correct so every minority group is happy. You can't make everyone happy. I personally feel that redefining marriage to include marrying anyone whether it be same or opposite sex could be confusing to children in general and I don't agree with it.

I don't have a problem with them protesting their viewpoint, but when I see them rip a cross out of an old woman's hands and stomp on the cross as she was protesting her opinion.....that is just wrong. First of all, you don't go after an old woman and secondly....she was sharing her opinion just like they were....so don't get mad at us for our opinion because we are entitled to it as well.

of constantly seeing black celebs on TV talking about no more white lies because they now have a black president. All I've seen on TV since the inaguration are black people rejoicing because it seems they believe Obama will put all the crackers in their place now. it is sickening. I get so sick and tired of hearing about how prejudice white people are when there sounds to me like there are just as many black people spreading the hate around as well. I see this comic as calling them stupid just like when they used the monkey with Bush.

I don't know how many black musicians I've heard on TV shouting f*ck white people....we have a black president now. But you don't hear the media calling them out and talking about how disgraceful that is. Oh no. You don't hear them discussing such obscene things on The View. the double standards in racism never ceases to amaze me. You don't dare use the N word (which I never would anyway) but it is quite alright for a black person to say f*ck white people. It is okay for a black church to be strictly black and be total for the black community, etc but if a white church did that....it would be labeled as the KKK.

What I'm tired of - denial. Widespread total denial, even as live as we've known it crumbles to ashes.

Take the healthcare mess. Lobbyists of insurance and pharmaceutical companies buying the vote of every senator and congressman in Washington to keep the status quo. The people we elected to office taking bribes to betray the very people that elected them. I am sick of knowing that no matter how much I pay in insurance premiums, when the time comes for a claim to get paid, big business will find any loophole to deny the claim and bankrupt me - and they get legislated more loopholes every day by anybody I vote for. And if I am unlucky enough to have a disease that requires a procedure to save my life, the "loss prevention" department at any insurer I pay will diligently seek reason to deny that procedure as "unnecessary" so I will do without the procedure and die. All Washington can do is lie and deny about the healthcare situation.

The lie that the more the government spends on "defense", the safer we are. I found out after Katrina just how safe I was, just how much my government would take care of me, and just what fun living under martial law is. I have learned just how much respect for our enlisted men the government has as they deny insurance claims to their families if they die in action, and force them to pay back sign-on bonuses if they are careless enough to get hurt on the job and have to be removed from duty before their stint is up. I have learned how much are government cares for our other heros, as they deny 9/11 rescue workers healthcare, while providing the best healthcare that can be bought for the terrorists they have incarcerated. Whatever the government claims to be defending, it is not you and me, it is the interests of the big businesses that have bought their vote. Oh, and PLEASE, search every sweet little grandmother that gets on any plane going anywhere - that'll make me feel real safe, because nothing can possibly go wrong with a flight if all the American passengers are treated like criminals before they board it. Keeping the sky safe is all we need, since our borders are so secure that no terrorist could possibly sneak into the country by any other means, like our illegal aliens do!

I am sick of profiteers getting bailed out at the expense of the little guy. I am disgusted to watch incompetence be rewarded and responsibility punished. I am tired of watching people lose their homes, jobs and way of life - while we legislate billions to keep the corporate profits strong, and swallow the propaganda that offshoring our jobs to other countries is a good thing.

I am sick of the war on drugs. How many years and how much mony have been spent on this, yet we are not winning it, so lets just keep throwing money at it and surely someday we'll win. Certainly a DEA agent would never take a bribe or feel any greed like the folks in Washington do.

I am tired of the welfare system and the corruption within it. I am tired of reporting fraud just to be shushed because it causes too much paperwork for them to investigate. I am tired of hearing how anyone can get a government check for threadbare reasons such as questionable mental disabilities, drug/alcohol addiction, or simply the desire to breed irresponsibly until their reproductive organs give up the game. I'm sick of us giving welfare to anyone that strolls into our country illegally and sticks out their hand. I'm 49, I am assured that there will be nothing left for me when I am old and ill, and I have paid into the system all my life. I am also assured that no matter how much wealth I may amass to try to pay my own way, health care costs will continue to skyrocket past it and any illness at all will financially wipe me out, so the best I can hope for is a quick, severe illness that kills me before I'm penniless and homeless.

I am tired of charities that bombard us with heartwrenching commercials - then turn around and pay any contributions we give to CEOs, advertising, and overhead - only then maybe a few cents will actually be left over for the pitiful victims we intended to help.

I am sick of the environmentalists, PETA activists and vegans. Get real, folks. We can't even stop being barbaric to other humans - considering the way we treat our heros, veterans, children, elderly, poor, disaster victims, mentally ill and homeless - do you seriously think we'll become misty eyed about a marshland or an animal? Well, obviously some of us find it preferable to caring about other humans. But your lectures regarding what will we leave our future generations and where is our conscience also apply to the national debt and all the other problems we continue to allow to escalate. So which fire needs to be put out first, would it be possible to actually define and prioritize all the issues intead of just jumping on your bandwagon?

I'm also tired of hearing about the horrific conditions in other countries - imagine taking an interest in what's wrong with our own country before we go fixing everybody else on the planet!

I am tired of being politically correct. We are sooo, sooo worried about offending "someone", and a slip of the tongue in front of a camera can ruin a career....but we have no problem taking away anyone's livelihood, housing, self-respect, dignity, health or even their life if it stands in the way of corporate profit. So why keep up the pretense that we care how anyone feels?

I am tired of going to the polls to vote for people who claim to stand for something, but are prepared to change their mind the minute they hit Washington and the bribes start rolling in. I am tired of having no good choices on election day, and no candidate that I have any faith in actually making it on the ballot. I am tired of knowing that any candidate from any party that makes it to Washington will be on a lobbyist's payroll before they cast their first vote on any issue, so whoever I vote for will put the highest bidder's interests first.

I am tired of the widespread apathy of my fellow citizens, who waste their brainpower on entertainment and fluff, instead of questioning the system and working to change it. I am tired of greed that has taken over every aspect of this country. I am tired of a society that worships wealth, celebrity and beauty for all the wrong reasons. I am weary of everyone being in debt up to their eyeballs, one paycheck away from total financial anniliation, and thinking its a sensible way to live because "everybody" does it. After all, our national leaders show us by example that the solution to huge debt is borrowing more money without a thought for tomorrow, and daily the media assures us those guys really know what they're doing! I am tired of conspicuous consumption and planned obsolesence. I am sick of the skyrocketing costs of education and transportation. I am sick that everything I voluntarily purchase or involuntarily contribute to via taxes has been deberately engineered by some corporate fat-cat to cost me more and give me less than it did yesterday.

Sign me - Just another unheard voice in the land of the deceived, home of the naive.

argument, day-in, day-out, week-in, week-out, month-in, month-out? Democrats are spenders. Republicans are greedy hogs. The country is in decline. Abortion will cause god to strike us all dead. We'll overpopulate the world and all starve to death. Whatever. When it all boils down, ya know what? It just doesn't frickin matter. Whatever's going to happen in this country is going to happen, and we have very little control. We never did, we don't now, and we likely never will. I think we need to abolish the party-system altogether, or else nothing useful will ever get done in government. So, knowing that will never happen, rather than keep on fighting about it, we should just leave government to bicker with itself, and come up with our own ways of making our own lives better. In the end, that's all that matters anyway. No sense getting an ulcer or having a coronary about who is president or who isn't, because bottom line? It just doesn't matter.

of this country being divided along racial lines for the purpose of denigration. The one race we all belong to is the HUMAN race, hence, "humanity."

with us, you're against us* crap that Bush has been spewing since invading Iraq. Helen Thomas (or anyone else, for that matter) can easily be totally in favor of the war on terror and AGAINST the war in Iraq simultaneously. There's only one reason the terrorists are becoming so well trained and skilled in their *craft* and that's because of the free training ground that Bush provided them in Iraq. If it wasn't for our invasion of Iraq, they would have never gone there. We should have stayed in Afghanistan and continued to fight the Taliban there. We probably could have found bin Laden by now. Instead, we've created an entire country for them to have free reign, and Bush's distaste for protecting borders in Iraq is apparently as severe as his distaste for protecting borders in America.

Poor Scott McClellan. I really kind of feel sorry for him. Wouldn't surprise me if Bush told him he's got to start playing the by the Bush rules and attack the messenger; hence his assault of Thomas.

I felt bad for him yesterday when he was being asked about Bush's staged video conference with the troops. (I don't think at the time he realized there was an actual video of the *rehearsal* being played on TV.)

I especially felt bad for him yesterday when he accused the press of continuing to bring up Harriet Miers' religion, and that religion has nothing to do with a Supreme Court nomination. However, I felt worse for the press corps, who were flustered when they were precluded from pointing out the it was the PRESIDENT HIMSELF who felt it necessary to use Harriet's religion as about her only qualifying factor for the appointment. Even Robert Bork feels she's incompetent and has said she can't even WRITE well.

The only true statement that Bush could make next is to accuse Fitzgerald of being against the war on terror if he indicts Rove and/or Libby. If they are indicted, it certainly will prove that Fitzgerald is against the war on terror -- the war on terror against CIA agents that's been declared by Rove and Libby and probably Bush himself.