(no subject)
"I know a lot about cars. I can look at a car's headlights and tell you exactly which way it's coming."
- Mitch Hedberg
"I shot an arrow into the air, and it stuck."
- Graffiti in L.A.
So is this a job posting or a personals ad? Who does this guy think he-- where does he think he is? What-- this is Brookfield, man! What a-- Ugh.
Chavez Warns of War With Colombia
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Warning that Colombia could spark a war, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent tanks and thousands of troops to the countries' border Sunday and ordered his government's embassy in Bogota closed.
The leftist leader warned Colombia's U.S.-allied government that Venezuela will not permit acts like Saturday's killing of top rebel leader Raul Reyes and 16 other Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas at a camp across the border in Ecuador.
"Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately-tank battalions, deploy the air force," Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come to divide us."
He ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Bogota closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn. It pushes already tense relations between the South American neighbors to their lowest point yet, with potentially far-reach effects on billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
See Also: South America on brink of war
Police baffled as human feet wash ashore in Canada
OTTAWA (AFP) - A severed human foot has been found in Canada's westernmost Gulf Islands, marking the third such discovery in six months stumped police said Saturday, noting all three are right feet, size 12, male and shod in sneakers.
Cook County Board Approves 1% Sales Tax Hike
Early Saturday, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger struck a deal with board members, who approved a 1 percent increase in the sales tax - driving Chicago's overall sales tax to double digits at 10.25 percent, easily among the highest of any big city. And it will be enacted just in time for the Christmas shopping season. ...
Business leaders and others predicted immediate negative ramifications.
"Chicago now has the unfortunate notoriety of having the highest sales tax in the country, and our region will now be a more expensive place to visit, live, work and operate a business," said Jerry Roper, head of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. "The people of our region should be outraged."
Iranian Internet users face blockage during coming election
The Iranian government might block private access to the Internet for the general legislative election on March 14, two Iranian news outlets reported Monday. ...
Iran has placed many restrictions on the Internet, but it has never shut down the Internet on such a scale. Several million Iranians follow political news on the Internet, and political parties have their own active Web sites.
In 2006, the authorities banned download speeds on private computers faster than 128 kilobytes per second.
The government also uses sophisticated filtering equipment to block hundreds of Web sites and blogs that it considers religiously or politically inappropriate. Many bloggers have been jailed in the past years, and dozens of Web sites have been shut down.
***********************************************
Met with our health insurance guy this morning to review a few things. Wow. What an amazingly, intricately, over-priced bunch of hassle 'n' nonsense.
Did you know that health insurance costs are generally the second most expensive bill for most employers, second only to payroll itself? For us it's number 3 in line after workers' comp, which is atrociously high for most construction fields, roofing included. So if you ever feel you're being ripped off by a construction company with a bill that's clearly higher than the cost of the materials themselves, relax and just sign on the dotted line. They're not screwing you over to gain enormous profits. They're paying their insurance...
I could never in good conscience vote in favor of universal health care. Nope. Now that's not to say I don't want people to be able to be cared for when they're ill or injured or whatever, but universal, government sponsored health care? That is NOT the way to do it. Not in a million years. In fact, I don't think I can think of a single worse way to do it. Oh good Lordy Lordy.
I was meandering through a page of old SU links today and came across this one by the now late William F. Buckley Jr. on one of John Edwards' old speeches about wanting to provide universal health care coverage. Interesting article. Definitely one worth reading. A bit lengthy for a casual glance, but follow it start to finish for a glance at a few of the bumps in the road that *must* be reviewed before you can really proceed in any kind of conversation about universal care. Worth the four minutes you'll put into reading it, anyway. :)
- Mitch Hedberg
"I shot an arrow into the air, and it stuck."
- Graffiti in L.A.
So is this a job posting or a personals ad? Who does this guy think he-- where does he think he is? What-- this is Brookfield, man! What a-- Ugh.
Chavez Warns of War With Colombia
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Warning that Colombia could spark a war, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sent tanks and thousands of troops to the countries' border Sunday and ordered his government's embassy in Bogota closed.
The leftist leader warned Colombia's U.S.-allied government that Venezuela will not permit acts like Saturday's killing of top rebel leader Raul Reyes and 16 other Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrillas at a camp across the border in Ecuador.
"Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately-tank battalions, deploy the air force," Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. "We don't want war, but we aren't going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come to divide us."
He ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Bogota closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn. It pushes already tense relations between the South American neighbors to their lowest point yet, with potentially far-reach effects on billions of dollars in cross-border trade.
See Also: South America on brink of war
Police baffled as human feet wash ashore in Canada
OTTAWA (AFP) - A severed human foot has been found in Canada's westernmost Gulf Islands, marking the third such discovery in six months stumped police said Saturday, noting all three are right feet, size 12, male and shod in sneakers.
Cook County Board Approves 1% Sales Tax Hike
Early Saturday, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger struck a deal with board members, who approved a 1 percent increase in the sales tax - driving Chicago's overall sales tax to double digits at 10.25 percent, easily among the highest of any big city. And it will be enacted just in time for the Christmas shopping season. ...
Business leaders and others predicted immediate negative ramifications.
"Chicago now has the unfortunate notoriety of having the highest sales tax in the country, and our region will now be a more expensive place to visit, live, work and operate a business," said Jerry Roper, head of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. "The people of our region should be outraged."
Iranian Internet users face blockage during coming election
The Iranian government might block private access to the Internet for the general legislative election on March 14, two Iranian news outlets reported Monday. ...
Iran has placed many restrictions on the Internet, but it has never shut down the Internet on such a scale. Several million Iranians follow political news on the Internet, and political parties have their own active Web sites.
In 2006, the authorities banned download speeds on private computers faster than 128 kilobytes per second.
The government also uses sophisticated filtering equipment to block hundreds of Web sites and blogs that it considers religiously or politically inappropriate. Many bloggers have been jailed in the past years, and dozens of Web sites have been shut down.
***********************************************
Met with our health insurance guy this morning to review a few things. Wow. What an amazingly, intricately, over-priced bunch of hassle 'n' nonsense.
Did you know that health insurance costs are generally the second most expensive bill for most employers, second only to payroll itself? For us it's number 3 in line after workers' comp, which is atrociously high for most construction fields, roofing included. So if you ever feel you're being ripped off by a construction company with a bill that's clearly higher than the cost of the materials themselves, relax and just sign on the dotted line. They're not screwing you over to gain enormous profits. They're paying their insurance...
I could never in good conscience vote in favor of universal health care. Nope. Now that's not to say I don't want people to be able to be cared for when they're ill or injured or whatever, but universal, government sponsored health care? That is NOT the way to do it. Not in a million years. In fact, I don't think I can think of a single worse way to do it. Oh good Lordy Lordy.
I was meandering through a page of old SU links today and came across this one by the now late William F. Buckley Jr. on one of John Edwards' old speeches about wanting to provide universal health care coverage. Interesting article. Definitely one worth reading. A bit lengthy for a casual glance, but follow it start to finish for a glance at a few of the bumps in the road that *must* be reviewed before you can really proceed in any kind of conversation about universal care. Worth the four minutes you'll put into reading it, anyway. :)