British Proclamation to America ... Hear, hear!

with thanks to robbysmom ( Read more... )

cruelty indeed

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/20/animal.cruelty.ap/index.html

WTF? I can only assume the person must be mentally impaired, but if not, jail time is more than appropriate.

Social Security plea from moveon.org

I think this has some shading/spin of its own, but, FWIW:

George Bush (and some Republican leaders) have made phasing out Social Security through privatization and massive benefit cuts their top priority for 2005. Members of Congress will be choosing sides over the next couple of weeks.

We need to make sure they choose those sides in accordance with your thinking now before a massive election-style campaign by George Bush and the Wall Street interests gets to them with what might be a $100 million TV ad campaign.

MoveOn.org is trying to gather at least 200,000 signatures to present to lawmakers when they return after the inauguration.

You can sign the petition now at: http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/

Social Security may be a complicated issue, but the basics are really pretty simple. See a fact-sheet at: http://www.moveon.org/socialsecurity/facts.html

Two points I strongly agree with:

George Bush's Social Security crisis-talk is an effort to create a specter of doom -- just like the weapons of mass destruction claim in Iraq.

There's a Social Security crisis several decades from now IF WE DO NOTHING. On the other hand, Social Security funds have been used to pay general government expenses for decades. General fund taxes could be used to pay for the SSA if Congress decided to do that. It's about time to stop pretending there's a "lockbox" or a "special account" or that my Social Security funds in some way get saved to pay for my retirement --THEY AREN'T! Let's make SSA a federal entitlement program like any other, guarantee a basic level of income for all of America's older citizens. Even, *gasp* means-test it, so that Grandma Smith, who has $5 million in stocks and bonds isn't *also* drawing a Social Security check the same as Uncle Jones, who has no union or government pension and has to, well *live* on his Social Security check.

Privatization means gambling with your retirement security.

For sure. Right now, those funds are nominally invested in US government bonds, but in practical terms the commitment to provide Social Security payments to everyone in the appropriate age bracket means that the USG *will* be making those payments. Put that money in the stock market and maybe big Wall Street firms will make money off it and maybe they won't (I'm dubious about that claim), but it *does* expose that moeny to the vagaries of the market. And a downturn that would mean former President GW Bush had to eat lobster 4 nights a week instead of 7 could have wiped out the "savings" of someone whose Social Security savings were at the mercy of the stock market.

for any of my friends into playing soccer

There's a weely pick-up game near me (a couple of blocks off Braddock Road just outside the Beltway) that's very friendly, encourages all skill levels to attend, and is challenging for anyone who shows up, semi-pro to just past absolute beginner. Anyway, here's the dope from their weekly broadcast. ( Read more... )