Grant's Eye on the World
FAA Probes Dead Passenger Case; A/P; Mar 18, 2002I'm still scratching my head over this. I'll leave you to decide.
An 80-year-old passenger was pronounced dead at the end of an airline flight, and authorities say it is possible he had already died when he was taken on board in his wheelchair.You have to wonder whether any alarm bells were triggered at all during this incident.
A report by the Polk County medical examiner's office said members of the flight crew reported that he looked "kind of stiff" and didn't move during the trip.You also have to wonder how attentive the attendants were, but really, most 80 year olds look stiff anyway -- a lot of the time . . .
The report also said Walsh's daughter-in-law told investigators his fingertips were turning purple and she couldn't find his pulse, but when a flight attendant checked on Walsh the daughter-in-law told her he was "just sedated, sleeping and had a pulse."Let's see here, stiff/purple. . . no cause for alarm there.
There was no immediate explanation why Mark Walsh took his father onto the plane if he suspected the man had died. There was no comment from him Monday; he has no listed phone number in Green Valley.Really? Think hard now.
"We never would have allowed a passenger who had passed away to board an aircraft," said airline spokeswoman.Obvious to me, if he crapped out and already had his ticket paid for, they intended to send him home. After all, what does it cost to transport a dead body from AZ to IA? But, for all you airline personnel, in the future there's an easy way to check if any of your passengers are 'terminal temperature' when they board an aircraft. A rule of thumb, if a passenger doesn't complain about the food, more than likely he's dead.
Former President Carter Announces Plans to Visit Cuba; AP/FoxNews; Mar 23, 2002Our current president, and Ronald Reagan before him went to great lengths to point out how evil this Castro guy is. Doesn't seem to alter any facts for the second most inept presidency (behind Billie-bob Clinton) in history.
Former President Jimmy Carter will visit Cuba this year, provided the Bush administration doesn't stand in his way, a Carter spokeswoman confirmed Saturday.Well why not? He had no foreign policy in office. Maybe he's trying to come up with one now. It's only 18 years after the fact.
"He was issued a formal invitation by Fidel Castro, but he doesn't know yet when he's going," Kay Torrance, a spokesman for The Carter Center in Atlanta, said Saturday. "He doesn't have an agenda planned at this time. He's just looking forward to the visit."(coff, coff) No agenda!!! His going there IS an agenda. Ever find it strange (or at least think about), that invitations go to people whom you trust or like or have the same type of thinking. What does that tell you? Think about it.
Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo said Castro's invitation stemmed from the Carter Center's "Americas Program," an effort to bring together leaders of the Cuban-American exile community and the Castro government.Look, liberals are into dictatorships - big time. Carter gave back the canal to Panama, so the Panamanians could sell the interests to the ChiComs. Billie-bob's brother was invited to North Korea. Algore was in bed with Russian money men. Billie-bob gave our most trusted military secrets to the Chinese. See any pattern here?
While not divulging his agenda, Carter said his intentions are to improve relations between Cuba and the United States, not to deliver an ultimatum.Well if I could give you a little advice - stay there! And bring Billie-bob, Witch Hillary, and Shaky Reno with you.
Another Former Clinton Staffer Faces Election Polls; AP/Foxnews.com; Mar 18, 2002Billie-bob's legacy is going to be a great one. This guy must worry about it more and more each day.
Former Clinton aide Rahm Emanuel is in a dead-heat race for the Democratic nod in Tuesday's 5th Congressional District primary in Illinois.Normally a person highlights and draws upon his previous experience and brags about working for important people.
A veteran of the "war room" - where Clinton staffers discussed strategy and spin control - Emanuel, 42, faces primary challenges from former state Rep. Nancy Kaszak and another Clinton ally, Peter Dagher.Looks like they're all aligned with the sludge.
"I feel very good about our chances," said Emanuel, a Chicago native who has been accused of being a millionaire carpetbagger by Kaszak. "I feel very good about the response I'm getting from voters in the district."Carpetbagging? Hey! That's a democrat trait, isn't it?
Both Emanuel and Dagher have hardly mentioned their ex-boss, former President Bill Clinton, though Emanuel has openly embraced Clinton's legacy and touts his work in the White House.That's the real story here, avoiding Billie-bob. But don't worry, in a close race you only need to do what all democrats in Illinois do. Vote for yourself 10 times, and get all your dead relatives to vote with you.
Sharp Rise in Federal Spending May Have Helped Ease Recession; Mar 23, 20002; By Louis Uchitelle; New York TimesThe pathetic thing about this one, though, is the story is written in the New York Times.
When a bitterly divided Congress failed to pass an economic stimulus bill last fall, many predicted the recession would only worsen. But while few were paying attention, government spending surpassed the amounts envisioned in the stimulus measure, exceeding what even the most vociferous advocates wanted. (Audio clip - 218kb)The set up here is, 'bitterly' divided. The author goes to great lengths early to set the stage for a clear division and then drop the subtlety of the importance of government (puke).
The mood was much different last fall. Anticipating harder times, Democrats and Republicans pushed for an additional $80 billion to $100 billion in federal outlays. While they agreed on this goal, they deadlocked over how to allocate the money. Democrats wanted the government to spend nearly all of the money, while the Republicans emphasized new tax breaks for business and consumers, not outright spending. (Audio clip - 314kb)The good graces of government spending (hurl).
"You can reasonably argue that the recession, which seems to have ended, came to an end because of aggressive government spending," said Mark M. Zandi, chief economist a forecasting and data gathering firm.No you can't reasonably argue that. Government spending never pulled any economy out of a recession. It's a pack of lies. There isn't a politician in Washington who disagrees with my statement (privately). Government spending is an "expense" to the taxpayer. If that were the case then business should increase expenses to rise out of corporate debt.
"There are a multiplicity of reasons," said Richard Kogan, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget Priorities, "for this extraordinary increase in government spending." (Audio clip - 261kb)Don't believe it folks. Increased government spending and tax increases do not drive an economy. How do I know? Ask Russia. China. North Korea. Cuba. That's what too much government costs. You're being duped. Sick thing is. A lot of people are going to swallow this feces. The real secret, but which isn't stated, is the tax rebate spurred the spending. Remember that!
Berkeley Offers Warm Welcome to Lone Dissenter Against War; March 18, 2002; Associated PressYeah, Berkeley, the city and the colleges that give you oral sex, feces swapping and professors in strip dances on stage continues in their fine traditions.
Rep. Barbara Lee, the lone vote against war following the Sept. 11 attacks, continued to sound a drumbeat of dissent as she spoke Monday at the University of California.Oh yes! The one who overlooked the murder of 3000 innocent workers in NYC, still beats the drum of dissent.
"Peace must be a policy option. It's got to be on the table at all times. It should be really . . . our only option if we want to turn over to our children a world that is less dangerous and more secure," she said.So how does she propose to rid the world of less dangerousness? Take a few more hits? Clinton let it stand 5 times. Sort of like getting rid of rats in a building - "Well maybe if we do nothing they'll just vacate." Think they'll ever get any commonsense there in Berkeley?
But from the prolonged applause that prefaced her speech to the standing ovation that followed it, it was clear that Lee, who earlier this month won the Democratic primary in the district, remains a local hero in the liberal San Francisco Bay area.(sigh) Guess not. I got more hope for rats vacating the building on their own.
