On Rock Haven options to be reviewed
Posted on May 28 at 9:20 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The short answer is no.
The long answer is the county doesn't have anyone in a position to do a study on major building renovation. The county doesn't do this sort of thing frequently enough to justify a department of employees on County pay roll. Renovation of old buildings is tricky work and often forces antiquated systems of the building to be revised to meet current building codes. The amount of specialists required to make sure that everything is up to snuff is unwieldy and not needed most years. If the county did retain their services on an employee/employer basis, their combined annual salaries would dwarf the $46,000 budgeted for the study.
On Governing not easy for Alaska's polarizing Palin
Posted on April 17 at 2:51 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If Gov. Palin thinks she had it rough in the media this last time, wait till she runs for 2012. She'll be attacked at every turn by both the left and the right. If all her boastful claims of shaking up the old boy club have any grain of truth to them, that same old boy club is sure not to have forgotten. Elephants never forget, as the saying goes.
That being said, I do wish her luck. I won't vote for her, but I wish her luck.
On We must confront the torturers who acted in our name
Posted on April 14 at 9:19 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Not too surprising that the first couple posts back torture. Sad. But not surprising. All the revenge in the world will not undo the hurt of 9-11. Those poor souls will still be dead, those towers collapsed. In the words of those better than I:
“That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.”
-- Martin Luther King Jr.
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
-- Jesus Christ from Matthew 5:38-45
We cannot defeat this enemy through strength of arms alone. If we stoop to their level, they've won a major victory. We need to be better than them. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard morally, ethically and legally. That means we have to hold ourselves accountable for actions taken by our military and intelligence agencies.
Torture is wrong regardless of how important it might seem at the time. We know it. We've signed treaties that condemn its use not only when it is convenient to to do so, but always.
On GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan
Posted on March 30 at 5:23 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
andre_linoge: Please read the first line where I said the power comes from the Contract, NOT the Constitution.
On GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan
Posted on March 30 at 3:13 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
andre_linoge & lil_joe:
The power to do this comes from the Contract for the loan, not the Constitution. Keep in mind Pres. Obama was just elected and not yet sworn in when this loan package was written & signed into law. In fact, Pres. Obama didn't even have a chance to vote on it since he'd resigned his Senate seat before the bill hit the Senate floor.
The aid package to the US auto manufacturers is not merely a government back grant or loan. The auto manufacturers had used up all manner of privately funded credit. Their stock prices were in the tank and even in boom times, there's not a bank on the planet that would have written them a loan. They asked the Federal Government for financial assistance in the form of cash to keep their debtors at bay. This was done as a last ditch effort to stave off a complete collapse of the industry as a whole.
In a normal loan, you define the terms of the deal in a pretty straight forward manner: how much money is being loaned, at what interest rate, for how long, any repercussions should the above terms not be met and what sort of collateral is being used.
In these loans, given the weak nature of those borrowing the money had to meet further conditions. Any auto manufacturer taking the money (GM & Chrysler did, Ford did not) would have to present plans on rebuilding their respective companies. They would also have to take significant steps in that direction. GM, in this instance, failed to meet the terms laid out and Mr. Wagoner was pushed aside.
Like it or not, the boys in Detroit are playing with our money and now have to play by new rules. They knew what they were getting into when they signed on the dotted line.
On GM CEO Wagoner forced out as part of gov't plan
Posted on March 30 at 1:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
lil_joe, the Federal Government can't just walk into any business and take it over.
Remember, the auto industry execs all went and asked for help. That help came with conditions. Given that the conditions were not met, some manner of action was called for. Weather or not this is the correct action can be debated, but the Federal Government was well within the bounds of the agreement GM signed when they asked for Mr. Wagoner's resignation.
On How should students’ cell phone use be limited?
Posted on March 30 at 8:24 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
To steal from Charlton Heston: "You can take my cell phone when you pry it from my cold, dead hand."
In all seriousness, the cell phones do pose a distraction to classroom activities. This much is true beyond any doubt. However, where is the harm in letting the kids use them at lunch, before or after school or in between classes?
Perhaps it's just me, but I've always felt that kids will do whatever they can to test their limits and the limits of those around them. I think it has been that way since the dawn of time. More rules and harsher punishments will not change that. When I was in school, this wasn't an issue, but cell phones were the size of a briefcase and were too expensive. My friends and I still figured out ways to fool around incognito during class. The most successful venture involved a TI-81 graphing calculator, a bit of programming knowledge and an eye for detail. Mix it up and play Tetris during class. To the casual observer, you're doing trigonometry homework, but really you're playing a video game! The horror!
On UPDATE: Police release identity of Janesville man found dead
Posted on March 21 at 9:15 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
For those of you blaming this on the full moon, you're wrong. The moon wasn't full on Thursday. It was waning crescent:
http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon/
It wasn't even up when the police had contact with Mr. Smith as the moon had set at 11:08 am Thursday and next rose at 3:59 am Friday morning:
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/aa_pap.p...
Furthermore, there is no statistical data to show an increase in odd or violent behavior due to a full moon. There are loads of anecdotal stories, but when measured over time and subjected to statistical analysis, there is no change:
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
<Nero zips up his flame proof suit>
On Police try to put an end to YouTube fights
Posted on February 20 at 7:58 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Noggi, in the spirit of Charlton Heston, you can have my cell phone when you pry it from my cold, dead hand.
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On Random gunfire strikes two Janesville homes
Posted on November 11 at 1:42 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Something to keep in mind: A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequila.