EU IS IN BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL

Latin America wants to start their own monetary system. They might learn a lesson from the EU.

WAS THE CELL PHONE INCIDENT A LITMUS TEST ?

I could not believe it when Maria Scharzenegger announced she would donate her cell phone to a charity. This was after she was observed talking on a cell phone while driving several times. It has always been known that there are two types of laws, one for the rich and another for the rest of us.

I would have expected her cousin to say that she would donate her phone to charity. But not Maria. She is an accomplished journalist. What I would have liked to see was her going down to the Department of Motor Vehicles and paying a fine, which is what the rest of us would have had to do. Then I would have had my faith restored in her,since I have followed her family history over the years.

This is why the people's trust in famous people have waned in recent years. We do not rev er them as we once used to. I think her coming out and saying she was donating her cell phone to charity was a red herring.

PENTAGON HAS BEST RECRUITING YEAR SINCE 1973

The Pentagon's personnel chief said Tuesday the military has completed its best recruiting year since 1973, meeting all its goals and bringing in a better educated group of young people.

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps met goals for active duty and reserve recruiting during the budget year ended Sept. 30 — the first time that has happened since the all-volunteer force was established, said Defense Department head of personnel Bill Carr.

Carr told a Pentagon press conference that it's partly because of department spending on finding recruits, even as fewer civilian jobs were available due to the nation's economic problems. He also cited increases in military pay.

FREDERIC MITTERRAND: THE SLAVE MARKET EXITES ME ENORMOUSLY

The revelations in his 2005 autobiography “The Bad Life” have come back to haunt Mr Mitterrand after he emerged as one of the most vociferous defenders of Roman Polanski, the film director currently detained in Switzerland in connection with an outstanding conviction for unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl in the US in 1977.

In his book, Mr Mitterrand, the nephew of the late Socialist president François Mitterrand, wrote: “I got into the habit of paying for boys…All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excite me enormously.

“One could judge this abominable spectacle from a moral standpoint but it pleases me beyond the reasonable.”

Curiously, there was little outcry when the book was published in 2005. However, Mr Mitterrand’s tastes were brought to the fore on Monday by Marine Le Pen, daughter of the far-right National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, on a political chat show.

CHINA TO END HEPATITIS B TESTS

According to Xinhua, the state news agency in Beijing, Chinese health officials will abolish mandatory testing for hepatitis B during physical exams given to college students, factory workers, and government employees.

The new rules, mean that people found to be carrying the hepatitis B virus will not be automatically barred from jobs and classrooms. It is estimated that 120 million people in China are thought to be infected. It is not uncommon in China for hepatitis B carriers to be barred from medical school, teaching positions or jobs in the food production industry.

WHY CHICAGO SHOULD NOT GET THE OLYMPICS

How can Chicago protect tourists from all over the world, when they can't even protect innocent children going to and from school? It seems like these kids are being treated like collateral damage. Chicago has spent 100 million dollars for the bid on the Olympics.

I think it is in poor taste for President Obama and the First Lady to be cheerleaders for Chicago, when the Mayor isn't calling for federal help. These thugs should be tried as adults and tried under the Ricoh Act.Maybe federal prison time will send a message.

I shudder in horror as the elected officials pose for photo ops and smile as if everything is well in the city of Chicago. There needs to be rewards for film that was taken by cellphones to identify the perpetrators in these crimes.Kids are afraid to go to school for being attacked by mobs of their classmates.

A police official said there has been no tips or call from the public as to who these criminals were. I thought Chicago had a camera on every street corner ?

PRINCE PHILLIP CRITICIZES SUPERMARKETS, SECOND-HOME OWNERS

We are sure hearing a lot from the Royal Family lately. Prince Phillip commented that a bottle of water costs more than a bottle of milk.

The prince’s wife is the largest landowner on the planet — she controls 6,600 million acres of land, one sixth of the earth’s non-ocean surface. Philip’s absurd comments come after he said he’d like to come back as a killer virus and wipe out a large chunk of humanity.

Prince Philip has taken a pot shot at supermarkets and second-home owners who he says are threatening the traditional village, in remarks published Wednesday.


The 88-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II — who has official residences in London, Windsor and Scotland as well as a vast portfolio of property — lamented the demise of the quintessential English village.



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HOW CAN PRINCE CHARLES TELL COMMONERS TO ABANDON CARS WHEN HE HAS SIX ??

This is hypocrisy for him to ask this of the people. Has he no shame ? I just can't imagine him saying a thing. He is doing his part of high carbon emissions and global warming by asking this of his subjects. He should be leading by example. But I guess it is do as I say, not as I do !

The Prince, who has two Jaguars, two Audi's, a Range Rover and still drives an Aston Martin given to him by the Queen on his 21st birthday, said developers had a duty to put public transport and the pedestrian at the heart of their housing schemes.

Speaking about the “domination of the car over the pedestrian”, the future King said: “We must surely be able to organise ourselves… in ways in which we are not dependent on it to such a great extent for our daily needs.”

The Prince said the principle of “elevating the pedestrian above the car” was one of the guiding factors of Poundbury – his model development in Dorset. The importance of “pedestrian friendly public space” is central to the Poundbury ethos.

This kind of public transport-oriented development is fundamental to achieving the ultimate goal of a low carbon community, and it is very likely that such communities, far from being austere, will actually become the sought-after places where people will choose to live and spend their time.”

PATIENTS FALLING FROM HOSPITAL BEDS

My daughter-in-law called to tell me that her mom's friend had fallen out of a hospital bed and went into a coma and died. She was only there for a minor surgery. This was a surprising event. No one had expected for this to happen.

Patient falls are the most common injuries reported in hospitals. Many hospitals are making simple changes. For example, patients aren't given diuretics before bedtime, as a full bladder might tempt patients to make a nighttime bathroom trip by themselves — a classic scenario for a fall.

Some hospitals avoid drugs that could impair a patent's balance. They are also using beds that can be lowered to the floor so that if patients fall out, they won't fall far.

All this patient protection isn't just happening out of benevolence. In some states, hospitals now have to publicly report their fall rates. There is also a financial incentive: Medicare will no longer pay for costs related to certain hospital falls. Those falls can add more than $4,000 in excess charges per hospitalization.

75 Percent of Oklahoma High School Students Can’t Name the First President of the U.S.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.

The survey was commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs in observance of Constitution Day on Thursday.

Brandon Dutcher is with the conservative think tank and said the group wanted to find out how much civic knowledge Oklahoma high school students know.

The Oklahoma City-based think tank enlisted national research firm, Strategic Vision, to access students’ basic civic knowledge.

“They’re questions taken from the actual exam that you have to take to become a U.S. citizen,” Dutcher said.

A thousand students were given 10 questions drawn from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services item bank. Candidates for U.S. citizenship must answer six questions correctly in order to become citizens.

JAPAN IS PUSHING FOR AN ASIAN UNION

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NEW YORK:

Japan's new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, in his first meeting with China's President, has proposed the formation of an East Asian community.

On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr Hatoyama proposed to Hu Jintao the formation of a grouping like the European Union. He said the vision was designed to unify the region, possibly under a single currency.

''I told [Mr Hu] I would like to form an East Asian community by overcoming differences'' including a dispute over exploitation rights for gas fields lying near islands the two countries claim in East China Sea, Mr Hatoyama told reporters.





"I hope and am convinced China-Japan ties will develop more actively and enter a new phase," Mr Hu said, congratulating the Japanese leader on his election victory last month.

Mr Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan ended six decades of Liberal Democratic Party power, years that were often marked by frosty relations with China over Japan's war record.

Mr Hu agreed the two countries should work towards friendship and co-operation, and that officials should begin negotiations on an agreement. Mr Hu invited Mr Hatoyama to a summit including South Korea by December.

Mr Hatoyama urged Mr Hu to work on promoting public support for an accord with Japan. The Chinese President welcomed Mr Hatoyama's stance on Japan's aggression during World War II. Mr Hatoyama said his administration would honour a 1995 statement in which Japan apologized for past aggression.

South Korea To Begin Fingerprinting All Foreigners.

S Korea 'to fingerprint all foreigners

South Korea will demand fingerprints from all adult foreign visitors by 2012 to tighten immigration controls and prevent criminals entering the country, officials said on Tuesday.

The justice ministry said a bill to be submitted to parliament next month requires foreigners aged over 17 to provide prints of their index fingers and an identity photograph upon entry.

Those intending to stay more than three months must provide full fingerprints in addition to the photo.

South Korea previously took fingerprints of foreigners intending to stay for more than a year. The requirement was abolished in 2004.

"A database of physical information on foreigners is urgently needed to stop illegal immigrants, criminals and terrorists from entering the country," said Lee Bok-Nam, an immigration official at the justice ministry.

Crimes by foreigners rose nearly fivefold over the past eight years from 4,328 in 2001 to 20,624 last year, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported Tuesday, quoting national police data.

WALL STREET IS AT IT AGAIN !!

When will Wall Street stop ? According to The New York Times,, they are now bundling million dollar insurance policies for sale. People are cashing in for pennies on the dollar and they are being gobbled up.With the economy in such dire straits and people at wits end, many of them had no choice but to sell them.

WILL THE G20 KICK THE G8 TO THE CURB ?

The group of eight industrialized powers are now ineffectual in the worldwide financial crises, according to researchers and international affairs experts.

The G8 consiste of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan ,Russia and the United States. But the G8 depends on the G20 which includes Argentina, Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

Richard Portes, a researcher at the London School of Economics said "no substantive results have come out of the G8 for years. Portes said the G8 has become irrelevant. Barry Echengreen at UC Berkely said reform of the IMF could not be done without China, the largest reserve holder.

Kumor of the Indian Research Council said there should be a G4 , Japan, China, The United States, and the European Union.

BOSTON COP SUSPENDED FOR A RACIST E-MAIL RE: HENRY GATES

The Boston Police Department said the e-mail was to renew tensions over the Gates incident. Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis placed Officer Justin Barrett, 36, on leave pending a termination hearing. The commissioner removed the officer of his gun and badge upon being made aware of the correspondence.

The e-mail describes Gates as a " banana-eating jungle monkey", according to the news site, MyFoxBoston.com.The city's mayor, Tom Menino, referred to Barrett as a "cancer in the department", and called for him to be fired .

INKWELL FOUNDATION

This is a blog about Professor Henry Louis Gates charity, Inkwell Foundation.

PRESIDENT OBAMA COMMITS A BIDEN GAFFE

President Obama told a reporter a few weeks ago that he thinks before he speaks. But he made a Biden gaffe when he said the Cambridge Police acted stupidly when they arrested his friend Gates. When he doesn't have a teleprompter present, he rattles on and on and then he trips himself up.

This remark has given people fodder for months to come. Because he has spoken up for his friend, the Health Care Plan has been put on the back burner. It seems that Gates wanted heads to roll, and I hate it when people ask "do you know who I am"? Or, "you don't know who you are messing with". People don't care who you are when they are doing their job.

I guess Gates thought he was going to get the officer demoted or fired, but it backfired on him. It seems he is going to milk it for all it is worth.

President Obama didn't say a word when a black police officer was first on the scene in New York a few weeks ago and the white officers shot and killed him. This has happened to several black officers in New York City. They thought the black officers were criminals. Now that is what I think is racial profiling.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION REGUARDING COSTS AT MICHAEL JACKSON'S MEMORIAL

The city council of Los Angeles wants a criminal investigation into charges to the city regarding charges such as 48,826 dollars for sandwiches for police officers and related personnel at the Michael Jackson memorial. Questions are being asked about the vendors who bidded for the job and why a sandwich shop 80 miles from Los Angeles in Wrightwood was selected.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS SUSPENDED MEDICAID FOR ALASKANS

From 2006 to 2009, the state reported 27 Alaskans died waiting for assessments, and 227 died while waiting to be reassessed. This is according to a review in March by the Department of Health and Social Services.It is estimated about 1,000 people will be affected.

Theresa Bovey, CEO of Trinion Quality Care Services, which provides in-home personal care in Anchorage, says this could have a huge impact on those who need the services and wont be able to get it.

Rebecca Hilgendorf, the director of Senior and Disabilities Services said a moratorium is necessary until they get their processes in order. The state was struggling to catch up on assessments because of a shortage of nurses.

The review raised concerns that the state medical agency had not taken the necessary safeguards "to protect the health and welfare of the recipients of the review".

Is this why Sarah Palin resigned her post as governor so suddenly ? Is this the smoking gun or shoe that was going to drop ? Did the GOP try to hide this ?

The review also found the state is not in compliance with all six requirements for all waivers.

IS JOE JACKSON GROOMING MICHAEL'S CHILDREN FOR SHOWBIZ ?

The rumors are that the children will perform in London next month. If he does this there will be an outpouring of wrath and rage against him.