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Democrat Billionaires think about the other 99%

Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, is supporting Democratic presidential hopeful in the upcoming elections, because he wants more equitable wealth distribution and taxataion systems in the US.

Buffet criticised the US tax system for allowing him to pay a lower rate than his secretary and his cleaner. Speaking at a fundraiser in New York for Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52 billion (£26 billion), said . . . If you’re in the luckiest 1 per cent of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the other 99 per cent. read more

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Tallest man meets shortest? man

Two Mongolian men meet and shake hands. Bao Xishun at 7 foot 9 inches and He Pingping, who stands tall at 2 foot 4 [73 centimeters]. Mr. Bao recently married a woman whose head reaches the height of his elbow; Mr. He’s father says his son was the size of a man’s palm at birth. The UK’s Daily Mail tells more.

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End of the Constitution?

Maybe Bush’s outrageous commutation of Scooter Libby’s will help some folks recognize that this president and his cronies have more than normal self-interest or operative pragmatic scheming in mind.

The oft-used term “neo-conservatives,” or “neo-cons,” is thrown around the identify the circles that helped lift this current administration to power . . . these are not just new conservatives . . . At the top, these people have a total overhaul of U.S. Constitutional government in mind. Bush and friends are the first administration that has achieved a level of power high enough to exhibit this. Their goal is the end of democracy as defined by the U.S. Constitution. read more

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Nobel laureate calls for removal of Bush

Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams came from Ireland to Texas to declare that President Bush should be impeached.

In a keynote speech at the International Women’s Peace Conference on Wednesday night, Ms. Williams told a crowd of about 1,000 that the Bush administration has been treacherous and wrong and acted unconstitutionally.

“Right now, I could kill George Bush,” she said at the Adam’s Mark Hotel and Conference Center in Dallas. “No, I don’t mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that.” read more

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The Doctor Will See You—In 3 Months

The health-care reform debate is in full roar with the arrival of Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko, which compares the U.S. system unfavorably with single-payer systems around the world. Critics of the film are quick to trot out a common defense of the American way: For all its problems, they say, U.S. patients at least don’t have to endure the endless waits for medical care endemic to government-run systems.

In reality, both data and anecdotes show that the American people are already waiting as long or longer than patients living with universal health-care systems. read more

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Stop National ID bill!

The REAL ID provision was built into a must-pass appropriations bill in 2005 to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now a provision to make REAL ID permanent has been hidden in an immigration bill making its way through congress.

It is estimated that a national ID program will cost individual Americans 8 billion dollars and state governments as much as 14 billion more. Sixteen states have already voted against supporting a national ID program. Help stop REAL ID from robbing Americans of our freedom and privacy! read more

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Chilis failed to whet North American appetites.

There is an improperly used word in the well-written and awfully interesting article about chilis at Yale University.

“But trade in spices did not wet the North American palate for hot chili peppers.”

The author obviously meant, “whet the North American palate” – as in, sharpen it. Introducing liquid to a palate [“wetting it”] won’t create a further desire in that palate for a certain food taste.

According to the article, chilis were disseminated from South America and made their way from there around the world to Asia, India and other countries. The capsaicin chilis contain is excellent for treating a variety of physical ills such as swollen feet and varicose veins, and it also creates a sense of well-being in those whom eat it. read more

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Overzealous correctness?

I feel this is sort of a sad story.

Mr. Stephen Henry was suspended from teaching when he approached one of his middle school students recently and explained to her that the word she was using to describe something she didn’t like to a classmate – “gay” – is just as offensive to some people as the word “nigger” is to Black people.

365gay.com reports, “The student’s mother said she believed Henry was not intending to insult the girl but middle school students are too young for such a discussion.” read more

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Spice Market, NY. An eating adventure.

The tradition in my family is that Dad takes me and the grandkids out for Father’s Day. We’ve tried to flip this tradition around so we are the ones taking Dad out, but this upset my father so the tradition holds.

Tonight Dad took us to a wonderful restaurant on the corner of 9th Ave and 13th Street, Spice Market. Evocative of leisure service establishments in Asia several decades ago, when space conservation was not a consideration and buildings were envisioned with ease as their foremost design element. read more

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What gas costs today at service stations near you

Now you can check the price of gas daily at over 90,000 service stations.

. . . prices are provided by OPIS. OPIS is the only comprehensive source of U.S. wholesale and retail petroleum prices, tracking more than 90,000 daily retail gasoline prices, and 70,000 rack and spot prices for heating oil, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, jet fuel, LP-Gas, residual fuel, natural gas and ethanol. More than 100 billion gallons of fuel are purchased annually based on an OPIS Price Index.”

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A great reason for no TV in the living room

At 6:00 pm Wednesday night, while moms across America were getting dinner ready and hungry kids were watching TV waiting for it to be served, Samantha Ventresca lay in her living room in Lawrence, NJ, pinned underneath her own family’s 27-inch TV.

In a freak accident, apparently, the TV fell on top of 2½-year-old Samantha when she tried to climb onto the table it inhabited. Tonya, her mom, was home but had been attending to Samantha’s sister of 15 months. Tonya immediately dialed 911 and called for the help of a fire-fighter neighbor who was sitting outside on his porch, but Samantha slipped into coma and passed away at 10:30 pm. read more

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Each citizen should have a right to vote in the US!

Republicans do cherish their little practical jokes – the leaflets in African-American neighborhoods warning that voters must pay outstanding traffic tickets before voting; the calls in Virginia in 2006 from the mythical “Virginia Election Commission” warning voters they would be arrested if they showed up at the polls. The best way to steal an election is the old-fashioned way: control who shows up. It’s widely known that Republicans do better when the turnout is lighter, whiter, older and richer; minorities, young people and the poor are easy game for hoaxes and intimidation . . . read more