I could go all the way back to when my daughter was 5 years old to sue people who have actually caused injury to my daughter. I could have retired long before I did, in fact probably would never have worked again!!!  The first bone break was when we found out my daughter does not feel pain in her bones like other people do.

At age 5 the babysitter loaded the kids in the car to go to the park (no seat belts for kids then) my daughter was next to the door but could not get the door shut. The babysitter’s son reached over my daughter to close the door not realizing her hand was IN THE DOOR JAMB. He slammed it shut on my daughter’s hand. Her thumb broke at the joint. We got her to the doctor, got a cast on her hand and went home. Within the week the doctor X-rayed her hand and the joint had slipped out and it was not healing right. We had to put her in the hospital for surgery on her thumb. Now, I could have sued the sitter for all she owned for “negligence” but I looked at it that “kids do dumb things”. Between my insurance, the sitter’s homeowner and car insurance all the bills were covered. Was my daughter traumatized? Probably, but she never indicated she was. In fact when she got back to the sitter’s house she whacked the one who shut her hand in the door with the cast on her hand!!!

At age 13 when my daughter was in the 8^th grade she was injured at school. She and her friends were sitting on the grass. Some “cute guy” decided the way to get the girls’ attention was to throw a football at them! My daughter saw the football coming and put her hand up to deflect it – her other thumb got broken!!!  She went to the teacher to tell her she thought her thumb was broken, but because it didn’t “look” broken and my daughter wasn’t crying, the teacher told her to go sit down in her seat. My daughter tried to tell her about the “no pain in the bones” problem but the teacher wouldn’t listen. When she got home she called me at work and told me she thought her thumb was broken. I got her to the doctor and, yes, it was broken. I called the school so their insurance could pay for it and when they balked I did threaten to sue for the medical bills (only) as several students backed up my daughters’ story. I also asked that the teacher be admonished (NOT fired) for not at least sending her to the office to call me to have it checked out. They paid the bills and admonished the teacher who later apologized to my daughter. Was my daughter traumatized? She never said she was – she was just ticked the teacher would not listen to her and when she got back to school she smacked the boy who threw the football! He profusely apologized and they ended up “liking” each other!!!

At age 14, my daughter was playing summer softball (she had been playing since she was 8 years old). One of the diamonds they played on had a 2^nd base that was not secure. The required entities were notified. The base never got repaired, the cement base holder was cracked and the base itself would pop up when the kids would slide into it and their foot would go under the base.  Low and behold, my daughter slid into 2^nd base, it popped up, her foot slid underneath and her ankle hit the cement base holder. There were no phones available to call an ambulance. The coach had no insurance paperwork and didn’t even know who the insurance company was. The coach carried her to my car and I got her to emergency. The doctor said it was one of the worst breaks he had ever seen and put her in a non-walking cast. She was to put NO pressure whatsoever on that foot.  Was my daughter traumatized?  Yes, she was totally ticked off that she didn’t get to finish playing in the championship game!!! Her coach came to the hospital to give her the 1^st place trophy.  Could I have sued the softball club? You bet – they knew the base was damaged and for months did nothing about it, until my daughter was injured! I even had to fight with them to get their insurance to pay the bills as they kept saying they were secondary! However, nowhere in their pamphlet or parent information did anything say that. They paid the bills!!!!  The next year ALL that information was available to coaches and parents!!!

At age 23 she was attending Long Beach State. On her way to school a young man made a left turn into the drivers’ side of her car, she had the green light.  He was driving a very large p/up truck she was in a Chevy Sprint.  His vehicle pushed her car clear down the block, broke every window in the car and knocked her out. He had a dent in the bumper and left the scene. It turned out he had let the insurance lapse on his brand new truck. Between me and the police we tracked down the truck and found his parents businesses were the legal owners of the truck. Since the insurance had lapsed, my insurance paid for repairs and medicals under our uninsured motorist coverage. The kid was a total jerk. Was my daughter traumatized? You bet!!! Her whole back was like an accordion and she was several months in physical therapy and almost didn’t get to finish her classes at CSLB to get her degree!  We could have sued the parents and their businesses and the kid.  We did not. We let the insurance company go after them for what they (insurance company) had paid for. At the time, I worked for an insurance claims office – I knew what I could have gone after the parents for, I chose to not do that, but in hindsight, wish I had as my daughter, to this day, has back problems.

So, all this said, parents’ suing for a broken wrist because their little dumpling fell off the monkey bars is ludicrous. Traumatized???  She probably won’t go on the monkey bars any more – so what. If the child IS traumatized, it is because the parents have made it so, by making a huge fuss over the situation. Kids react to how the parents react/behave and how the parents handle the situation. If the parents are hysterical and “traumatized” the child will behave in the same manner. If the parents are calm and treat the situation as an unfortunate accident and life will go on, the child will behave in the same manner.

Our own government is decimating us from within - Just as Khrushchev

State auditors say California's unemployment fund is broke and will face a huge deficit come December. By the end of this year, it's estimated the state's unemployment insurance fund will be $7.4 billion in the red. Some lawmakers say business taxes should be raised to replenish the fund, but a small business advocate says raising taxes will cost more jobs and make the problem worse. If you triple the existing taxes you make the existing employment opportunities more expensive. That means, potentially, more people could lose jobs, said Small business advocate Michael Shaw. You have a growing imbalance in the system and frankly it's just not going to be able to sustain itself and it can no longer respond to economic conditions today and in the future, said Loree Levy of the state's Employment Development Department. A few years ago, state lawmakers increased unemployment benefits. But with record-high unemployment and several benefit extensions, the state has borrowed billions from a special federal fund to keep the state system solvent. The state's $5 billion of federal unemployment loans must be repaid, with interest, by the end of 2010.

larger view

Dems Seek Fundraising Boost in War With Palin

by  FOXNews.com

updated 2 hours, 32 minutes ago

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Most power-hungry TVs will be banned from store shelves in California after state regulators adopted a first-in-the nation mandate to lower electricity demand. Given how large the California market is, the regulation could end up as a de facto national standard.

On a unanimous vote, the California Energy Commission on Wednesday required all new televisions up to 58 inches to be more energy efficient beginning in 2011. The requirement will be tougher in 2013, and only a quarter of all TVs on the market currently meet that standard.

The California Energy Commission estimates that TVs account for about 10 percent of a home's electricity use. The concern is that the energy draw will rise by as much as 8 percent a year as consumers buy larger televisions, add more to their homes and watch them more often.

Commissioners say energy efficiency standards are the cheapest and easiest way to save electricity.

"We have every confidence this industry will be able to meet the rule and then some," Energy Commissioner Julia Levin said. "It will save consumers money, it will help protect public health, and it will spark innovation."

Utilities and environmental groups say the TV standards, which mirror the federal standards for TVs awarded the Energy Star label, should head off steep increases in home electricity use and rising electric bills.

"This is a really big deal, because once standards are in effect it will cut California's power bill by $1 billion a year and avoid the need to build a large, 500 megawatt power plant," said Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural

Defense Council. "We hope in the long term, every TV sold in America will be just as efficient as those sold in California."

Televisions account for about 2 percent of California's overall electricity use. Requiring them to be more energy efficient would save enough electricity to power 864,000 single-family homes a year in California by 2023. That's enough for Anaheim, Burbank, Glendale and Palo Alto combined.

An energy-efficient TV would save a household roughly $30 a year per set in lowered electricity costs. If all 35 million TVs watched in the state were replaced with more efficient sets, Californians would save $8.1 billion over 10 years, according to the Energy Commission report.

The electricity savings could also help California meet the goals of its 2006 global warming law, which calls for the state to cut greenhouse gases 25 percent by 2020.

State retailers feel threatened
Some manufacturers say implementing a power standard will cripple innovation, limit consumer choice and harm California retailers because consumers could simply buy TVs out of state or order them online.

The standards would apply to all TVs up to 58 inches, allowing increasing power use for larger TVs.

For example, all new 42-inch television sets must use less than 183 watts by 2011 and less than 116 watts by 2013. That's considerably more efficient than flat-screen TVs placed on the market in recent years.

A 42-inch Hitachi plasma TV sold in 2007 uses 313 watts while a 42-inch Sharp Liquid-crystal display, or LCD, TV draws 232 watts, according to Energy Commission research.

LCDs now account for about 90 percent of the 4 million TVs sold in California annually.

Some televisions already meet the early standards imposed under the rule approved Wednesday. About three-quarters of the TVs — more than 1,050 models — sold today comply with the 2011 California standards, and more than 300 comply with the 2013 standard, according to the Energy Commission.

Industry representatives have said the standards would force manufacturers to make televisions that have poorer picture quality and fewer features than those sold elsewhere in the U.S.

TVs larger than 58 inches would not be covered under the rule, a concession to independent retailers that sell high-end home-theater TVs. Those sets account for no more than 3 percent of the market.

Commissioners are expected to regulate them in the future.

California has previously led the nation in setting efficiency requirements for dishwashers, washing machines and other household appliances as a way to address the state's growing electricity demand.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the commission’s action as another signal of California’s leadership on environmental matters. He noted that the state’s per-capita electricity consumption has remained flat over the last three decades while energy consumption nationwide has increased.

“I applaud the commission for its hard work to enact these and other cost-effective energy efficiency standards that are not only great for the environment, but also good for consumers,” the governor said in a statement.

IMO: the size of the squares of TP will be next.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the` Massachusetts State Senate.

"I'm Tired" by Robert A. Hall"

I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth around” to people who don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy or stupid to earn it.

I’m tired of being told that I have to pay more taxes to “keep people in their homes.” Sure, if they lost their jobs or got sick, I’m willing to help. But if they bought McMansions at three times the price of our paid-off, $250,000 condo, on one-third of my salary, then let the leftwing Congresscritters who passed Fannie and Freddie and the Community Reinvestment Act that created the bubble help them—with their own money.

I’m tired of being told how bad America is by leftwing millionaires like Michael Moore, George Soros and Hollywood entertainers who live in luxury because of the opportunities America offers. In thirty years, if they get their way, the United States will have the religious freedom and women’s rights of Saudi Arabia, the economy of Zimbabwe, the freedom of the press of China, the crime and violence of Mexico, the tolerance for Gay people of Iran, and the freedom of speech of Venezuela. Won’t multiculturalism be beautiful?

I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family “honor;” of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t “believers;” of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for “adultery;” of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and Shari’a law tells them to.

I believe “a man should be judged by the content of his character, not by the color of his skin.” I’m tired of being told that “race doesn’t matter” in the post-racial world of President Obama, when it’s all that matters in affirmative action jobs, lower college admission and graduation standards for minorities (harming them the most), government contract set-asides, tolerance for the ghetto culture of violence and fatherless children that hurts minorities more than anyone, and in the appointment of US Senators from Illinois. I think it’s very cool that we have a black president and that a black child is doing her homework at the desk where Lincoln wrote the emancipation proclamation. I just wish the black president was Condi Rice, or someone who believes more in freedom and the individual and less in an all-knowing government.

I’m tired of a news media that thinks Bush’s fundraising and inaugural expenses were obscene, but that think Obama’s, at triple the cost, were wonderful. That thinks Bush exercising daily was a waste of presidential time, but Obama exercising is a great example for the public to control weight and stress, that picked over every line of Bush’s military records, but never demanded that Kerry release his, that slammed Palin with two years as governor for being too inexperienced for VP, but touted Obama with three years as senator as potentially the best president ever.

Wonder why people are dropping their subscriptions or switching to Fox News? Get a clue. I didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, but the media and Kerry drove me to his camp in 2004.

I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America, while no American group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate. My wife and I live in a two-bedroom apartment and carpool together five miles to our jobs. We also own a three-bedroom condo where our daughter and granddaughter live. Our carbon footprint is about 5% of Al Gore’s, and if you’re greener than Gore, you’re green enough.

I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off? I don’t think Gay people choose to be Gay, but I damn sure think druggies chose to take drugs. And I’m tired of harassment from cool people treating me like a freak when I tell them I never tried marijuana.

I’m tired of illegal aliens being called “undocumented workers,” especially the ones who aren’t working, but are living on welfare or crime. What’s next? Calling drug dealers, “Undocumented Pharmacists”? And, no, I’m not against Hispanics. Most of them are Catholic and it’s been a few hundred years since Catholics wanted to kill me for my religion. I’m willing to fast track for citizenship any Hispanic person who can speak English, doesn’t have a criminal record and who is self-supporting without family on welfare, or who serves honorably for three years in our military. Those are the citizens we need.

I’m tired of latte liberals and journalists, who would never wear the uniform of the Republic themselves, or let their entitlement-handicapped kids near a recruiting station, trashing our military. They and their kids can sit at home, never having to make split-second decisions under life and death circumstances, and bad mouth better people then themselves. Do bad things happen in war? You bet. Do our troops sometimes misbehave? Sure. Does this compare with the atrocities that were the policy of our enemies for the last fifty years—and still are? Not even close. So here’s the deal. I’ll let myself be subjected to all the humiliation and abuse that was heaped on terrorists at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo, and the critics can let themselves be subject to captivity by the Muslims who tortured and beheaded Daniel Pearl in Pakistan, or the Muslims who tortured and murdered Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon, or the Muslims who ran the blood-spattered Al Qaeda torture rooms our troops found in Iraq, or the Muslims who cut off the heads of schoolgirls in Indonesia, because the girls were Christian. Then we’ll compare notes. British and American soldiers are the only troops in history that civilians came to for help and handouts, instead of hiding from in fear.

I’m tired of people telling me that their party has a corner on virtue and the other party has a corner on corruption. Read the papers—bums are bi-partisan. And I’m tired of people telling me we need bi-partisanship. I live in Illinois, where the “Illinois Combine” of Democrats and Republicans has worked together harmoniously to loot the public for years. And I notice that the tax cheats in Obama’s cabinet are bi-partisan as well.

I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

Speaking of poor, I’m tired of hearing people with air-conditioned homes, color TVs and two cars called poor. The majority of Americans didn’t have that in 1970, but we didn’t know we were “poor.” The poverty pimps have to keep changing the definition of poor to keep the dollars flowing.

I’m real tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination, or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I’m not going to get to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts state senate. He blogs at www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com

Robert A. Hall info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

It's a slow day in a little East Texas town. The sun is beating down and the streets are deserted.  Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

 On this particular day a rich tourist from back east is driving through.

He stops at the motel and lays a $100 bill on the desk and says he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

 As soon as the man walks upstairs, the owner grabs the bill and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

 The butcher takes the $100 and runs down the street to retire his debt to the pig farmer.

 The pig farmer takes the $100 and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.

 The guy at the Farmer's Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to the local prostitute, who has also been facing hard times and has had to  offer her "services" on credit.

 The hooker rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill with the hotel owner.

 The hotel proprietor then places the $100 back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.

 At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the $100 bill, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.

 No one produced anything.  No one earned anything.

 However, the whole town is now out of debt and now looks to the future with a lot more optimism.

 And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is  conducting business today.

larger view

Senior Health Care Solution

So you're a senior citizen and the government says no health care for you, what do you do?

Our plan gives anyone 65 years or older a gun and 4 bullets.  You are allowed to shoot 2 senators and 2 representatives.  Of Course, this means you will be sent to prison.

There you will get 3 meals a day, a roof over your head, and all the health care you need!  New teeth, no problem.  Need glasses, great.  New hip, knees, kidney, lungs, heart?  All covered.

And who will be paying for all of this?  The same government that just told you that you are too  old for health care.  Plus, because you are a prisoner, you no longer have to pay income taxes.

IS THIS A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT?!