Iraq War, National Priorities Project, Phelps Clan TRIES to Take On Meade Kansas and Loses, Daily Eye Candy

Hey Blogger Friends, Tuesday is here and I have another busy week on my plate. I have been in a bit of a political bent lately, gearing up for the mid-term elections and getting my political heaven or hell site ready to launch in time for them. I have always been a strong opponent of our latest war in Iraq. At it's base, President Bush started the war with only one real valid premise, "He was a bad man and did many despicable things to his people." If that was all we needed as a basis to start a war, you would think we would be in a lot more of them. I wont take this space to give all my views on this war, they are many, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I do want you all to consider this......

The National Priorities Project, has compiled a data base on lot's of information about spending priorities in our country. I want to give you an example of what the money we have been spending in Iraq, could have been used for here in the US, and what the money given to the wealthiest 1% tax breaks could have been used for. I am going to give you an example of Ohio, and you can link HERE, click on "tradeoffs" on the left side of page, keep location at "state", change the statee to "your state", for program select "cost of war in Iraq" (check out the tax-cuts to the rich too,) keep trade-off to "all", and click "get the trade offs," to figure out what could have been spent in your home state. The statistics say that we have spent over 310 billion dollars so far on the war, and for all intents and purposes, we are not any further along than we were when it started. Take a look at where we could have spent this money on the war, or not given the Republicans and their top 1% tax cuts, here in the US............Pick your poison people...................

Taxpayers in Ohio will pay $11.2 billion for the cost of war in Iraq. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

1,521,022 People with Health Care or
194,559 Elementary School Teachers or
1,719,697 Head Start Places for Children or
5,995,436 Children with Health Care or
102,392 Affordable Housing Units or
1,257 New Elementary Schools or
1,679,651 Scholarships for University Students or
176,333 Music and Arts Teachers or
258,619 Public Safety Officers or
21,367,091 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
227,647 Port Container Inspectors

$56.5 billion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% this year could be spent on the people of Ohio instead. If that money were used to support state and local programs, the residents of Ohio could have $2.0 billion, which could provide:

273,448 People with Health Care or
34,978 Elementary School Teachers or
309,165 Head Start Places for Children or
1,077,853 Children with Health Care or
18,408 Affordable Housing Units or
226 New Elementary Schools or
301,966 Scholarships for University Students or
31,701 Music and Arts Teachers or
46,494 Public Safety Officers or
3,841,354 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
40,926 Port Container Inspectors

My favorite thing in the news to report today is........Gay Supporters Outnumber Phelps Clan In Flag Protest. The so-called "church" came to Meade, Kansas, to protest a rainbow flag being flown over a small hotel operated by J.R. and Robin Knight. The couple bought the hotel two years ago and immediately got into a conflict with local officials over a special assessment. Some residents say their problem with the Knights is not the flag but their "California ways." The Knights, transplants from California, got the flag as a present from their 12 year old son, who remained there. He said the flag reminded him of "The Wizard of Oz." Since the local newspaper in Meade identified the flag as a gay pride symbol, J.R. and Robin Knight have had bricks thrown through a window and demonstrations outside. But the Knights say the publicity has actually increased business at their restaurant in the old Lakeway Hotel, the Wichita Eagle reported. "It's been hell since we moved here. It really is surreal," J.R. Knight said. But he said he and his wife plan to stay in Meade -- with their flag.

My finds of daily eye candy, come today from one of my favorite porn review sites and "insider" to the busines, at "Starrfucker"..........enjoy.......GG