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Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Sen Reid Is This Fair
Hundreds donating plasma for gas money
Posted: June 3, 2008 04:40 PM
By KRISTYN HENTSCHEL
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A growing number of people are heading to the Knoxville Plasma Center, in hopes of easing the pain at the gas pump.
So how is donating plasma different from donating blood?
Blood has a liquid portion, plasma, and a cellular portion. Plasma has a number of vital functions for bleeding and infection control.
It also contains proteins and antibodies produced by the immune system to fight diseases.
Plasma's uses and the donation money it draws are reasons Dustin Biggerstaff spent his Tuesday in a hot car with three kids, waiting for his fiancee, who was donating plasma.
"Oh yeah, it is worth it. We can buy gas and diapers," Biggerstaff says.
His fiancee, Lisa Harmon, is one of hundreds recently pumping out plasma. The Knoxville Plasma Center hooks up more than 100 donors a day to machines.
That's double the amount of donors the center staff saw this time last year.
"They are getting gas money and helping save lives. It's a great thing," says the center's Candice Thompson.
Plasma is a key ingredient for products that help treat patients with a host of life-threatening conditions, including:
- Hemophilia
- Shock or trauma
- Immune deficiencies
- Other blood disorders
The center staff says the slump in the economy is forcing the extreme measures and people of all types are lending an arm.
"We have college professors who are donating. We have some doctors. We have nurses. There's all kinds people here," Thompson says.
Lisa Harmon says she's been giving plasma to get gas money twice a week for the past six months.
Harmon says the pain from the prick of a needle is nothing compared to the pain she feels at the pump.
First time donors get $40 for each of their first two visits and $20 each time after that. You can donate plasma up to twice a week.
Bush Says Drill, Congress Says No
It makes you wonder how many of our Congressmen/women and Senators are themselves heavily invested in the oil market. In a recent hearing before the Senate Subcommittee the head of CFTC and most of the Senators seem to suggest there is no evidence of manipulation in the oil market. They admitted the CFTC was grossly understaffed and under funded to do a real investigation and had no authority to subpoena records that may lead to evidence of price manipulation in the market. Congress keeps pointing the finger at the two oilmen in office (Bush and Cheney) yet we find a large amount of Congressmen and Senators becoming filthy rich after just a few years in office. Some made it through real estate during the housing market bubble, but are they now turning their sites on the oil market bubble.
Send a message to Congress with emails and phone calls. Americans have suffered enough and sold enough blood. Act now or we'll vote all incumbents out in November.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
McCain Flipflop or Compromise
Sen Obama calls it flip flopping but I call it listening to America and realizing its time to face reality. We have the technology to safely drill and be good stewards of the environment. We do not have the alternative energy technology now and will not see it for another 20-30 years. If we continue down the road of waiting for science and technology we will go the way of the Soviet Union.
Solar panels have been around for 30 years. They didn't work on the White House and they will not work on every home or business in America. Electric vehicles have been around for 80 years. They will not work outside of a city or in mountainous areas. These concepts along with alternative fuels should continue to be researched but we have to accept the fact we are a nation, like the rest of the world, dependent on oil and we may as well benefit from our own. President Bush has it within his power to lift the offshore ban his father put in place. Now is the time to lead and act like a President. Don't wait for the elections, lift the ban and watch the prices fall.
Barack Obama Back To The Future
Barack also wants to visit the Clinton era and bring it back to the future. He is ecstatic with the Supreme Courts decision to more or less give terrorist the basic rights of American citizens. Barack even believes Osama bin Laden should be treated as a common criminal and tried in an American court, at taxpayers expense of course. I can see it now, 20 Defense attorneys, a 5 year trial, years of appeals led by the ACLU, and a blood bath in the streets of America and her allies by bin Laden supporters. Bill Clinton's idea of treating terrorist attacks on the First World Trade Center attack, bombing of the U.S.S. Kohl, and the Embassy bombings as criminal offenses worked really well. Al-Qaeda really ran scared after the first bombing and the FBI and Interpol became involved in the investigations. After the six Islamic 'extremist' were convicted in 1997 and 1998 and sentenced to life in prison, we showed them they better not mess with America. We go by the law and our Constitution. You can't just come here and blow up our buildings, we'll arrest you, we'll spend thousands or millions of taxpayer dollars to prosecute imprison and afford you lawyers to appeal your prison sentences, then we'll eventually let you out for humanitarian reasons.
Yes I just can't wait for President Obama to take us Back To The Future with Jimmy and Bill as our guides.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Obama, What's Important
"I don't know where to start on a question like that," Obama said. "Let me just say a couple things. Right now what I think about most is my daughters who are 10 and 7," he said, referring to his daughters Malia and Sasha. "And not that I'm biased but they are perfect in all ways."
He continued;
"when I was your age, I thought life was all about me. And how do I make my way in the world and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want. And right now life for me revolves around those two girls. And I think about what kind of a place am I leaving them."
"They go to great schools, will be able to afford college, are in good health and will be well cared for if they ever get sick."
"Are they living in a county where there’s a huge gap between a few who are wealthy and a whole bunch of people who are struggling every day?" Obama asked. "Are they living in a county that is still divided by race?
"Are they living in a country where because they’re girls they don’t have as much opportunity as boys do?
"Are they living in a country where we are hated around the world because we don’t cooperate with other countries as effectively as we should? Are they living in a country where they are threatened by terrorism and a nuclear explosion could happen in a major American city? Are they living in a country in which because of a lack of sensible energy we are not only ransoming our future, but we’re also threatening the very livelihood of the planet?"
Like most of Obama's speeches and answers to simple questions he went on and on and on. It was only after he explained how blessed his family was and how well off his daughters are with the wealth he and Michele have been able to accumulate since leaving college, that he mentioned the state of America.
Like always he ended his answer/speech with; "So."
Unlike our fathers before us his first concern is to his two little daughters. This is admirable that he would put his kids before everything else including God and Country. Some people have some silly patriotic belief that God and Country are as important as family, how old fashioned. When Obama answered the young man, trying to appear as an older wiser father figure saying;
"when I was your age, I thought life was all about me. And how do I make my way in the world and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want.", I believe he is still living in the same time and deep down believes the same way. In order to make a better world for his daughters he must first think of "how do make I my way in the world and how do I become successful and how do I get the things that I want."Times and values have changed in Obama's world and this is the change he will bring to all of America in 2009. It will be "Its all about me generation."
Soros and Speculators Winning?
This Democratic led and controlled Congress will continue to play the Soros strategy of do nothing and blame it all on the Republicans and President Bush right up to the fall election. Maybe its time we as Americans had our own nonviolent French Revolution by making our voices heard at the ballot box. Maybe its time we voted every incumbent in the House and Senate out of office for the good of the country. We can never achieve term limits in Congress but we can unite and say if you are not doing your job as a whole you are gone as a whole. The days of buying votes by Congressmen and Senators must come to an end. Pork barrel spending to support pet projects at home is nothing but vote buying. If Americans really care about America they must get away from party affiliation and look at the person. If the two candidates running for president will not accept the fact that America must open our own wells for drilling oil, then maybe we need a new Congress that will. If they can't understand the need for regulating the commodities market, then maybe we need a new Congress that will.
Under the George W Bush Administration a ban was placed on offshore drilling. Under the Clinton Administration the ban was broadened and the market was deregulated. These actions set the stage for the perfect storm. Increased dependence on foreign oil and the opportunity for unscrupulous billionaire speculators like Soros to manipulate and control the market were the results. If everything keeps going the way it is neither Presidential candidate will be able to pull America out of the state we will experience in 2009. All of the optimistic speeches for a brighter and richer future will not change the events that will take place if action isn't taken today.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
1 Arrest 2 Tons of Marijuana Sheriff Joe
Arizona Governor vs Sheriff Joe
Congress Stop Scamming Start Drilling
For the last 50 years, countries around the world have studied ways to break their dependence on oil. The research into solar, wind and electric is nothing new. Now we have all types of scams running around the Internet and wild announcements of concept cars that can get between 50-100 mpg or (in the case of electric) up to 100 miles between recharging of the batteries. All of these concepts are 20-30years away and depend on too many variables to be trusted. If any country or company could come up with vehicles that were dependable, safe and consumer friendly that country or company would become the most powerful entity overnight.
For the past 40 years battery companies have been researching ways to be the first to patent a new battery that will make electric vehicles viable. The result has been dismal to say the least. Their failures are not due to a lack of effort, if they ever succeed they will own the market, but their failures are due to a lack of science and technology. Like the discussion on global warming the world of science and technology is divided on finding an answer to the problems we face. The simple truth is there are things in this world mankind has never been able to understand. Weather, nature and alternative energy are things that have divided the world of science for decades and I don't see anything changing in the near future. We are still divided as to whether man arrived on earth from Darwin's theory of evolution or God's hands.
Since the 60s there have been countless attempts to build vehicles that run off solar power and alternative fuels. Electric and steam powered vehicles were some of the earliest vehicles to be offered to the public. They all failed in comparison to the combustion engine. Today we are betting our future on alternative fuels like ethanol, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bio-diesel and even water. While these efforts in research and development should continue, we have reached the point where Congress must step in and admit we must open the wells and restart our own domestic drilling. The technology for drilling oil is safe and can be done far more rapidly than waiting for the world of science and technology to catch up. Since drilling began in the Gulf Coast we have not experienced a major oil leak. Even with the Katrina disaster no oil rigs suffered significant damage resulting in leaks.
Some 'Greenies' are hoping the price of gas in America will reach the $7-$8 range forcing Americans to turn in their gas guzzlers and environmentally unfriendly vehicles for more modern, environmentally safe and efficient cars. This will not solve our problem. Relying on the manufacturers mpg sticker on a vehicle is misleading. In the real world of driving, the consumer will not achieve the same gas mileage demonstrated on the sticker. The CAFE reached by the manufacturer is done under controlled standards and ideal situations. Everything from the driver, weather, traffic, vehicle maintenance, road condition and speed, to the amount of weight in the vehicle will reduce the actual miles per gallon the consumer will achieve. With electric vehicles these variables plus the terrain with drastically reduce the miles you can travel before recharging the batteries. When the price does reach the $7 a gallon mark and I see a 'Greenie' or some environmentalist sitting broke down beside the rode with his environmentally safe vehicle, please do not expect me to stop and please do not complain when the price of a loaf of bread is $6.