Vanity, thy name is ... Mail?

Well, apparently we all can now get our own personal Zip-code, or "Vanity" zip-code.

It seems that Sakes Fifth Avenue, the trendy New York department store, has been given the dubious honor of being the first business to receive its own vanity (or "prestige") Zip code. They are being assigned the Zip-code 10022-SHOE to commorate a new women's footwear salon opening this summer in the store.

Now, as we all know, no good deed goes unpunished, and ...., well ...uh ...

Bottom line is that the USPS is just finding new ways to gouge us for MORE MONEY. I guess that hiking the price of the first-class stamp to 41¢ earlier in the month isn't going to give them enough dough. As if their regular price hikes aren't enough maybe this will finally enable them to pay their workers enough now to keep them from going Postal.

Sov

Will the U.S.A. crumble ...

Will the United States crumble under this new immigrant bill that basically gives amnesty to roughly 12 million (felons) illegal aliens - and pays them for the privelage?

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Let's review the details of this proposed legislation:
The proposed immigration legislation would:

• Grant immediate, but probationary, legal status to the estimated 11 million to 12 million who came to the United States illegally before Jan. 1. It also would grant them the ability to work and travel if they passed background checks.
• Let undocumented immigrants and their families get new "Z" visas good for four years, but renewable indefinitely, by paying a $5,000 fee per head of household. After eight years, holders of Z visas could apply for permanent legal residence (a green card) by returning to their home countries and paying $4,000.
• Allow 400,000 to 600,000 foreigners to come every year to work. They could stay for two years on new "Y-1" visas, return home for one year and then renew the visas twice, for a total of six years in the U.S.
• Require that the Department of Homeland Security meet new border security and immigration enforcement conditions before the Z and Y visas take effect. Conditions include expanding Border Patrol to 18,000 agents; constructing 200 miles of vehicle barriers and 370 miles of fencing; deploying four unmanned aerial vehicles and 70 ground-based radar and camera systems.
• Require employers to use a new electronic system within 18 months to verify that new hires are eligible to work.
• Replace the current green-card system with a new point system, with applicants getting credit for English proficiency, job skills, education and family ties. Spouses and children of U.S. citizens could still qualify for an unlimited number of green cards. Parents of U.S. citizens could get up to 40,000 green cards per year. Spouses and children of permanent legal residents could get up to 87,000 green cards per year. About 380,000 green cards would eventually be issued via point system.
• Set the total number of green cards issued per year at about 1 million, same as now.
• Allow agricultural workers to get new Y-2A visas good for 10-month stays every year.
• Permit undocumented immigrants under 30 who came as children to be eligible for green cards within three years.

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This is almost like giving a crook part ownership in the store that he just robbed, and giving him a case of beer on his way out!

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Check out the New York Times article:
•► Senators in Bipartisan Deal on Immigration Bill

... or the Chicago Tribune article:
•► 'A path out of the shadows'

Personally, I think this needs to be scrapped and more thought put into the next idea. This one was jumpped into WAY to quick!

Sov

Racist ... ?

I'm Proud To Be White

Someone finally said it.

How many are actually paying attention to this?

• There are African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans,
  Arab Americans, Native Americans, etc.
  
• And then there are just Americans.
  
• You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction.
  You Call me "White boy," "Cracker," "Honkey," "Whitey," "Caveman"
  and that's OK.
  
• But when I say, Nigger, Kike, Towel head, Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey,
  Beaner, Gook, or Chink ...
  you call me a racist.
  
• You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you,
  so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live?
  
• You have the United Negro College Fund. You have Martin Luther King Day.
  You have Black History Month. You have Cesar Chavez Day.
  You have Yom Hashoah. You have Ma'uled Al-Nabi. You have the NAACP.
  
  And you have BET.
  
  If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) ... we'd be racists.
  If we had a White Pride Day ... you would call us racists.
  If we had White History Month ... we'd be racists.
  If we had any organization for only whites to "advance" OUR lives ... we'd be racists.
  
• We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain Chamber of Commerce.
  Wonder who pays for that?
  
  
• If we had a college fund that only gave white students scholarships ... you know we'd be racists.
  
  There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US,
  yet if there were "White colleges" ... THAT would be a racist college.
  
• In the Million Man March, you believed that you were marching for your race and rights.
  If we marched for our race and rights, you would call us racists.
  
• You are proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange, and you're not afraid to announce it.
  But when we announce our white pride ... you call us racists.
  
• If you rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us it is a crime to be investigated.
  But, when a white man attacks a colored man, it's a race related hate crime.
  
  And when a white police officer shoots a black/hispanic gang member or beats up a black/hispanic drug-dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society you call him a racist.

I am a proud white man and I am not a racist.
But, you call me a racist.

Why is it that only whites can be racists?

Oh yeah the good ol days ...

Born between 1930 & 1979?


TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

• First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
  
• Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
  
• We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
  
• As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
  Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
  
• We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
  
• We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
  
• We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
  
• We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
  
• We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
  
• We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
  
• We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
  
• We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
  
• We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
  
• Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
  
• The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS!

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

HISTORY TEST ...

Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple-choice test. The events are actual events from history. They actually happened!

Do you remember?

1. In 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter
d. A Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40

2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by:
a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

3. In 1979, the US embassy in Iran was taken over by:
a. Lost Norwegians
b. Elvis
c. A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

4. During the 1980's a number of Americans were kidnapped in Lebanon by:
a. John Dillinger
b. The King of Sweden
c. The Boy Scouts
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

5. In 1983, the US Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
a. A pizza delivery boy
b. Pee Wee Herman
c. Geraldo Rivera
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

6. In 1985 the cruise ship Achille Lauro was hijacked and a 70 year old American passenger was murdered and thrown overboard in his wheelchair by:
a. The Smurfs
b. Davy Jones
c. The Little Mermaid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

7. In 1985 TWA flight 847 was hijacked at Athens, and a US Navy diver trying to
rescue passengers was murdered by:
a. Captain Kidd
b. Charles Lindberg
c. Mother Teresa
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

8. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
a. Scooby Doo
b. The Tooth Fairy
c. Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

9. In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by:
a. Richard Simmons
b. Grandma Moses
c. Michael Jordan
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

10. In 1998, the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
a. Mr. Rogers
b. Hillary Clinton, to distract attention from Wild Bill's women problems
c. The World Wrestling Federation
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

11. On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked; two were used as missiles to take out the World Trade Centers and of the remaining two, one crashed into the US Pentagon and the other was diverted and crashed by the passengers. Thousands of people were killed by:
a. Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd
b. The Supreme Court of Florida
c. Mr. Bean
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

12. In 2002 the United States fought a war in Afghanistan against:
a. Enron
b. The Lutheran Church
c. The NFL
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

13. In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by:
a. Bonnie and Clyde
b. Captain Kangaroo
c. Billy Graham
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40

Nope, I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?

So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics' intent on killing us, airport security screeners are not allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President’s security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone.

My Presidential Platform ...

1. Give the illegal aliens 90 days to get their affairs in order and go back to their own country. These 90 days can be used to sell off their car, house, furniture, etc.; say goodbye's to friends; etc. On day 91, INS swoops in and arrests any stragglers; 90 days in jail doing public service work on chain-gangs and then a one-way ticket ride back to whence they came. Second time caught will be a federal offense and get a year in federal prison. These INS sweeps will go down regularly - roughly every 4 - 6 months.

2. Do away with lethal injections for executions. This is not a deterrant. Bring back public executions. Infact, put public hangings on Pay-Per-View and use the proceeds to offset the National deficit and get the homeless off the street.
3. NO MORE fighting someone elses civil war. Let's take care of our OWN PEOPLE on our OWN SOIL! If someone really wants our help, they can ask, and if we have the time, we'll help them where we can.

3(a). Let's feed the hungry and house the homeless in our own country FIRST. I'm sure that there are quite a few brilliant minds out there living on the street with rumbling stomachs. I'm not talking about FREE handouts for some lazy individuals - they will be working for their meals by learning a trade and putting it to use. Over time, they will be on their own feet and off the Welfare doles.

4. Reverse the 'Reduction In Force' for the military. As it stands right now, if we got into any major conflict (oh, wait a minute, we are) we won't have enough troops to cover our own back-side (sorta like now).

4(a). The Commander In Chief, being the top of the military chain of command, will be required to have served HONORABLY in the armed service. This could include the National Guard and Coast Guard, however certain restrictions would need to be ironed out for this.

5. Non-destructive Stem-Cell research funding - Yes

6. Ban the distinction between marriage and civil unions. Make marriage lawful for ALL U.S. citizens - gay, straight or diagonal.

7. This Affirmative Action thing needs to be scrapped. It's no longer what it was origionally intended for. Now it does more harm than good.

8. The Electoral College MUST be dumpped! Your vote really doesn't count with the EC in place.

Paris Hilton ...

Apparently Paris Hilton has been calling up celebrities from all-over trying to get someone, anyone, to help her out and she's finding Zero Sympathy from her fellow celebs. She's getting desperate now that actual jail time is looming over her head. Even California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is too busy to deal with her petty bullshit!

Maybe this is the wakeup call Paris needs. She's a spoiled little brat that has absolutely no talent whatsoever. As a role-model, she appeals to our young children providing adolescent boys with perverted dreams of fast-food double cheeseburgers & fast cars and the young girls are growing up to be anorexic wanna-be's, critical of every gram of fat on their body over the critical 1% body fat.

If someone can sue McDonalds for burning themselves on a cup of freshly brewed hot coffee, can we sue Paris Hilton for being our anorexic daughters role model? Check out some of these Pro-Ana (anorexia) sites. WARNING: Don't do this right after eating - you'll gag!

• Pursuit of Perfection Pro Ana Articles, Eating Disorder Articles and Books
• Pro ana in the web
• WebMD article on pro-ana web sites
• Anna's Place
• Pro-Anna Nation
• No Thinspiration

These are but a few sites out there.

Ok ...
Here's what's happening.
I'm in the Navy - been in for well over 19 years and with terminal leave, I'm about six months away from separating and going on my merry way with retirement in my hip-pocket.
That's all well and fine except that they're trying to administratively separate (ADSEP) me before my 20 years are up.
And that's FUCKED UP!
Any way, they want to get rid of me cuz I'm a bit overweight and they say that I'm not showing any progress.
I've got two herniated disks in my lower back and degenerating lumbar vertibrae as well as some bad arthritis in a bunch of places - mostly my knees, back and hands. I've been getting waivers for this so that I don't have to do any exercises that produce impact, etc.
Well, thay say that I've been blowing off the system and now they are trying to kick me out with just a few months before I can retire.

I've got a meeting with Legal on Thursday, so I'll wait & see what that holds. In the meantime, I'll just hope & pray & do whatever I need to do to get this going through.