Robert Novak's articles should not be published .

Robert Novak knew that it was against the law to reveal a CIA operative. Now Mr. Novak is facing charges of contempt for not revealing his source. It is evident that Mr. Novak should be charged not only for contempt for not revealing his source but also for revealing the name of the CIA operative which is a criminal offense. Participating in revealing a CIA operative by a reporter is poor judgment , unpatriotic , and damaging to the country. Just because he is a reporter does not exempt him from the law. Any publisher with a sense of ethics should not publish any article written by Mr. Novak because when does the paper know he will not perform a similar action that may make a paper liable ethically, morally and criminally responsible.

Revealing a CIA operative by the Bush administration could and should lead to grounds for impeachment and criminal prosecution.

Thanksgiving and reflection

I was eating at Fazolis in Terre Haute In. A man came in the store came off the street and asked for a meal. The manager refused. I went on like every one else like it was not any of my business. As I left, I saw him sitting on a bench. How I had wished that I had paid for his meal. What would it have hurt? Now I am left with the haunting impression of that man sitting on a bench looking at me with a hungry stare. How I wished that I had done the right thing and fed this man at least one meal. Every Thanksgiving as I sit in front of a table of plenty this man’s blank hungry stare haunts me. It also reminds me as to how thankful we should be for our friends and family and our table loaded with plenty of meats, vegetables, and deserts.

Last week an individual told me how his son and some of his friends had gathered together and made a number of sandwiches out of peanut butter and jelly. This group of good Samaritans then went to the ghetto district and passed these sandwiches out. He said that the people on the receiving end were very grateful and appreciative.

Indeed we are tied up in our own little world of the more fortunate and educated where we have or can make a living. We do not know what it is like not being in a world of the uneducated or unprivileged. We do not know what it is like not being able to find a job or what it is like not being able to feed our family or ourselves. We do not know what it is like to be addicted to drugs or be blackballed because we have a prison record.

A few years ago I had the privilege of teaching GED to prisoner inmates at Spencer In. You picture prison inmates as being mean unruly, vulgar and even pathetic. However I found them to be none of the above. In the one six month period we had eight prisoners tested and passed the GED tests. Perhaps this helped them to obtain jobs when they got out of jail. I found these jailed students to be nice and appreciative more so than some ordinary high school students. Because they had their knocks in life, they were more willing and receptive to do what was necessary to get out of this rut in life. I looked around me in this prison environment. As I remember the windows were about six inches by about a foot. I remember their outside recreation area as being an area about the size of a room with a basketball goal. The overhead of this room was grated with prison bars. There was no way that you could see the outside without looking through prison bars. Even the small time I was in this environment, I got the pent up feeling and wondered what it would be to be in this pent up environment day after day. The jail was always loaded beyond capacity. There was no way someone could go outside or even run around a small area in the open sunshine ever.

In a GED/prison seminar I once voiced my opinion to a Judge. I told him of having a German Police dog that was given to me. This dog had been attached to a pole on a log chain. Children had gone by and threw things at it and of course the dog responded by threatening and vicious lunges. After the dog was given to me, I was out in the country and gradually let the dog loose out in the country. The dog mellowed. The vicious characteristics disappeared. I told the Judge that prisoners being pent up like they are help develop such vicious tendencies. The Judge agreed with me.

Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for which includes or friends, family, church, and that we were not raised in such an environment like some of these prisoners that helped lead them to a life of crime.

What is fact or fiction about Mad Cow?

What is fact or fiction about the mad cow disease? Listed below are several claims listed on different web sights.

The disease originated in New Guinea when the natives practiced cannibalism.

Heat does not kill mad cow. You can catch the mad cow disease even though the meat was subjected to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

The incubation period lasts up to 80 years so how do you know when the disease is eradicated?
If we eat a cow infected with this disease before the disease has developed can we get it?

You can get mad cow by eating brains, blood, and even drinking milk.

Deer wasting disease and mad cow are the same. According to an article in Outdoor Life magazine conservation authorities trying to make deer larger and stronger by giving the deer protein supplements made from dead animal carcasses started life the deer wasting disease. How it is passed from deer to deer is not fully known.

Our government wants to error on the side of money and not protect the public. They test less than 1% of the cattle population, we have detected one or perhaps two cases of mad cow where as Japan has detected 14 cases. Our officials claimed that the last cow did not have mad cow. Then what did it have? The test we use and what Japan uses are not the same therefore method of testing is in question. Is the US using the correct test?

The number cases in England are escalating. Is this because of the mad cow incubation period?

Ok! The US has stopped feeding protein supplements from dead animals to cattle but one web sight says that they are feeding these supplements to chickens, and turkeys, and even hogs. Is it possible to get this disease through other meats? Some of these animals are usually slaughtered before they are a year old long before the gestation period. Is not feeding these protein supplements waiting for a disaster to happen?

Are government test officials a bunch of cronies protecting the meat industry and not the consumer? Likely! Time will tell whether or not the above statements are true. Perhaps the last question is are you going to play Russian roulette to get mad cow, which is always fatal, by continuing to eat meat and especially beef products?

Robert Novak's articles should not be published .

Robert Novak knew that it was against the law to reveal a CIA operative. Now Mr. Novak is facing charges of court contempt for not revealing his source. It is evident that Mr. Novak should be charged not only for contempt for not revealing his source but also for revealing the name of the CIA operative which is a criminal offense. Participating in revealing a CIA operative by a reporter is poor judgment , unpatriotic , and damaging to the country. Just because he is a reporter does not exempt him from the law. Any publisher with a sense of ethics should not publish any article written by Mr. Novak because when does the paper know he will not perform a similar action that may make a paper liable ethically, morally and criminally responsible.

Revealing a CIA operative by the Bush administration could and should lead to grounds for impeachment and criminal prosecution.

Who is Gonzales ?

Mr. Gonzales is Bush’s appointment for the new Attorney General, replacing Ashcroft. Gonzales when compared to Ashcroft is not as much of a religious radical, but not much of an improvement in the wisdom category. Gonzales is the type of appointment you would expect the Bush administration.

Mr. Gonzales-

1) Did the legal work that led to the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib.

2) Claimed the war on terrorism renders obsolete portions of the Geneva Conventions.

3) Favors changing the 1978 Presidential Records Act to severely restrict access to presidential documents.

4) Is a strong backer of the Patriot Act.

5) Appears to be dismissive of international law.

6) Has argued that international treaties signed by the United States did not bind the state of Texas.

Among the groups who voiced opposition to him are-The Center for Constitutional Rights, People for the American Way, and Human Rights First.

Even some conservatives are skeptical of his views on abortion and affirmative action.

Isn’t Bush Jr. surrounding himself with great and smart people or what?

Who is Gonzales ?

Mr. Gonzales is Bush’s appointment for the new Attorney General, replacing Ashcroft. Gonzales when compared to Ashcroft is not as much of a religious radical, but not much of an improvement in the wisdom category. Gonzales is the type of appointment you would expect the Bush administration.

Mr. Gonzales-

1) Did the legal work that led to the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib.

2) Claimed the war on terrorism renders obsolete portions of the Geneva Conventions.

3) Favors changing the 1978 Presidential Records Act to severely restrict access to presidential documents.

4) Is a strong backer of the Patriot Act.

5) Appears to be dismissive of international law.

6) Has argued that international treaties signed by the United States did not bind the state of Texas.

Among the groups who voiced opposition to him are-The Center for Constitutional Rights, People for the American Way, and Human Rights First.

Even some conservatives are skeptical of his views on abortion and affirmative action.

Isn’t Bush Jr. surrounding himself with great and smart people or what?

Prediction for four more years of George Bush

Prediction outcome is for four more years of the same.

I accurately predicted that Iraq did not have and weapons of mass destruction and had nothing to do with al-Quada. Now I predict what another four years of Bush $ Co. will bring to this country. I pray that I am wrong. Listed below are my predictions for the next four years with the same Bush policies.

1. Terrorism. The war on actual terrorists will continue. More terrorists will be killed and yet more will be recruited as has been done in the past because some are misled to believe it is a religious war. Cities like New York are on a timetable to destruction by nuclear weapons unless we start combating their ideology instead of merely killing people.

2. Corporate giveaways. There will be more corporate giveaways to the rich that does not spur the economy. The reason this money will be used to generate more jobs in foreign countries.

3. Drug prices. Bless his heart; George has a mandate to raise drug prices. He will not allow cheaper drugs to be imported from Canada and will not allow block buying that forces drug prices down. He will permit drug companies to extend their patents on drugs therefore driving up prices and avoiding competitive generic drugs. Drug company will continue to buy extensive vacations for doctors and other perks. They will also invest in champains and pay for extravagant parties for our congressmen. You would not want them to make laws that would make drug prices cheaper for you, would you?

4. Lies. II expect more lies like in the past. Right wing news organizations will cover up these lies. Evidently the president lying and proclaiming himself as a Christian is the signature of a Christian and American. Remember Christians voted him in. Lying disgusts me whether or not it is from Clinton or Bush. I am tired of it! Congress should make it a felony to for a public official to delibertly lie to the public. The only problem is that they will have to make it law for themselves and that will be the day.

5. Opinion. Because of the lies that got us into the war with Iraq, do not expect Europeans to help with Iraq and do not expect their opinions to change about us being arrogant, phony, or ignorant.


7. Iraq. I expect the confusion between terrorism, countrymen, insurgents, and religious fanatics to continue. Remember terrorists are the ones who attacked the World Trade Center. Countrymen are like the Bath party from former Saddam regime. Insurgents are people from other country volunteering to protect a Muslim country from the occupiers (our forces) and the religious fanatics like those from Iran that also believe we are the infidels.

8. Education. Education for this country is not likely to improve because the way we improve education is to build better buildings and that does nothing to improve education. Education is something that the entire community has to improve. I believe this could happen; however I do not see this happening soon.

9. Exporting jobs. I expect jobs to be exported big time. Remember 1/2 of the people voted for George therefore he believes he has a mandate to make jobs obsolete in this country and reduce our exports.

10. Supreme court. Nominees on the Supreme Court will be ultra right. Abortion will be abolished and there will be little or no stem cell research. Women will have to abort the babies themselves or go to illegal butcher doctors for an abortion. And if there is a disagreement about an election it will be processed by the right wing cronies on the Supreme Court. Wisdom on the supreme court will be completely out the window. Won't this country be great or what?

10. Controled press. Bush will do what he can do to control press and virtually eliminate any protest marches. Remember that is democracy (or is it Nazism) because we were attacked and any one who objects are not patriotic. Sound familiar?

Now since I have cited my predications, lets see how many of them will come true. I will make an effort to remind you when they become true or admit I am wrong. I will also make other predications or remove them as appropriate.

Stay tuned!

What did the Democrats do wrong? They did not prove to the public that this regime in not creditable.

What did the Democrats do wrong to loose this election? Unfortunately more than half of the population believes Bush is truthful. Likely, because they listen to the Fox network which only showed them the parts that made Bush look good. Throughout the campaign I saw both Bush and Cheney spout flip-flopping with lies. When they were pressured to tell the truth they would. However when on a Champaign trail they would go back telling lies. I am going make an effort to obtain copies of these flip flop lies for those who do not believe that this group lies, lies and lies. Multiple lies are what got us into Iraq in the first place. Were these lies intentional? Likely! Did they intentionally lie to congress? Likely! Can it be proved that these lies were intentional? Not likely but perhaps in time.