While at this (and because I always like to use this blank space), are (American) counties divided into any other jurisdiction units?
Oh, and in case I should justify why I ask this question, I read a piece of news from a Californian county which might be useful for a reference, and so I would like be minimally aware of what a county is or includes...
If I am correct, the us taxes people depending on income. Why don't they just tax everyone.....lets say.....16%? Wouldn't that be fairer?
Sorry if this sounds stupid. I'm 13 and I just want to understand!
What good are they? they are always fighting with each other and still get nothing done. im getting more poor and they are getting richer. to top it off they dont do sh -it.
I think...
Yes on Proposition 8 is one of the worst decisions ever.
Because
1) It violates civil rights of others. Under prop 8 gays/lesbians are treated as minorities. because they choose to marry a certian way, we deny them a right. What's next? Are we going to deny rights to those who want to marry a person of the different race? Are we going to begin to take other rights away from gays/lesbians. Passing a discriminatory law that takes a right away puts America in a dangerous position that may escalate to take other rights away.
2) The main reasoning behind Proposition 8 is that the Bible and religion support it. God looks down on gay/lesbian marriages. I believe in God myself and am a devout Christian. yet i feel that if people choose to sin, it's there right. That's what makes us true followers. That we CHOOSE to follow God, we don't abide by the Bible simply because law prohibits us from sinning. Following God should be voluntary, not forced by laws.
3) Also, why does California choose to impose the Christian belief of man/woman marriage on other people? It puts us as Christians in grave danger in the near future. If we impose our religious beliefs on other people who's to say that other religions won't begin to do this to us in the future? Say a Catholic majority developed in the House and CA. Would Catholics try to pass a proposition that prohibited divorce, imposing their religious belief on us? In an even more extreme situation say a Muslim became governor or had control of important parts of the California government.. Would a proposition be passed that forced the beliefs of the Koran on us. Bottom line.- Christians shouldn't force their religious beliefs on others or use it as justification. We are just opening a path for other beliefs to be forced on us.
4) If we are banning gay/lesbian marriage because God thinks it's wrong.. Why not ban everything that God thinks is wrong.. Say violent programs, porn, sex before marriage. Hey let's just invent propositions that ban all this. We can't pick and choose what to pick out the Bible that's wrong and right. Either all of nothing.
5) Gay/lesbian marriage isn't like murder or stealing. It's not hurting anybody. Sure, children might be exposed to same sex couples. But Hey here's the news... They will be exposed to this anyway. In high school, college, at the park, in the stores. Your children will see this. Now when your children see this they will presume the couples are just "friends" This could lead to a diluted perception of friends and confused social development. they might think that this is normal friend behavior (kissing, holding hands) If permitted to marry your children could at least know they are in a relationship and distiguish between when there is something romantic or friendship. So they will know when the go to kiss their best girl friend it would be weird because they aren't romantic. Now they wil think it's just normal friend behavior.
IMO Hillary should be the Head of the Senate. That is where I believe she will be more beneficial and effective. Reid is too soft for me. Hillary can easily take charge. The best condidate for Secretary of State is John Kerry. Agree or disagree?
Tomgram: Thomas Frank, Washington's Lords of Creation
By Tom Engelhardt
As the Bush administration heads for "closure," Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska seems to be heading for the same fate in a "redecorating" scandal; Monica Goodling of the (in)Justice Department is back in town for her hiring and firing practices; the eternally Foxy Karl Rove continues to give contempt of Congress real meaning; a federal judge ruled against the administration's typically imperial idea of "immunity"; and rumors are flying about coming "preemptive," blanket presidential pardons for those who organized the administration's torture regime and committed other crimes. All the while, holding up the glorious banner of the Great Tradition, the John McCain campaign continues to be a chop shop for K Street Lobbyists. And that's just a two-second glance at the Washington scene as August begins. As always, give them all high marks for consistency! Après Bush, of course, le déluge.
Thomas Frank, a Kansas boy who once followed conservatism deep into his home state and now writes op-eds that probably drive the readers of the Wall Street Journal crazy, has had a front seat at the Washington spectacle these last years as the Bush administration applied its "enhanced interrogation techniques" to the Federal government. In his latest must-read book, The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, Frank offers nothing short of a how-to history of the conservative era -- specifically how to destroy a government, leave Americans in the lurch, and enrich yourselves all at the same time. It wasn't just, as he argues, that this administration left "smoking guns" littered around the landscape, but that it itself was the smoking gun. If you want to know just what we face as a nation in terms of rebuilding America, his book is a good place to start. Tom
8/4/2008 Read more>>>
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Is it suspicious the day after a big news conference bashing Almighty banks, and standing up for workers that he is arrested, with the handy tapes for the past month? Does it sound like entrapment? Is seems weird to me, that they captured exactly what they needed by chance with the FBI? I have always heard IL is corrupt , is this a way of taking the heat off the real crooks? Is there a lot of secrecy going on? Is this another an effort to blame wrong doing by association on President elect?"
