Addictive Drugs and the Damage they Do !

Drug Addiction, it`s a Disease...4/30/09

By : Don Jones

If you have not dealt with drug addiction in your immediate family, consider yourself very fortunate. Drugs not only destroy the person taking them, they destroy entire family`s ! It is a terrible hideous disease. Our law enforcement officials are doing what they can do, which is not very much. They enforce the law. However this does not cure the disease or the problems that go along with drug addiction ! Putting a drug addict in jail is merely a temporary stopping point. I believe it is a waste of time and money. Drug cost is astronomical, I`m not just talking the cost of the drug itself, but the hidden cost it is to family`s and government agency's and society itself. I`ve heard people say, put them in jail and throw away the key. These people have never dealt with drug addiction and know not what they say. Our court system is almost totally in adequate. They cannot and have not dealt with drug addicts in a positive manner in the past or in the now ! There are seven (7) day withdrawal clinics, where a patient/addict can go and be treated for seven (7)days...My advice, is save your money. They do not work ! Then there are 30 day clinics, they work at times ! But, it is expensive ! Then there are the exclusive clinics that last six (6) months to a year. they seem to work better, but, hold on most of us cannot pay the cost of these clinics, Only the very wealthy. I believe we are already spending millions of dollars on this problem. We need to begin attacking this devastating problem from another prospective, It is a fact that, what we are now doing is not working and has not for a longtime. So a new beginning is needed, the new beginning is to treat drug addiction as a disease ! Some people will say that it is a self-inflicted addiction, I have no argument against that. However, the way we are approaching drug addiction today is not working. We may as well pour our money down a drain. So a new beginning is needed. I do not have all the answers, I just know that what we are doing in today's drug fight, is futile and cost huge amounts of money. If we are going to spend this money, and we are ! Why not spend it in a productive manner ? I have run across another approach to this problem, it is a new approach, my first reaction was not good. Then, I began to think about it, and said this a new and untried approach to dug addiction. Maybe, we should look at it more closely ? The one draw back is that it cost at the present time $12,000.00 for forty (40)days.
If I have a point, it is that we are going to spend this money on addiction one way or another. Why not try some innovative ways ? As I said earlier, what we are doing is not working ! I have said that drug addiction is the blight of the world, I hate drugs ! Drugs rob us of those people we seem to love most. If you will click on the title of this blog, it will carry you to Spirit Lake, surf the site, call for information, I did ! They will be glad to answer all your questions, if they have the answer, and if they do not have the answer, they will tell you that also. Here is the web-site again...

http://www.spiritlakerecovery.com/about/staff.php

CEO`S Out of Control !

Put Wall Street on a leash

Outrageous executive pay is a symptom of a disease that has infected our entire economic system. For too long, Wall Street firms, banks, credit card companies, insurers and mortgage companies were allowed to have their way, with little or no government oversight. Take action today and let Congress know it's time for Wall Street to stop lying, stop stealing, and start playing by the rules.

In 2008, CEOs and other executives responsible for our current financial crisis pocketed millions of dollars from bonuses and golden parachutes, while our government spent billions of our dollars bailing out their companies.
Vikram S. Pandit, CEO of Citigroup Inc., received more than $38 million in total compensation in 2008, the same year his company took $50 billion in U.S. taxpayer money. To shed light on executive pay, the AFL-CIO released Executive PayWatch 2009 earlier today. In this report, we learn that CEO perks alone grew in 2008 to an average of $336,248—or nine times the median salary of a full-time worker.This comprehensive report includes much more information, including:
Detailed CEO compensation data for some of the country's largest companies.
Tools that allow you to compare your pay to the CEOs.
Close-up case studies focusing on 10 executive compensation practices that define a broken system that leaves the American taxpayer holding the bag.
The anatomy of a double standard: Executives enjoy job and retirement security while fighting the Employee Free Choice Act, which would allow workers to form unions and bargain for basic security.
Action for you to take to put balance back into our economy.
Boot the CEO, a satisfying online game.
Outrageous executive pay is a symptom of a disease that has infected our entire economic system. It is a disease of greed and corruption made worse by the Bush administration’s obsession with further deregulating Wall Street and ideological aversion to oversight and accountability in our financial system. Check out Executive PayWatch 2009 today and pass it around to your family and friends. It’s time to shed light on outrageous executive compensation, particularly while America’s working families are bearing the brunt of the worst economic crisis in our country since the Great Depression.
P.S. Mad about overpaid CEOs ? So am I, The most important thing to do right now to curb executive pay is to fix our broken financial system by regulating our financial markets. Tell lawmakers to pass legislation demanding that Wall Street stops lying about the risky investments and stealing by covering up fraud, and ensuring the pensions of working families are protected. Wall Street must play by the rules.

Organ Fund Donations Surpass Record...Weakley County Tennessee

Organ Fund Donations Surpass Record...

A Special Thanks to Pat Scarbrough & Her Marvelous Staff...
Thursday, April 23, 2009

When renewing vehicle tags, state residents have the option of contributing $1 toward organ donor awareness services throughout the state. Weakley County residents have proven they are no exception to donating toward such a worthy cause.In a recent press release, Weakley County Clerk Pat Scarbrough announced that just this year, state clerk’s offices have collected a quarter of a million dollars.“Tennesseans have given generously when renewing vehicle tags and helped educate more people than ever on the importance of organ donation and ‘Saying Yes’ when applying for or renewing your driver’s license,” Scarbrough cited in the release.The effort is a part of the County Clerks Organ Donation Awareness Foundation incepted in 1996. County clerks throughout Tennessee collect the money each year and donate it to the foundation for research and development of organ transplants.“We are proud of the role the citizens of Weakley County played in funding the efforts of Donate Life Tennessee Registry. This registry will increase the number of registered donors and save lives. We are making it easier for all Tennesseans to join their one million fellow citizens who have already decided to give the gift of life,” Scarbrough added.“The Tennessee County Clerks Organ Donation Awareness Foundation (TCCODAF) provided the funds for the development, implementation and public launch of the ‘Donate Life Tennessee’ Registry. The Foundation collects money to support statewide donation education through its program that gives Tennesseans the opportunity to ‘Donate a Dollar’ for organ and tissue donation when they visit a county clerk office. Over two million dollars has been raised since the inception in 1996. We will continue to expand our efforts across Tennessee,” Tom Redmond, executive director of TCCODAF, cited in the release.“This is great news for the more than 2,164 Tennesseans currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and the thousands more who need tissue transplants to enhance their quality of life,” Scarbrough noted.“Today marks a significant historical milestone for the field or organ and tissue donation and transplantation education in Tennessee, thanks to the generosity of Tennesseans,” Lisa Clark, senior public relations for Donate Life Tennessee, said.“On behalf of Donate Life Tennessee and the thousands of Tennesseans waiting for life-saving transplants that will have renewed spirits. We celebrate the success and thank the Weakley County Clerk and staff. More importantly, action has been taken that will save lives, restore sight, heal burns and enhance the lives of thousands of Tennesseans,” Clark added.“Tragically, one-third of the more than 99,000 Americans currently waiting for life-saving organ transplants could die due to the critical shortage of donors, but Tennesseans can make a positive impact on that statistic. Anyone who checks YES to become a donor when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or I.D. card will be registered in the official Donate Life Tennessee registry. A small red heart is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the driver’s license photo to show that person is registered. A donor has the potential to save eight lives as an organ donor and improve up to 50 others as a tissue donor,” Clark noted.Tennesseans can register to be a donor with Donate Life Tennessee at or at any TDOS Driver License Center. For those who have previously registered as a donor through TDOS, Donate Life Tennessee will help them fulfill their desire to donate by adding them to the Tennessee Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. State law requires that every time an applicant renews a driver license, he or she must mark YES on the application to be a registered donor. Donate Life Tennessee is a non-profit, state-authorized organ and tissue donor registry, administered by the state’s two organ procurement organizations (OPO), responsible for facilitating the donation process in Tennessee: Tennessee Donor Services and Mid-South Transplant Foundation. The Donate Life Registry assures that all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized OPO personnel. When renewing vehicle tags, state residents have the option of contributing $1 toward organ donor awareness services throughout the state. Weakley County residents have proven they are no exception to donating toward such a worthy cause.In a recent press release, Weakley County Clerk Pat Scarbrough announced that just this year, state clerk’s offices have collected a quarter of a million dollars.“Tennesseans have given generously when renewing vehicle tags and helped educate more people than ever on the importance of organ donation and ‘Saying Yes’ when applying for or renewing your driver’s license,” Scarbrough cited in the release.The effort is a part of the County Clerks Organ Donation Awareness Foundation incepted in 1996. County clerks throughout Tennessee collect the money each year and donate it to the foundation for research and development of organ transplants.“We are proud of the role the citizens of Weakley County played in funding the efforts of Donate Life Tennessee Registry. This registry will increase the number of registered donors and save lives. We are making it easier for all Tennesseans to join their one million fellow citizens who have already decided to give the gift of life,” Scarbrough added.“The Tennessee County Clerks Organ Donation Awareness Foundation (TCCODAF) provided the funds for the development, implementation and public launch of the ‘Donate Life Tennessee’ Registry. The Foundation collects money to support statewide donation education through its program that gives Tennesseans the opportunity to ‘Donate a Dollar’ for organ and tissue donation when they visit a county clerk office. Over two million dollars has been raised since the inception in 1996. We will continue to expand our efforts across Tennessee,” Tom Redmond, executive director of TCCODAF, cited in the release.“This is great news for the more than 2,164 Tennesseans currently waiting for a life-saving organ transplant and the thousands more who need tissue transplants to enhance their quality of life,” Scarbrough noted.“Today marks a significant historical milestone for the field or organ and tissue donation and transplantation education in Tennessee, thanks to the generosity of Tennesseans,” Lisa Clark, senior public relations for Donate Life Tennessee, said.“On behalf of Donate Life Tennessee and the thousands of Tennesseans waiting for life-saving transplants that will have renewed spirits. We celebrate the success and thank the Weakley County Clerk and staff. More importantly, action has been taken that will save lives, restore sight, heal burns and enhance the lives of thousands of Tennesseans,” Clark added.“Tragically, one-third of the more than 99,000 Americans currently waiting for life-saving organ transplants could die due to the critical shortage of donors, but Tennesseans can make a positive impact on that statistic. Anyone who checks YES to become a donor when applying for or renewing a driver’s license or I.D. card will be registered in the official Donate Life Tennessee registry. A small red heart is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the driver’s license photo to show that person is registered. A donor has the potential to save eight lives as an organ donor and improve up to 50 others as a tissue donor,” Clark noted.Tennesseans can register to be a donor with Donate Life Tennessee at or at any TDOS Driver License Center. For those who have previously registered as a donor through TDOS, Donate Life Tennessee will help them fulfill their desire to donate by adding them to the Tennessee Organ and Tissue Donor Registry. State law requires that every time an applicant renews a driver license, he or she must mark YES on the application to be a registered donor.Donate Life Tennessee is a non-profit, state-authorized organ and tissue donor registry, administered by the state’s two organ procurement organizations (OPO), responsible for facilitating the donation process in Tennessee: Tennessee Donor Services and Mid-South Transplant Foundation. The Donate Life Registry assures that all personal information is kept confidential and stored in a secure database, accessible only to authorized OPO personnel.

Editorial : "The Gift of Life" What a Wonderful Thing to Do"! Believe me, I know !

Thanks to all of the Tennessee County Clerks !

China ~ Energy Again !

If the jobs of the future are in wind and solar, where will those jobs be located? Unless we act quickly, this picture shows the answer:

By the end of the year, China will be the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines.1 The U.S. government's investment in wind is tiny compared to China's, and that means American workers are missing out on millions of new jobs.
All that could change: In two weeks, there's a vote on President Obama's plan for a new energy economy. But key Democrats are wavering in the face of a flurry of Big Oil ads claiming America can't afford clean energy. If we don't pass this bill, we'll lose our chance to create millions of good, green jobs for laid-off workers. We'll lose our chance to give our kids a vibrant economy. And we'll lose our chance to pay down our national debt. U.S. investment in wind power lags far behind, but when it comes to solar power, the story is even more infuriating: In the 1990s, the U.S. actually led the world in solar cell manufacturing. But in the Bush-Cheney years, China, Japan, and Europe all zoomed ahead of us in solar production.
We can catch up, but only if we start quickly. Obama's plan would aggressively scale up American wind and solar production—creating millions of new jobs and tackling climate change in one fell swoop. But the latest ads from dirty-energy companies are scaring away key Democrats in Congress. We've got to ramp up our grassroots campaign, starting with a new national TV ad to frame clean energy as one of the best ways to create good, new jobs.

Health Care is Mandatory ! Don`t Miss This...

Healthcare provisions would not derail budget legislation
By Walter Alarkon <>Posted: 04/21/09

Democrats appear to have the votes for a budget measure that would allow reform of the nation’s healthcare system with just 51 Senate votes.Centrist Democrats said they could support the special reconciliation budget process to push ahead healthcare reform, even though many of them voted to ban the use of reconciliation rules for climate change regulations earlier this month. “The fastest route to healthcare reform, the better,” said Sen. Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.). “If that means supporting healthcare through reconciliation, I would.”Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said that reconciliation rules, which would allow Democrats to bypass a Republican filibuster, should be used for healthcare if Republicans resort to obstructionist tactics.Casey, Tester and 24 other Senate Democrats joined all 41 Republicans in voting for a budget amendment prohibiting reconciliation rules for climate change measures. But the Democrats have drawn distinctions over the use of the special process for climate change and for healthcare.Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) noted that the reconciliation option was instituted specifically for programs that deal with federal revenues. Because some healthcare reforms could directly affect funding streams for government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, she hasn’t ruled out backing the special process for healthcare like she has for climate change.“Some of the provisions in climate [bills] may not specifically be tied to raising revenue or lowering revenue,” she said.President Obama’s budget plan does assume $646 billion of federal savings on a climate change bill becoming law.Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), who said she’s undecided about the use of the reconciliation instructions, noted that climate change regulations could hurt some areas, especially those that produce energy, more than others.“Different parts of the country aren’t treated differently” under healthcare reforms, she said.Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), who sponsored the amendment barring reconciliation rules for climate change, said that his Democratic colleagues shouldn’t see a difference between the use of the special process for healthcare and for climate change.“The principles [for using reconciliation] are essentially the same,” he said. “Healthcare is every bit as complicated as climate change.”Johanns said that any healthcare bill should be thoughtfully debated and subject to amendments, just like most legislation.But Senate Democratic leaders signaled Tuesday that they’re ready to move ahead with the reconciliation instructions, which direct committees to produce legislation by a certain deadline.Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters Tuesday that he’d like to see reconciliation rules used for healthcare. Reconciliation instructions were included for healthcare and education reform in the House-approved budget resolution but not in the Senate’s version. The two chambers will have to hash out differences in a conference over the next few weeks.“I’d like to see them choose reconciliation,” Durbin said. “I think the House was right to include that recommendation.”Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking Senate Democrat, suggested that reconciliation rules may be needed because he hasn’t seen much GOP willingness to cooperate with Democrats. Schumer noted that two of 10 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) to become Health and Human Services secretary. The nomination, cleared by the Finance panel on Tuesday, will soon move to the floor.“It’s an ominous signal of the level of cooperation we can expect from the Republicans on healthcare,” Schumer said in a statement Tuesday. “Maybe the Republicans are telling us they want us to pass healthcare reform through the budget reconciliation process.”Though most Democrats appear ready to back the reconciliation rules for healthcare, it isn’t a sure thing that enough of them will vote for a budget resolution that includes those rules. The resolution needs 51 votes to pass. The resolution that won approval three weeks ago received 55 votes.Undecided Democrats include Hagan, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) and Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.).A handful of centrist Democrats have said they oppose the use of reconciliation rules for healthcare, saying that stronger legislation would emerge by working with Republicans under the regular rules.“I think to really enact something that has lasting impact and [is] really a solid reform, it needs to be built from the center out,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.).Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) said that he preferred that reconciliation not be used to answer “complicated, big policy questions” over healthcare reform, but he also wouldn’t rule it out.But, in perhaps a sign that the centrists will eventually go along with party leaders, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) said that he isn’t opposed to the use of reconciliation for healthcare. Bayh voted against the budget resolution earlier this month because he had concerns about its level of spending. He has also been among the most vocal members of a group of 15 Democrats who have sought to pare down the budget.Bayh said that reconciliation could be used for healthcare, even if it’s not used for climate change.A climate change bill, “if not done correctly, could have disproportionate effects on parts of the country,” he said. “But healthcare [reform] would affect most Americans uniformly.”

Editorial : I did`nt realize that the Senate could do this ? But, Hoo-Ray, that they can ! Health-Care is and should be Every Americans right !

Health-Care is Mandatory !

States May Lead the Way on Health Care Reform
This is a cross-post from the Daily Kos blog.

In Canada, it took the dogged determination of one province, Saskatchewan, and a visionary leader, Tommy Douglas, to pave the path to a national health care system, which they call Medicare.For all the detractors of the Canadian system in the studios of Fox News and the board rooms of right wing think tanks, consider this one note: In 2004, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation conducted a national poll to select the greatest Canadian of all time. The winner in a landslide—Tommy Douglas.While the federal window remains open for reform, with two national single payer bills, John Conyers’ H.R. 676 in the House and now Bernie Sanders’ S. 703 in the Senate, many nurses, doctors, and health activists are turning to the states to lead as well. It’s worth recalling that Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously called states “the laboratories of democracy.” As columnist Froma Harrop has suggested, “being closer to the people and more attuned to the local culture, states are better equipped than the federal government to introduce new social policies. Innovations are usually first tried in the places most receptive to them.” More than a half dozen U.S. states now are considering legislation to establish single payer systems, essentially an expanded and updated form of the U.S. Medicare system to cover everyone in their states. Here’s a roundup of some of the state bills: CaliforniaThe latest bill S.B. 810 passed its first legislative test Wednesday in the Senate Health Committee on a party line 7-4 vote before a room packed with nurses, doctors, medical students, California School Employees Association members, and healthcare activists. In her lead testimony, Malinda Markowitz, RN, co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee noted that “nurses know insurance companies don’t provide any value whatsoever in the delivery of medicine. Under S.B. 810, we would be free of their interference, their denial of care, their massive bureaucracy, and their waste of healthcare dollars.” UC Irvine medical student Parker Duncan said that he did not want to “be in a world not doing what I was trained to do,” referring to the paperwork that is one of the expensive burdens that undermine the ability. Twice this decade California’s legislature passed earlier versions of S.B. 810 (S.B. 840 carried by now retired Sen. Sheila Kuehl), but the bills were vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. State activists say they will continue to push single payer in California, even if they need to wait until the next governor, who won’t be Schwarzenegger, is elected in 2010. ColoradoHouse Bill 1273 by Fort Collins Democrat John Kefalas, passed its first vote in the state House April 6. The bill sets up a 23-member commission to design a universal health-insurance system. “Our current health-care system is not well,” Kefalas said. “Our current health-care system is unsustainable, with the cost of health care and the numbers of the uninsured rising dramatically.” Press reports note a state Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform two years ago studied single payer and found it was the only approach that saved money compared to what Coloradans now spend on healthcare. IllinoisH.B. 311, the Healthcare for All Illinois Act, sponsored by Rep. Mary Flowers, had its first hearing in March. Though no votes have been taken yet, the new Gov. Pat Quinn is a longtime supporter of single payer reform. At an introductory press conference, Brenda Langford, Cook County RN, said that “Illinois can once again be a symbol of hope and progress for our nation. Nurses are tired of watching our patients suffer from denial of care and lack of access to coverage. We see far too much of this at Cook County hospitals—and that’s why we support guaranteed healthcare through a single-payer system.” MaineL.D. 1365, sponsored by Brunswick Rep. Charles Priest, and co-sponsored from legislators from all over the state, had its first hearing April 13. The hearing came just days after both houses of the Maine legislature passed resolutions calling on President Obama and Congress to enact federal single payer legislation. A poll this winter showed 52 percent of Maine physicians also favor single payer. As Cathy Herlihy of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee put it in a state forum featuring U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe, a single-payer system is the “the only solution,” she said. “We do not have time to wait. Our health should not be sacrificed for limited reforms.” PennsylvaniaTwo single payer bills are alive in the state, House Bill 1660, the “Family and Business Healthcare Security Act of 2009,” and Senate Bill 300. Gov. Ed Rendell has said that if a single payer bill were to make it to his desk, he will sign it, reports Chuck Pennachio of Health Care for All Pennsylvania. The state Democratic House Caucus is holding a public forum on the bill Friday, April 17, at 10 a.m. at the University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia, featuring speakers from Physicians for a National Health Program, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, and other single payer supporters. The hearing comes on the heels of a resolution passed by the Philadelphia City Council calling for both state and federal lawmakers to establish a single-payer health system. Other States Single payer bills are also on the docket in Minnesota, Missouri, and Washington.

Tire Jobs Leaving U.S.A. ~ You Bet !

USW Seeks Relief from Flood of Imported Chinese Tires
Trade case calls for investigation, quota order to stop industry job losses

WASHINGTON (April 20) – The United Steelworkers (USW) today announced the filing of a major trade case against the flood of imported consumer tires from China that have led to thousands of job losses and a growing number of plant closings throughout the U. S. Leo W. Gerard, USW international president, declared: “American workers are struggling to make it through the worst economic crisis in 80 years. Our tire industry is collapsing under the weight of 46 million Chinese tires entering our shrinking market annually.” He said, “We are aggressively using America’s trade remedy laws to help workers and their employers combat an import surge from a country not playing by the rules. Section 421 is a tool to redress Chinese import surges that gets us through the current economic crisis and preserves a part of America’s industrial base.” The petition filed by the USW on behalf of its members employed in the U.S. tire industry was made under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. Documents submitted in the case show a huge surge of passenger car and light truck tire imports from China during 2004-08.The USW represents about 15,000 tire workers employed at 13 plants in nine states, which accounts for nearly half of the industry’s production capacity in 2008. The domestic tire industry consists of ten producers with 27 plants in 15 states.The consumer tire-producing states include: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. According to the USW petition filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), imports of consumer tires from China increased from 2004 to 2008 by 215 percent in volume and 295 percent by value. In 2008, China exported nearly 46 million consumer tires with a value of more than $1.7 billion to the U.S., making it the largest source of consumer tire imports. Citing China’s share of total imports of consumer tires, the petition reports that imports have nearly tripled by volume during the surge period, while domestic production of consumer tires have declined by more than 25 percent.The USW said it seeks to combat this egregious trend, by requesting the government to impose an import quota on China of 21 million consumer tires used on passenger cars, light trucks, minivans and sport utility vehicles per year. The quota sought by the USW, which would return China tire imports to a 2005 level, would increase five percent per year over a three-year period.The petition says this would improve domestic job security, enable U.S. tire makers to regain lost market share, increase production and sales, and allow investment in capital equipment to better compete in the long term. Section 421 of U.S. trade law was passed by Congress in 2000 to enable companies, groups of workers and other parties to seek relief when rapid increases in imports of certain products, cause or threaten “market disruption” to a domestic industry.Tom Conway, USW International Vice President and Chair of the union’s negotiating committee at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Corp., said: “We believe the evidence strongly supports an affirmative outcome as a result of this import surge from China.” He said workers and the domestic industry have both been injured. “We need a quota imposed to reduce the artificial level of imports flowing from the distortions in the Chinese economy and the government’s manipulation of its currency,” Conway identifies nearly 7,000 U.S. tire workers have been affected by six factory shutdowns of consumer tires since 2004. The latest plant closing was announced last week by Michelin North America of the BF Goodrich unit in Opelika, Ala., involving 1,000 workers. Other shutdown tire plants during 2004-08 include Continental Tire, Bridgestone/Firestone, and Goodyear.
USW fact sheets and background on the USW imports trade case against Chinese consumer tire products are available at: http://listserv.usw.org/t/165832/1179435/136038/0//.

Editorial : This writer has continually asked, when the market is no longer here(USA = No Jobs) What do we do then ? Have you noticed how the tire prices have fallen ? No, and you will not ! Our beloved large corporations can now build them in China and import them back to the good ole USA and make millions to pay their CEO`S ! Thanks Mike Stanley for this one !

Tire Making Jobs...Leaving America ? You Bet !

Michelin to close Alabama Goodrich plant...

Michelin will close its BF Goodrich tire manufacturing plant in Opelika, Alabama, by Oct. 31 in response to an "unprecedented drop in market demand," the company said Monday. The 46-year-old Opelika plant makes BF Goodrich- and Uniroyal-brand passenger tires with approximately 1,000 workers. Capacity is listed at 14,000 units daily, although Michelin has reduced that in recent months.Michelin said it will consolidate production at the BF Goodrich plants in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Fort Wayne, Ind.

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Bridgestone ups output capacity at plant in China...

Bridgestone Corp. plans to increase the output capacity of its tire plant in China’s Jiangsu Province by about 50 percent, the company told reporters. The production capacity at the passenger car tire plant will be raised by 4,200 radial tires to 12,000 units a day beginning some time between July and December 2011. The total cost of the production boost will be around $98 million, according to Bridgestone.

Editorial : Good paying jobs leaving America ? You betcha` ! Greed at the top ...You know, CEO`s pay, health-care and tax incentives are leaving the American Worker out in the wilderness/unemployed ! If we do not stop this race to the bottom, there will be no America as this writer has known it. It seems that the only descent paying jobs are now those jobs in government, and that`s a shame !

It`s Health-Care...

Obama Addresses Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security in Economic Speech In a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday, President Obama assessed economic recovery efforts, linking health care costs to broader economic problems and speaking of the need for health care reform to reign in the expenses of Medicare and Medicaid. He also called on Congress to "get serious" and stop postponing difficult decisions in order to accomplish health care reform this year. Laying out his vision for America's economic future, the President restated the role of Social Security as part of a secure retirement, speaking of a need to focus on the program's long-term stability after health care reform is achieved. "The high cost of health care in this country is not just emptying the pockets of retirees, it is emptying the pockets of America," said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. "By eliminating wasteful spending like over payments to private insurance companies for Medicare Advantage plans, we can take the first step toward getting our economy back on track and having quality, affordable health care for our citizens."

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CEO Pay at the Drug Companies: A Bitter Pill for Seniors Struggling to afford your medicines? Wondering where your prescription money goes? The AFL-CIO's new Executive Pay Watch web site, www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch, reports that much of it goes straight into the CEOs' wallets. A few examples of annual pay: Johnson & Johnson $29.1 million, Abbott Laboratories $28.3 million, Merck $25.1 million, and Wyeth $24.2 million. According to The New York Times, the 2003 Medicare Part D drug law has proven to be "a financial windfall larger than even the most optimistic Wall Street analysts have predicted." The law prohibits Medicare from negotiating volume discounts with drug manufacturers, and as a result retirees in the now-privatized Part D plans pay 58% more than under plans administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs which is allowed to negotiate price discounts. To correct this, the Alliance supports S. 330 and H.R. 684 to create a public Part D plan that uses the government's bulk purchasing power to obtain lower prices. See the Alliance's 2009 Medicare Part D fact sheet at http://www.retiredamericans.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/12491.

CEO Pay Out of Control ! Even During Bad Times !

Executive PayWatch: CEO Perks Rise as Workers’ Wages, Jobs Wilt...
by James Parks, Apr 14, 2009

Even as the U.S. economy went into a tailspin, the median salary for CEOs of 200 large corporations increased by 4.5 percent to $1.08 million. On top of that, these corporations keep plying executives with generous freebies, despite the public outcry over private jets and other executive perks.The 2009 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch site, which launches today, points out that the perks for executives rose on average by 12.5 percent in 2008 to $336,248—or nine times the median salary of a full-time worker. Even more appalling is the practice of rewarding executives who drive their companies into the ground. For example, the site reports that in 2007—the year the financial crisis began to unfold—the top 10 recipients of the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) collectively paid their CEOs a combined $242 million in total annual compensation. That averages nearly $25 million per CEO to run companies that might have gone bankrupt if not for billions of dollars in taxpayer assistance.The PayWatch site also features an e-mail action. Click here to send a letter to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), chairmen of the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, respectively. Let them know we’re counting on them to draft legislation that truly strengthens our financial regulations and begins curing the disease that has infected our economic system.This year’s Executive PayWatch highlights 10 case studies that show the multiple ways CEOs profited big time, while the average worker could barely hang on. There is the well-known case of AIG, which has been kept afloat by more than $170 billion in federal assistance—about $1,500 for every household in the nation—and still paid out more than $500 million in salaries and bonuses to hundreds of senior employees.Here are other prime examples in the case studies of corporate failure: While retirees worry over the fate of Deere & Co.’s pension surplus, which is shrinking because of stock market losses, the value of Deere CEO Robert Lane’s retirement income increased $5.5 million in fiscal 2008 to $22.5 million. Lane and other senior executives participate in not one but three different pension plans. SunTrust Bank, which received $4.9 billion from the federal bailout fund, wants shareholders to approve a mega-grant of $7.7 million in stock options for James Wells, its chairman and chief executive officer, even as investors have lost billions. While workers who are laid off in these tough economic times are lucky if they receive anything more than their last paycheck, Richard Bond, who retired as CEO of Tyson Foods in January, stands to collect more than $14 million in “golden parachute” severance payments. Want to know what your CEO made last year? The Executive Paywatch site offers three user-friendly ways to find out. And if you want to have a little fun at the CEO’s expense, play the “Boot The CEO” game and kick the money out of the greedy CEO’s hands.

Employee Free Choice vs. Wall Street Greed

Employee Free Choice vs. Wall Street Greed !
by Seth Michaels, Apr 13, 2009

Who’s behind the opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act? It’s the same corporate executives and Wall Street millionaires whose greed and irresponsibility led to our nation’s economic crisis—the same people who are looking for taxpayer-funded bailouts even as they lobby to prevent workers from bargaining for a better life. A new ad takes to task the opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act for their support of an economy that works for CEOs, but not for the rest of us. Produced by American Rights at Work, the ad was launched nationally over the weekend after its debut on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show.”
The ad takes aim at the “Wall Street way of doing business”:

Getting rich is everything.

Reward yourself for failure.

Employees don’t matter.

Exploiting them is acceptable.

Don’t let workers get ahead.

This mindset adds up to the corporate greed that has left workers behind, unable to bargain for a fair share of the value they create. CEOs and their political cronies are spending millions to make sure workplaces stay badly imbalanced, controlled by the strong arm of the bosses with no worker input. Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of American Rights at Work, says giving workers the freedom to form a union and bargain is critical to restoring the balance in the workplace and making sure workers get a say. The public and lawmakers alike need to know that the special interests opposing the Employee Free Choice Act are the same ones who caused this economic meltdown. This new ad sends a resolute message that now is the time to help workers to bargain for a better life. The Employee Free Choice Act is urgently needed to create fairness in this economy.

Editorial : What is wrong with employee`s having a say ?

April is National Organ/Donor Awareness Month

Organ/Donation The Right Thing to Do !
By : Don Jones, Heart-Tranplant#189-Vanderbilt

As most of you know, I am an organ recipient, a Heart ! Without the generous donation of a 20 year old young lady and her marvelous family, I would not be here now, I would be dead ! This wonderful young lady, was killed in an automobile accident in the Nashville area, she was transported to Vanderbilt, she was an organ donor, I was waiting for a heart. She and I matched in all categories necessary to receive her heart. On August 17, 1994 I received the call I had been waiting on over two years. Don, We have a heart for you ! My youngest son drove his Mother and I to Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville Tennessee. My Donor, this wonderful young woman was in the operating room next to mine, They did not remove her heart until I arrived and was prepped. Dr. Walter Merrill, was my surgeon. I referred to him as the "Great Merrill"! He did a magnificent job, I`m still here after almost fifteen(15) years. The sad part of this type of donation is that someone must die. This young lady died and had the fore site to be an Organ/Donor. In a time, I`m sure when her family would have given their life in her stead, they allowed her to be an organ donor ! Thus saving my life in her death ! What a loving thing to do ! I and my fraternity, the Tennessee Freemasons adopted this Organ/Donor Awareness program in 1999, when no one was doing this type of program. We have given away to date, almost 18,000 "Green Ribbon Pins" that anyone can wear to promote the "Gift of Life" Organ Donation ! My purpose for writing this is, if you are not a designated organ donor, talk it over with your family and sign you drivers license. Ask yourself, If it were me or a member of my family, who needed a organ to survive, what would I want ? Remember the first organ donor was Christ, he gave his whole body that we might live ! The National and Tennessee state stats are below, those waiting !

Organ Transplant Waiting List...1/09/2009

National List :

Kidney ----- 78,732
Liver----- 15,758
Pancreas----1,551
Kidney/Pancreas-----2,254
Heart----2,785
Lung---1,972
Heart/Lung---83
Intestine---214

Total : 100,959

Tennessee :

Kidney---1,762
Liver---271
Pancreas---13
Kidney/Pancreas---19
Heart---111 Lung---29
Heart/Lung---1
Intestine---0

Total: 2,192
"Give The Gift of Life, Be an Organ/Tissue Donor, It`s the Masonic Thing to Do"!

Masonic Widow & Orphans Fund~Tennessee

*HB 1882 by * Judy Barker, Mark Maddox. (SB 2336 by *Roy Herron.)

Special License Plates - As introduced, reallocates proceeds from Masons new specialty earmarked plates, with 88 percent of such revenue allocated to Masonic Widows and Orphans' Home of Tennessee and 12 percent of such revenue allocated to arts commission. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4.

Fiscal Summary:

Decrease State Revenue - $17,600/Arts Commission $6,300/Highway Fund
Bill Summary:

Under present law, the proceeds from sales of the Masons new specialty earmarked motor vehicle registration plates are allocated as follows: 50 percent to the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home of Tennessee Fund; 40 percent to the Tennessee arts commission; and 10 percent to the state highway fund. Excluding the state's expenses in designing and manufacturing the plates, this bill directs 88 percent of the funds produced from the sale of the Masons license plates to the Masonic Widows' and Orphans' Home of Tennessee Fund and 12 percent of the funds to the Tennessee arts commission.

Editorial : Not only would this bill help defray cost from the state, it would help us as Masons, to do what we should be doing ! I appreciate so much, Rep`s . Barker & Maddox and State Senator Roy Herron for sposoring this bill !

It`s Health-Care, Stupid !

Progressive Caucus Backs Public Health Insurance Plan
by Mike Hall, Apr 6, 2009

While one of the AFL-CIO’s key health care reform principles—a public health insurance option—has been vigorously attacked by the private insurance industry, it received important backing last week from the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). The CPC long has backed a single-payer approach for health care reform. But last week, the group said that is not a line in the sand that could not be crossed to win its backing of health care reform legislation. In a letter to congressional leaders, the CPC said its 77 members could support a public insurance plan option within a reformed health care system that maintained private insurance. But, the group also stressed that it’s the “minimum” needed to win their support for reform legislation. The private for-profit insurance industry and most congressional Republicans long have opposed a public insurance option. After all, their soaring profits and bonuses are at stake. A public plan also is a central element of President Obama’s reform blueprint. In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the CPC wrote that caucus members want all Americans to have a choice of securing health insurance coverage under a public plan or through private insurance as part of any comprehensive health care reform legislation.The diverse CPC is made up of House Democrats with progressive views on health care, the economy, global policy, the environment and other vital working family issues.The Progressive Caucus co-chairs, Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) and Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), also wrote that while most CPC members prefer a single-payer plan as the best option. According to the letter, a public plan is a “minimum” and the “strong majority” of the 77-member group: will not support legislation that does not include a public plan option that is supported on a level playing field with private health insurance plans. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said House Democrats are committed to including a public plan option in health reform legislation. But he told The Hill newspaper that although Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has expressed support for a public plan, Baucus is working on developing bipartisan legislation with committee ranking minority member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who opposes such an option.Take the 2009 Health Care for America Survey and tell us what you think should be included in comprehensive health care reform. Launched last week, the survey gives you opportunity to make your voice heard and help shape health care reform to meet the needs of working families.The survey asks specific questions about your household’s health care coverage and costs. It also provides an opportunity to tell your health care story in your own words or in a video.
Take the survey here.

CEO Pay Skyrockets ~ Wow !

CEO Pay Skyrockets Compared with Workers' Wages

Buy American...If You Can ?

Buy American...If You Can ?

The 2010 Ford Fusion is the hottest American hybrid. But this new American car is built in Mexico and Japan, not in America. America’s car of the future is here but it won’t save American jobs. Congressman Don Manzullo has a plan that will save American jobs though. Rep. Manzullo has introduced the New Automobile Voucher Act of 2009 which would give Americans $5,000 to put towards a new car. He says his plan will “bolster automobile manufacturing and sales and will put millions of Americans back to work”.

Social Security...Do not Mess With It !

Beware of “Sky is Falling” Attempts to Cut Social Security Benefits

This week there were reports in the news that the recession would affect Social Security’s current ability to pay benefits. “Current and future retirees should be suspicious of those who react to today’s news with ‘sky is falling’ predictions of doom. These warnings mask an ongoing ideological agenda to cut Social Security benefits and increase the retirement age,” said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance, on Tuesday. “According to noted economist Henry J. Aaron of the Brookings Institution, the recent decrease in Trust Fund revenue will account for less than a few one-hundredths of one percent decrease in the 75 year projection for the Social Security Trust Fund,” he added. Many analysts have reiterated that sentiment, since cyclic economic impacts are considered when future estimates are made.

Editorial : Do not Mess with Social Security !

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Senate Votes Against Entitlement Task Force

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted against an amendment to the fiscal 2010 budget resolution which would have created an Entitlements Task Force to address the long-term funding shortfalls faced by Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and requiring Congress to vote on its recommendations. Proposed by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), amendment No. 835 failed by a vote of 55-44. The vote fell generally along party lines, with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) joining Democrats in voting against it, and Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) joining Republicans who voted for it. The vote was a victory for Alliance members. “No commission will solve this problem until we are ready to address the rapidly rising cost of health care and create a health care system that is affordable for all Americans,” The House and Senate have now passed their versions of the budget, which next goes to a conference committee.

Editorial : Ya gotta give the Republicans credit, they keep on trying to please their corporate masters !