A WALK THROUGH THE DAILY PAPER

Last night while reading the paper I found much to make me moan and groan. Thought I'd share some of the tidbits with you today.....

* The oil corporations are collecting at least $7 billion this year in federal relief. Can you believe that? With record profits they surely don't need more taxpayer help.

* With that said, a local politician is organizing a fundraising event in a nearby town this weekend for the "Keep ME Warm Fund" here in Maine. Why must we bake cookies to raise funds so folks can heat their homes while we are giving subsidies to the already rich? Am I going crazy or what?

* The Bush team wants military retirees to pay more for their health care. This of course violates the promise the government made to veterans. You give us your service and after you retire we give you free health care for the rest of your life. This won't go over very well at the local VFW bar. I can promise you that.

* You've heard about the furor about having an Arab company take over port security operations in the U.S. To me the issue is broader. It is about foreign corporations buying up virtually every business in the U.S. In the last ten years over $1.3 trillion of American businesses have been bought out by foreign corporations. We are now going to find out what it feels like to be a third-world country.

* Condosleezza Rice is once again lecturing the rest of the world about democracy and non-violence. This really drives me crazy. She is telling Hamas that they must renounce violence and disarm and must recognize the state of Israel. Then she goes to Egypt and lectures them on democracy. How about the USA renouncing violence and disarming? How about the USA having free and fair elections in 2006 and 2008? How about the U.S. recognizing the legitimacy of a series of elections in Venezuela instead of assisting in another coup d’etat ?

* And Bush's favorite lap dog, Tony Blair, is lecturing the Iraqi people saying that they must have a "unity" government and must have a multi-party state where "no party, no ethnic, or religious grouping can dominate." I wish Tony would tell that to Bush who now presides over a one-party state linked to a fundamentalist religious sect here in the good ole US of A.

* Iraq - withdraw or redeploy, withdraw or redeploy? I've just figured out how the Repubs and Dems are going to trick us on the troop levels and the so-called withdrawal from Iraq. They are going to say we are pulling out all "combat troops" from Iraq. Then they are going to leave thousands at new permanent bases but these U.S. troops will not officially be combat troops. They will be called something like "Iraqi administration assistance forces" and that will be the end of that.

* In a recent poll in Iraq, 86% of Sunni's say that if the U.S. leaves Iraq the violence will decrease. When the entire Iraqi population is polled 64% say the same thing.

* On the bright side, baseball spring training has just begun. Unfortunately, my favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles are projected for another losing season and a 4th place finish. But still, baseball is soon to begin.