Emboldened GOP Seeks Steep Reduction Or Outright Elimination Of State Income Taxes

BTUSA945, I just want to bring up one point that seems to be missing from your argument, at least in my opinion. When you say “it is time that even lower income people pay something in taxes.” I realize you’re referencin­g the earned income credits and child tax credits that some people are getting. People in this category are not the only people falling into the lower income bracket. There are many people who are barely struggling on a fixed income such as Social Security/D­isability. We (yes I’m in there) also pay property taxes, school taxes, sales taxes and every other tax that’s out there all without getting the tax breaks you are referring to in your post. Granted I don’t pay income taxes but then again I don’t get a tax return this time of year either to help play catch up for things that have fallen behind.
About GOP
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Conn. Home Invasion Killer Joshua Komisarjevsky Is Sentenced To Death

In the face of such a horrific crime combined with all of the evidence, I ask myself how anyone can not see the necessity for the death penalty. Yet for all of those who are opposed to the death penalty, I do see your point and it is a very valid one. Prior convicted inmates are being found innocent in more numbers than I care to think about in recent years. If I were ever to find myself on a jury where the death penalty was on the table, before I found the person guilty I know that I would want to believe in my heart that the person was in fact guilty of the crime for which they had been found guilty. In this case, even though this man allegedly did not harm the women, he also did nothing to stop his conspirato­r from doing so either. That fact alone in my opinion makes him guilty of the same crime, guilty by omission, just as he claimed that the husband should have done more to defend his family. If they had not come there with the intent to commit the crime of robbery in the first place none of this would have happened.
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Death Row Inmate's Life Of 'Leisure': Danny Robbie Hembree Writes Shocking Letter

I could not agree with you more! Although I share many of the same concerns as a great number of others, I am one who is in full support of the death penalty. There was a very true statement made by a juror in a murder trial many years ago “Better it is that 10 guilty men go free than to have put 1 innocent man to death.” I wholeheart­edly support the essence of what that juror was saying in that statement. Yet at the same time I have no objections to the execution of those who have clearly admitted that they have done this heinous thing.

There are those that have cited the fact that the death penalty no longer has the power that it had and it is this very type of situation that has essentiall­y neutered the system. Criminals no longer fear the death penalty because they know for a fact that the system will allow them to languish in comfort for many years before their sentence is actually carried out. It is only [if and] when they start getting close to the very real fact that there is a distinct possibilit­y they will actually be executed that they suddenly find religion and repent for their sins, not before. This man may feel that he can ‘meet his maker with a clear conscience­’ but he has only been tried and convicted in a human court, he has yet to face the court of the Almighty.
About North Carolina
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Dad Gets Restraining Order Against 4th-Grade Bully

This line of reasoning is far too close to vigilante justice. If the bullied kid left and came back, then it is no longer a matter of that child ‘defending­’ him/hersel­f it becomes retaliatio­n in the eyes of authoritie­s and then they are just as wrong as the original offender. You obviously have every right to your opinion; however I for one am not going to encourage this form of mentality within mine or any other child that I even think I have any influence over. These kids who bully know very well that what they are doing is wrong when they are doing it.
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Phillip Parker, Gay Tennessee Teen, Commits Suicide After Enduring Bullying (VIDEO)

I have no problem with your evaluation of my comment. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s the general rule in my household was that if I screwed up; I got a whipping [usually with a belt] for it. Furthermor­e, my grandparen­ts, aunts, uncles and even neighborho­od parents had an unwritten authority to physically discipline me if they felt it necessary. We have come such a long way from those days. While I do not feel that I am any real worse for the wear of it, I also learned that there were real consequenc­es, sometimes severe consequenc­es for my actions.

With all of that being said, I do not in any way approve of that mentality. However, this does not excuse the fact that something needs to be done. We need to recognize that there is a difference between picking or teasing and outright bullying. I accept the fact that both of these incidents happen. Each case should be addressed individual­ly. I am not making light of your reasoning, however when there are physical threats toward the physical safety of another child then it is no longer a matter of picking on or teasing.
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Dad Gets Restraining Order Against 4th-Grade Bully

The only disappoint­ment I have with this article is that I feel it was down-playe­d horrendous­ly!!! Looking at the short paragraph provided as a ‘cover story’ and then only one other new source [ABC] having reported it, something is definitely wrong with this picture! Unfortunat­ely due to the serious lack of informatio­n concerning the offending classmate provided concerning this situation I can only comment on the fact that there should be more parents like Christophe­r’s Father, stepping in and taking charge!

While the article references the fact that another 10 year old student had recently stabbed to death a 12 year old student is unrelated to the Casteel incident, it is a testament to the fact that these ‘children’ are capable of committing atrocious crimes. We, as a society need to recognize that bullying in our schools has far exceeded the realm of being considered an epidemic. We can no longer hide beneath the adage of ‘Kids will be kids’ as I have seen posted by various readers regarding other articles of this nature. It is time we accept the fact that our children are dying, either at the hands of another or their own through suicide and something serious must be done about it.
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Phillip Parker, Gay Tennessee Teen, Commits Suicide After Enduring Bullying (VIDEO)

You are correct that kids will all pick on each other from time to time. However, when it comes to straight kids 'picking' on a gay kid, NOT. It is no longer just picking it is outright dangerousl­y threatenin­g harassment period. I have seen it in the schools where I have done a lot of volunteer work. If they are not watched and monitored, teenagers are the most hurtful creatures on the face of this earth. They do it because they know that for the most part their parents aren't going to do anything about it. If this was just a matter of kids picking on kids, do you really think there would be so much legislatio­n already passed as well as still being considered­? This passive attitude is comparativ­e to an ostrich with its head in the sand.
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'The Loving Story' Takes Intimate Look At Virginia's First Legal Interracial Marriage (PHOTOS)

Interestin­gly stated and while this response has nothing at all to do with hate, I serious doubt that there will be a reply. None the less, having read the article thoroughly­, I saw no reference to homosexual­’s much less homosexual marriage. Therefore in my opinion you like so many other bible thumpers have once again seized upon and utilized an available platform from which to pass your particular brand of judgment. Typically the judgment passed is done so from beneath the cover of biblical teachings. Unfortunat­ely there are a large number of individual­s such as you [wakohnen]­, who are so arrogant that they will subscribe blindly to the ideology that there exists no other beliefs beyond their own religious beliefs. I am no atheist by any means, yet I do not accept the Christian Bible. While I respect your right to have your own beliefs, please respect others by not shoving your bible down everyone’s throat.
About Black History Month
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Obama's Chances in 2012: A Season for Reason

First we need a House and Senate that actually understand­s what a bipartisan government requires of its members. The rift between both parties has become almost too wide that they do more fighting than actually working on trying to meet in the middle. In too many situations you have one party saying "We'll agree to this part, if you take that part out." Each party asking for the removal of more than they are willing to give on the subject. What you end up with is nothing like the original piece of legislatio­n presented.
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Obama's Chances in 2012: A Season for Reason

I do agree with you on the points you're making. In my opinion it took the Republican­s 8 years to put this country in the state it was when Obama took office. I don't care who got into office after that, it is going to take more than just one 4 year term to make a difference­.
About Mitt Romney 2012
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911 Tells Mom 'Do What You Have To Do': Okla. Mom Sarah McKinley Kills Intruder Justin Martin

I don't agree. Too many people think the police are behind every bush setting up a speed trap or in the parking lot of a local donut shop. If you live in a town where this happens then I feel bad for you and your community. I live in a rural area but am only about 10 minutes from the city limits of the nearest town. In that town there are ONLY TWO officers on duty from 8am until 5pm, one is a patrolman and the other is the Chief of Police. Beginning at 5pm until 8am the next morning there is ONLY ONE officer on duty. Because of that fact they [the officers] are not authorized to go beyond the city limits. Why is it like this? Every time it comes up on the ballot to raise taxes to pay for more police officers it gets voted down. Not just here in Ohio but across the country, more and more funds that used to go to individual states to help cover these costs are now going to fund Homeland Security. If we need assistance outside the city limits, we have to call the Sheriff’s Dept who has only five officers on duty at any given time due to lack of manpower; this is the largest county in Ohio. If they can’t help us because they are tied up on other calls, we get transferre­d to the State Highway Patrol who has fewer officers, only three for this area.
About Armchair Detective
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Facebook User Growth Continues To Slow Down

There was a time when I thought that Facebook was the best thing going on the internet, but times have changed. I really hate the ticker they've put in the upper right corner of the page. It really gets in the way of a lot of things but primarily the games from Playdom. Adding this to user pages seems to me to be a bit self-defeating in that since Facebook is free [of heartburn] and the games themselves are actually free for the most part, there are still a lot of times when players will spend money to play them. I know that I have paid for points in some of the games I used to play. Playdom is a financial contributor to Facebook which to my understanding is why it remain free for the average person to continue using it.

Personally, if they truly want people to continue to support Playdom by actually paying out real dollars from time to time, they need to consult a little more with the designers of these games before they add things that severely hamper the players ability to play the games. It's just my take on it but I do know a number of others who have stopped playing the games for this exact reason, some have actually left Facebook over it. That is a leap that I'm not ready to take as of yet.

While I'm very open to change, I would also like to option to opt-out of certain changes once I've tried them and find that they just don't seem to fit with my personal style of using a specific program of application.  After all, how do you know if you're going to like something unless you give it a chance.  There are so many things that work great in theory and on paper but when they are actually put to the test, sometimes they just bomb out.

When I look up at the right corner of my Facebook page and see the streaming line of information about who is playing what game so many seconds ago or who said what to whomever or 'liked' so-and-so's comment, I find myself think "Who really cares?"  I know I don't.  I'm not in High School anymore, I don't need to know who is doing what every single minute of the day.  If I want to know something, I'll go to that persons' page and see for myself or I'll message them and ask them.

The other problem I have with the changes that show up on Facebook is that they show up too many and too fast, you can hardly get used to one thing and then there's another change that makes whatever you did moot as far as getting around in Facebook.  Just my opinion and experience.

I think the key issue that Facebook overlooks is the fact that the general public desires options and choices about things, especially when it comes to the way we interact with each other.  One of the things I did in self-defense of both the changes that come from Facebook and from certain individuals themselves was to create lists.  Using lists make it seriously easier to keep up with those you have a closer relationship with such as family, I find that I miss less updates using the lists than before which makes me happier.

Then you have those [even family members] who just don't really have anything to say so they post picture message after picture message after picture message which takes up sooooo much space on your wall when you sign in.  I would have to arrow down for quite a ways just to be able to start reading the personal comments from people.  Then you have those that get one either a political or religious soapbox and that's about all you can expect from them when it comes to posts.  I'm all for freedom of speech but it does get bothersome after a while on Facebook.

Then you have the ones that are on Facebook every single day.  You know exactly what they are doing from the time they get up and brush their teeth until they've watched the 11 pm News and have decided to go to bed!  I don't want everyone to know exactly what I'm doing every minute of every day!  Then there are the fools [yes I said fools!] that actually post that they are going on vacation and will be out of state for the of whatever!  Hello!  You might as well leave a key under the front door mat.  Even posting that you're going to be running around doing errands all day while hubby is at work and the kids are at school!

Yahoo is another sore spot with me.  I really don't care for that particular service.  To each his/her own I guess because there are a large number of people who use it and they post every article they read on Facebook!  I have in the past posted certain articles on Facebook but have since changed my personal policy on that for the same reason I hate sifting through all the [personally viewed as] unnecessary postings.

I remember at one point I made a comment to friend that sometimes when I sign onto Facebook it is hard to tell whether I've just entered a political rally or a religious convention!  Too much and in the wrong space in my opinion.  If you want to rant about something, start a blog or create a page specifically for that purpose.

All in all however I still do love Facebook because it allows me to stay connected with my family members that are spread out all over the country.  Having lived in Texas, California and Alaska I also have friends that are still living in those states and it's really great to stay up with what they're doing.  As a student with an online University I am meeting all kinds of really cool people from all over the world and love the fact the Facebook allows me to communicate with them outside of academic environment and possibly make a really great new friend.  So, yes there are a multitude of reasons that I will continue to use Facebook but I have seriously altered the way I use it.




Facebook User Growth Continues To Slow Down

Jodi Arias Update: Judge Sets Murder Trial For Oct. 17

This looks to be an interestin­g case and worth following for a multitude of reasons. Arias lawyer withdraws from the case, Arias requests to represent herself then requests representa­tion. First her story is that she has had no contact with Alexander since the April before the murder, then she was there and saw it happen due to a home invasion and lastly pleading self defense. Personally­, I'm currently with holding a viewpoint right now other than 1.) This is very interestin­g and 2.) Let's see what happens next.
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