Christmas Time And Life In General This Past Year

While i sit here waiting to get paid after a hard days work ( NOT) I figured that I'd do this post just to kill some time.
I don't care for the Christmas holidays all to much, in case you didn't no that. I like the New Years holiday much better. This sorry assed year is almost over and none to soon! Those of you who have been here for awhile no that i've had a very shitty year starting from last January up till now even, so this year can stop dead in its tracks right now.
Let me see. First there was the ice storm which knocked me off-line for two weeks at the start of the year. We all know that i lost a sahit-load of ad revenue thanks to that crap. Then there were the tornado's which screwed things up once again. then I filed wage violation charges against my employer, which are settled as of now for the most part. Then i came to Florida. Ha! Bad move? Time will tell I guess.
So I missed most of Preseident Obama's first year in office which is one reason why there hasn't been to much posting on the political topic. We all know about my vacation with a certain alcoholic that I met, so further talk isn't necessary.
Anyway, 2010 is only a week away, finally. Those of you who know me also understand that I'm coming out swinging when this year kicks in. No more bullshit from my other half or from anyone else for that matter. I have a few scores to settle with a few individuals who seem to think that that nice.calm, quiet Micheal is going to let them just pass on their "sins." that ain't gonna happen. On top of that, i'm going to be covering the stuff that I started out covering in the first place, along with my usual take on life in Tampa Bay.
That's it for now. Have a great Christmas and a Happy,prosperous New Year.

Tampa Bay Area Unemployment 12.3%..

... and it is not going to get better any time soon. so, if you are seeking work in this area, my suggestion to you is to stop wasting your time here and look for work elsewhere. Of course, with Christmas only a few days away, you might get lucky and find some seasonal work at WalMart or other such retailers in the area.
For those of you who wish to know, the unemployment rate for the entire state of Florida now sits at 11.5%, which really sucks if you live in the state.
Florida lost a total 16,700 jobs during the month of November, the worst in the nation. The unemployment rate of 11.5% is the highest in 34 years which is 1.5% higher than the national average.
Of course, the 12.3% rate for the Tampa Bay area makes it the leader for those without work than all of the other metro areas in the state.

November's rate is the highest posted in Florida since May 1975, when unemployment peaked at 11.9 percent. Several economists predict the state will break the 12 percent mark early next year before gradually retreating.
It could take until 2019, state economists project, before unemployment in Florida gets back to a more palatable 6 percent range.
With more than 1 million jobless out of a statewide labor force of 9.2 million, Florida was singled out by the Labor Department as the only state in the country to post a statistically significant increase in unemployment in November. Seven other states that posted significant changes in unemployment all saw their rates go down. In fact, 36 states and the District of Columbia all saw a dip in unemployment last month.
About 9,200 of the jobs Florida lost in November were tied to construction, most of them specialty trade contractors, Rust said.
More than two-thirds of Florida's job shedding over the year has been tied to three industry sectors: construction; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional and business services. Health care has been the only growing industry for much of the year.

SOURCE:http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/

Blackwater's Dark Side?

Keeping up with the Blackwater saga has been one of my favorite hobbies ever since this outfit made it into Iraq.

Published on Sunday, December 13, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
The Blackness of Blackwater
by Christopher Brauchli

How now, you secret, black and midnight hags! - Shakespeare, Macbeth

The good news for Blackwater fans is that things are not as bleak as might at first appear. Blackwater has more lives than the victims of its blunders. Earlier this year, I erroneously suggested that Blackwater might very soon be leaving Iraq since it had been told to leave by the Iraqi government. It turned out that the Iraq government lacked the authority to tell Blackwater what to do. Herewith a brief history.

A congressional report found that Blackwater guards were involved in almost 200 shootings in Iraq between 2005 and 2007. Included among them was a 2007-shooting spree that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Following that event Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki demanded that Blackwater leave the country. Believing (mistakenly) that he had the authority to determine whether a given contractor could work in Iraq or not he said: "The Iraqi government is responsible for its citizens, and it cannot be accepted for a security company to carry out a killing." George Bush, who was accustomed to making all the arrangements for the Iraq war, ignored Mr. al-Maliki and extended Blackwater's contract for another year. Bowed, but not defeated, Iraq did not give up trying to rid itself of the Blackwater scourge.

On January 1, 2009 the new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and Iraq took effect. That agreement provided that Iraq had the "primary right to exercise jurisdiction over United States contractors and United States contractor employees." On January 28, 2009 Iraq said it would not issue Blackwater a license to continue operating in Iraq. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a spokesman for the Iraqi interior ministry said: "Those companies that don't have license, such as Blackwater, should leave Iraq immediately." Alaa Al-Taia, an Interior Ministry official said: "There are many marks against this company, specifically that they have a bad history and have been involved in the killing of so many civilians." Iraq probably thought that would be the end of Blackwater in Iraq. It was wrong.

The Obama administration said Blackwater is a State Department contractor and SOFA only gives Iraq jurisdiction over contractors "who are in Iraq to supply goods, services, and security in Iraq to or on behalf of the United States Forces . . . ." Expounding on that a State Department diplomatic security official said: "The purpose and mission of the Department of State's private security contractors is limited to protection of US diplomats and diplomatic facilities only and is defensive in nature." And so Blackwater continued its work providing "aviation services" in Iraq.

Blackwater worked throughout the spring and early summer and on July 29th its contract was extended by the Obama administration with an agreement to pay it an additional $20 million, bringing the total amount it received for "aviation services" to $187 million and its total for Iraq work to more than $1 billion. The July extension was to end on September 3 when its role was to be assumed by other defense contractors. On September 1 it was learned that its contract would be extended indefinitely to enable the handover of its work to the successor company to proceed more smoothly. When she learned of the extension, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky of Illinois issued a statement saying: "Given the company's history of massive abuses and misconduct, I believe it is inappropriate for the United States government to continue doing business with this firm." One of these days Blackwater will be out of Iraq. It needn't be depressed at the thought of leaving. That's because it has Afghanistan at its disposal and Afghanistan is a gold mine for private contractors.

As of March 2009 there were approximately 70, 000 private contractors working in Afghanistan whereas there were only 48,000 U.S soldiers in that country. According to a Congressional Research Study, the ratio of contractors to soldiers is the highest it's been in any conflict in the history of the United States.

Among the private contractors is, not surprisingly, Blackwater. It provides diplomatic security for State Department people under the name "US Training Center" and does Defense Department work under the name "Paravant LLC. " Paravant has continued the proud tradition established by Blackwater in Iraq of killing civilians. According to the Nation, one of Blackwater's subsidiaries in Afghanistan is under investigation for the shooting of two Afghan civilians in May.
When Congresswoman Schakowsky learned of its contract in Afghanistan she wrote Secretaries Clinton and Gates urging them "not to award further contracts to Xe [Blackwater's new name] and its affiliates and to review all existing contracts with this company." As of this writing she had not received a response. In her concern she was joined by Sonali Kolhatkar, author of Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords and the Propaganda of Silence. Commenting on Blackwater's presence in Afghanistan she said: "If they build the same record of killing civilians in Afghanistan that they had in Iraq, it will cement the Afghan resistance even further against the U.S. occupation." She's right. Someone should let the President know.

Christopher Brauchli can be emailed at brauchli.56@post.harvard.edu. For political commentary see his web page at http://humanraceandothersports.com
© Copyrighted 1997-2009
www.commondreams.org

Want To Cut Back On Smoking? Camel Snus...

... is the way to go, at least it is for me.
I generally do not make it a habit to endorse any kind of products, whether I use them or not, but, I am so impressed with this one that I just had to pass this along to you cigarette smokers who are trying to cut back or quit coompletely.
What is Camel Snus? Good question, but first a little info about my use.
I started using the product just at the beginning of last week on a recommendation from a co-worker who had been using the product for a few weeks. I must say that I was/am very impressed with the way in which the product has helped me to cut back on my cigarette smoking, which was at around 2 packs per day. I am still smoking, but only at the rate of around 1 pack per day or less. Camel Snus is saving me alot of cash which would be going into packs of cigarettes instead of into my pockets, and staying there.

Camel Snus is "a smokeless spitless tobacco product, consists of 0.6 grams of pasteurized powdered tobacco portioned into small cylindrical pouches. To use Snus, place the pouch between the cheek and the upper lip where the oral cavity absorbs the nicotine.

On April 28, 2006 RJ Reynolds released Camel Snus in Portland Oregon and Austin Texas; the smokeless tobacco product expanded further in eight states, and in May 2008 RJ Reynolds and Camel Snus dove into the major markets of Los Angeles; Chicago; New York; Atlanta; Washington, D.C. Camel Snus used print media to advertise until February 2008, when they decide that print media was not a viable marketing source. Camels Snus offers the spitless pouch in two flavors: Mellow and Frost. Even though Snus is not associated with lung cancer since it is not inhaled; studies show an increase in pancreatic cancer and heart disease from non-tobacco users, although these risks are 50% less for snus users than cigarette users. In December 2008, the Spice and Original flavors were replaced with a single Mellow flavor. The newest version of Camel snus contains 8mg of nicotine per pouch, according to an RJ Reynolds spokesman." (http://tobaccoproducts.org/index.php/Camel_Snus#Description )

I just love this product and I think that all of you who wish to at least cut back on your smoking will like it also, try it folks.
Now, I am using the "mild" flavor and I can tell you that you will catch a little taste of tobacco from the product, but not enough to make you sick or anything like that. If you do not like the taste of a little bit of tobacco, then try the "frost" flavor. The container says that one pouch will last for 30 minutes, but i've had my cravings be gone for 2 hours on average. That's not to bad for a heavy smoker like me. I can't complain because a container of Snus will last me for at least one week.
Go out and buy yourself one. You'll be doing yourself a big favor!