Schaeffer went to jail for fraud and embezzlement. He was elected Mayor of Bawl'mer after leaving prison, and is likely to be Comptroller for the state of MD. until he dies. Rupperserger was convicted of embezzlement twice, and served a year in prison. Maryland law forbids felons from voting but not holding public office. How screwed up can one get?
BTW, I'm ignoring your dig at the democrats. Dem and Repub mean very little to the old line political families in Maryland. The parties are matters of convenience for many of them.
Ahhhh .... OK, didn't know that. Frosty folks, them Democrats, eh?
BTW, in most states, a convicted felon who has satisfied all terms of sentencing can have voting rights restored. In some states, its automatic after a certain period of time without subsequent criminal convictions, in others it is an administrational process.
blatham, if you really want to give your outrage wings on which to soar, look into the entire history of The Army Corps of Engineer's record of riverine management. The incident you cite, lamentable as it is, is just a teardrop in an ocean.
I once attended a big ground water conference in Houston and watched the Corps of Engineers get roasted. One had to feel sorry for the poor CoE stooge had been sent to represent them. He stuttered, shambled around, backed down, "didn't know"... The light gradually dawns: work with nature, don't try to control it.
As for the Missouri -- I have Karl Bodmer's paintings and sketches all around my house showing the Missouri as it was. You could stand where Bodmer stood 150 years ago, take photos, and weep. All gone.
I don't want to give the impression the CoE preys only on our rivers; they have a long history of biotching things and creating new, unforseen problems in our harbors, too. As for a river the way it was 150 years ago, well, a look around just about anywhere in proximity to civilization shows strip malls, subdivisions, and highway interchanges where just a few years ago were stands of trees, flowered meadows, and meandering streams. Expansion sucks, sometimes, but if it is to be, it has to be somewhere. That's not to say that it could not be better managed ... of course it could and should be. It is merely to say that's the way of it, and has it always has been. Neither Europe nor Asia has much to brag about in that regard, either.
timberlandko wrote: Neither Europe nor Asia has much to brag about in that regard, either.
I don't know who from Europe or Asia was actually bragging about that.
But: our 're-naturing' programs run for some dozen years now .... and I can't re-call any European state, where works etc on rivers are done by the military (at least since 19th, early 20th century).
Walter, I do accord kudos to the recent, and relatively successful, if as yet limited, "re-naturing" efforts under way in Europe. There is much there from which to learn, and much worthy of emulation.
BTW, what's your take on the Strurm und Drang swirling around the proposed Franco-German "Union", and the potential impact of such a move on the development and prospect of The EU? I think you, as one of the Teutonic Persuasion, could do a very good job of spark-plugging a thread on that, and its something I for one would like to know more about.
Ever see video of that underground river in New Jersey? Totally bizarre, you can go for miles in a canoe and never see daylight. All done by the CoE. Anyway, I think it was in Jersey.
timberlandko wrote:BTW, what's your take on the Strurm und Drang swirling around the proposed Franco-German "Union", and the potential impact of such a move on the development and prospect of The EU? I think you, as one of the Teutonic Persuasion, could do a very good job of spark-plugging a thread on that, and its something I for one would like to know more about.
That was just mentioned in US-papers and in one French - none of the German media reported about it (only about that reports).
The friendly soccer match tomorrow, France vs. Germany, that's a big theme,however.
Interesting, Walter. A
Google News Search on "Franco-German Union" comes up with quite a bit.
Well, I didn't say anything different:
Quote:If a French newspaper is right, German-French ties could go from its current love affair status to downright marriage in the future, with foreign, defense and economic policy being merged. ...
Nothing concrete has been planned, but government representatives are reportedly considering tightly aligning their foreign, defense and economic policies.
www.dw-world.de
Try a search on German and French google.news - you'll find that I'm quite correct with my response!
I don't challenge your response at all, Walter. What I find interesting is that it is getting less play in Germany than elsewhere. I would hazard a guess that indicates the real story is that its not that much of a story.
Quote:If a French newspaper is right, German-French ties could go from its current love affair status to downright marriage in the future,
I am very skeptical that this French-German union will ever proceed far beyond solemn speeches at state banquets. For such a tight coordination to be stable under democratic voting dynamics, public opinion of both countries would have to become a lot more tightly integrated. You can't have one set of government policy responding to two disjunct sets of public opinion.
So this won't happen, at least not anytime soon. It's a good thing too. I think the Euro is already doing more harm than good, and I'd prefer that the European Union remain just a free-trade and free-migration zone. Any integration beyond that is useless at best, and a drag on Europe at worst.
Thomas wrote: I think the Euro is already doing more harm than good, and I'd prefer that the European Union remain just a free-trade and free-migration zone. Any integration beyond that is useless at best, and a drag on Europe at worst.
Any proof for the harm of the EURO? (I don't mean restaurant prices
)
What about "Maastricht", "European Political Cooperation", European Court of Justice, environmenatl polcy, regional development (EUREGIO) etc etc?
(Besides, when you want the EU to be reduced to its original aims of the "European Coal and Steel Community" ... :wink: )
Germany and France exploring an alliance
PARIS - Out with the European Union! In with the Franco-German Union?
http://www.iht.com/articles/117509.htm
My thoughts upon seeing this article the effect it would have on the EU. Was a Europe that was just beginning to pull together starting to tear at the seams?
Again, au:
there has been ONE (1) article about that, in the French "Le Monde".
If anyone wants to pursue the Franco-German Union rumors, I'll be happy to start a new thread and split the relevant posts to it just to re-rail this thread. From what Walter and Thomas have said, I dunno if there's really anything to the story, though. Anyhow, just let me know.
Well, it's not only that Thomas and I say such.
It's really more kind of "old news", since we are trying to do so since decades:
Quote:Paris and Berlin are considering plans to create a core union, which would keep the two countries strong in an enlarged European Union.
This 'Union of France and Germany' would mean the two countries would merge their foreign and defence policies and co-operate on education and economy.
from:
Core Franco-German Union considered
Read this comment:
FrancoGermans at the forefront
I'd like to re-rail the thread by pointing out that Dubya and the Senate Republicans suffered yet another humiliating defeat of their judicial nominees this week.
We knew the Senate talk-a-thon wasn't likely to change the minds or the votes of any senators. It was really just a GOP stunt for the media. But in a way, that made the debate more important. It became a test for the hearts and minds of the American people: do they want a federal judiciary that will roll back 75 years of social progress? Or do they want federal judges who will stand up for the constitutional privacy rights, civil rights, economic rights, and reproductive rights we hold so dear?
Guess what? Democrats won.
Democrats won the votes. Friday morning, Senate Republicans tried to force votes on the confirmation of Janice Rogers Brown, Carolyn Kuhl, and Priscilla Owen. Senate Democrats sustained filibusters to block them all. To underscore the defeat, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist had abandoned plans to force a vote on abolishing the filibuster because he knew he would lose. He couldn't even muster sufficient support from his own party.
Democrats won the ideas. Senate Republicans tried to convince America that a 98% approval rate for the President's judicial nominees wasn't good enough. They tried to convince America that the administration's ultra-radical nominees were squarely in line with the mainstream. It didn't work. It didn't work because they are wrong.
Democrats won the American people. 10,000 activists wrote their senators in the last two days. Nearly 1,000 members of People For the American Way sent letters to the editors of local media outlets. Thousands and thousands picked up the phone and called their senators in DC. Those efforts created a groundswell of support for the Democrats blocking those extremist nominees.
Up all night two nights in row to defeat the tyranny of the majority. Now they can rest and prepare for the next battle, because this one's over.
They won.
