Cox radio stations in Florida are reporting that half-assed socialist RINO Mel Martinez is resigning his Senate seat. More to follow.
Captain Scott Speicher and three other pilots took off in their F/A-18s from the deck of the USS Saratoga. It was January 17, 1991, the first night of the Gulf War. As they flew their bombing mission over Iraq, one of the other pilots saw Speicher’s plane hit by anti-aircraft fire. He was assumed to be the first American killed in the war.
His status was later changed to missing, then captured, then missing again. Just before the start of the war against Iraq, we reported that there were hopes he was alive in Baghdad. Folks here in home town of Jacksonville set up a website, raised funds and helped the family pressure for information.
Scott Speicher
Speicher’s widow, Joanne, later married Buddy Harris, another ex-Navy pilot and continued to live in Jacksonville. They raised Scott’s children, and had children of their own, but kept hearing haunting stories. Every few weeks, they would hear from someone that Scott was still alive. There were reports that an Iraqi doctor had examined him, and stories of recovered pistols that may have belonged to Scott. Then they learned that Scott’s plane had not been blown apart in the sky.
The New York Times reported Qataris had found Speicher’s Hornet sitting almost intact in the Iraqi desert. There was a man made symbol drawn near the ejection seat. It was the type of symbol pilots draw when they leave the aircraft and seek shelter, although it was not the symbol that had been assigned to Speicher. There was also the story of an Iraqi who drove an American pilot to Baghdad.
Sadly, today, we learn those stories were inaccurate. U.S. Marines were led to a site near the crashed aircraft where they found remains that the Pentagon now says are those of Speicher.Identification was made by dental records.
The family says it will await DNA testing before making a comment other than to say they thank the Department of Defense for not giving up on Scott. High school friends say they are sorry to learn of his death , but thankful that he was not held in captivity and tortured.
Jacko’s role in Burton film finally revealed!
Jacko as ape woman
In an exclusive interview with Paxety Pages, director Tim Burton revealed to correspondent Mahone Dunbar the shocking news that Michael Jackson had a starring role
, unheralded until now, in his epic remake of Planet of the Apes, featuring Mark Walberg. (Planet Of The Apes was Burton’s dark metaphor of the future of race relations in the United States:for example, among many visual clues he gives, Burton has little ape children gleefully shooting hoops on a residential street, an obvious reference to darker-hued urban youth invading suburbia).
“I was intrigued by Jacko’s work in “The Wiz,” Burton said last week over biscuits and tea. “He had a vital and unique animalistic quality that I thought could capture the nature of an ape woman. And of course there was his affinity to apes, what with having lived with his own monkey, Bubbles, for so long. The fact that he would require very little makeup to ease into the role – he already had the upturned button nose, the wide nostrils, the permanent eyeliner, the lipstick, the wigs . . . just a couple of cheek implants to puff out the snout a little was all that we needed to add, actually – was just a fortuitous bonus for me as it provided quite a savings on a makeup artist.”
When I asked him why Michael had not been credited for the role until now, he explained: “Just after the film wrapped up, Michael came to me, crying and distraught, and explained that his mother, who is a dedicated religious fundamentalist, had threatened to disown him if he was publically associated with the film. In her Biblical view, man has dominion over animals, and is separate from them, and to show otherwise is unforgivable heresy. Well, like Elvis, Michael revered his mum, so I called Helena Bonham Carter, explained the situation, and asked if she would mind taking credit for the role of Ari, the featured ape woman in the film. She agreed, of course. Now that Michael has passed, I thought it only fair that the world recognize his talent for what it was.”
I emailed Florida’s two senators, Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R). I told both that the federal government had no business messing around with health care, and that I wanted them to take the lead in opposing the legislation currently under consideration. Yeah, I know – fat chance.
Today, I received a reply from Senator Martinez. It’s so half-assed and semi-socialist as to be an excellent illustration of why the repiglican party is in so much trouble.
Thank you for contacting me regarding health care reform. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to take this opportunity to respond.
There are an estimated 45 million Americans without health insurance – a number that has been consistently rising since 1989. This means that one in seven Americans, and one in five under the age of 65 in Florida, is uninsured. The fact that 15 percent of Americans live without health insurance is a staggering state of affairs, especially since we live in a country that leads the world in advanced medical procedures and technology.
Recent health reform discussions have proposed the idea of creating a new government-run public health insurance plan similar to that of Medicare or Medicaid. Independent studies show that 118 million Americans could lose their current health care coverage, and 130 million Americans could end up on a government run health insurance plan if the government sets payment rates at Medicare rates. This runs counter to the President’s promise of allowing Americans who like their health insurance to keep their current policy. I do not believe the solution to this problem can be found by expanding already overextended government programs. Instead we need to promote real competition among private plans to make them demonstrate effectiveness, and compete on quality and cost. Also, an emphasis needs to be placed on promoting wellness and financial incentives for healthy behaviors such as losing weight, and quitting smoking.
There is broad agreement on both sides of the aisle that our current health care system is in need of reform. We need to take action aimed at making the system more affordable, improving the quality of care , and expanding access to all Americans. Americans want a health care system that supports innovation, puts patients and doctors at the center of health care decisions, and allows patients to choose the healthcare plan that best suits their needs.
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful comments with me. If you have any additional questions or comments, please contact me. For more information about issues and activities important to Florida, I invite you to sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Mel Martinez
United States Senator
Here’s what to do Mel – change the tax code to allow individuals to take the deductions their employers now get. All people with pre-existing conditions who cannot buy long-term care plans to have Medial IRAs anyway. Force the states to allow price advertising for both prescriptions and physician office visits. Those things will allow the consumer to make intelligent choices and force the health care system to work in the free market.
At least, though, he replied. Nothing yet from Nelson.