QUICK STAT:

IN 1983 20.1% OF WORK FORCE BELONGED TO A UNION.

IN 2004 12.5% OF WORK FORCE WERE UNION MEMBERS.

I HEAR THAT TRAIN A'COMING

Abramoff Reportedly Negotiating a Deal in Which He Would Plead Guilty, Testify

Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, facing trial on fraud charges Jan. 9 in Florida, is negotiating a possible deal with the Justice Department, in which he would agree to plead guilty and cooperate in the wide-ranging political corruption investigation focused on his dealings with members of Congress and executive branch officials, people familiar with the talks said last night.

Abramoff would provide testimony about numerous members of Congress and their staffs if he and the Justice Department reach an agreement, the sources said. Negotiations have been ongoing for several months, people knowledgeable about the discussions said, but pressure is mounting because of the pending trial.

Abramoff's co-defendant in that case, Adam Kidan, agreed last week to plead guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud, and to testify against his former business partner. Abramoff would face significant jail time in any plea deal, the sources said.

The pressure on Abramoff to reach a deal increased with Kidan's plea and the November guilty plea by another Abramoff business partner -- public relations executive Michael Scanlon.

WHY DO THEY LIE? . . .BECAUSE THEY CAN'T STAND THE TRUTH

The right-wing outlet NewsMax sums up the basic argument:

During the 1990's under President Clinton, the National Security Agency monitored millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries under a super secret program code-named Echelon…all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks.

That's flatly false. The Clinton administration program, code-named Echelon, complied with FISA. Before any conversations of U.S. persons were targeted, a FISA warrant was obtained. CIA director George Tenet testified to this before Congress.

LOGIC ISN'T WASTED ON THIS RIGHTIE

December 21, 2005 - NASCAR

Duplicity by Dems

The Democrats in our Legislature used blackmail. They said that if I-912 passed, everyone could forget the new NASCAR track. But I-912 didn't pass - and now they are coming up with excuses for why the track should never happen.

Does anyone truly believe that they ever intended to approve that track? What part of "only taxes generated by the track will be used to pay off the bonds" do the liberals not understand? If it isn't built, there will be no new taxes. If it is built, the new taxes will be pure gravy to the taxpayers after 25 years when the bonds are paid off.

I just wish that the lefties would come out and say why they don't want that track. The reason, of course, is that like Christians and our military personnel, who they also dislike, NASCAR fans are generally conservative and vote Republican.

G. E. B. - Port Orchard

The above Letter to the Editor was in the 12/21/05 edition of the Kitsap Sun. I haven't said much about the NASCAR Track in Kitsap County except that I don't want any TAXES used to pay for it. But this letter caught my eye and need to talk about it.

First. . .NASCAR is a 3-4 BILLION DOLLAR Company that wants to build a similar track in New York for over $650 million dollars, the Kitsap track is about $350 million. The difference is that NASCAR will pay THE WHOLE COST OF NEW YORK unlike here they want us to pay half.

How does that make you feel.

The writer says What part of 'only taxes generated by the track will be used to pay off the bonds' do the liberals not understand? If it isn't built, there will be no new taxes. If it is built, the new taxes will be pure gravy to the taxpayers after 25 years when the bonds are paid off.

I have yet to hear anyone explain how this so called "TRACK TAX" is defined. What makes anyone feel that NASCAR will be around in 25 years. I've heard that each year the race schedule is redone and there is no guarantee that there will be a race scheduled here until it has been finalized.

Then the writer goes all bananas with the following.

I just wish that the lefties would come out and say why they don't want that track. The reason, of course, is that like Christians and our military personnel, who they also dislike, NASCAR fans are generally conservative and vote Republican.

This guy has now gone from making an argument that I disagree with which simply means we disagree. . .no big deal. To the standard TALKING POINTS of the FAR RIGHT. The "they hate everything and everyone crowd."

How the HELL Christians and the Troops figure in this race track takes a sick kind of logic. The kind of logic that worries me because there is NO LOGIC and there can never be an honest and open debate with such a closed mind.

NO WORDS NEEDED

PRETTY GOOD JOKE

Don't know who said it.

* Forgive your enemies but remember their names. . . .

SAVES ON TAPE

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning.

"Does the sun rise in the north?" she asked.

When another person jumped in and explained that the sun rises in the east (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that stuff."