patzj1

If a dog runs loose off the chain we call the police or animal control. If a loose dog bites somebody they are "put down". So why is it okay to allow your cats to roam free? You may love your pet but it should not be assumed that everybody else loves your pets. You should also not cry when they get into something that can cause their death. If you loved your cats then you should keep them at home. I have had several hundred dollars worth of damage to my property from cat spray and from a cat getting up in the engine of my car causing the serpentine belt to come off. Also, one of the cats bit my daughter and I had to get her an antibioic that she ended up having a reaction to. I no longer have bird feeders up to enjoy. The neighbor feeds them (all 12) and then they crap on my property. They are filthy, flea ridden, nasty pests; not pets to me. I like cats. I have one that stays inside because I love it. Bleading hearts think that capturing these animals and taking them to the humane shelter or poisoning them is inconceivable but what about the damage they cause? What about the cats that get pregnant every time they can creating more of the same? If I sound bitter it is because I am. Please keep your cats indoors if you love them because not everybody does.

Now, for logical reasons such as you can't get out of debt by spending, I have not been a proponent of the stimulus package. You don't have to be a Republican to understand this, just an everyday citizen. We always hope that logic transcends social and political divides. In trying to obtain stimulus money for my small town, this is the conclusion I have come to.

Stimulus Money for Infrastructure:

Transportation projects along with the water and wastewater projects are not going to create the millions of jobs as touted. In the state of Indiana, for example, the type of projects that are going to get the money are the ones that were already in progress and close to the bidding stage. These jobs were going to exist anyway, not create “new” jobs. And furthermore, small communities are the ones that need these projects done as well and they are getting left in the “stimulus dust”. It takes hundreds of hours of paperwork and thousands of dollars spent on engineering to even get an infrastructure project ready and by then all of the deadlines have passed. That being said, what financial troubled community would even start the process in “hopes” of getting the funding? None!

These types of projects are going to do nothing for the likes of Elkhart County, IN except to create better roads for people to travel to spend their unemployment checks. When an entire community relies on mobile home manufacturing in an economic crisis it only spells disaster. The only thing that will help these people is for the Federal Government to throw a couple of billion dollars, again, for the production of FEMA trailers. Hey, I’ll bet those tent cities popping up all over the country would like a formaldehyde home.

I work in local government in voter registration/election administration and we usually have voter turnout in my county around 65% and up in a Presidential election and only 40% to 50% in a county election and even less in town and city elections. I realize the importance of putting a President in office but local and state government has a much bigger impact on our daily lives than federal government ever will.

Local/state government determine big matters from things like property taxes to the small things like how early we can put the trash out the night before pick-up. I wish people could get more excited about these other election years like they do the Presidential then we could truly be a government for the peple by the people. Do you get involved?

Every time the country has a racial issue the person we seem to here from first is Al Sharpton. Does he really represent the thoughts and feelings of Black America? I ask this question because I get offended when Pat Robertson is the "go to guy" for representing christian conservative values when I am a conservative christian but think he is a tad nuts. When people want to really understand the pulse of Black Americans what leader best represents that? Just curious.

To me the "independent voter" is not affiliated with any party and, of course, independent is not a party. If you vote for a person who represents a party, you are indeed representing a party. A TRUE independent voter should only vote for independent candidates on the ballot just as non-partisan voters should only vote for non-partisan offices. The majority of proclaimed independent voters are actually called "swing voters".

Voting for the "person" and not the "party" also falls into the same catagory. Again, if you believe in a person and their beliefs, then by voting/supporting them you are representing their party affiliation. Do you agree?

While the oil companies claim billions in profits as a slap in the face to consumers, I have yet to hear the real reason for the economically crippling price gouging. People blame it on Bush and the war and I'm not buying it. If the profits are so great, why aren't they fixing our refineries that are not running to full capacity? Is it just greed? Also, I would love one of those hybrid cars but they are not priced low enough for the people that need them the most. Intellegent answers welcome.

Purina has voluntarily recalled some dog food. I think that this will be spread further than anyone thinks. I wouldn't trust ANY pet food that contains wheat gluten. The first animals died back in November of 2006 and product was not even recalled until the end of February. Why? Because of the millions of lost dollars. Well, I don't buy their crap. Did you know that some of the food was not destroyed, but put in feed for cows? How long before this spreads to the human population?

It is disgusting how this food is made and how it all is marketed. Science Diet is no different nutritionally than Old Roy. Notice all of the additives. If the food is so good, why do they have to add so much? Just be aware of what you are feeding your pet. You don't want to lose them like this.

http://www.naturalrearing.com/J_In_Learning/Diet/F...

I have a neighbor that burns garbage. The leftover food kind and he also throws dog crap (yes, dog pooh) in the burn pile as well. He then poors gas to get it going. There usually isn't much flame, just hours and hours of smoldering smoke that blows right in my house. I cannot fully describe to you the disgusting and nausiating smell that permeates my home.

I have been trying to get my town to do something about it since there is an ordinance against burning trash (we are allowed to burn wood). However, in the meantime, is burning such nastiness a health hazard for me?

Obviously the shooter was at large after the first shooting so why wasn't there a campus shutdown or at least law enforcement placed in each classroom immediately until he was captured? 2 hours was plenty of time to do something! It may not have changed the ending much, but at least it would have appeared that everything possible was being done. I just don't understand.

Computer?

Cell Phone?

Television?

MP3 Player?

I probably would pick the Amazing Race with my best friend as my partner. How about you?

I have done the ebay thing with selling and buying but a friend of mine said that it is much better and cheaper on Amazon.

During the winter months I generally do not heat the second floor of my house to save on heating costs (natural gas). I tried using a couple of portable electric heaters to help but they cranked my electric bill up. A kerosene heater, on it's lowest setting, warmed my entire downstairs to where I would have to turn it off and open the upstairs. Kerosene at $3 bucks a pop and the smell kills that idea. So my thinking is that there has to be a reasonable (inexpensive) alternative way to heat during the cold months. I think a corn burner would heat me out of the house. And yes, I have excellent insulation.

So please let me know about the Eden Pure/Sun Twin as to their efficiency.

It is cheaper to buy bags of QuickCrete in larger quantities but I can't necessarily use them right away and need to know how to store the bags so that they don't draw moisture. I have a nice big shed but that won't keep them dry.

Last year I started a new project of making my own concrete bricks with QuickCrete. The idea behind it was to be cost effective and to have retaining walls that don't look like what everyone else has. I made 200 bricks with half concrete color and half tinted charcoal. It turned out really nice. In order to keep the cost down, I can't color all of the concrete with the $5 bottles that you can get at Lowe's. This would defeat my purpose. I am getting ready to tackle my next project of making enough bricks to brick my driveway (about 600). It may take a couple of summers but it will be worth it. I am in desperate need of cheaper tinting!

Last November I purchased a GPX under the counter 7" LCD TV for my kitchen and the remote is small and doesn't work very well so I thought that I would use a universal remote. I searched a ton of websites for codes and GPX is never on the list for a television. My first mistake was buying GPX but the price was right. You get what you pay for huh? I have an old RCA remote so I would buy whatever will work.