That’s a good place to start.

Buh-bye.

I don’t think missionaries in India count as “close to my circle” last I checked…

Sorry, are you feeding them or converting them?

you’re right about corporate cronies too – Pelosi just pushed through a minimum wage hike, but exempted American Samoa… why? because STARKIST Tuna is the #1 employer there, and their HQ? in Pelosi’s district… and Mr. Pelosi? owns millions in their stock (Del Monte owns Star Kist, Heinz – as in Mr John Kerry Heinz and Therezzza) owns a majority of Del Monte – so … no minimum wage hike for them…. gotta love it. but hey, they’re dark skinned Samoans, so who cares if they toil with fish in the hot sun all day for $3.60 and hour? right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

You might want to look up what your boy Tom DeLay got up to in American Samoa with Jack Abramoff. Forced abortions and slave labor, stuff like that.

And you might think about providing a non-wingnut link showing that American Samoa was exempted for this reason and not for the reason that it has long been exempted from federal wage and hour laws.

indeed born into wealth.. yeah… I was not born into poverty, but I was born into working class, middle class. dad worked 14-16 hrs a day, so anything we made or enjoyed, was through sweat and tears – not inherited – you know, like a Bush or Kennedy… I was working the store by age 8, like my siblings before me.

I was wondering if anybody would take that “Western European” bait – I was chuckling as I wrote that… sorry for having the best combination of socio-economic systems – capitalism, democracy and religious freedom – in which to develop a society… I’m sure you probably have one of those Che T-shirts, probably sad that Fidel Castro is one day closer to hell… right? he’ll be dead in a month or so.

lots of people spear fish or make nets – improvise… don’t wait for the government (who was the racist that wrote ‘gubmint’ earlier, by the way?) to give you a pole too!!! holy mackerel!!

I await your clarion call to abolish subsidized school lunches and tax deductions for dependent children.

You were indeed born into wealth. Your parents and grandparents worked their asses off so you could sit on your government-subsidized ass and criticize people whose birth circumstances weren’t as lucky as yours.

You kinda tipped your hand with the “our Western European” ancestors thing, by the way. Might want to skip over that next time.

but teaching a man to fish does more to help him out of poverty than giving a man a fish

It doesn’t do a damn bit of good when all the fish ponds near him are polluted and he can’t afford a pole.

I’m really not concerned about your reproach, to be quite honest – my kids were not in the programs I volunteered for, so.. nya nya nya nya nyaaa nya…. and I don’t think missionaries in India count as “close to my circle” last I checked…

foodstamp Mary was one of MANY customers we had that ABUSED the system. We were investigated by the state because we had so many food stamp trade-ins for the volume of business we did. (they thought we were buying them at a discount for cash and sending them in, as others had done). Dad explained what was going on, the guy shrugged it off, and we made a sign saying: “no food stamp purchases for less than $0.50″ we were told we could not do that – it was discrimination or some sort of stupidity. so the penny candy parade continued, unabated. Ask anybody that deals with the program – it’s a boondoggle.

if you think that ANY government subsidized program is NOT wrought with fraud, you’re an idiot – look at the BILLIONS of wasted money on Katrina relief.

you’re right about corporate cronies too – Pelosi just pushed through a minimum wage hike, but exempted American Samoa… why? because STARKIST Tuna is the #1 employer there, and their HQ? in Pelosi’s district… and Mr. Pelosi? owns millions in their stock (Del Monte owns Star Kist, Heinz – as in Mr John Kerry Heinz and Therezzza) owns a majority of Del Monte – so … no minimum wage hike for them…. gotta love it. but hey, they’re dark skinned Samoans, so who cares if they toil with fish in the hot sun all day for $3.60 and hour? right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

um – I said that heading up the UW was a big task, to be sure, but I seriously question his motivation for doing it. As I recall, his Red Cross effort was Cincinnati’s 1999 tornado that hit fairly close to his neighborhood and fairly close to our office.

Well, he could certainly question your motivations, too. Certainly, one could question your inclusion of tithing to your church as evidence of your big-heartedness — doesn’t that benefit you and your circle? And your example of teaching kids through the BSA — presumably, you have a kid in one of the troops. That’s close to you, too.

You’ve certainly not demonstrated that you’re above reproach.