Running out of gas and food...world wide!

WHEN WILL WE NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD GAS AND FOOD? ________________________
GOOD MORNING FLINT!
BY Terry Bankert 5/14/08 EARLY EDITION
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362 ___________________________
Full article at http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/
Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=28540#28540 __________________________

REFLECTIONS: In this morphed article of our psudeo leaders and their gimmick act to stop adding to our near full oil reserves in this country ,reaffirms my conviction America is in trouble for want of leadership. How many food riots, permanently parked hummers and dead children for lack of health care will it take before our country, leaders and you WAKE UP. [TRB]

REPUBLICANS ARE WORRIED, ARE THEY WAKING UP? NOT A CHANCE! Said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, a member of the GOP leadership."We are talking to people out there. We are out there. People are really worried. They are worried about the high cost of food [and] transportation," she said.[c]

EVEN THE GOVERNMENT CANNOT AFFORD THE PRICE OF GAS. The House and Senate demanded on Tuesday that President Bush halt the shipment of oil to the country’s strategic petroleum reserve as long as oil prices remain high.[n] The Senate voted 97-1 to force the Bush administration to stop acquiring oil to store in an emergency stockpile, handing a bipartisan rebuke to the president.[w]

BUSH ASKS FILLER UP, HOW ABOUT THEM WINDOWS The House of Representatives voted to direct the Bush administration to stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve temporarily in an effort to alleviate increasing gas prices.[c]

GIVE THESE GUYS AND GALS A CIGAR OR THE BRASS RING... A Democratic proposal to impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies and roll back tax breaks for the industry and new protections against price-gouging is expected to face a Republican-led filibuster when it reaches the Senate floor, perhaps next week. [l] The Senate, jittery about a political backlash over the rising price of gasoline, voted by a veto-proof majority today to halt deliveries to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over President Bush's objections.[l] The House is expected to follow suit later today.[l]

IT DID STOP PUTTING OIL UNDERGROUND “Sticking oil underground is wrong at this point in time,” Senator Byron Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said as he urged approval of a measure offered by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader.[n]

WHY ARE WE STILL WORRIED ABOUT ARAB OIL CUT OFF The Senate voted, 97 to 1, to tell President Bush to halt the shipments to the strategic reserve, the supply of just over 700 million barrels that is stored in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast. The reserve is meant to protect the United States against a disastrous sudden cutoff of oil supplies, like the Arab embargo of the 1970s.[n] Tuesday evening, by a vote of 385 to 25, the House passed legislation that would suspend deliveries to the stockpile while the price of oil was above $75 a barrel, a measure that is similar to the Senate’s. [n]

BUSH SAYS KEEP PUTTING OIL UNDERGROUND The Bush administration has opposed the measures. Given the sentiment in the two legislative chambers, any veto of the measure by President Bush would probably be overridden. But the Senate measure is part of another bill, while the House version is a stand-alone item, so there are some procedural hurdles that must be overcome before the oil-cutoff move can emerge from the full Congress. [n] "Why on earth should we be putting oil underground at a time of record high prices?" Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), the measure's chief sponsor, argued.[l]

BUSH SAY WHY BOTHER ITS JUST A DROP IN THE BARREL President Bush has argued that the 70,000 barrels a day now being added to the reserve is insignificant, compared with the country’s overall consumption of oil. On that point, even some supporters of Mr. Reid’s measure agreed. The United States consumes just under 21 million barrels of oil a day, according to the Energy Department.[n]

CONGRESS IS WORRIED FOR THEIR OWN SKINS, RIGHTFULLY! But members of Congress, who, unlike Bush, face reelection, are anxious to show they are doing something to respond to the high prices, even though there is little they can do in the short term to provide relief. Suspending deliveries to the reserve is a modest step that some supporters say could save motorists 2 to 5 cents a gallon, perhaps more.[l]

REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SAY ... BUSH WHO! Tuesday's vote marks a break between Republicans in Congress and Mr. Bush, whose popularity has sunk in the waning months of his term. The lone vote in support of Mr. Bush came from Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who plans to retire this year.[w]

WILL SYMBOLISM FEED MY HUMMER? Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, conceded that stopping the shipments to the reserve might be largely a symbolic step. Even so, he said, “this is one little thing we can do, and I think we should go ahead and do it.”[n]

JUST ANOTHER PART OF THE WAR ON TERRORISM The president has argued that shipments to the reserve, which is now about 97 percent full, should be continued until the stockpile reaches its capacity of 727 million barrels. But most lawmakers said the 70,000 barrels a day, while only a tiny fraction of America’s daily consumption, would be better used to add supplies to the overall market, especially with oil now trading for more than $120 a barrel in the spot and futures markets.[n]

BUSHES MIDEAST BUDDIES WANT TO SELL US MORE OIL President Bush was preparing to depart for the Middle East on Tuesday, and there was no immediate word from the White House about whether Mr. Bush would definitely veto the oil measure.[n]

ALLARD THINKS OIL AND WATER MIX Only Senator Wayne Allard, a Colorado Republican who is not seeking re-election, voted against the measure, which took the form of an amendment to a flood insurance bill that was approved by a vote of 92 to 6.[n]

KEEP THE DRILLING Mr. Reid called the petroleum-reserve cutoff “a good first step” and said Republicans “must abandon their shortsighted strategy of ‘drill, drill, drill.’ ”[n] Shortly after the vote, Senate Democrats introduced legislation, timed to coincide with the president’s trip to the Middle East, to stop a scheduled arms sale to Saudi Arabia unless that country steps up its oil production.[n]

LOOK INTO HIS SOUL AND YOU’LL SEE THE BOWLES OF HELL “When the President meets with King Abdullah on Friday, we cannot settle for a smile, or a handshake, or even a glimpse into his soul,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York. “We need a commitment to pump more oil. If Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries do not substantially increase production, we in Congress will block their lucrative arms deals.”[n]

IF CHENY WANTS IT HE’S MAKING MONEY OFF OF IT Both the president and Vice President Dick Cheney have called on the Saudis to increase their output of oil.[n]

WHY WASTE OIL ON THE POLAR BEARS Earlier Tuesday, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican minority leader, that would have opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. That proposal, which needed 60 yes votes on a procedural motion to move ahead, got only 42, while 56 Senators voted no, effectively killing the amendment. [n] Drilling in the refuge could produce a million barrels of oil a day and "reduce gasoline prices by 14 times the price reduction achieved by redirecting oil from the SPR," said House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio and Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri in a letter Monday to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.[c]

LETS RIP OFF THE WESTEREN STATES The Republicans also proposed tapping reserves in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, where an estimated 1.5 trillion barrels of oil shale exist.[c] However, Pelosi argued that more drilling is not the answer, saying drilling on federal lands has increased over the years without affecting gas prices. She also said opening the arctic refuge for drilling would only provide six months of oil -- 10 years from now.[c]

DEMS ACCOUNTED FOR..... MCCAIN MISSING IN ACTION Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois interrupted their campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination to vote to halt shipments to the petroleum reserve. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, was not present.[n]

CAN I FILL UP MY CAR AT ONE OF THESE CAVES? The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a network of salt caverns along the Gulf Coast where the government began stockpiling oil in the wake of the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo. For months, the administration has defended its policy of adding to the reserve, even as oil prices surged, on national-security grounds. In a news conference two weeks ago, President Bush cited the risk of a terrorist attack by al Qaeda on oil facilities, saying such attacks would have a significant impact on the U.S. economy.[w] "The SPR is an insurance policy," said Keith Hennessey, a top economic-policy adviser to Mr. Bush. "Just because your budget is being squeezed doesn't mean you stop paying your insurance policy."[w]

THIS....IS ALL WE GET...GET RID OF ALL OF THESE FOOLS The action, supported by the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, comes as high fuel costs have contributed to the nation's economic woes and become a hot issue on the campaign trail. It could be the only legislation that Congress passes this year in response to public angst at the fuel pump because of the parties' differences over energy issues.[l]

WHEN WILL YOU GET ANGRY AND OFF YOUR BUTT $4.00 PER GALLON OF $6.00 PER GALLON, MABEY $8.00...ITS COMING The measure's approval came as the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline hit a record of more than $3.73, up from $3.07 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Assn.[l] UPDATE — 6 p.m. — White House spokesman Scott Stanzel told me by e-mail that the president "will not veto legislation based on the SPR provision, which is what he was signaling today."[w] "He maintains his view that halting the filling of the reserve will not have a meaningful impact on oil prices or gas prices. The Senate made clear today that they want to attempt that measure," Mr. Stanzel said. "The president hopes that this vote on the SPR will not distract members of Congress from the things they could be doing that would actually make a difference for the future, like opening up new domestic supply in an environmentally sensitive way in ANWR [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] and the OCS [Outer Continental Shelf]."[w].....MORON...

Posted here by Terry Bankert ... 5/13/08

Family Mediation and Divorce Practice. http://attorneybankert.com/
Join my political party of preference, http://www.michigandems.com/join.html
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362
Link here for a re broadcast OF THE 5/3/08 GOOD MORNING FLINT ON FLINT TALK RADIO http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=113134&cmd=apop FLINT TALK POD CAST LIBERAL AND LIVE To watch the live show on Saturday at 10 am http://www.flinttalkradio.com/ Flint Talk Radio archive of shows done live. http://www.stickam.com/viewMovieGallery.do?uId=175398425 FLINT TALK RADIO WHICH INCLUDES THE SATURDAY MORNING WFLT 1420 AM SHOW. The 5/10/08 lost the video so it is available only here http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=18053&cmd=tc

---WHERE DID THIS STUFF COME FROM--

[n] The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/business/14oil.html?ref=us

[w] The Washington Times http://video1.washingtontimes.com/potusnotes/2008/05/bush_reverses_opposition_to_su.html

[L] The Los Angles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-oil14-2008may14,0,7121752.story [w] The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121069489043288599.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[c] CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/13/congress.oil/

[TRB] COMMENTS OF TERRY BANKERT TO INCLUDE CAP HEADLINES. http://attorneybankert.com/
55426/13811

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VACCINE COURT HEARS AUTISM CASE, ITS ABOUT CHILDREN....

Autism testimony resumes in vaccine court[c]
________________________
GOOD MORNING FLINT! BY Terry Bankert 5/13/08
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362 ___________________________
Full article at http://goodmorningflint.blogspot.com/
Flint Talk http://flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=28524#28524 __________________________

Under a two-decades-old program, individuals claiming injury from a vaccine must file a petition for "no-fault" compensation with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The secretary of Health and Human Services replaces the vaccine manufacturer or vaccine administrator to defend the claim.[w]

AN ARGUMENT FOR GOVERNMENTAL REGULATION For the second time this year, families claiming that vaccinations triggered autism in their young children will head to a federal court to determine whether they are eligible to collect damages from the government. [a] Parents claiming that childhood vaccines cause autism should not be rewarded by the courts when the scientific community has already rejected any link, government lawyers argued Monday on the first day of a hearing in federal court. [w] The attorneys for the two boys said that a study in monkeys showed that mercury could ignite "neuroinflammation" in the brain, and such inflammation is the hallmark of somebody with autism. They also noted that previous studies of thimerosal were focused on autism, rather than on a more rare, specific form of the disorder that they described as regressive autism. [w]

Two families are serving as test cases in this second of a three-phase review of evidence being examined by a special federal court intended to compensate victims of injuries caused by vaccines. Nearly 5,000 other autism claims are pending in the court. [c] Under the vaccine compensation program, officials titled special masters serve as the trial judges. The hearing that began Monday involved three special masters who will hear the evidence and determine whether thimerosal belongs on the list of causes for regressive autism. The rulings are appealable to the Court of Federal Claims. [w]

If the families are successful, they could be entitled to damages that cover lost income after one turns 18 and up to $250,000 for pain and suffering. [w] The United States Court of Federal Claims began another hearing on Monday to decide whether a vaccine additive led thousands of children to become autistic.[n] The United States Court of Federal Claims (COFC) is a court that hears claims against the United States government. The court is established pursuant to Congress's authority under Article One of the United States Constitution. Unlike judges of courts established under Article Three of the United States Constitution, judges on the Court of Federal Claims do not have lifetime tenure. Instead, the judges serve for a term of fifteen years, and are eligible for reappointment. The judges of the court are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a term of fifteen years.[w1]

For more information and link to the Court site go to [cc]

CHILDHOOD VACCINE+MERCURY=AUTISM The hearing is the second in a series of three in which the court is considering whether the government should pay millions of dollars to the parents of some 4,800 autistic children. In this hearing, parents are claiming that thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury, damaged their children’s brains. Thimerosal was removed from all routinely administered childhood vaccines by 2001. [n]

The parents are seeking compensation because the vaccines contained thimerosal, a mercury-derived compound they say helped bring on regressive autism, in which normally developing children suddenly exhibit learning disorders and behavioral problems, typically between ages 1 and 2.[c] Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Medical experts don't have a comprehensive understanding of what causes autism, but they do know there is a strong hereditary component. [w] Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single doses. The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are available only in limited quantities. [w]

Testimony resumed Monday in a long-running case involving thousands of children with autism that their parents contend was triggered by an early childhood vaccination.[c]

WHY HAVE THE PARENTS INSTINCT PERSISTED Every major study and scientific organization to examine the issue has found no link between vaccination and autism, but the parents and their advocates have persisted.[n] The first witness for the families, Sander Greenland, a professor at the UCLA School of Public Health, said published studies he reviewed failed to separate regressive autism from other types of autism when looking at thimerosal, thus they allow for a substantial association of the vaccines with clearly regressive autism. [w]

DRUG SCARES, CHILDREN AND SPECIAL COURTS TO PROTECT THE DRUG INDUSTRY The claims are being heard in a special court set up by Congress 20 years ago when a series of scares nearly crippled the vaccine industry. The hearing is expected to last two to three weeks, and a decision is not expected until next year.[n]

A CRACK IN THE DAMN PROTECTING THE REGULATED Almost absent from this hearing and the others in the series is any discussion of the case of Hannah Poling, an autistic 9-year-old from Athens, Ga., who the government conceded last year might have been injured by vaccines. Vaccine critics say the concession gives strong evidence that vaccines cause autism, but government officials say the case proves nothing regarding the safety of vaccines.[n]

The theory that vaccines or thimerosal can cause autism is not accepted by many medical experts, including the Institute of Medicine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Multiple scientific studies also have not proved a link.[c]

WHAT DO KIDS FROM ATHENS AND PORTLAND HAVE IN COMMON, THIMERSOAL The experiences of two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Ore., are at the center of the latest hearing. The boys, William Mead and Jordan King, were developing normally until they were vaccinated, said Thomas Powers, a lawyer representing them.[n] Lawyers for these families maintain that the boys were developing normally until they were exposed to vaccines containing thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury. After receiving these vaccinations, the attorneys say, the boys began to show symptoms of autism — a developmental disability characterized by difficulty in communicating and interacting with others. [a]

But a buildup of mercury in their brains from vaccines containing thimerosal led the boys to regress, Mr. Powers contended.[n] The claims for the two boys are test cases being heard to determine whether parents in thousands of similar cases should receive compensation. Last summer, Mr. Powers presented before the special court the test case of Michelle Cedillo, who Mr. Powers claimed was injured by both vaccines containing thimerosal and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella, which did not contain thimerosal. [n]

A ROOM FULL OF LAWYERS WILL MAKE A MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS Next summer, the court will hear a test case in which lawyers will argue that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine was the sole cause of autism. [n]

LAWYERS SPEAK..... In his opening remarks, family attorney Thomas Powers disputed what he said is the government's focus on defending the nation's vaccination program.[c] "This case is not about the science of vaccines. It is not anti-vaccine," Powers told a panel of three "special masters."[c] "It's on a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, that today is largely a relic of history," he said. Thimerosal was removed from infant vaccines in 1999.[c] U.S. Justice Department attorney Lynn Ricciardella presented the government's opening remarks.[c] "In the six years since the U.S. Court of Federal Claims created this proceeding, petitioners have not moved beyond their hypothesis," Ricciardella said.[c]

"The debate is over," she concluded, "the credible scientific community has rejected it.[c] Ricciardella argued that a marketing consultant fanned publicity about the supposed link between thimerosal and autism in a journal called Medical Hypothesis. She described the journal as willing to publish radical ideas, so long as they are coherent. She also said the authors pay to have the article published. [w] But Powers said those questioning conventional wisdom in the case cannot be easily dismissed. [w] "These are doctors who are willing to challenge the establishment on behalf of their patients," Powers said. [w]

But Powers, speaking with reporters during a midday break, said the government's defense rests largely on research done no later than 2004. "There are at least 35 studies, peer-reviewed and published," that the families hope to showcase through expert testimony, he said.[c]

JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED Plaintiffs and their lawyers have sought for years to delay hearings on their vaccine claims, hoping new research or government data would bolster their arguments. But with each passing year, the claim that thimerosal had an important effect on children has become harder to sustain. Its removal has appeared to have no effect on autism rates.[n] This phase of the litigation is scheduled to run three weeks. Each phase involves a look at representative cases of children with autism and their medical history to help the special masters determine whether there is a link between their disabilities and thimerosal-containing vaccines that would warrant compensation.[c]

The court Web site says more than 12,500 claims have been filed since creation of the program in 1987, including more than 5,300 autism cases, and more than $1.7 billion has been paid in claims. It says there is now more than $2.7 billion in a trust fund supported by an excise tax on each dose of vaccine covered by the program.[w]

Posted here by Terry Bankert ... 5/13/08
Family Mediation and Divorce Practice. http://attorneybankert.com/

Join my political party of preference, http://www.michigandems.com/join.html
Join me in creating a new voice in The Michigan Democratic Party, become a Precinct Delegate. http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Aff-ID_Precnt_139901_7.pdf
You are invited to join me at Face Book http://www.facebook.com/people/Terry_Bankert/645845362
Link here for a re broadcast OF THE 5/3/08 GOOD MORNING FLINT ON FLINT TALK RADIO http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=113134&cmd=apop FLINT TALK POD CAST LIBERAL AND LIVE To watch the live show on Saturday at 10 am http://www.flinttalkradio.com/ Flint Talk Radio archive of shows done live. http://www.stickam.com/viewMovieGallery.do?uId=175398425
FLINT TALK RADIO WHICH INCLUDES THE SATURDAY MORNING WFLT 1420 AM SHOW. The 5/10/08 lost the video so it is available only here http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=18053&cmd=tc

— where did this stuff come from---
[a] ABC NEWS http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Autism/story?id=4836331&page=1
[w] The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051200174.html
[n] The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/health/13vaccine.html?ref=worldbusiness [trb] Comments of Terry Bankert to include unattributed CAP headlines http://attorneybankert.com/
[c] CNN http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/05/12/autism.vaccine.case/
[w1] Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Federal_Claims
[cc] Federal Court of Claims http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/ background on Autism at http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/node/4428

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