US: myth of the two party system Would America look much different if Republican John McCain had beaten Democrat Barack Obama to become president? Cindy Sheehan Last Modified: 31 Oct 2010 17:05 GMT "The two-party system has given this country the war of Lyndon Johnson, the Watergate of Nixon and the incompetence of Carter. Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts." —Eugene J. McCarthy, 1978 If John McCain were president right now, we can never be exactly sure what would be happening, but I think we can make some educated speculations. First of all, the "banksters" would be receiving their carte blanche bailouts and Ben Bernanke would have been re-appointed as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Robert Gates would probably still be the secretary of defence and Sarah Palin would be offering late night comedians endless fodder for their monologues. If John McCain happened to be the one infesting the Oval Office at this time, single-payer health care would surely be "off the table". I am confident that a health care "reform" bill probably would have contained massive giveaways to the insurance and big pharmaceutical industries, with no "robust" public option. We citizens would, I’m sure, have been forced to purchase insurance from the very same insurance companies that spread out a largess of nearly $170m lobbying dollars to Congress in 2009. If we are one of the "lucky ones" that happen to already have coverage, we would have been taxed for the benefit. McCain and 'justice' Without a doubt, McCain’s Justice Department would be protecting war criminals - like John Yoo - of the preceding administration and the McCain Department of Justice (DOJ) would probably be vigorously defending the discriminatory practise of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell for the military. More than likely, under this nightmarish scenario, McCain’s Federal Bureau of Investigation would be committing home invasion break-ins (designated as "legal raids") to intimidate activists. See more here: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/2010103175555761506.html
PINELLAS COUNTY --
Pinellas County residents have been noticing a white, chalky film appearing on dishes in their dishwashers.
"I bought a new dishwasher, a new hot water heater, and my dishes are still covered in this white film," homeowner Paul Toth said.
"We have to get out the Dawn, fill up the sink, get out the scrubby pad and literally sit here and do it the old fashioned way," Toth said. "I'm one of those guys, you don't like to do things twice if you don't have to. It's almost gotten to the point where I'm going 'Why we are using the dishwasher anymore because it's not working?'"
At appliances stores like APSCO on East Bay in Clearwater, salesman Bobby McDearmon is hearing many of the same complaints.
"It's unbelievable. Somebody buys a nice, top of the line dish washer, something with a stainless steel interior and then a couple of months later they're in here yelling and screaming because it's not performing properly," McDearmon said.
His store has started giving away free samples of a product called 'Lemi-Shine' with every new dishwasher they sell.
"We actually got ahold of the company that makes it so we can give it out as a free sample, just because we know the hard water is so bad with the types of soap that are available to us today," McDearmon said.
While the water in Pinellas County does have a lot of minerals in it, the county's utilities director Robert Powell says the water isn't completely to blame.
"Looking at all the data, there hasn't been any significant change in the water that we're delivering to customers since 2002. The big change that has occurred has been on the detergent side of the picture," Powell said.
Powell said in response to states banning detergents with phosphates in them, companies have lowered the amount of phosphate in the detergents we buy. Phosphates help keep dishes spotless, but when they drain into waterways they can cause an overgrowth of vegetation that can kill wildlife.
Powell said the minerals that cause the white, chalky film on the dishes are not harmful to consumers.
"It's an aesthetic issue, not a health issue at all," Powell said.
Is anyone here thinking?