Semo.net Weblog » Political/Government

In Case You Missed It: American Flag Removed As “Offensive”

Brian Becker — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:15:58 +0000

Just after Memorial Day, a story brewed that didn’t seem to get much airplay. A woman had a 3×5 foot flag hanging behind her desk in her office, an office she shared with three other supervisors. She came to work one day and was told the flag had been taken down because it was offensive to several employees.

For the entire story go to: Fox News

Swine Flu Info Much Better Now

Brian Becker — Thu, 07 May 2009 12:52:23 +0000

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services has added much more detailed information about the probable and confirmed cases of Swine Flu in Missouri. I would like to publicly thank them for changing how they release the information to the public for probable cases. For More Information: http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BT_Response/_SwineFlu09.html

Do the Policies of Poplar Bluff Schools Promote the Spread of Infectious Disease?

Heather Nagy — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:00:25 +0000

As a parent of a child in the Poplar Bluff R-1 School District, I have always had concerns about some policies that seem to promote school attendance for sick children. The recent swine flu epidemic has prompted me to express my concerns publicly. As of today, 430 schools in the US have closed. Our government is recommending any school with confirmed cases stay closed for at least 14 days because children can be contagious for 7 – 10 days. The CDC is advocating standard, common sense precautions in order to stop the spread of the disease. Per the director of the CDC, “If your children are sick, have a fever and flu-like illness, they shouldn’t go to school.” Maybe if more people followed this advice, we wouldn’t have to close schools in the first place.
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Why Won’t They Say Where?

Brian Becker — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:16:50 +0000

[Update: As of late Saturday, the Missouri Dept of Health and Senior Services released that the two probable cases are from Howard County.]

I’ve been trying to help our online community by providing Swine Flu information for Missouri as it becomes available. However, it has been frustrating to say the least because the Missouri state agencies responsible for releasing the information won’t be specific. It took scouring several posts to find that the first probable case was near Kansas City.

Yesterday, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced that two more probable cases were discovered in “Central Missouri” (a 50,000 square mile target) but no specific counties or cities have been named. The official reason for not releasing more information is found in the following quote:
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Polo & Patience

Brian Becker — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 14:58:45 +0000

CNN Reported today:

The sport of polo needs new oversight to protect its prized horses, the nation’s largest animal protection organization said after reports that a pharmacy’s mistake with medication may have killed 21 animals. “This tragedy has brought to light the absence of drug policies and regulation within the sport of polo,” said Keith Dane, director of equine protection for the Humane Society of the United States.

This is the precise reason that our country gets in trouble. Read the rest of this article…

Injustice For One Creates Disenfranchisement For Many

Brian Becker — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:27:52 +0000

I was watching the television on November 3rd as Ted Stevens flew home to cast his vote and thought, “You arrogant, man. Withdraw from the race! Have some dignity!” Now a Federal Judge has set aside his conviction and started a new investigation of the prosecutors. [read more]

This man, a 40-year Alaskan veteran of the senate, apparently lost his U.S. Senate seat because of the allegations and now we find out the evidence was withheld and even fabricated. It is difficult to imagine that the 4000 vote margin of loss was not the result of the conviction coupled with media outcry. An outcry which included the Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates (who was also Steven’s Governor) making public statements that Steven’s should step down.

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Open Access Wins in Australia’s New Fiber Network

Brian Becker — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:11:28 +0000

Today Australia’s Government announced its intent to create a private/public company to build a 100mb/s Ethernet service to 90% of the homes in the country. The new network, with the government owning at least a 51 percent stake, will bring a fiber-to-the-home network with Open Access rules similar to what Poplar Bluff’s City Cable did with Internet access in 2005. [read more]

I Called My Senators…For The First Time Ever

Brian Becker — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:14:12 +0000

I’ve never done this before, but today I called my senators and representative of the U.S. Congress.

I’ve been reading about this “stimulus bill” and I don’t like it. Two weeks ago I saw the mayor of Virginia Beach on the television and he was trying to get part of the stimulus package for his town. He said that for $3.4 million he could employ 11 new employees to repaint their water treatment plant. WHAT? $308,000 is the going rate for a painter these days? Give me $3.4 million dollars and I can employ 50 new people and bring broadband internet to all the places in Southeast Missouri that don’t have it.
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Selling Short, Speculating, Gambling, Investing & Greed

Brian Becker — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 18:48:40 +0000

“Selling Short is a natural part of Capitalism.”

When I heard this statement come through my TV speakers, I shouted back at the bobbing head on the screen. I couldn’t disagree more with that statement.

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Men In Black and Life Lessons

Brian Becker — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:18:25 +0000

I have been introducing my boys to FBB (Flicks Before Birth) over the past year. Rediscovering some of my favorites movies has been great family fun. The other night we were watching Men In Black and I heard a quote that I missed the first time I watched this movie (I was probably getting a popcorn refill at the time). Agent K, Tommy Lee Jones, was filling in Will Smith’s character about the existence of aliens on planet earth:
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