Two of the leading Democratic candidates for president will compete head-to-head tonight for money and support from the same pro-Israel group. Senator Clinton and John Edwards are scheduled to appear at a dinner for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square. Mrs. Clinton will deliver the keynote speech, while Mr. Edwards is expected to work the crowd at ...

NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. Senator Joe Biden spent his first day as an official presidential candidate regretting his description of Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama as "clean" and explaining why he had dissed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.

Soon after announcing Wednesday that he’s running for president again, Senator Joe Biden was defending himself. The Delaware Democrat was quizzed about remarks he’d made about three other Democratic hopefuls: Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and former Senator John Edwards.

Senator immediately faces questions over comments about colleagues Sen. Joe Biden spent his first day as an official presidential candidate explaining why he had described Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama as “clean,” and why he had dissed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.

Now is the time for peace talks when considering what to do about the Iraq War. Some troops should be sent home, the rest should be redeployed to safe areas near Iraq’s borders to stop the introduction of dangerous materiel and men from entering Iraq and to be prepared for extreme crises within Iraq.  While this occurs peace talks should start and be ongoing for as long as it takes for peace to begin to take hold.  Around the peace table should be representatives of all Iraqi sects, representatives from all the adjacent countries and neighboring Arab countries with an experienced and skilled diplomat of a neutral country at the head.

In forthcoming blog entries, I will seek to post more information about the VA Healthcare System, benefits that are or should be available to our vets, and other comments about Universal Healthcare, and the Iraq war’s impact on Vets.

I propose that we need not re-invent the wheel in order to have a universal health care system in the U.S. We already have a huge integrated health care system operating – the VA.

Below is a little information on the computerized records system that is already being used.

A relatively modest addendum to the law authorizing the Americorps national service program, to allow those owing the federal government student loan debt to work it off in part-time installments as modest as a couple of hours per week, would help both recent college graduates and the disadvantaged, at a manageable cost to the national budget.

Many of us probably shop at grocery stores that supply plastic bags for your produce selections and electronic scales that print out a sticker with the weight & price of the fruit or vegetables.  Instead of using a separate plastic bag for each produce item here’s a good way to reduce your usage.

1. Get a paper bag when you enter the store or use a cloth/polyprop bag you brought from home.

2. Weigh each type of produce and print out a price sticker for each type.

3. Put your ALL produce directly in the bag.

I know I’m beating a drum, but this is vital to America and we can’t get people to pay attention. The USDA (Dept. of Agriculture) is trying to implement a program that would identify every place that keeps animals, houses animals, shows animals, or just plain has a pet. The animals would need to be identified (preferably by RFID chip) and reported every time they move off property. The USDA says that it’s a voluntary program, but they are paying states to make it mandatory. They are already threatening to stop interstate shipping if they don’t compliance.