conservatives unite

I am Sarah Palin

2008-10-09T09:21:00.008-04:00

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I am Sarah Palin

Barracuda and maverick she is a “get it done gal”
By mg Robbins
Freelance Reporter

Summary
Political party. Republican, social conservative
__________________________________
Political service
1992-1996 Member of the Wasilla City Council
Promised a progressive, competitive attitude to government __________________________________
1996-2002 Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
Platform: wasteful spending, high taxes, abortion,
gun rights, term limits
1st Passed legislation overhauling the state’s
ethics laws
Construction for the gas pipeline
Created the position of City
Administrator
Eliminated the Museum Director position
merging the museum with the library
Fired Police Chief
Reduced her $68,000 salary by 10% - City
Council in 1998 reversed her decision
75% cut in property taxes
Eliminated personal property and
business inventory tax
Road and Sewer improvements
Increased funding to police department
Vetoed new library and city hall
Funding for storm-water treatment
protecting freshwater resources
Elected president of the Alaska Conference
of Mayors
2nd Re-elected by 74%
Construction of a $14m multi-use sports
complex – completed on time & under budget
$8m federal funds secured for Wasilla city
government
$19m for public & private entities in Wasilla
area to include: youth shelter, transportation
hub, sewer repairs, rail project
__________________________________
2003-2004 Chairperson, Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation
Commission, appointed by Mayor Frank
Murkowski; served as Ethics Supervisor.
2003-2005 A director of Ted Stevens Excellence in Public
Service, Inc., providing political training
for Republican women
2004 Resigned from Oil and Gas Commission for “lack of
ethics” filing a complaint against Randy
Ruedrich chair of the Alaska Republican party
doing party rather than oil & gas work and
working closely with a company the commission
regulated. A second complaint of financial conflict
of interest against Gregg Renkes, former attorney
general
Decision not to run for the Senate conflicting with
being a team mom
__________________________________
2006 Elected the 11th governor of Alaska as the youngest
and first woman governor
Platform: a clean-government
1st Enacted a bipartisan ethics reform bill signed in 2007
Competitive process to construct a gas pipeline
Sale of the Westwind II jet
Promoted oil & natural gas resource development
Visited Alaska National Guard in Kuwait
$5b invested in state savings
Overhaul educational funding
Implemented Senior Benefits program
Created Alaska Petroleum Systems Integrity office
Climate Change Sub-cabinet

2007 Signed $6.6b operating budget into law
Cut $237m in construction cost reducing construction
budget to $1.6m
2008 Vetoed $286m from the 2009 capital budget
__________________________________
Aug. 29, 2008 announced as the VP nominee on the Republican
ticket. 1st woman and Alaskan to run on a
presidential Republican ticket.

Policies
NRA lifetime member. Supports Second Amendment
including handgun possession but advocates gun safety
education for youth.

Supports capital punishment.

Supports the classroom discussion of creationism.

Opposes same-sex marriage but vetoed a bill denying
same-sex couples state health benefits as unconstitutional.
Pro-Life – opposing abortion.
__________________________________

Personal
February 11, 1964 born: Sarah Louise Heath,
Sandpoint, Idaho to Sarah Sheeran
and Charles R. Heath.
1964 Family moved to Alaska

Schools
1982 Graduated from Wasilla High School, Wasilla, AK.
Head of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes
Point guard and captain, girls’ basketball team
Nicknamed Sarah “Barracuda” because
of her intense play at sports
1984 Miss Wasilla
1987 University of Idaho graduate with a BS in
Communications-Journalism
Second runner-up Miss Alaska pageant
Awarded “Miss Congeniality” & college scholarship

_________________________________
1988 Eloped with high school sweetheart Todd Palin
Children: Track, b.1989; Willow, b.1995;
Bristol, b 1990; Piper Indy, b 2001;
Trig, b.2001
2007 Track enlisted in the United States Army
2008 Infantry brigade deployed to Iraq for 1 year
Residence. Wasilla, Alaska
Profession. Sportscaster, Homemaker, Politician
Religion. b. Catholic, a non-denominational “Bible believing Christian”, attends Wasilla Bible Church
Website. Gov.state.ak.us

One touts change while the other brings change.
“You want to talk about CHANGE? You should see a before and
after picture of the State government in Alaska, that's
CHANGE!” says Gary “Butch” King a pilot guide and owner
with his wife Kathy of Wildman Lake Lodge located on the
remote frontier, the Alaska Peninsula. King says “when
Sarah moved to Juneau, so did accountability and
responsibility.” He likened the states capital
to a “bunch of freshmen in a college town.” Once the oil
started flowing so did the money and at $100/bbl,
King likened legislators to “drunken sailors.”

First to go was former governor Frank Murkowski’s state
jet utilized by state employees. However, Perry Green, retired
business owner of David Green, Master Furrier, Anchorage says
Murkowski “was a good man “who tried to cut the state budget
and fiscally turn the state around.” Green says Murkowski did
things that were not popular and it afforded Sarah Palin perfect
timing to seek the governor’s office due to misconceptions.

At one time a Democrat, Green is a registered independent and did not
support Palin in her campaign for the governor’s office. He concludes
“Once elected she has proven to be forceful, dynamic and public
opinion does not sway her. Believing she is doing the right thing
is her principle.” To Greens knowledge Palin has never been on
the receiving end of “big donations from important segments
of the economy be it labor, management or lobbyist,” Green
explained Juneau; the Capital of Alaska is isolated.

It is accessible only by boat or plane. It has only 40 miles of paved
road and that, according to King is the state's major problem that
Juneau is 500 miles from the nearest road and 800 air miles from
the population base which is Anchorage, Wasilla and Fairbanks.
Isolation of the capital breeds a certain contention among voters
who believe it allows legislators distance from voter scrutiny.
Attempts have been made to relocate the capital to no avail.

Alaska is two and a half times the size of Texas with
586,412 square miles of land, 2210 miles wide and the
Aleutian Islands are 1100 miles long with some portions
of the state closer to Tokyo than Washington DC - and
in Green’s opinion it was necessary for governor Murkowski
to have the plane at his disposal for state troopers and other
cabinet members. To reach major cities, “It would be like
flying two-thirds across the country” he says.

Alaska Airlines is the only commercial jet operator out of
the Juneau International Airport servicing Anchorage and
Fairbanks, several smaller communities and Seattle.
With limited daily flights Juneau is not like flying out of
Dallas and not conducive for state business. However, the
legislature opposed purchase of the $2.7m jet as did Palin
and apparently the voters, she won the 2006 gubernatorial
election 48.3% to 40.9% defeating incumbent Murkowski
and former governor Tony Knowles becoming the first female
governor and at forty-two the youngest governor.

Palin lives in Juneau during the legislative session, but
works out of Anchorage the balance of the year. She accepts
a $58 per diem but drives fifty miles to her home in Wasilla
refusing hotel reimbursement. Gubernatorial expenses run
approximately 80 percent less than the previous administration.

She continues to be popular with Alaska voters, polls in 2007
showed her with a 93% favorable rating and 89% popularity rating
among republican and democratic voters. In September
2008 she held a favorable 68% rating. As governor, Palin placed
resource development, education, public health and safety,
workforce development and transportation and infrastructure
development as priority programs.

According to King about half of the Alaska “good old boys
club” legislative body was in the “pocket of big oil or contractors”
funded by oil revenue. It didn’t stop there but like a sieve,
filtered into the departments of Natural Resources and Labor
and into the Public Safety Department. Running her platform on
“clean government” Green says Palin “was elected to ‘clean
house’ and bring political reform. That is what people elected
her for. She bucked the system totally.” King added “when
Sarah finished cleaning house, legislators ended up in jail, or resigned
as did numerous department heads. She saved millions of dollars
for Alaskan voters – and has not yet slowed down.” King exclaims,
“She has truly brought CHANGE to Juneau!”

Contrary to media criticism that Palin eliminated everyone
from the previous administration that did not agree with her
policies, Green counters saying “she wanted people that would
be entirely loyal to her.” This course of action is not uncommon
in an administration change.

On being a Republican. The Republican platform for
Palin is “the right agenda for America.” Palin believes in
equality and the respect for life and walked this talk when
she and husband Todd Mitchell Palin in 2001 elected to
complete their pregnancy with Trig. The baby was diagnosed
as Down syndrome. Further, she believes Americans “can make"
better decisions for themselves than the government could
ever make for us. “Individual freedom and independence
is extremely important to me and that’s why I’m a Republican.”
Previously Palin was a registered independent.

Palin may be a Party gal, but not to the point of compromising
her ethical code. She will differ with Party members and actively
worked to unseat US Representative Don Young. She publicly
challenged Senator Ted Stevens over federal investigation into his
financial dealings but at the same time held a joint press conference
to show party support before his 2008 indictment.

Alaska Policies: Big oil, pipeline & gas companies.
May 2008 TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC and Foothills
Pipelines Ltd. (TC Alaska) were awarded the opportunity to
build and operate the pipeline that will transverse Alaska through
Canada bringing natural gas into the lower 48, a $26b project that
will net billions back into the Alaska economy. Newsweek reported
this as the “principal achievement” of Palin’s administration.

It is no secret the Alaska economy is primarily based on oil
revenues a whooping 85 percent of the operating budget comes
from this source.

Palin is an advocate for drilling in Alaska including in
the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. In August the governor
said “I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the
huge potential Alaska’s natural gas reserves represent in
terms of clean energy and sound jobs.” Obama favors
completion of the gas pipeline and leasing in the National
Petroleum Reserve for oil and gas production. Palin also agrees
with Obama’s proposal to return $1000 rebates to Americans
“struggling with the high cost of energy.” Palin has already done
this giving $1200 to Alaska citizens following a tax increase on oil.

In opposition Palin disagrees with the profit tax on oil
companies proposed by the Democratic presidential hopeful.
She believes incentives encourage companies to re-invest
their profits into new production whereas profit taxes drain
capital deterring companies from product re-investment
continuing a US dependency from Middle East oil suppliers.

Palin introduced a totally revolutionary and controversial
plan to pipe natural gas out of the ground. Companies currently
use natural gas re-injecting it into the North Slope causing gas
to escape to the surface to keep the oil flowing. When oil revenues
were at an all time high, Palin levied a tax increase.

The Alaska legislature considering her proposal levied an
even greater tax and the Alaska coffers were filled. Green is
not so certain the highly controversial plan is not a mistake.
He questions the “profit break” piping the natural gas into the
states. Just the permitting process with tribal land owners in
Alaska and cooperation with the Canadian government is an
astronomical political quest.

In September this year Palin supported a new five-year
outer continental shelf oil and gas lease program in the
Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea and “limited areas” in the North
Aleutian Basin. The project, Palin believes will go far in
helping to gain independence from foreign oil and gas
imports. The federal Minerals Management Service will work
with residents and local governments in leasing regions and
oil and gas companies to minimize conflicts arising from
subsistence activities such as fish and wildlife resources.

Active Predator Control Program. Possibly the
most controversial Alaska policy for the lower 48 states
is the predator control policy. For liberal voters specifically,
animal activist who may choose an emotional vote based
upon one issue only, for just a moment remove yourself from
your comfortable home here in the south of Texas with food
only as far away as the key in an ignition switch.

As of 2004 approximately ten percent or 6,705 persons
live below poverty level in Alaska. “Unemployment can
be staggering with little economic opportunity” says Green
quoting as high as 50 percent unemployment in some villages.
Without welfare assistance the percentage would be higher.

Fifteen percent of the population is Alaska Natives – Aleut,
Eskimo or Indian. Protected under the Alaska Native Land
Claims Settlement Act of 1971, a substantial number of these
tribes continue to live their traditional cultures. 36 percent speak
their native language preserving their heritage. They occupy
up to 200 villages mostly in rural and remote Alaska.
They rely on hunting and fishing to feed their families.
Caribou and moose, fish and other wildlife are their main
source for food. “There are no McDonald’s, gas stations or
retail stores in these villages” Green says. Tribal communities
rely on trapping, hunting, fishing and gathering to live.
No summer jobs exist for young people, instead they spend the
summer months helping their parents gather fish to dry for the
coming winter.

There is no indoor plumbing or running water and “while
we may complain of $4/gal gas, villagers may pay up to
$11/gal in rural areas. It was in response to rural requests that
Gov. Palin issued an emergency order for the aerial program.
Palin supported the helicopter predator control program through
the Dept. of Fish and Game in 2007. She declared a $150 bounty
per wolf to offset the cost of fuel. Wildlife activists sued Alaska
and the court declared the bounty illegal through Fish and
Game, it would have to funnel through another department.

Alaska is home for the largest Canis Lupus population in the US.
It is estimated that six to seven thousand free roam the state.
Left unchecked, the gray wolf, a fast breeding species could
seriously endanger the ability for some of the Native Alaskans
to feed their families because the carnivore is a natural predator
of both caribou and moose the main staples of the villagers’ diet.

Green says Gov. Palin has a lot of support from poorer voters
in rural areas because of her understanding of the difficulties
of rural life. These people depend on large game to supplement
their meager income, food and clothing. Green says most
people in the lower 48 will not understand this. “They are sold
on the fact hunters are mean and callous, going out to shoot
Bambi.” What people need to realize is that it is not sport hunting
in the Alaskan bush. Controlling the wolf population by thinning
out is all a part of living with nature.” Green challenges 99.99
percent of the American population to go out and trap a wolf, a
“very hard thing to do.”

The use of aircraft is not a hunt rather a “science-driven
abundance-based program…a component of moose and
caribou management in five specific areas of Alaska” to
protect the rural areas. The wildlife resource plan first
works to protect wildlife by increasing the game population
that ultimately ensures Alaska families “the greatest
opportunity to hunt and harvest to feed their families.”
Without this controlled management necessary food
sources could become limited, “eliminating opportunities
for Alaskans to secure wild game for food – to put food
on their families’ table.” To insure proper wildlife
conservation and protect wildlife resources, the Alaska
Wildlife Troopers an enforcement agency, has been
re-introduced. Palin emphasizes Alaska takes seriously
their obligation in the management, conservation and
regulation for all species of wildlife as well as other
natural resources.

Wildlife management is set by the Alaska Board of
Game composed of public appointees and confirmed
by the state legislature. The management program is
advised by Dept. of Fish and Game scientists,
non-governmental agencies and private citizens.
“Our goal” Palin says “is to have healthy populations of all
wildlife…” Palin states her commitment to protecting
wildlife as “an important [Alaska] heritage” one that allows
“many families [to] subsist on wild fish and game.”

Left unchecked the wolf faces the potential for a slow
and painful starvation as they carve out the population
of their own food resources. Remember the picture of
Laverne in La Vernia City Park? Visualize hundreds of
wolves in this same condition. No longer classified by the
Federal Government as an endangered species, the
population is increasing. If you disagree with these policies,
run for office in Alaska and do the best you know how to do.
Still, I assure you there will be wolves at your door.

TrooperGate. You will hear about this scuttlebutt
sometime in October when the Alaska Legislature
releases their investigation into whether Governor Palin
used her position to terminate Public Safety Commissioner
Walt Monegan when after three years he had failed to fire
Palin’s ex-brother-in-law, Mike Wooten an Alaska state trooper.
Wooten threatened her sister Molly McCann, and is alleged to
have told his ex-wife to “rein in your sister [Palin] or I will
take her down.” There is speculation the investigation
into the governor’s office over the Monegan/Wooten
affair could play into that threat.

Palin is accused of firing Public Safety Commissioner
Walt Monegan this year for failing to fire Wooten for the
2005 incident. At the time Palin described Wooten as a
“ticking time bomb” and “loose cannon.” After her
election as governor, she questioned his character as a
public servant representative for Alaska.

Palin denies Monegan was terminated for personal
reasons stating the termination was due to differences
in budget policy. He was offered another position in
the administration which he refused.

Palin ordered the Attorney Generals office to conduct
an internal investigation, the State Trooper organization
ordered an investigation into allegations of continued
misconduct by Wooten and the Alaska Legislative Council
hired Stephen Branchflower, a retired state prosecutor to
investigate allegations of misconduct as well.

Wooten received several days’ suspension in 2006 for
“serious and concentrated patters of unacceptable and
illegal activity.” It was determined by the state trooper
organization that in fact Wooten had threatened his
ex-wife McCann.

The bridge to nowhere. Scandal is not likely to
avoid any politician, real or hypotheized; it is a condition
for the job – nature of the beast. Palin is no exception
and the “bridge to nowhere” is her ballyhoo.

It all started in 2005 with a Highway bill providing
$223m to build a bridge from the 21 mile long,
9.5 mile wide Gravina Island to Ketchikan.
Negotiations were handled by Representative Don Young,
the republican Palin actively worked to unseat from Congress
after her election as governor in 2006. Palin inherited the
project and citing ‘prosperity’ had intentions to see the project
through, but eventually rescinded instructing the Alaska
Department of Transportation & Public Facilities to find a
“fiscally responsible” alternative for access to the Ketchikan
International Airport.

Access to the airport by ferry takes about seven minutes
and runs every thirty minutes. The US Congress, without
a hitch transferred $442m dollars to Alaska to “use at
their discretion for road projects.” And, that is what Palin
did spending $25m of the federal funds building a road on
Gravina to the bridge site. Therein comes her ballyhoo – she
opted not to refund the $442m to Congress. The Alaska
Department of Transportation and Federal Highway
Administration say with “minimal cost” Palin could have
returned the money to Congress, although she had no moral or
ethical obligation to do so under the “no strings attached” award
for “road projects” at their discretion. Palin inherited the
contract for the road and sources from the McCain-Palin
campaign say “the governor was left no viable alternative.”

While critics and media harped on the 50 residents
on Gravina Island, thus dubbed the ‘bridge to nowhere,’
no one seemed to care that the connecting side on Ketchikan
is home to 8000 residents or that the bridge would allow
access for the 350,000 passengers serviced each year
by the airport.

As Vice President Nominee. Media casts doubt
Palin; the mother of five children is capable of discharging
properly the office of Vice President. In 2004 Palin rejected
running for the US Senate because she could not be the
“team mom” for her teenage son if a U.S. Senator,
according to the Anchorage Daily News. Accepting the
VP nomination Palin definitively states she has balanced
the duties of Vice President with the responsibility of motherhood.
Describing Palin as a multi-tasker Green says
“Palin has the capability to do this. She has a lot to learn but
is a quick learner.” She will “vote her conscious for the welfare
of the American people and be a worthy candidate if able to grasp
economic and political reality.”

Green says she is a “good spokeswoman” and both Green and
King laud Palin as honest and not persuaded by special interest.
She has integrity. She surrounds herself with smart people,
knows when to listen, how to analyze facts, but “makes her own
decision then implements the plan” says King. “She is a straight
shooting, hard charging, get it done gal!” Sarah Palin” says King
“is a no BS politician” a refreshing change to what Palin her
self refers to as the “Washington insiders.”

Using the heartbeat away from the president scare tactic,
Green counters these critics saying, “I think her heart beats for
America. She is blessed with energy and enthusiasm and the
need to lead in public service.” Green uses the term “mean
spirited” describing those speculating McCain might not live
out his term in office, “just take a look at his 96 year old
mother to see his family has great genes!”

Would Sarah Palin be capable as President? Green
answers “could she be any worse than what has gone
on from both parties leadership?” Green reminisces over
Roosevelt nominating Truman as his VP and the rancor it
caused. “Some people rise to the occasion while others do
not live up to their expectations.” He believes the country
needs a maverick and “only history will decide” this debate.

King and Green believe McCain was “well advised” and made
a “good political move” in his choice of Palin. “She will
represent people who do not feel they have been represented
in the US Congress and appeal to independents who feel
government does not know how they truly feel” says Green.
The London Daily News wrote that Palin from small town
America has the same values.

“If Sarah gets a chance to dig her spurs into the flanks of
the liberal Washington types” says King “they will know
she is in the saddle!” As far as having legislative experience,
King says she has always been in the executive position in her
private and political life. “With all the hoop-la, it's easy to forget
that [Palin’s] running for Vice-President, not President - not yet.
Sarah Palin, the next Margaret Thatcher? Time will tell.”
[London Daily News, Sept. 8]

Foreign policy. Traditionally the VP is not in a position
to set policy so experience in this area is not a qualifier.
She supports preemptive strikes in an imminent threat
and military operation in Pakistan. Supports NATO
membership for the Ukraine and Georgia. Says the US
should uphold all treaty obligations if Russia should invade
a NATO member nation. One might ask American enemies who
they would most be leery of, a president anxious to negotiate or
one not afraid to “pack a six shooter.” She is a staunch
supporter for Israel.

Of little concern outside the Alaska border, few Americans
consider the Bering Straight places Russia in proximity of US soil.
The Alaska National Guard is the backdoor watchdog for this
nation against any potential predator. While the governor
commands the Guard in peace time, it falls to federal command
in a threatened national emergency. Funding for the National
Guard falls to the federal National Guard Bureau who also
sets policy guidelines for Guard operations in all 50 states.

"The mission of the Alaska Department of Military and
Veterans Affairs is to provide strategically positioned,
relevant and ready military forces capable of rapid deployment
joint operations and mission accomplishment while maintaining
the capability to provide emergency services to the state
of Alaska.” Global Security

Religion, family values and policy. Green does not cater
to the idea Palin will force her religious view on any one.

“She is a firm believer in the American way - regardless of your
religion you may practice it.” Green says Palin goes to
church because she has a “passion” for that part of her life.

Depicted as a staunch believer in traditional marriage
values, Councilwoman Palin in 1995 when she saw
"Daddy’s Roommate" for check-out in the Wasilla public
library took no action. She vetoed a bill as unconstitutional
prohibiting same-sex couples receiving state health benefits.
Does not disagree with creationism discussion in the classroom
and supports public school sex education stressing abstinence but
not opposed to birth control education. She disagrees with
abortion at any stage under any circumstances excepting
for the life of the mother, but does not advocate judicial punishment.
Personal religious preferences did not stop her from opposing a
measure calling for Wasilla bars to close two hours early.
Green says “she has her standards and ‘lives her own life.’”

Personal life. 24- year old Sarah Louise Heath eloped August 29,
1988 to marry her Wasilla high school sweetheart, Todd Mitchell
Palin, son of James F. “Jim” Palin and Blanche (Roberts) Kallstrom.
Todd Palin is descended from the Yup’ik and Curyung tribes through
his mother and maternal grandmother. He is employed by British
Petroleum as a non-managerial production operator. For 18 years
Palin worked in management for BP but elected for the lesser position
to avoid any conflict of interest arising from his wife’s position
as governor. Palin is a commercial salmon fisherman.

Palin races with friend and team buddy Scott Davis in
the world’s longest snowmobile race, the 1,971 mile grueling
back country Tesoro Iron Dog championship from Wasilla, to
Nome then Fairbanks. He has won the championship four times.
Sarah hunts, fishes and runs marathon races.

In September Gov. Palin announced the pregnancy of her
unwed daughter Bristol. Green accuses the press of “jumping on
every small issue creating a firestorm. He says the “same press
that vilifies Palin for her daughter’s condition is the same press
that condones so much freedom for children…” Bristol and Levi
Johnston father of the child plan to marry.

Palin has ruffled a lot of feathers and like any politician she
has made friends and enemies. “That” Green says “is the nature
of politics.” Summing up Sarah Palin, Green says, “She is as
pretty on the outside as she is smart and capable on the inside.”

Election and the media. The intent of this author is to present
the four candidates as candidly as possible without bias
or gentle persuasion. There is much discontent toward media
reporting. As Green says, “I see a direct contrast to people trying
to make the news for you and not let the public decide – allowing
individuals to think for themselves.” News past was reported.
The tendency today is to “tell you the news is the news.”

Ref:
State of Alaska Dept of Commerce Community and
Economic Development;
Alask.gov
Gov.state.ak.us
Gov.state.ak.us/bio
US.gov
Wikipedia
Washinton Post
London Daily News
ADN.com
Wildman Lodge

Interview through personal e-mail & website:
Gary “Butch” King, Pilot/Guide and owner Wildman
Lake Lodge;
by telephone & e-mail: Mr. Perry Green, retired owner
David Green, Master Furriers, 1971 Democratic Delegate
& personal family friend with James Palin and Blanche Kallstrom.

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A Soldier's Song

2008-07-18T23:21:00.002-04:00

Well, what CAN one say...it is awesome.
C~B~N

If I Die Before You Wake

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No Child Left Behind

2008-07-18T13:30:00.005-04:00

One of the greatest problems of our time is that
many are schooled but few are educated.

~Thomas Moore~

ONE YEAR LATER UPDATE:

Well I received a while back this letter from a fellow educator. I unfortunately did not get it blogged before the "campaign" came to a close...for that I am truly sorry.
C~B~N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is your chance to be HEARD by Congress on the TAKS testing!!! Don't let this one get away! It is your chance to be heard!!!!

No Child Left Behind Campaign

The following is my "experience" that I shared:

Several things I will share with you.

When I worked as a full time educator again after a few years away I discovered what ALL teachers were doing. Primarily, the month preceding the TAKS tests of Math and Language arts was used to "Teach the Test". In other words, there was no science or social studies or any subject taught that was NOT covered by the test for that month. We also had to quickly teach the following month's curriculum because it was going to be ON the test, even though it was not due to be taught UNTIL May!

Having worked at a recognized "at risk" school because of the poverty, this test didn't improve the school, the students or the community. All it did was add stress to their already stressful lives; and stress to a challenging profession.

Plus we lost an entire month of learning in many subjects. I taught fourth grade that year. By the end of the year, every student in my classroom (even my special education students) knew how to outline a chapter. If you think learning to outline a chapter is easy....try teaching it! But for their further education, it is a skill that must be mastered.

Secondly, I tutored a third grader who flunked the reading test and had to re-take it. She is very smart but the Language Arts area is never going to be her "forte' ". Her self esteem was SHATTERED. She was the only one in her classroom to NOT pass. She knew it. If she knew, you know the other students did too. Tutoring her, I was able to teach her some reading skills that helped her pass the second test. I had to constantly re-assure her she was smart . She did pass. But what if she had failed it again? I'm not so sure, she wouldn't eventually have dropped out.

Why? A test that PROOVED she was stupid in her own eyes.

What non-educators seem to think is that TESTS are fool-proof means of measuring success. GOOD Educators know and understand the fallacy of this thinking. Not every person can take a test successfully. Many people suffer from test anxiety so severely that it makes them dysfunctional at the thought of taking one! It should not be the only means of proving educational success or failure.

What you need to do is let teachers teach and provide adequate funding.

Funding to either have smaller classroom sizes or an aide in all elementary classrooms. While 1 teacher to 22 students is better than what it was, it is still NOT ideal for this age group.

Not everyone learns the same way. But to expect all students to do so is unfair and they won't be successful as a result. Every student is going to have a subject they do not do well in. Just like they'll have their favorite subjects. It's called having strengths and weaknesses and we ALL have those. For them to be successful in those subjects they do not do well in and do not like, they need as close to 1 on 1 teaching as is possible.

Finally, I am the parent of a student who is learning disabled and in special education classes for his core subjects. The fact that they were requiring him to take these tests disturbed me greatly.

Learning disabled children are not stupid, but their minds most definitely work differently. To require them to pass this test to graduate is putting an unfair burden on their educators, the families of these students and the students themselves. Once again, you are causing so much stress to achieve a goal that you must ask yourself is it worth it?

Or are there better means to improving our schools and to helping our children?

I for one, had no problem with the testing of teachers. This gets the 'incompetents' out of the classroom.

Improved wages for this educated profession would do a great deal in attracting those from other professions that would like a change, and keep those already in the profession from leaving for "greener pastures". Educators, compared to other degreed professionals, work for a pittance. Yet, their degrees cost them just as much to obtain.

Implementing a program where big business works with the school districts providing a program for their employees to be a guest educator for a year or to become financial partners with a school district could be a very successful program.

What Washington needs to do is to get away from their locked in mentality that this "test" is the ONLY way to ensure equality among all Americans. Because, it isn't and it never will be. The school districts and the families who have money will always test higher and better because they have 1. the funding and 2. a family structure that supports education in place already.

You want to know how to improve education? Well, go to the professionals and ask. Educators are known for their creativity. I'm sure there are many wonderful, workable ideas out there.

Ideas better than a standardized test!

Signed an overworked, stressed out TEXAS educator

END OF ONE YEAR UPDATE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
This came via email. As a retired educator I believe in the education of our children. But this "campaign" has always bothered me. While it is a lofty goal, I'm not sure it is in reality obtainable.

Some children are never going to be 'school' oriented. But they can still be creative contributors to society. Some children are learning to overcome and compensate for legitimate learning disabilities.

Then to put so much pressure on students to pass a 'standardized' test and to fit into "politicians" round hole slot is often times just not realistic or fair. While life is often not fair, we can at least attempt to allow for the uniqueness of every individual.

We square pegs deserve to have our square slots! This is why I have been in favor of doing away with the traditional K-12 setting and allowing children to work at their own speed~~whether accelerated or slower for each subject so actual MASTERY is achieved.

Anyway, enough.....read the following, knowing it is tongue-in-cheek; but it isn't that far off!

C~B~N

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is so GREAT, and it puts the RIDICULOUSNESS of the "No Child Left Behind" nonsense into perspective. Whether you're a teacher or the friend of one, I hope you'll appreciate the analogy. Be sure to read to the end...

No Dentist Left Behind

My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth.

When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

" No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"

"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses to practice."

"That's terrible," he said.

"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"

"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control? For example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work.

Also many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay.

To top it all off, so many of my clients have well water, which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"

"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that you, my dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job, and you needn't fear a little accountability."

"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most."

"Don't' get touchy," I said.

"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth. "Try furious! In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent dentists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"

"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making and stonewalling won't improve dental health'...I am quoting from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.

"What's the DOC?" he asked.

"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."

"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.

The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"

Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."

"That's too complicated, expensive and time-consuming," I said."Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."

"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think. This can't be happening," he said despairingly.

"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."

"How?" he asked.

"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.

You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience?
BIG HELP!"

"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."

I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely they will see the point."

He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that I, a teacher, see in the mirror so often lately.

****If you don't understand why educators resent the recent federal NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT, this may help. If you do understand, you'll enjoy this analogy.****

~~~~~~More from C~B~N~~~~~~

The month of April is not a teaching month....it is the "teach the test" month. So we lose a WHOLE MONTH of REAL teaching thus our children fall further behind.

Some of the testing items will not even be taught until MAY. So, a crash course on those subjects must be done in March; therefore, March's curriculum is not thoroughly learned either.

Personally, I think we should implement a "No Politician Left" program myself. Let's make sure they meet or exceed OUR expectations or they "GET LEFT BEHIND"....at the voting booths!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Interesting......perhaps they are starting to LISTEN!

from Agape Press

by Jim Brown

...Two prominent Republican senators are pushing legislation intended to rip the bureaucratic red tape out of American education.

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Jim DeMint of South Carolina marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act by offering an alternative to the law Congress is getting ready to reauthorize.

In a speech at the Heritage Foundation, the two discussed a bill they are sponsoring called "The A+ Act of 2007."

Cornyn says the education reform measure will move decision-making power out of Washington and situate it closer to parents and teachers. "It will allow the states to choose the programs that best serve their students' needs," he says, "and it will empower parents and teachers with greater influence in what happens in classrooms across America every day."

The Texas senator says it is time to restore to the states and to local communities "the freedom and responsibility to achieve desired results without the Washington-mandated baggage of the status quo."

That, he says, "is where the responsibility belongs." According to Cornyn, since the federal government has been involved in K-12 education, it has consistently mandated larger and more intricate bureaucracy in the education system.

{Bigger DOES NOT mean Better! C~B~N}

Top of Page

Online charitable giving the easy way

2008-03-05T23:21:00.005-05:00

I've been going to the breast cancer site
and clicking on their "click here to
give--it's free" button for over a year
now. You click the button, and sponsors
donate $ that will donate free
mammograms to low income women.

Recently they have added TABS to their site.

And now with one click, you can get
sponsors to donate to:

Hunger, Child Health, Literacy, Rain forest,
and Animal Rescue.

This is something that takes less than 5
minutes a day to complete. It doesn't cost
YOU anything but your time to click the buttons.

But it is a way to contribute back for
worthy causes through sponsorships.

So check it out and click, click, click!!!

Click to Give

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Donate your frequent flyer miles

2008-03-05T23:21:00.004-05:00

Donate your frequent flyer miles to soldiers and their families!

Top of Page

Interesting Reading

2007-11-27T22:21:00.003-05:00

It's true!!!!
Fbbalregstaed eudactor C~B~N!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,

it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a
wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the
frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The
rset can be a total mses and you can
sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae
the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef,
but the wrod as a wlohe.

Amzanig huh?

A Minotuan Wgins Mnmeot #3323

Top of Page

Billionaires up, America down

2007-11-27T21:21:00.000-05:00

[C~B~N really likes Holly Sklar's writing. She has
done her research and wields a might pen! The
government ought to listen....]

By Holly Sklar
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Copyright (c) 2007 Holly Sklar

When it comes to producing billionaires, America
is doing great.

Until 2005, multimillionaires could still make the Forbes
list of the 400 richest Americans. In 2006, the Forbes 400
went billionaires only.

This year, you'd need a Forbes 482 to fit all the
billionaires.

A billion dollars is a lot of dough. Queen Elizabeth II,
British monarch for five decades, would have to add $400
million to her $600 million fortune to reach $1 billion. And
she'd need another $300 million to reach the Forbes 400
minimum of $1.3 billion. The average Forbes 400 member
has $3.8 billion.

When the Forbes 400 began in 1982, it was dominated
by oil and manufacturing fortunes. Today, says Forbes,
"Wall Street is king."

Nearly half the 45 new members, says Forbes, "made
their fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. Money
manager John Paulson joins the list after pocketing more
than $1 billion short-selling subprime credit this summer."

The 25th anniversary of the Forbes 400 isn't party time
for America.

We have a record 482 billionaires -- and record foreclosures.

We have a record 482 billionaires -- and a record 47
million people without any health insurance.

Since 2000, we have added 184 billionaires -- and 5
million more people living below the poverty line.

The official poverty threshold for one person was a
ridiculously low $10,294 in 2006. That won't get you two
pounds of caviar ($9,800) and 25 cigars ($730) on the
Forbes Cost of Living Extremely Well Index.

The $20,614 family-of-four poverty threshold is
lower than the cost of three months of home flower
arrangements ($24,525).

Wealth is being redistributed from poorer to richer.

Between 1983 and 2004, the average wealth of the
top 1 percent of households grew by 78 percent, reports
Edward Wolff, professor of economics at New York
University. The bottom 40 percent lost 59 percent.

In 2004, one out of six households had zero or negative
net worth. Nearly one out of three households had less
than $10,000 in net worth, including home equity.
That's before the mortgage crisis hit.

In 1982, when the Forbes 400 had just 13 billionaires,
the highest paid CEO made $108 million and the
average full-time worker made $34,199, adjusted for
inflation in 2006.

Last year, the highest paid hedge fund manager
hauled in $1.7 billion, the highest paid CEO made
$647 million, and the average worker made $34,861,
with vanishing health and pension coverage.

The Forbes 400 is even more of a rich men's club
than when it began. The number of women has dropped
from 75 in 1982 to 39 today.

The 400 richest Americans have a conservatively
estimated $1.54 trillion in combined wealth. That
amount is more than 11 percent of our $13.8 trillion
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -- the total annual value
of goods and services produced by our nation of 303
million people. In 1982, Forbes 400 wealth measured
less than 3 percent of U.S. GDP.

And the rich, notes Fortune magazine, "give away a
smaller share of their income than the rest of us."
[C~B~N has found that to be true. The truly rich are the
absolute worst 'tippers' of anyone! ...Yes, I have had some
interesting jobs through-out my life! Each one has taught
me something!]

Thanks to mega-tax cuts, the rich can afford more
mega-yachts, accessorized with helicopters and
mini-submarines. Meanwhile, the infrastructure of
bridges, levees, mass transit, parks and other public
assets inherited from earlier generations of taxpayers
crumbles from neglect, and the holes in the safety net
are growing.

The top 1 percent of households -- average income
$1.5 million -- will save a collective $79.5 billion on
their 2008 taxes, reports Citizens for Tax Justice.

That's more than the combined budgets of the
Transportation Department, Small Business
Administration, Environmental Protection Agency
and Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Tax cuts will save the top 1 percent a projected $715
billion between 2001 and 2010. And cost us $715 billion
in mounting national debt plus interest.

The children and grandchildren of today's underpaid
workers will pay for the partying of today's plutocrats
and their retinue of lobbyists.

It's time for Congress to roll back tax cuts for the wealthy
and close the loophole letting billionaire hedge fund
speculators pay taxes at a lower rate than their
secretaries.

[I think we need to forget raising the minimum wage.
I think we need to get a law on the books that
guarantees American workers the
RIGHT to a LIVING WAGE. Therefore
insuring a cost of living increase each
year.]

Inequality has roared back to 1920s levels.

It was bad for our nation then.

It's bad for our nation now.

Holly Sklar is co-author of "Raise the Floor: Wages and
Policies That Work for All of Us" and "A Just Minimum
Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future."
She can be reached at hsklar@aol.com.
Copyright (c) 2007 Holly Sklar

Top of Page

Charitable Giving

2007-11-27T19:41:00.000-05:00

Welcome to www.CardsThatGive.org, the non-profit site that makes it simple to select greeting cards sold by charities.

Americans purchase nearly 7 billion greeting cards each year, generating nearly $7.5 billion in retail sales.*

If it were easy for families to buy their greeting cards from non-profit organizations, card sales could generate millions of dollars for worthy causes.

That is the premise behind CardsThatGive.org.

CardsThatGive.org directs you to dozens of effective non-profit organizations that sell greeting cards to help fund their charitable work.

[What an easy way to "give"! C~B~N]

Top of Page

Supporting Our Troops

2007-11-27T18:20:00.000-05:00

No matter your "stance" on America's involvement
around the world...these are men and women who are
willing to die for your freedom. Most will not be able to
come home for Christmas.

The holidays are a time for family. This can bring
about depression.

Therefore, want to show your support?

Here are some ways to do so:

AAFES Gift Certificates
www.aafes.com/docs/homefront.htm

The Army and Air Force Exchange Services is where
most servicemen and women do their shopping.
You can purchase gift certificates for those in Iraq
and those hospitalized.

Adopt a Platoon
http://www.adoptaplatoon.org/

Adopt a Platoon has several ongoing projects
to ensure that no soldier overseas walks away
from mail call empty-handed.

AnySoldier
http://www.anysoldier.com/

Any Soldier is a non-profit organization that helps
people send care packages to members of the armed
services in Iraq.

Appreciate Our Troops
http://www.appreciateourtroops.org/

Purchase a Support Our Troops mug and a free
personalized mug will be given to a current or former
service member.

Blue Star Mothers
http://www.bluestarmothers.org/

The Blue Star Mothers was founded by
service members' moms during World War II.
Any mother with a son or daughter in the military
can join.

Books For Soldiers
www.booksforsoldiers.com/

Help the troops escape boredom by donating
some books. You can also donate DVDs and CDs
requested by soldiers.

Camp Doha
www.campdoha.org/

Camp Doha provides valuable information for
those about to deploy, their friends and families
and anyone who wants to support the troops.

Cell Phones for Soldiers

Donated cell phones are recycled and turned into
cash. The cash is used to purchase calling cards for
soldiers in Iraq.

America Supports You

Thank any service member stationed throughout
the U.S. and the world with an e-mail.

Fisher House
http://www.fisherhouse.org/

The Fisher House Foundation donates comfort
homes, built on the grounds of major military
and VA medical centers. These homes enable
family members to be close to a loved one
during hospitalization for an unexpected illness,
disease, or injury.

Freedom Calls
http://www.freedomcalls.org/

The Freedom Calls Foundation is helping
families videoconference with their loved ones
in Iraq. You can donate money to help keep
this project going.

Groceries for Families
www.commissaries.com/certificheck

The men and women who lay down their lives
for us are terribly underpaid. Help a family
by purchasing gift certificates to the commissary.

Homes for Our Troops
http://www.homesforourtroops.org/

Homes for Our Troops assists injured veterans
and their immediate families by building new or
adapting existing homes with handicapped
accessibility.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund
www.intrepidmuseum.org/pages/intrepidfoundation

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund provides grants
to the families of servicemen and women who died in
Iraq. You can donate online, through mail or by calling
a toll-free number.

Military Moms
http://www.militarymoms.net/

This site provides support to all of the moms out
there who has a son or daughter in the military.

MilitarySpace
http://www.military-space.org/

This social networking site focuses on
communications with deployed troops and
family members, support groups and pen-pals.

MarineParents
http://www.marineparents.com/

MarineParents is a place for parents of Marines
to meet up. You'll find advice, support and information.

Operation: A Bit of Home
http://www.operationabitofhome.com/

Operation: A Bit of Home supports over 150 different
soldiers per day by providing necessary and
hard-to-get toiletries.

Operation Air Conditioner
http://www.operationac.com/

Operation Air Conditioner provides not only air
conditioners but space heaters (the desert is cold in
the winter) for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Operation Dear Abby
anyservicemember.navy.mil

The U.S. Navy and Dear Abby have teamed up.
Their site allows you to send e-mail messages of support
to service members.

Operation Give
http://www.operationgive.org/

Operation Give provides toys, clothing and school
supplies primarily to the children of Iraq and
Afghanistan.

Operation Gratitude
http://www.opgratitude.com/

Operation Gratitude provides a way for you to
show your respect and appreciation for the troops.
It sends care packages and letters to troops stationed
overseas.

Operation Hero Miles
http://www.heromiles.org/

You can donate your unused frequent flier miles
to help soldiers travel on emergency leave. They are
also used to help families fly to hospitalized soldiers.

Operation Interdependence
http://www.oidelivers.org/

Operation Interdependence supplies care
packages to deployed soldiers. You can help out by
providing goods, coordinating efforts or donating funds.

Operation Iraqi Children
http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/

Many soldiers are rebuilding schools in Iraq and
scrounging around for school supplies. Help by
donating a school supplies kit.

Operation Kids for Troops
http://www.kids4troops.com/

Write directly to men and women serving overseas in
combat areas. Or place the names of loved ones serving
overseas on the "OKFT Hero List" to receive
encouraging mail. [This is a GREAT ONE for classrooms
to participate in!]

Operation Top Knot
http://www.operationtopknot.com/

This group of Soldiers' Angels volunteers
help support the wives and children of U.S. soldiers.
Volunteers make baby blankets, booties and other
handmade gifts. Everything is handmade!

Operation Uplink
http://www.operationuplink.org/

Donate money to Operation Uplink. The money
is used to purchase phone cards so servicemen and
women can call home.

Packages From Home
http://www.packagesfromhome.org/

Packages From Home sends personal care and
comfort items to U.S. troops deployed overseas.
Find out how to donate time, money or items
to this non-profit organization.

Soldiers' Angels
www.soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

Become some soldier's angel by adopting a service
member.

Treats for Troops
http://www.treatsfortroops.com/

Treats for Troops helps get you provide packages to
your loved ones overseas. If you don't know
anyone, the Foster-A-Soldier Program matches you
with a registered soldier by branch of service, home
state, gender, or birthday - or you can choose to
sponsor a group of soldiers.

US Central Command
http://www.centcom.mil/

Find out what the Coalition is doing. U.S. Central
Command features up-to-date information on Operation
Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

USO Cares
http://www.usocares.org/

You can sponsor care packages provided by the USO
with a $25 donation.

Hire a Hero
hireahero.com

Is designed to help returning veterans find
employment making the transition back to civilian life
easier! Post your jobs here for them!

Merry Christmas!

Top of Page

Ben Stein's Last Column...

2007-11-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started. I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars.

I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie. But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated.

But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to. [C~B~N would add that SPORTS stars should be here as well. While I enjoy the occasional game, I don't think they are "stars" either!]

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?

Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails.
They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament...the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive; the orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery; the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children; the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse. Now you have my idea of a real hero.

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters. This is my highest and best use as a human.

I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin...or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life.

I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that God will.

Top of Page

Raising the Minimum Wage

2007-09-03T13:20:00.000-04:00

Congress values own paychecks more than workers

By Holly Sklar
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
6/20/06
Copyright © 2006 Holly Sklar
[Blogged with permission.]

Members of Congress like to talk about values. They sure don't mean the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

While more and more hardworking Americans struggle to make ends meet, Congress showed what it really values -- the rising value of congressional pay.

The House refused to block the $3,300 "cost of living adjustment" that will raise congressional pay on Jan. 1 to $168,500 -- not counting great health benefits, pensions and perks.

Congressional pay raises between 1997 and 2007 will add up to $34,900. That's more than average workers make in a year.

It would take more than three workers to make $34,900 at the minimum wage stuck at $5.15 an hour -- just $10,712 a year -- since Sept. 1, 1997.

Full-time workers at minimum wage make less than $900 a month to pay rent, food, healthcare, gas and everything else. No wonder the U.S. Conference of Mayors Hunger and Homelessness Survey found that 40 percent of adults requesting emergency food assistance were employed, as were 15 percent of the homeless.

Childcare workers and security guards struggle to care for their own children. EMTs and health care aides can't afford to take sick days.

Yet Congress has given itself raise after raise, while giving none to minimum wage workers.

As Adam Smith himself wrote in "The Wealth of Nations,"
"It is but equity … that those who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed, and lodged."

Today's minimum wage workers have less buying power than minimum wage workers did back in 1950 when Harry Truman was president. The 1950 minimum wage is $6.30 in 2006 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator.

It would take $9.31 today to match the value of the minimum wage of 1968. It takes nearly two minimum wage workers to make what one worker made four decades ago.

The minimum wage has become a poverty wage instead of an anti-poverty wage. This has ripple effects far beyond minimum wage workers and their families.

The minimum wage sets the wage floor. When the minimum wage sinks, it drags down wages for workers up the pay scale as well. Between 1968 and 2005, worker productivity rose 111 percent, but the average hourly wage fell 5 percent, adjusting for inflation, and the minimum wage fell 43 percent.

The inflation-adjusted earnings of college-educated workers have fallen since 2000. Poverty rates are higher now than in the 1970s and we have an increasingly low-wage workforce instead of a growing middle class.

Contrary to myth, raising the minimum wage helps business and boosts the economy. We had high economic growth, low inflation, low unemployment and declining poverty rates after the last minimum wage hikes in 1996 and 1997.

States that have raised their minimum wages above the increasingly inadequate $5.15 federal level have had better employment trends than the other states, including for retail businesses and small businesses.

Higher wages increase consumer purchasing power, reduce costly employee turnover, and improve productivity and the quality of products and services.

For example, In-N-Out Burger, home of the nation's first drive-through hamburger stand, ranks first nationwide among fast food chains in overall excellence, food flavor, quality and customer service. Their entry-level wage of $9 is nearly $4 above the federal minimum wage.

Small business owner Malcolm Davis wrote in a letter to the editor, "My lowest-paid employee makes $8 per hour. … If I can find a way to be fair with my employees in rural Eastern North Carolina, why can't our government?"

A recent survey by the National Consumers League and Fleishman-Hillard Communications found that 76 percent of American consumers believe "how well a company treats/pays employees influences what they buy." Consumers said "commitment to employees" is the strongest proof of corporate responsibility and it is important for companies to ensure that workers "are paid a living wage."

A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it.

It's time for Congress to stop their luxury raises, and raise the minimum wage to a living wage.

Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future" (Let Justice Roll) and "Raise the Floor: Wages and Policies That Work for All Of Us."

Top of Page

Big TV

2007-08-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

from Mountain wings #6265

Dr. James Twitchell, author of "The
Carnival Culture", says that in our
culture "the average boy or girl will
spend more time in front of the
electronic babysitter by the time they
are age six than they will in
conversation with their father...
for the REST OF THEIR LIVES."

The average male in the United
States will not read a single book
cover to cover after they leave high
school.

The average person spends four hours
a day watching television.

So, if you live to be 72 years old,
that's a dozen years of your life you
will spend watching OTHER people
become millionaires.

Zig Ziglar calls TV the "income
reducer and the morality buster."

Jim Rome says that "poor people have
big TVs, rich people have big libraries."

Gene Roddenbery, the creator of Star Trek,
was giving a commencement address
at Indiana University. He said, "Television
exists for one reason and one reason only."
To entertain? To inform? To educate?"

No, to SELL you something."

Think about it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C~B~N gave up TV as I couldn't justify spending the money on it. In other words, it is a luxury....and if you can't afford to pay all your bills, then you give UP the luxuries. I don't know how poor people afford cable and big screen TVs!

At any rate, after 3 months withdrawal, I don't even miss it now. This household has been TV-free for 3 years and 7 months.

We spend $15 a year for a library card to the large town 4 miles away so we can check out books and the occasional video.

Cheap investment if you ask me!
C~B~N

Top of Page

The Sanctity of Life, Not.

2007-08-18T23:51:00.000-04:00

Abortion led to Terry Schiavo which will lead to the termination of other mentally challenged individuals which will then lead to those who are terminally ill which will lead to those who are no longer productive members of society, the elderly who just sap the SSI system and insurance etc.

America no longer respects the sanctity of LIFE.

Abortion has led to the belief that life is NOT sacred. Therefore how can we criticize the young, violent men who take that which they want violently?

If you die because your car is being carjacked, or your home robbed, or being mugged; oh well....too bad. Your life is not precious~~ not in a nation that has taught our young people that abortions don't kill human beings.....why be all surprised when the young people don't recognize ANY life as sacred then??????

You reap what you sow; this nation has sown death to the innocent. She now reaps death for ALL.

Top of Page

Have We Lost the Culture War?

2007-08-18T23:50:00.000-04:00

By Joe Murray
[C~B~N's comments enclosed]

It's a story we have heard all too often. Girl goes to school. Girl studies extremely hard. Girl becomes valedictorian of her class. Girl asked to address her classmates at her graduation ceremony. Girl wants to thank her family and her friends. Girl wants to acknowledge the Hand of God in her success. High school pulls the plug on girl's microphone. Girl is censored. [Whatcha bet if she were Muslim this wouldn't have happened? ]

Turn back the hands of time only 50 years and this story would have caused a public outcry so loud that Cindy Sheehan would have been green with envy. In post-Western America, however, this story is lucky to raise a few eyebrows.

To those at the helm of the "mainstream" media, this story is info-tainment. Put simply, this news piece, the story of a Nevada teen standing firm for her convictions, is told for the cultural amusement of our societal elitists who look upon Christians as relics that should be displayed alongside the bones of a T-Rex in the American Museum of Natural History.

Enter the Brave New World.

"It is the duty of all Nations," thundered George Washington, "to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favors." To Washington, obedience to God would ensure a prosperous and free America. God was the rock upon which our liberties rested. How far we have fallen from the standard espoused by President Washington.

Washington's America is no longer the America of today. The Judeo-Christian compass that once guided our leaders and citizens has been displaced. A new moral order, one fueled by hedonism and a mutated form of individualism, [see the Keith Ellison story below "Oath of Office" as confirmation!] has taken its place. Translation: Christians have become strangers in their own country.

What is the state of our Union's culture?

Poor.

In regards to Christian values, Jesus has not just been moved to the back of the bus, he has been thrown out the emergency exit door. Not only has talk of Jesus, and His Church, been evicted from public discourse, but Jesus has become a favorite target of a cultural elite who have grown intolerant of His nagging presence. [They don't like His truths because if His truths ARE true, then they are sinners headed for damnation.]

On the Fox animated series Family Guy, Jesus was shown as a buffoon who did nothing more than inane magic tricks. On Comedy Central's South Park, Jesus is a half-baked televangelist. Gone are the days of Charlton Heston and The Ten Commandants and here are the days of Tom Hanks and the Da Vinci Code. [I love Tom Hanks' films and Ron Howards' directing; but I was so disappointed these men chose to do this one.]

The cultural pogroms are well under way and Christians are in the cross-hairs.

If one digs deeper into the cultural psyche of America, he will find that Christianity no longer sets the standard for proper human behavior. The Sodomy Squadron has been flying high, for the Supreme Court has deemed sodomy a fundamental right, the Federal Marriage Amendment was DOA, and Massachusetts strong-armed the Catholic Church into ceasing its adoption program when it demanded that a Catholic agency allow same-sex couples to adopt children under the care of the Roman Catholic Church.

In the political sphere, traditionalists have been hit even harder. Despite the fact that the GOP has control of Congress and the White House, this year's "America's Values Agenda" has failed to spread its wings. While the Flag Burning Amendment was only narrowly defeated, the bill to protected the words "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance became a political Hindenburg. As reported by Associated Press, "Republicans could not muster a simple majority on the issue in a committee where they outnumber Democrats by six."

And the final nail in America's cultural coffin? The American public. In a poll recently conducted by Gallup, just 48 percent of Americans believe that the federal government should "be involved in promoting moral values." Another 48 percent believe the feds should mind its own business. Thus, we have become a nation home to two different peoples, and we Christians constitute the counter-culture.

In 1992 Pat Buchanan declared, "[t]here is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself." Thus we have to ask this question: does Christianity's fall to the status of a "counter-culture" mean that the white flag should be raised and the troops sent home?

Not a chance.

When Napoleon marched on Moscow in 1812 to eliminate the Russian threat to his European hegemony, the 500,000 soldiers accompanying him made the French seem unstoppable. Following the bloody Battle of Borodino, which left over 100,000 French and Russian dead, Napoleon made the Czar's Kremlin bedroom his own, positioned his troops within the ruins of Moscow, and waited for the Czar's surrender; and wait he did. With the harshness of the Russian winter staring Napoleon in the eye and no signs of the Moscow's white flag, Napoleon was forced to begin one of the worst retreats in military history. Napoleon may have had the manpower, but he did not have the staying power.

Washington proclaimed, "[o]f all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." That, my friends, is the key to victory in this culture war.

Yes, the Left has waged an ideological Borodino, is sitting atop the ruins of Washington, and is waiting for the white flag to be raised; but the Left, just like Napoleon, lacks the necessary staying power. Traditionalists, on the other hand, are armed with a secret weapon -- faith in God and a belief in absolute Truths. It is the faith of our Fathers that will sustain us, and it is our unyielding devotion that will run these folks out of DC.

Ben Franklin once mused, "[r]ebellion against tyrants is obedience to God." As this author writes, the other side of the cultural divide is devouring its own with the self-destructive policies it espouses. A Russian winter is looking it in the eye; time is its enemy. Retreat is inevitable and when it begins, the words of Ben Franklin will ring true.

Joe Murray (jrm1835@gmail.com) is a civil rights attorney residing in New Jersey. Murray is a former staff attorney for the American Family Association and has also served as national director of correspondence for Patrick J. Buchanan's 2000 presidential bid. Murray has been a guest on numerous radio and television talk shows, including the O'Reilly Factor.

Top of Page

The (Culture) War of the WORD

2007-08-18T23:22:00.004-04:00

By Dennis Prager

A number of years ago I discovered a root cause of America's culture war. It came to me as I debated professor Alan Dershowitz about issues of Jewish concern before a 1,000 Jews at the 92nd Street "Y" in New York City. With the exception of support for Israel, Dershowitz, a Harvard liberal, and I agreed on nothing, political or religious. Toward the end of the evening I came to understand why.

"Ladies and gentlemen," I announced, "the major difference between Alan Dershowitz and me is this: When professor Dershowitz differs with the Torah, he assumes that he is right and the Torah is wrong. When I differ with the Torah, I assume that I am wrong and the Torah is right." Dershowitz responded that for the first time that evening he agreed with me.

That realization was an epiphany for me. I have come to realize that the great divide in values is not between those who believe in God and those who do not but between those who believe in a divine text and those who do not.

This explains in large measure the great culture war in the United States. Americans, of course, are divided not so much by religion as between right and left. Jews and Christians on the left agree with each other on just about every political and social question, and Jews and Christians on the right do the same.

So what distinguishes leftist Jews from rightist Jews and leftist Christians from rightist Christians? It essentially comes down to their belief in the Bible, not their belief in God.

Jews who believe that the Torah is from God agree on almost every important issue of life with Christians who believe that the Torah — and the rest of the Old Testament — is divine. Jews who believe that men (and perhaps women) wrote the Torah agree on virtually every important issue with Christians who also regard the Torah (and the rest of the Bible) as man-made.

For example, as a religious (though non-Orthodox) Jew, I have many differences with Christians' theology. We differ on the Trinity; the divinity of Jesus; the identity of the messiah; the role of Torah, not to mention rabbinic law, on who is and who is not saved; and on such matters as faith versus works. Yet these theological differences cause almost no difference in our social and moral values, which are almost identical.

Why?

Because conservative Jews and Christians share the belief that God revealed a text (a text, moreover, that we share). At the same time, liberal Jews and liberal Christians share the belief that this text is man-made.

Jews and Christians who believe that God revealed the Torah, for example, are far more likely to believe that marriage must remain defined as only between a man and woman, and cannot be redefined to include members of the same sex. They believe that people are not basically good, that human life, not animal life, is sacred (because humans, not animals, are created in God's image), and that murderers should be liable to the death penalty (the only law that is in all five books of the Torah is to put murderers to death).

On the other hand, Jews and Christians who believe that people wrote the Torah are far more likely to support a redefinition of marriage, to view human nature as basically good (and therefore more likely to ascribe human evil to outside influences), to be more receptive to seeing human beings as essentially another animal, and to oppose capital punishment for murderers.

After all, what people, not God, wrote thousands of years ago should hardly serve as a guide to life today — especially when one's heart argues against it. The heart feels compassion for gays, for animals and even for murderers facing execution. And the heart wants to believe that human beings are basically good.

But Jews and Christians who believe in a divinely revealed Bible do not trust the heart as a guide to doing the right thing (indeed, that Bible repeatedly warns us not to). That difference — do I listen to my heart or to what I believe is God's word? — explains most of the differences between right and left. Much more than whether one believes in God.

By Dennis Prager, Dennis Prager's nationally syndicated radio show is heard daily in Los Angeles on KRLA-AM (870). He may be contacted through his website: Dennis Prager Townhall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I really like reading Dennis Prager's work. I found these two in my email "to be blogged" file which has too many in it! Ah, trying to balance work, family, worship, play, AND blogging can be a challenge! I do the best I can....
C~B~N

Top of Page

Oath of Office

2007-08-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

America, Not Keith Ellison, decides what book a congressman takes his oath on

By Dennis Prager
[C~B~N's comments enclosed]

Keith Ellison, D-Minn., the first Muslim
elected to the United States Congress,
has announced that he will not take his
oath of office on the Bible, but on the
bible of Islam, the Koran.

He should not be allowed to do
so -- not because of any American
hostility to the Koran, but because
the act undermines American
civilization.

First, it is an act of hubris that
perfectly exemplifies multiculturalist
activism -- my culture trumps America's
culture. What Ellison and his Muslim
and leftist supporters are saying is that
it is of no consequence what America
holds as its holiest book; all that matters
is what any individual holds to be his
holiest book.

Forgive me, but America should not
give a hoot what Keith Ellison's favorite
book is. Insofar as a member of Congress
taking an oath to serve America and
uphold its values is concerned, America
is interested in only one book, the Bible.

If you are incapable of taking an oath on
that book, don't serve in Congress. In
your personal life, we will fight for your
right to prefer any other book. We will
even fight for your right to publish cartoons
mocking our Bible. But, Mr. Ellison, America,
not you, decides on what book its public
servants take their oath.

Devotees of multiculturalism and
political correctness who do not see how
damaging to the fabric of American
civilization it is to allow Ellison to choose
his own book need only imagine a racist
elected to Congress.

Would they allow him to choose Hitler's
"Mein Kampf," the Nazis' bible, for his
oath? And if not, why not? On what grounds
will those defending Ellison's right to choose
his favorite book deny that same right to
a racist who is elected to public office?

Of course, Ellison's defenders argue that
Ellison is merely being honest; since he
believes in the Koran and not in the Bible,
he should be allowed, even encouraged,
to put his hand on the book he believes in.

But for all of American history, Jews elected
to public office have taken their oath on the
Bible, even though they do not believe in the
New Testament, and the many secular elected
officials have not believed in the Old
Testament either.

Yet those secular officials did not demand
to take their oaths of office on, say,
the collected works of Voltaire or on a
volume of New York Times editorials,
writings far more significant to some
liberal members of Congress than the Bible.

Nor has one Mormon official demanded
to put his hand on the Book of Mormon.
And it is hard to imagine a scientologist
being allowed to take his oath of office
on a copy of "Dianetics" by L. Ron Hubbard.

So why are we allowing Keith Ellison to
do what no other member of Congress
has ever done -- choose his own most
revered book for his oath?

The answer is obvious -- Ellison is a
Muslim. [Placating the enemy in hopes
of stopping him? Not likely....]

And whoever decides these matters,
not to mention virtually every editorial
page in America, is not going to offend
a Muslim. In fact, many of these people
argue it will be a good thing because
Muslims around the world will see what
an open society America is and how much
Americans honor Muslims and the Koran.

This argument appeals to all those who
believe that one of the greatest goals of
America is to be loved by the world, and
especially by Muslims because then fewer
Muslims will hate us (and therefore fewer
will bomb us).

But these naive people do not appreciate
that America will not change the attitude
of a single American-hating Muslim by
allowing Ellison to substitute the Koran
for the Bible.

In fact, the opposite is more likely: Ellison's
doing so will embolden Islamic extremists
and make new ones, as Islamists, rightly
or wrongly, see the first sign of the realization
of their greatest goal -- the Islamicization
of America.

When all elected officials take their
oaths of office with their hands on the very
same book, they all affirm that some unifying
value system underlies American civilization.

If Keith Ellison is allowed to change that,
he will be doing more damage to the unity
of America and to the value system that
has formed this country than the terrorists
of 9-11. [AMEN. America is a CHRISTIAN nation.
Founded by Christians on Biblical principals.]

It is hard to believe that this is the
legacy most Muslim Americans want
to bequeath to America. But if it is, it is
not only Europe that is in trouble.

Top of Page

Killing Freedom of Speech through the hate crimes bill

2007-08-18T10:50:00.001-04:00

This short video shows a little sample of what can happen if the Senate passes S.1105, the "hate crimes" bill.

Watch this unbelievable video and then forward it to others, especially your pastor. It is the story of what happened to a Christian couple when they said that homosexuality is a sin.

Killing Freedom of Speech

Call your state Senators here Time sensitive issue, Call NOW!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The attorney in the video is correct. IF you do NOT speak out, you will LOSE your rights...and the rights of your children and grandchildren.

We either ALL have freedom of speech, or NONE have it.
C~B~N

Top of Page

ENDA bill

2007-08-18T10:39:00.000-04:00

Once again, special interests are taking over and attempting to hold hostage the Congress of the United States as well as the American people.

IF it passes, then it seems like all these sexual preferences have just been LEGALIZED and protected!

C~B~N
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new bill, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), has been introduced in the House of Representatives by homosexual Congressman Barney Frank. The bill (HR 2015) would force organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Veterans of Foreign Wars, day care centers, Christian business owners, adoption agencies, public schools, municipalities and a host of other businesses and organizations to hire homosexual applicants.

ENDA would make it illegal to fire, refuse to hire or refuse to promote an employee based on his or her sexual orientation or "gender identity." Such acts would be considered crimes subject to severe penalties. For a list of the co-sponsors of ENDA, click here. [84 Democrats said YES; 4 Republicans said YES. Can we say Bi-partisan fast enough????]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a list of those "Sexual Orientations"

SEXUAL ORIENTATIONS

Coprophilia - sexual arousal associated with feces

Exhibitionism - the act of exposing one’s genitals to an unwilling observer to obtain sexual gratification [LEGAL & Protected now]

Fetishism/Sexual Fetishism - obtaining sexual excitement primarily or exclusively from an inanimate object or a particular part of the body

Frotteurism - approaching an unknown woman from the rear and pressing or rubbing the penis against her buttocks [LEGAL & Protected now]

Gay/Homosexual - people who form sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with members of their own gender

Gerontosexuality - distinct preference for sexual relationships primarily or exclusively with an elderly partner

Incest - sex with a sibling or parent [LEGAL & Protected now]

Kleptophilia - obtaining sexual excitement from stealing

Klismaphilia - erotic pleasure derived from enemas

Lesbian - a homosexual female

Lewdness - sexually unchaste; inciting to lust or debauchery

Masturbation - erotic stimulation of one’s own genitals

Necrophilia - sexual arousal and/or activity with a corpse [LEGAL & Protected now]

Paraphilia - a condition in which a person's sexual arousal and gratification depend on fantasizing about and engaging in sexual behavior that is atypical and extreme

Partialism - A fetish in which a person is sexually attracted to a specific body part exclusive of the person.

Pederasty - Sex between an adult and a child, usually an adult male and a male child. [LEGAL & Protected now]

Pedophilia - Sexual contact between an adult and a child [LEGAL & Protected now]

Bisexual Pedophilia – term used for an adult who derives sexual gratification from sexual contact with a child without regard to the sex of the child
[LEGAL & Protected now]

Heterosexual Pedophilia - term used for an adult who derives sexual gratification from sexual contact with a child of the opposite sex
[LEGAL & Protected now]

Gay Pedophilia - term used for a male adult who derives sexual gratification from sexual contact with a child of the same sex
[LEGAL & Protected now]

Lesbian Pedophilia - term used for a female adult who derives sexual gratification from sexual contact with a child of the same sex
[LEGAL & Protected now]

Prostitution - the act or practice of offering sexual stimulation or intercourse for money [LEGAL & Protected now]

Sexual masochism - obtaining sexual gratification by being subjected to pain or humiliation

Sexual sadism - the intentional infliction of pain or humiliation on another person in order to achieve sexual excitement

Telephone scatalogia - sexual arousal associated with making or receiving obscene phone calls [LEGAL & Protected now]

Toucherism - characterized by a strong desire to touch the breast or genitals of an unknown woman without her consent; often occurs in conjunction with other paraphilia [LEGAL & Protected now]

Transsexual - a person whose gender identity is different from his or her anatomical gender

Transvestite - a person who is sexually stimulated or gratified by wearing the clothes of the other gender

Urophilia - sexual arousal associated with urine

Voyeurism - obtaining sexual arousal by observing people without their consent when they are undressed or engaged in sexual activity [LEGAL & Protected now]

Zoophilia/Bestiality - engaging in sexual activity with animals [LEGAL & Protected now.]

[Maybe we should notify the animal humane society...they seem to get things done to protect animals almost immediately.

Too bad the Senate does not consider humans, especially the young and elderly who cannot protect themselves, as important enough to protect......C~B~N]

Top of Page

The Thought Police

2007-08-18T10:00:00.000-04:00

By Chuck Colson

What the Hate Crimes Law Would Do

In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the government Thought Police constantly spies on citizens to make sure they are not thinking rebellious thoughts. Thought crimes are severely punished by Big Brother.

1984 was intended as a warning against totalitarian governments that enslave and control their citizens. Never have we needed this warning more urgently than now, because America’s Thought Police are knocking on your door.

Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill. It’s called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not about hate. It’s not even about crime. It’s about outlawing peaceful speech—speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong.

Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already have laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals—far less than even 1 percent.

Another problem is that in places where hate crimes laws have been passed, hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks—and even peaceful speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even in some places in the United States.

If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like Exodus International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, could be shut down.

In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent attack worthy of punishment.

This is the unspoken goal of activist groups. We know this because during the debate over the bill last week, Congressman Mike Pence (R) of Indiana offered a Freedom of Religion amendment to this hate crimes bill. It asked that nothing in this law limit the religious freedom of any person or group under the Constitution. The committee refused to adopt it. It also refused to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes—like members of the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless and senior citizens, also often targeted by criminals. Nothing doing, the committee said—the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals.

Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Its passage would strike at the very heart of our democracy.

The full Congress may vote on this bill as early as this week. Unless you want Big Brother telling you what to say, what to think, and what to believe, I urge you to contact your congressman immediately, urging him or her to vote against this bill. If you visit The Breakpoint.org, you’ll find more information about this radical law.

If we do nothing, 1984 will no longer be fiction, and Big Brother will be watching you and me—ready to punish the “wrong” thoughts.

Top of Page

Immigration reform VS. Amnesty

2007-08-12T21:56:00.000-04:00

Texas Poll

The latest poll taken by the office
of the Governor of Texas asked
whether people who live in Texas
think illegal immigration is a
serious problem:

35% of respondents answered:
"Yes, it is a serious problem."

65% of respondents answered:
"No es una problema seria."

Now that you have had a laugh....on to the serious debate about this.
C~B~N

*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1

Federal Governments ' Amnesty Bill

[Covered by CNN: Candor in Washington???]

vs.

Oklahoma's Bill 1804

(To get here: Choose "Search Text of Measures". This brings you to the Oklahoma Text search and retrieval system. Enter the numbers "1804" in the search box for ALL measures of the 2007-08 session. Choose #10 at bottom of the new page: 10. hb1804 cs.rtf. This will bring the bill up.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[John Bainer, House Minority Leader says this amnesty bill is a piece of Sh-t!]

The Federal Government's bill

ALLOWS:

1. Legal status after 24 hours [YES HOURS] even if the background check is incomplete [duh, have you EVER KNOWN a government agency to finish ANYTHING within 24 hours??? More like 24 months....]

2. Amnesty is provided to:

a) gang members "who want to leave their gang" [yeah, right. Like that
happens everyday. Gee, think these gang bangers might LIE about this???]

b) those already ordered deported for various reasons:
I.D. thieves; absconders; illegally re-entering once deported.

3. 800 mile fencing for our open borders has been knocked down to 200.

4. English is not required until the 9th year of amnesty.

5. Temporary VISAs are renewable indefinitely...making them PERMANENT.

6. Taxpayers get to pay:

a) the Mexican government so it will offer INCENTIVES for its own people
to STAY in Mexico. Incentives such as EDUCATION for their children and
healthcare.

b) Immigration attorneys to represent illegal aliens

7. Tuition provided for illegals for higher education--money DENIED to LEGAL
residents!!!!!!

8. NO BACK TAXES PAID

9. They will also get the EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT given to TAX
PAYING CITIZENS as a tax break!!!!

10. It allows illegals to "cut to the front of the line" before those who have LEGALLY applied to enter the United States.

vs

Oklahoma's immigration reform bill, House Bill 1804

One News Now

1. It deals with Identity Theft

2. It terminates public assistance benefits to illegals

3. It empowers state and local police to enforce federal immigration laws

4. It punishes employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which "bill" has TEETH?

Not the FEDERAL one! What takes the feds 500 gazillion pages and such verbosity has been simply done in 19 pages for Oklahoma!

The Oklahoma bill PROTECTS its law-abiding, hard working citizens.

IF the federal bill passes, then I VOTE that imminent domain be applied to every Congressional member and the President of the United States who said YES to this terrible bill!

The LEGAL citizens of the United States will freely give these homes and lands to these newly acquired LEGAL law-breakers.

Lets see how our Federal leaders feel about that!!!

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Press *1 for English

2007-08-12T18:51:00.000-04:00

"The federal government has a new
citizenship test. They said the old
test for immigrants is too outdated.

Apparently, it was in English."
--Jay Leno

*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1*1

You Tube by Kay and Ron Rivoli

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Understanding Jihad

2007-08-11T18:51:00.000-04:00

Terrorism Awareness

Sign the Petition

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Which are you? Conservative vs. Liberal

2007-08-10T18:50:00.000-04:00

I find Daniel Kurtzman's political funnies, well, funny! I recently ran across his
"Identity Quizzes". Take one (or both!) and see what you are!

Conservative Identity Quiz from his How to Win a Fight with a Liberal

Liberal Identity Quiz from his How to Win a Fight with a Conservative

From Daniel Kurtzman himself:

"I'll aim to provide a witty and irreverent look at all the bizarre political antics inside, outside and below the Beltway. Whether you're a pundit, pol, wag, wonk, casual political observer or outright enthusiast, this is one place you're guaranteed to receive a real political education."

Email Daniel Kurtzman: politicalhumor.guide@about.com

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Hispanics for Strong Borders

2007-06-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Chad Groening

Retired U.S. Army Colonel Al Rodriguez, the Hispanic American founder of a coalition called " You Don't Speak For Me" .

Rodriguez, an advocate for immigration reform and stronger border enforcement, says Mexico has been working hard to prevent America from stemming the tide of illegal immigration into the U.S., and he feels it is foolish for anyone to suppose President Vicente Fox and his corrupt government are friendly to America's interests.

"If you really study the history of Mexico and U.S. relations," the colonel notes, "they never have been a friend of the United States of America. They're a friend of corruption. They're a friend of whatever they can take from the people."

There is much history that people fail to understand, especially President George W. Bush, Rodriguez contends. "I cannot believe that [Bush] believes Fox and Mexico are friends. Maybe they are friendly to him -- and they would be."

The border control advocate points out that Mexico is one of the richest countries in the world. "I think it's the fourth or fifth major oil producer, and yet their population is starving," he says, "and consequently, what they're trying to do is export all these people so they won't have a revolution in Mexico.

That's what they're afraid of." If Mexico were really a friend of the U.S., Rodriguez contends, then Mexico would use its wealth to take care of its own people instead of pawning them off on the U.S.

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Bible Supports Concept of Secure Borders

2007-06-24T00:50:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Chad Groening and Fred Jackson

A Christian business consultant and writer in the Phoenix area has recently published some commentaries that deal with what the Bible says about illegal immigration and a nation's response to that. He says he has found in his study and research that it isn't just about compassion.

Steve Marr's online commentaries are called "Business Proverbs." His syndicated radio program by the same name is heard on 1,000 radio outlets worldwide. According to Marr, the Bible supports the idea that nations have the right and responsibility to secure their borders.

Marr says many Christians, when it comes to the issue of illegal immigration, argue that compassion should rule the day because those immigrants have come simply seeking a better life. But the former president and CEO of a large import-export firm says even illegal aliens who have been in the U.S. for years and have built otherwise productive lives are still illegal aliens.

"To me it's an issue of justice," Marr shares. "And if you break a law -- whether it's a drug law, whether it's an immigration law or whether it's robbing a bank -- if you get caught, whether it's in a day, a year or ten years, I think justice has to run it's course."

He offers a theoretical example. "If somebody held up a bank 20 years ago and walked off with $100,000 cash and didn't get caught; and we caught them today, and they were convicted, and they've had a tremendously sterling life since then, does that mean that we allow them to escape justice?" he asks. "I think justice still has to work its course. We can't walk away from that, regardless of the length of time."

And Marr says he does not buy the argument that a labor force of illegal immigrants is good for the economy.

"I don't even care whether it's good for the economy or not. The point, to me, is we're leaving our border wide open, which is biblically not wise," he says. "And secondly, we're ignoring the rule of law. And we know, once we start ignoring the rule of law, it just goes on and on and on. Where do you stop?"

In a column about the effect of illegal immigration on business, Marr makes it clear he does not support any type of amnesty for illegal aliens, believes driver's licenses should not be issued to undocumented workers or those with a criminal record, and that when illegal immigrants are stopped for traffic violations and found to be undocumented they should be deported -- not simply released.

In contrast, U.S. Catholic bishops meeting in Los Angeles this week said all illegal immigrants currently in the country should be allowed to stay. Reuters quotes the bishops as saying all of those individuals -- estimated to be between 12 and 20 million -- should be given a "viable and workable path to citizenship," regardless of how long they have been in the U.S.

The bishops also believe their extensive lobbying campaign, as well as the protest marches in recent weeks, have helped to reduce opposition to such an amnesty plan.

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How to Apply for immigrant status

2007-06-23T23:56:00.000-04:00

After doing several blogs on immigration and amnesty and what the illegals are getting away with.....

As a LEGAL resident, working a full time job, earning a little more than minimum wage but still only bringing home around $1000 a month, with NO health care OR retirement plan......

I was just wondering myself if this would be possible.....

And then, LOL, this lands in my email box!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Senator Harkin,

As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United States for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.

Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could begin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United States for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative.

Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,

Donald Ruppert

Burlington , IA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True? I haven't a clue. Couldn't find it at snopes.com

BUT

I'm STILL laughing my @** off!!!

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Q & A on Immigration Reform

2007-06-23T23:49:00.002-04:00

from AFA

Are you in favor of the new immigration reform bill soon to be voted on by the U.S. Senate?

If you do make a rational decision to oppose the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 – S.1348, get prepared to be called names.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said those who oppose the bill are bigots: "We’re gonna tell the bigots to shut up."

Homeland Security Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said those who oppose the bill want "mass deportation."

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said those who oppose the bill are "anti-immigrant" and suggested they suffer from "rage" and "national chauvinism."

Even the President says those who oppose it "don’t want to do what is right for America."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Compiled by Heritage Foundation policy analysts
June 4, 2007

Question: Supporters say this bill does not provide amnesty to illegal immigrants. Why does Heritage disagree?

Answer: Because we’ve read the bill. It grants amnesty. Immediately.

The provisional Z visa acts as a magic wand, instantly conveying legal status on illegal immigrants. With a provisional Z visa in hand, immigrants are instantly protected from deportation and authorized to work anywhere in the country.
The bill stipulates that the federal government can start issuing provisional Z visas immediately upon enactment, and must start issuing them within six months.
The bill grants illegal immigrants massive benefits (subsidized college tuition rates, free legal counsel for agricultural workers, etc.) in return for a token fee--$3,000 for an individual, $5,000 for a family of five.

Question: Why does Heritage believe this bill would actually slow down immigration enforcement measures?

Answer: Because the bill effectively puts the immigration justice system on ice.

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents are barred from detaining anyone who may be eligible for a Z visa. Instead, they must give those they apprehend a chance to apply for the visa. It’s like turning the Drug Enforcement Agency into a needle-exchange program.
Immigration judges are required to close any deportation proceedings against illegal aliens if it appears they may be eligible for the Z visa.
Even absconders who have flouted previous deportation orders can avoid deportation by showing that it would result in “extreme hardship” for himself or a family member—a loophole so huge you could drive a truck through it.

Question: Does this bill strengthen U.S. border security?

Answer: No, it does virtually nothing new to secure U.S. borders.

Its “proposals” to increase security personnel, surveillance technology, and crossing obstacles at the border are mostly already required by laws like the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Repeating the same requirements strengthens nothing.
Instead, the bill assures illegals of amnesty before security is tightened. Amnesty provisions would take effect as soon as the 700-mile fence required in the 2006 act is 47% complete.
The bill uses false metrics to measure security. It repeats requirements to take security measures (additional border Patrol Agents, expanded detention facilities, vehicle barriers and fencing) without requiring any reduction in the number of illegal entries. Border security performance standards are lacking.

Question: Should Americans be worried that some of the bill’s enforcement provisions will violate their privacy?

Answer: Yes, Americans should be deeply troubled.

The bill requires that all 7 million U.S. employers use an electronic ID system for all job applicants—even their own relatives.
Anyone that wants a job will have to first be logged into a massive, government database so employers can verify their eligibility.
This expensive approach raises serious concerns about invasion of privacy and identity theft.

Question: What are the fiscal costs of this legislation? How will it impact taxpayers, both in the short-term and long-term?

Answer: The proposal will generate tremendous demand for costly public services and assistance programs.

Just paying for the retirement portion of the amnesty provision of the bill will generate a net cost of some $2.3 trillion dollars on U.S. taxpayers.
Amnesty recipients are likely to impose a net cost (benefits received, minus taxes paid) on U.S. taxpayers throughout most of their lives.

Question: Does the bill adequately address the issue of guest worker programs?

Answer: Not really.

While the bill includes many provisions that would help create a viable Temporary Worker Program, it unfortunately requires a cumbersome, bureaucratic approach to placing guest workers in jobs.
Specifically, it would require the U.S. Labor Department to certify the need for each job opening.
Worse, it would require guest workers in a variety of private sector occupations to receive “prevailing wages.” Why should non-citizens be guaranteed “prevailing wages” higher than the federal minimum wage for citizens?

Question: Does the bill currently being debated in the Senate parallel the failed immigration reform law passed in 1986?

Answer: Yes. The 1986 law granted immediate legal status to individuals unlawfully in the United States, as does this proposal.

Like the current proposal, the 1986 law included additional conditions such as a criminal background check, payment of application fees, and acquisition of English language skills. The core of the law was nevertheless an amnesty that excused the intentional violation of American laws.
About 2.5 million individuals applied for legalization under the 1986 law. Now the unlawfully present population in the United States is estimated at five times that number.
The framers of the 1986 Act promised rigorous enforcement of immigration laws. This included an employer verification system and a focus on workplace enforcement. These efforts failed to stem the growth of the undocumented workforce. Nevertheless, the authors of the current bill propose a similar strategy.

Question: Will this bill adequately strengthen workplace enforcement laws and penalize employers who hire illegal aliens?

Answer: The bill requires every employer to use an invasive, unreliable employment verification system that civil libertarians and personnel executives view as hopelessly impractical.

The bill would spend $400 million to build a new Electronic Employment Verification System—a monster database that would collect biometric data, photos, Social Security information and financial and licensing records for everyone seeking employment.
Every employer would have to screen every job applicant—immigrant, citizen, even relative—through this system or face steep penalties.
Unfortunately, EEVS will be based on a much smaller, error-plagued program (BASIC PILOT) established by a 1996 immigration law. A 2002 evaluation of that program determined it failed to protect employee privacy from inappropriate access by employers, government agencies and outside interests.
BASIC PILOT is also plagued by frequent “false positives,” erroneous information that cost innocent workers their jobs. The law prohibits judicial review of such mistakes, making it virtually impossible to challenge errors or recover lost wages.

Question: What new rights and privileges will illegal immigrants applying for a Z visa obtain under this legislation?

Answer: It bestows all the rights and privileges sought by legal immigrants, as well as some privileges unavailable to them… and unavailable to U.S. citizens.

Receipt of even a probationary Z visa instantly changes an illegal immigrant’s status to “legal.” They are free to seek employment, enroll in schools, travel throughout the country, etc., ahead of those individuals who played by the rules and await the opportunity for legal entry.

They are eligible for in-state tuition rates at state universities, thereby entitled to tens of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer subsidies. Meanwhile, those on regular student visas, as well as out of state citizens, must pay tuition rates three-to-four times higher.

Question: Many have expressed concerns about how this bill was put together and the short amount of time being allotted for full Senate debate. Are those concerns legitimate?

Answer: Yes.

The bill was written in secret, by only a handful of Senators, and brought to the floor without any meaningful scrutiny.
The "final" draft bill wasn’t available until after the bill was introduced. (Last year’s failed bill was used as a “dummy” bill during the initial votes.)
Meanwhile, Senators were working off different versions of the bill, promoting error and confusion.
Even the "final" draft featured major omissions and errors.
There have been no committee hearings, no expert testimony given, and no significant opportunities for debate. To date, there have been only seven amendment votes, despite the fact that hundreds have been introduced.
The American people have not yet had a chance to study the bill fully. The Senate should let them digest it, and make their views known, before taking up this bill.

Contact YOUR 2 Senators

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Let's DESTROY America!

2007-06-23T23:49:00.001-04:00

I have a plan to destroy America
by Richard Lamm
[C~B~N's comments enclosed]

If you believe that America is too smug, too self-satisfied, too rich, then let’s destroy America. It is not that hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time. Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and that "An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit suicide."

Here is how they do it.

First to destroy America, turn America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country. History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar Seymour Lipset put it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy. Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, Lebanon all face crises of national existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence. Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and Corsicans."

Second, to destroy America, invent "multiculturalism" and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due to prejudice and discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of bounds.

Third, we could make the United States a "Hispanic Quebec" without much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have been achieved! Not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance that once dictated ethnocentrically and what it meant to be an American, we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together."

I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad bowl metaphor [C~B~N was taught this in college in 1981!]. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural subgroups living in America reinforcing their differences rather than as Americans, emphasizing their similarities.

Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated, undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school.

My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations and business [add GOVERNMENT to this list!] to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of "Victimology." I would get all minorities to think their lack of success was the fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all minority failure on the majority population.

My sixth plan for America’s downfall would include dual citizenship and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity. I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity! Unity is what it takes to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common language and literature; and they worshiped the same gods. All Greece took part in the Olympic Games.

A common enemy Persia threatened their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to over come two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured political divisions. Greece fell.

E. Pluribus Unum. From many, one. In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the "pluribus" instead of the "Unum," we can balkanize America as surely as Kosovo.

Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits ~ make it taboo to talk about anything against the cult of "diversity." I would find a word similar to "heretic" in the 16th century - that stopped discussion and paralyzed thinking. Words like "racist" or "xenophobes" halt discussion and debate.

Having made America a bilingual/bicultural country, having established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the doctrine of "Victimology," I would next make it impossible to enforce our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative impact of millions of them.

Lastly, I would censor Victor Hansen Davis’s book Mexifornia. His book is dangerous. It exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America deserves to be destroyed, don’t read that book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is so scary because you can so see it all going on RIGHT NOW.

Now if you want to show your disgust with the amnesty bill but don’t want to wait on the phone forever to get to your Senior Senator use this number

800-882-2005.

The recording is in spanish so hit 1, then hit 1 again and it will connect you to your senior senator without all the waiting.

The beauty here is that the call gets charged to a pro-amnesty group and you get to skip all the long waiting to connect to your senior Senator. Thanks to Hot Air.com for the number! [I haven't tried this yet. Can't verify if it will STILL work or if they -the pro-amnesty group- got smart and disconnected it?!?!!?]

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Illegal Immigrants protesting in OUR streets

2007-06-23T23:21:00.000-04:00

from Charlie Daniels Soapbox

Mexican Standoff 04/03/06

I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think Hispanic people in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge public relations mistake with their recent demonstrations.

I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United States of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first thing you do when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat out wrong and I don’t care how many lala land left heads come out of the woodwork and start trying to give me sensitivity lessons.

I don’t need sensitivity lessons, in fact I don’t have anything against Mexicans, I just have something against criminals and anybody who comes into this country illegally is a criminal and if you don’t believe it try coming into America from a foreign country without a passport and see how far you get.

What disturbs me about the demonstrations is that it’s tantamount to saying, “I am going to come into your country even if it means breaking your laws and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

It’s an “in your face” action and speaking just for me I don’t like it one little bit and if there were a half dozen pairs of gonads in Washington bigger than English peas it wouldn’t be happening.

Where are you, you bunch of lilly livered, pantywaist, forked tongued, sorry excuses for defenders of The Constitution? Have you been drinking the water out of the Potomac again?

And even if you pass a bill on immigration it will probably be so pork laden and watered down that it won’t mean anything anyway. Besides, what good is another law going to do when you won’t enforce the ones on the books now?

And what ever happened to the polls guys? I thought you folks were the quintessential finger wetters. Well you sure ain’t paying any attention to the polls this time because somewhere around eighty percent of Americans want something done about this mess, and mess it is and getting bigger everyday.

This is no longer a problem, it is a dilemma and headed for being a tragedy. Do you honestly think that what happened in France with the Muslims can’t happen here when the businesses who hire these people finally run out of jobs and a few million disillusioned Hispanics take to the streets?

If you, Mr. President, Congressmen and Senators, knuckle under on this and refuse to do something meaningful it means that you care nothing for the kind of country your children and grandchildren will inherit.

But I guess that doesn’t matter as long as you get re-elected.

Shame on you.

Pray for our troops.

What do you think?

God Bless America

Charlie Daniels
April 3, 2006

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have always enjoyed the homespun writing/philosophy of Charlie Daniels. His music is GOOD too!
C~B~N

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Myths of the illegal alien

2007-06-23T22:56:00.000-04:00

Dear Senator Frist:

There is a huge amount of propaganda and myths circulating about illegal aliens, particularly illegal Mexican, Salvadorian, Guatemalan and Honduran aliens.

1. Illegal aliens generally do NOT want U.S. citizenship. Americans are very vain thinking that everybody in the world wants to be a U.S. citizen. Mexicans, and other nationalities want to remain citizens of their home countries while obtaining the benefits offered by the United States such as employment, medical care, in-state tuition, government subsidized housing and free education for their offspring. Their main attraction is employment and their loyalty usually remains at home. They want benefits earned and subsidized by middle class Americans. What illegal aliens want are benefits of American residence without paying the price.

2. There are no jobs that Americans won't do. Illegal aliens are doing jobs that Americans can't take and still support their families. Illegal aliens take low wage jobs, live dozens in a single residence home, share expenses and send money to their home country. There are no jobs that Americans won't do for a decent wage.

3. Every person who illegally entered this nation left a home. They are NOT homeless and they are NOT Americans. Some left jobs in their home countries. They come to send money to their real home as evidenced by the more than 20 billion dollars sent out of the country each year by illegal aliens. These illegal aliens knowingly and willfully entered this nation in violation of the law and therefore assumed the risk of detection and deportation. Those who brought their alien children assumed the responsibility and risk on behalf of their children.

4. Illegal aliens are NOT critical to the economy. Illegal aliens constitute less than 5% of the workforce. However, they reduce wages and benefits for lawful U.S. residents.

5. This is NOT an immigrant nation. There are 280 million native born Americans. While it is true that this nation was settled and founded by immigrants (legal immigrants), it is also true that there is not a nation on this planet that was not settled by immigrants at one time or another.

6. The United States is welcoming to legal immigrants. Illegal aliens are not immigrants by definition. The U.S. accepts more lawful immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

7. There is no such thing as the "Hispanic vote". Hispanics are white, brown, black and every shade in between. Hispanics are Republicans, Democrats, Anarchists, Communists, Marxists and Independents. The so-called "Hispanic vote" is a myth. Pandering to illegal aliens to get the Hispanic vote is a dead end.

8. Mexico is NOT a friend of the United States. Since 1848 Mexicans have resented the United States. During World War I Mexico allowed German Spies to operate freely in Mexico to spy on the U.S. During World War II Mexico allowed the Axis powers to spy on the U.S. from Mexico. During the Cold War Mexico allowed spies hostile to the U.S. to operate freely. The attack on the Twin Towers in 2001 was cheered and applauded all across Mexico. Today Mexican school children are taught that the U.S. stole California, Arizona, new Mexico and Texas. If you don't believe it, check out some Mexican textbooks written for their schoolchildren.

9. Although some illegal aliens enter this country for a better life, there are 6 billion people on this planet. At least 1 billion of those live on less than one dollar a day. If wanting a better life is a valid excuse to break the law and sneak into America, then let's allow those one billion to come to America and we'll turn the USA into a Third World nation overnight. Besides, there are 280 million native born Americans who want a better life. I'll bet Bill Gates and Donald Trump want a better life. When will the USA lifeboat be full? Since when is wanting a better life a good reason to trash another nation?

10. There is a labor shortage in this country. This is a lie. There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of American housewives, senior citizens, students, unemployed and underemployed who would gladly take jobs at a decent wage.

11. It is racist to want secure borders. What is racist about wanting secure borders and a secure America? What is racist about not wanting people to sneak into America and steal benefits we have set aside for legal aliens, senior citizens, children and other legal residents? What is it about race that entitles people to violate our laws, steal identities, and take the American Dream without paying the price?

For about four decades American politicians have refused to secure our borders and look after the welfare of middle class Americans. These politicians have been of both parties. A huge debt to American society has resulted. This debt will be satisfied and the interest will be high. There has already been riots in the streets by illegal aliens and their supporters. There will be more. You, as a politician, have a choice to offend the illegal aliens who have stolen into this country and demanded the rights afforded to U.S. citizens or to offend those of us who are stakeholders in this country. The interest will be steep either way. There will be civil unrest. There will be a reckoning. Do you have the courage to do what is right for America? Or, will you bow to the wants and needs of those who don't even have the right to remain here?

There will be a reckoning. It will come in November of this year, again in 2008 and yet again in 2010.

We will not allow America to be stolen by third world agitators and thieves.
David J. Stoddard
U.S. Border Patrol (RET)
Hereford, Arizona

Snope it

or

here PHX news

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The Demise of the United States

2007-05-16T18:56:00.000-04:00

How Long Do We Have?
Author Unknown

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."

"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years"

"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. Pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

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Taking a BOLD stand

2007-05-02T20:56:00.001-04:00

CEO of Roberts Broadcasting Company, Michael V. Roberts Sr. took a bold stand recently.

Roberts Broadcasting Company has already banned their radio stations from playing all music degrading women and others in communities where they air hip-hop music. Ask others to do likewise.

"I am announcing, effective immediately, that music degrading women and other members of our community will no longer be played" on his stations, said Michael V. Roberts Sr., CEO of Roberts Broadcasting Company.

Rather than simply censoring vulgar words in songs, "We're going to ban them altogether, which is a hard move for a hip-hop station. If it's offensive in any way toward women, toward African Americans, it's not going to be played" on his stations, Roberts said.

Meanwhile, all the major stations continue to play offensive music. While issuing platitudes about how they are acting very responsibly in selecting what is aired on their stations, they keep airing trash because money is more important to them than our children and a decent society. It is nothing more than a hypocritical stand by these companies.

To read Roberts Broadcasting Company's internal memo on the decision, click here.

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The Price of gas AND patriotism

2007-05-02T19:35:00.000-04:00

from William L. Wright
visit him at Amberco Presents

I am enclosing a short story I wrote a few months ago that tells it
like it is about trucks and truck drivers. I wish there was some
way you can get this story to the truck drivers.

When you read it, you will understand my point. Please do so.

Here it is . . .

We have been living for some time now with the high cost of
fuel and what it is doing to the trucking industry. This makes
me wonder if you folks are aware of the fact that every single
thing you see out there, including the trees and grass, all got
here by truck.

Originally it came in by mules and wagons, but still -- everything
you can see, from where ever you might be standing, got there
by truck. Everything -- including the rings on your fingers!!!

It all had to be hauled in. Even if it was just from the railroad
yard to the local store -- it came by truck. And that takes
fuel -- lots of fuel.

My father came to Collinsville, OK in 1899 to help his dad
start The Collinsville News, and dad always told me there
wasn't a tree in sight anywhere when he got here. And I have
pictures, of his, that show both Collinsville and Skiatook,
complete with buildings and houses, and there isn't
one tree to be seen anywhere.

Originally this entire country side was covered with buffalo
grass that grew 12 feet high. That means it not only had to
be hauled away by truck, but the grass we now mow had to
be hauled in by truck.

When someone starts a new housing development -- what's
the first thing that is done? They must "clear the land" of the
weeds before they can start to build. And the last thing that
is done is to plant the new grass for you to mow. And all this
was done by truck -- not to mention the stuff needed to build
the houses.

SO -- a great big SO -- if everything we see, use, and eat, has
to get here by truck, doesn't it make sense that when the price
of oil goes up for the trucks it also means the price on everything
else has to go up, too?

And where exactly is that leading us, you might wonder.
Sort of scary, isn't it, especially if it goes on up to $4.00 a
gallon this summer? $100 to fill your car's tank??? And the
main one that makes a big profit on this, other than the oil
companies, is the damned tax collector.

Guess who he is? Our politicians! And I would like to suggest
that the next time you are driving down the highway, cussing
all those danged trucks, you better give it a second thought,
since you would not have a single thing to eat if it weren't for
them.

If they should ever stop, it will take less than three days to
eat all the food in Tulsa, and the rest of the country for that
matter. And this time you won't be able to go to grandma's to
eat out of her garden, like we did back in the 30's.

And the truck drivers could put a stop to all the crazy things
that go on in Washington, D. C., and the rest of our country, by
simply refusing to drive into Washington, D. C. The truck
drivers have our country right in their hands and don't seem
to know it.

It is time someone does something to save our once great
country from the One World Order gang. Please see if you
can find a way to get th is idea to them. I have no way to do
so. My thanks for your time . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RESPONSE by an0nymous bobkat

Actually, I have discussed an interstate park-in with
truckers on the radio when driving.

There does not seem to be any interest. They have families
and the fear of loosing their jobs is greater than their patriotism.
Some have tried this and there was not enough support.

All it would take is about a one day park-in for corporate
America to get the idea Truckers could shut this country
down. One day would cost millions of dollars.

It may cost $100. to fill up your car
at $4. gal. but at $2.89 it is $600 to
fill up an 18 wheeler TODAY!

Think you'll be able to buy those veggies if this continues?
My company has over a $3000.00 per month fuel bill running
not even a full fleet of trucks. My hot shot runs average
$400.00 +.

You bet, consumer, you will "eat" this. Profits have to
be made and until someone gets it together, this rage
will continue. But, thanks, William, it is a GREAT idea.

It just lacks the truckers support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C~B~N would add that most Americans would not support it as it
would mean being inconvenienced for a few days when we
couldn't get our WANTS at exactly the moment we want them.

When did we become so selfish and self-centered?????

Top of Page

Taking China seriously – a decade too late

2007-02-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

The Bush administration has announced it has suspended plans
to develop joint space ventures with China. The suspension comes
on the heels of China's successful test of a new anti-satellite space
weapon.

China tested its space-bound ballistic missile system by taking
aim at an obsolete 4-foot by 4-foot communications satellite orbiting
530 miles above the earth.

The Chinese missile scored a direct hit on the target, creating
more orbiting space debris and increasing the risk of collision
between the debris and other orbiting satellites.

According to NASA spokesman Jason Sharp, China's missile
test undermined an agreement reached between President Bush
and Chinese President Hu Jintao during an April summit.

"We believe China's development and testing of such weapons is
inconsistent with the constructive relationship that our presidents
have outlined, including on civil space cooperation," Sharp said.

He also said there were "some initial discussions looking at where
there were mutual interests where we could cooperate with the
Chinese," but there are no plans for future discussions. The two
presidents had hoped to work on joint moon exploration and
space-debris avoidance.

Space debris is only part of the issue. The real issue is that China's
weapons test puts U.S. satellites within China's reach in the event of
some future war.

America relies on satellites to guide smart bombs, keep track of
enemy troop movements, guide cruise missiles on target, provide
real-time battlefield communications, as well as monitoring potential
incoming missile attacks.

Knock our satellites out of the sky and what remains of
our military machine is about the size of Saddam Hussein's
pre-Gulf War Iraq, but, without technology to make it all
work, not nearly as well-equipped.

Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and the
administration's point man for space security policy, said this week
that the space weapons test was "a shock."

It shows space is a "contested environment" and that "countries
are developing capabilities to put at risk our assets for which we are
dependent," he said.

"This is a wake-up call," Joseph said, noting that the United States
needs "to ensure that we take the steps necessary to protect the
space assets and the right to unfettered access to space."
It may be a wake-up call, but we should have set the alarm a bit
earlier.

Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Armed
Services Committee, was more blunt, calling the test "irresponsible
and unacceptable" and warning that, "sticking our heads in the sand
isn't going to make it better; it will only make it worse."

The warning, like the wake-up call, would have been a good
idea – 10 years ago – before the waiver granted by Bill Clinton
handed China the technology it needed.

It's too late to close Pandora's Box now.

February 9. 2007 Hal Lindsay
Hal Lindsay.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trading With the Enemy: How the Clinton Administration
Armed (video)

This video includes first ever interviews with top defense
and intelligence officials, Members of Congress, and former top
Clinton Administration officials discussing transfers
of weapons technology for campaign cash.

The documentary also outlines how crucial security procedures
were circumvented as the Clinton Administration ordered
dangerous weapons technology transfers to the Peoples Republic
of China.

It also includes exclusive footage of Charlie Trie acting as liaison
between Bill Clinton and Communist Chinese offcials just before
the 1992 election.

VHS. 60 minutes. $20.95
Shop WND

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want politicians to stop PROSTITUTING themselves? Television
needs to provide FREE campaign ad space for all...no favoritism
allowed.

Seems to me they should be making enough BIG money from all
those superbowl ads ~~EVERY year~~ that they could afford to let
politicians campaign for free on tv~~every FOUR!!

If you ain't part of the solution, then you're part of the
PROBLEM....think outside the box.

Top of Page

SBC and AT&T back together again!

2007-02-01T14:39:00.000-05:00

The United States Anti-Trust Laws in the 70's determined that AT&T had an unfair advantage over their competitors and thus broke up their company.

1984: AT&T was divested of its 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement.

It was supposed to make our phone bills cheaper. Only I remember the exact opposite happening. I didn't make any more long distance phone calls than I did when the Southern Bell Company was part of AT&T; but my bill more than doubled after the break-up!

So, how can SBC, 21 years later, in 2005 obtain AT&T then??????

What effect is this going to have on the poor consumer now? Triple the expense of our phone bills?????

Just wondering.........

UPDATED (One Year Later!) For your laughing enjoyment....YouTube

Wish I had thought of doing this!!

NOTE: YouTube apparently doesn't store videos like blog or news sites do. Therefore you will need to look for the title: att history. It is 1 minute 14 seconds long. Hope this helps, as it is absolutely HILARIOUS and worth watching! Looks like this:

C~B~N

Top of Page

Nobel Prizes

2007-01-13T02:37:00.000-05:00

The Global Islamic population is approximately 1,200,000,000~~ or 20% of the world population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:

1988 - Najib Mahfooz

Peace:

1978 - Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat

1994 - Yaser Arafat

1990 - Elias James Corey

1999 - Ahmed Zewa

Economics:(none)

Medicine:

1960 - Peter Brian Medawar

1998 - Ferid Mourad

Compare:

The Global Jewish population is approximately 14,000,000~~ or about 0.02% of the world population.

They have received the following Nobel Prizes:

Literature:

1910 - Paul Heyse

1927 - Henri Bergson

1958 - Boris Pasternak

1966 - Shmuel Yosef Agnon

1966 - Nelly Sachs

1976 - Saul Bellow

1978 - Isaac Bashevis Singer

1981 - Elias Canetti

1987 - Joseph Brodsky

1991 - Nadine Gordimer World

Peace:

1911 - Alfred Fried

1911 - Tobias Michael Carel Asser

1968 - Rene Cassin

1973 - Henry Kissinger

1978 - Menachem Begin

1986 - Elie Wiesel

1994 - Shimon Peres

1994 - Yitzhak Rabin

Physics:

1905 - Adolph Von Baeyer

1906 - Henri Moissan

1907 - Albert Abraham Michelson

1908 - Gabriel Lippmann

1910 - Otto Wallach

1915 - Richard Willstaetter

1918 - Fritz Haber

1921 - Albert Einstein

1922 - Niels Bohr

1925 - James Franck

1925 - Gustav Hertz

1943 - Gustav Stern

1943 - George Charles de Hevesy

1944 - Isidor Issac Rabi

1952 - Felix Bloch

1954 - Max Born

1958 - Igor Tamm

1959 - Emilio Segre

1960 - Donald A. Glaser

1961 - Robert Hofstadter

1961 - Melvin Calvin

1962 - Lev Davidovich Landau

1962 - Max Ferdinand Perutz

1965 - Richard Phillips Feynman

1965 - Julian Schwinger

1969 - Murray Gell-Mann

1971 - Dennis Gabor

1972 - William Howard Stein

1973 - Brian David Josephson

1975 - Benjamin Mottleson

1976 - Burton Richter

1977 - Ilya Prigogine

1978 - Arno Allan Penzias

1978 - Peter L Kapitza

1979 - Stephen Weinberg

1979 - Sheldon Glashow

1979 - Herbert Charle s Brown

1980 - Paul Berg

1980 - Walter Gilbert

1981 - Roald Hoffmann

1982 - Aaron Klug

1985 - Albert A. Hauptman

1985 - Jerome Karle

1986 - Dudley R. Herschbach

1988 - Robert Huber

1988 - Leon Lederman

1988 - Melvin Schwartz

1988 - Jack Steinberger

1989 - Sidney Altman

1990 - Jerome Friedman

1992 - Rudolph Marcus

1995 - Martin Perl

2000 - Alan J. Heeger

Economics:

1970 - Paul Anthony Samuelson

1971 - Simon Kuznets

1972 - Kenneth Joseph Arrow

1975 - Leonid Kantorovich

1976 - Milton Friedman

1978 - Herbert A. Simon

1980 - Lawrence Robert Klein

1985 - Franco Modigliani

1987 - Robert M. Solow

1990 - Harry Markowitz

1990 - Merton Miller

1992 - Gary Becker

1993 - Robert Fogel

Medicine:

1908 - Elie Metchnikoff

1908 - Paul Erlich

1914 - Robert Barany

1922 - Otto Meyerhof

1930 - Karl Landsteiner

1931 - Otto Warburg1936 - Otto Loewi

1944 - Joseph Erlanger

1944 - Herbert Spencer Gasser

1945 - Ernst Boris Chain

1946 - Hermann Joseph Muller

1950 - Tadeus Reichstein

1952 - Selman Abra ham Waksman

1953 - Hans Krebs

1953 - Fritz Albert Lipmann

1958 - Joshua Lederberg

1959 - Arthur Kornberg

1964 - Konrad Bloch

1965 - Francois Jacob

1965 - Andre Lwoff

1967 - George Wald

1968 - Marshall W. Nirenberg

1969 - Salvador Luria

1970 - Julius Axelrod

1970 - Sir Bernard Katz

1972 - Gerald Maurice Edelman

1975 - Howard Martin Temin

1976 - Baruch S. Blumberg

1977 - Roselyn Sussman Yalow

1978 - Daniel Nathans

1980 - Baruj Benacerraf

1984 - Cesar Milstein

1985 - Michael Stuart Brown

1985 - Joseph L. Goldstein

1986 - Stanley Cohen [& Rita Levi-Montalcini]

1988 - Gertrude Elion

1989 - Harold Varmus

1991 - Erwin Neher

1991 - Bert Sakmann

1993 - Richard J. Roberts

1993 - Phillip Sharp

1994 - Alfred Gilman

1995 - Edward B. Lewis

The Jews are not promoting brain washing the children in military training camps, teaching them how to blow themselves up and cause maximum deaths of Jews and other non Muslims.

The Jews don't hijack planes, nor kill athletes at the Olympics.

The Jews don't traffic slaves, nor have leaders calling for Jihad and death to all the Infidels.

Perhaps the world's Muslims should consider investing more in standard education and less in blaming the Jews for all their problems.

Regardless of your feelings about the crisis between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab neighbors, even if you believe there is more culpability on Israel 's part, the following two sentences really say it all:

If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence.

If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world still does NOT believe these are God's Own Chosen People?
Then the inmates are running the institution then.......

Top of Page

Wouldn't It Be Lovely

2007-01-13T01:07:00.000-05:00

This came to me via email. I liked it. Quite frankly,
I'm tired of supporting other countries who then
bad-mouth us. I'd rather see my money spent at
home for needed things!
C~B~N

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY
U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE
FOLLOWING SPEECH?

My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of
Iraq regime has been completed. Since congress does
not want to spend any more money on this war, our
mission in Iraq is complete. This morning I gave the
order for a complete removal of all American
forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within
30 days. It is now to begin the reckoning.

Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of
countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq
conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain ,
Bulgaria, Australia, and Poland are some of the
countries listed there.

The other list contains everyone not on the first list.
Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press
secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later
this evening.

Let me start by saying that effective immediately,
foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately
and indefinitely.

The money saved during the first year alone will pretty
much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. The
American people are no longer going to pour money
into third world hellholes and watch those government
leaders grow fat on corruption.

Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic?

Call France.

In the future, together with Congress, I will work to
redirect this money toward solving the vexing social
problems we still have at home.

On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw
with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you
and all your friends from the face of the earth.

Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France,
or maybe China. I am ordering the immediate
severing of diplomatic relations with France,
Germany, and Russia. Thanks for all your help,
comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well.
Bon chance, mes amis.

I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin
towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in
Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets
to sites where those vehicles will be stripped,
shredded and crushed I don't care about whatever
treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of
thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets
tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers
and limos be turned over to some of the finest
chop shops in the world. I love New York. {Um, rather
let's auction them off and use the money
for health care for uninsured Americans or
something equally good!}

A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2.
Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other,
you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.

Mexico is also on List 2. President Fox and his
entire corrupt government really need an attitude
adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and
infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where
I am going to put em? Yep, border security. {Texas!}

Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating {= for the
uneducated, illiterate and/or lazy: to abolish} the NAFTA
treaty - starting now.

We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately,
we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska - which will take
care of this country's oil needs for decades to come.
If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision,
I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
They care.

It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its
own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer
them by saying, "darn tootin."

Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life
around the world has only earned us the undying enmity
of just about everyone on the planet. {Next time you need
help with the worlds fascists, nazis, socialists or
communists~~Good Luck; cause you're going to need it.}

It is time to eliminate hunger in America. It is time
to eliminate homelessness in America.

To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys.
We owe you and we won't forget.

To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to
learn to speak Arabic.

God bless America.
Thank you and good night.

If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

Top of Page

Habeus Corpus Has been suspended

2007-01-12T22:37:00.000-05:00

It was signed into law on 10-17-06 by Bush after it had been passed by Congress.

"According to this news a person can now be arrested withouit being charged and be incarcerated for an indeterminate length of time and even under the duress of physical punishment. This was a black day in American history."

There is video of the signing and can be seen at: Suspending the Constitution

~~~~~~~~~~~from C~B~N~~~~~~~~~~~

What this means is that anything you might say or do can be construed as an enemy of the State. The lesson here is that free speech has been rescinded. ZIPPER YOUR LIPS!!!

Although, I just don't see them incarcerating those who support "Palestine". More likely, those who support Israel are the endangered ones; or Christians!

Wow, can we say "end times" fast enough?????

While Russia is struggling toward democracy; America has been embracing communistic principles for decades now. Too sad and disheartening.....

Top of Page

Gun Control

2006-11-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

As you read this one and the next one, you'll see how
C~B~N spent his time this afternoon~~ watching a
wonderful movie based on a John Grisham book;
who is one of my favorite authors. The man can write
a legal thriller!

The excerpt is Dustin Hoffman's character of attorney
Wendall Rohr giving his summation in the trial against
the gun makers in "Runaway Jury":

"You heard Mr. Garland Jankle, Chief CEO of Vicksburg
Firearms, sit in that chair and say to you that what we
do with his guns is not HIS problem and he's right! You
can make it HIS problem with your verdict. You may for
the first time make gun violence the gun industries
problem. If you do, you are going to see fewer senseless
deaths."

~~~~~~~~~~
Now, I'm definitely not a liberal. But I'm not a 'crazy'
conservative either. I believe in our constitutional right
to bear arms. But I don't believe any normal citizen
NEEDS a machine gun for any reason. I have never
known any deer hunters who used one to hunt deer.
So, I guess I believe a little common sense could be
applied here. It doesn't have to be an all or none
proposition which both sides seem to insist upon.

A waiting period to purchase any firearm is not a bad
thing. It is not violating your right to own one. But for
many angry or suicidal people, this could mean the
difference in their life being irrevocably changed. Anger
will diminish--thus averting some crime; and depression
can pass--thus saving a life.

Stopping the sale of military style weapons to the average
citizen is not a bad thing either. These weapons are meant
for a trained army to utilize in a nations defense. I also
believe we should NOT be selling arms to foreign nations
who can and will use our own weapons against our men
and women in uniform.

Selling "cop killer" bullets should not be tolerated in any
free society. The police are not meant to be our enemies
but our first defense against lawlessness. Let's face the
truth here; the only ones who would need this type of
armament are the BAD guys. So let's not endanger
the lives of the men and women who have taken an
oath to serve and protect YOU for very little pay
and compensation.

If the gun industry decides to continue to sell these
unnecessary weapons and bullets, then they SHOULD
be held accountable. Because they have based their
decision on the mighty dollar. They continue to sell them
for MONEY because it is profitable; therefore, they
should pay with that profit to the victims of violent
crimes.

After all, our children deserve to be safe: in their homes,
in their schools, in the malls, in the parks, in their
neighborhoods.

We all do.

This too is a constitutional right.

C~B~N

Top of Page

Jury Duty

2006-11-05T15:04:00.000-05:00

"You think the average jurist is King Solomon?
No! He's a roofer with a mortgage. He wants to
go home and sit in his barcalounger and let cable
tv wash over him. This man doesn't give a single
solitary drop of sh-- about truth, justice, or your
American Way."

from Runaway Jury; Speech by Gene Hackman's
character Jury Consultant Fitch.

~~~~~~~~~~
And, sadly, this seems too true. When cable goes
down is about the ONLY time you hear public
outcry~~ their legalized, anesthetic has been
interupted.

It is time to view jury duty as something other
than a chore. It is in actuality, a privilege. One
that felons no longer have the right to. One that
many nations deny their citizens.

This came to me today and I thought it had a
wonderful perspective on jury duty. {My comments
are enclosed..}

~~~~~~~~~~

Last week I served on jury duty.

When I received the notice in the mail, I admit
like most people I sighed and said, "I don't have
time for this; I have too much to do."

I also thought about the mere $25 I would get
paid for the whole day. {Houston, Tx only paid $6
a day 10 years ago--barely paid for your parking in
downtown!}

I said, "Why don't they pay me what I make on
my job for a day's work?" But then, the
thought came to me, "What if I were the one
with the case and needed jurors to attend
my trial?"

From that moment on, I was honored to serve on
jury duty.

Besides, if everyone were paid what they made
on their jobs, taxes would go up and we would
pay it one way or another.

As I sat in the juror assembly room, I looked
around and noticed that these jurors made up
our society. {This is a good thing. A roofer is
just as capable of coming to the truth as a
Doctor or educator or whatever degree earned.
Being blue collar as opposed to white collar
doesn't negate intelligence! In fact, the more
overly educated a person, the less common
sense --I have found.}

Even though we were all different in many
ways, we were all connected and the same
in many ways.

A man sitting behind me looked as though
he had nothing at all in common with me.
He asked me what I did, and I told him. I
asked him the same, and he said he owned
a yoga center. I told him I had been to one
yoga center in the city and offered him the
name. His eyes lit up, "That's the one I own,"
he responded. He told me it was a small world.

Sometimes it is not the size of the world
that we overestimate as it is the link
between us all that we underestimate.

The other observance that became apparent
to me while waiting were the activities people
performed while waiting to be selected for a
courtroom. It reflected what they did with their
sparetime in life.

Some people were asleep; sleep was important
to them.

Some people were working on their laptops; work
had to be done.

Some people were reading the newspaper. They
wanted to stay abreast of what was going on in
the world.

Some people were reading books. They
understood the power of reading. {If I wasn't
grading papers, I would've been reading--John
Grisham has always been a favorite! :o) I never
leave the house without a book and water.}

Some people were talking to others. They enjoyed
good conversation.

Others were watching television. They just
wanted to be entertained.

Some looked at this time waiting as time wasted.

Others looked at it as a blessing to finally be
able to slow down for a minute and take a breather.

Jury duty was representative of life.The same
time, the same job, the same place, the same
pay, and the same responsibility represented
different things to different people.

Just like life, the jury duty selection process
will seem like they are picking on you at times.
I have been here four times in the past five years,
yet my mother is over twice my age and has never
been summoned. {I've been twice and twice was
hastily excused. I think being a Southern Baptist
educator had something to do with it......}

The next time you are summoned for
jury duty, imagine it was your case and be
thankful for the freedom realized in the
judicial system.

While waiting to be chosen to perform your duty,
take notice of how you spend your time.

By the way, I wrote three MountainWings
issues while waiting. I had intentions of writing
them for weeks and just now found the time.

~A MountainWings Original by James Bronner~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Great perspective!

C~B~N

Top of Page

Pet Peeve: DVD Technology

2006-11-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

C~B~N did belong to one of those DVD clubs where for a
monthly fee they'd mail you DVD's. I quit it. Not because
they didn't have good choices. They did! I really enjoy
movies and this was the cheapest way to view them for me.

No, I quit because the DVD technology is just too fragile
for mailing them.

Heck, they are too fragile to play as they scratch sooooo
easily. What is up with that freezing frame that goes on.
I know you know what I mean: the actors look like they are
doing the jerky robot; or it completely freezes up and
won't move at all.

I have found that I LIKE VHS! It is JUST BETTER all
around. They are harder to break but can be fixed if
they do! They have better viewing quality; they don't
"freeze" up and refuse to play anymore; they can't be
scratched or cracked during mailing like DVDs.

But the "industry" is going to go with DVD. It is
"modern". But for my money, it is crappy technology.

Remember a few years ago "they" said CDs and DVDs
for movies or the computer were INDESTRUCTIBLE.
That they would last a hundred years.

WRONG. You will be lucky if they last 5.

If I'm going to build a library of movies; I already own
over 200 VHS tapes; then I want the technology to LAST.
Otherwise, I'm just wasting my money.

And that is too hard to come by!

Just for fun one day, when you get one of those free
advertising dvds in the mail; take a pair of scissors
to them and see how EASY it is to cut one up!!!!

Top of Page

A Nugget of Truth

2006-09-13T08:02:00.000-04:00

"Sure the majority of law enforcement officers in this country are good honest people and we owe them our respect and our thanks. But every time I turn around, it seems as if our civil rights are eroding. We overlook police procedural violations, police brutality, because after all, the suspects are almost always guilty, right?

The Second Amendment supposedly protects us from unwarranted intrusions, search and seizures, arrest without charge or probable cause, but every day we see those rights whittled away.

We pass laws we know aren't constitutional, but shield the offense by giving them names like the Patriot Act--as if there was something patriotic about violating the constitutional freedoms that are the bedrock upon which this country was founded.

Is this important? You better believe it. Because this is the United States of America. We created the modern democracy. We invented the constitution, a written document that guarantees the people's rights--and restricts the powers of the government.

I love this country, but every time we let another constitutional right be trampled upon, every time we look the other way while some wrongful act is committed in the name of homeland security, or national defense, or patriotism, we become a little less American.

The erosion of one civil right only leads to another....."

Brilliant excerpt from 'Capitol Murder' by William Bernhardt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
C~B~N's only beef with the above statement is the one where it is stated we created the modern democracy. This nation in actuality started out as a republic. It was the politicos of old who perverted it into a 'democracy'-- the forebears of today's politicos who are slowly, cleverly and decisively destroying the Constitution of the United States.

'We the People' are so busy trying to make ends meet to keep a roof over our heads, that we are NOT paying attention to these "laws" that are brought to us and SOLD to us as ones to keep our precious families safe; when in actuality, they are meant to destroy this nation from within.

Oh yeah, have a good day.......

Top of Page

Dear God

2006-09-11T04:35:00.000-04:00

Why didn't you save the school children at...

Moses Lake , Washington 2/2/96
Bethel , Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl , Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah , Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamp, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro , Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro , Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville , Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield , Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond , Virginia 6/15/98
Littleton , Colorado 4/20/99
Taber , Alberta , Canada 5/28/99
Conyers , Georgia 5/20/99
Deming , New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson , Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee , California 3/ 5/01
and El Cajon , California 3/22/01?

Sincerely,
Concerned Student

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reply:

Dear Concerned Student:

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,
God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How did this get started?...

-----------------

Let's see, I think it started when Madeline

Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want any

prayer in our schools.

And we said, OK.

------------------

Then, someone said you better not read

the Bible in school, the Bible that says "thou shalt

not kill,thou shalt not steal, and

love your neighbors as yourself, "

And we said, OK...

-----------------

Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank

our children when they misbehaved because

their little personalities would be warped and
we might damage their self-esteem.

And we said, an expert should know what he's

talking about so we won't spank them anymore..

------------------

Then someone said teachers and principals

better not discipline our children when they

misbehave. And the school administrators said
no faculty member in this school better touch a

student when they misbehave because we don't

want any bad publicity,and we surely don't want to

be sued.

And we accepted their reasoning...

------------------

Then someone said, let's let our daughters have

abortions if they want, and they won't even have

to tell their parents.

And we said, that's a grand idea...

------------------

Then some wise school board member said,

since boys will be boys and they're going to do it

anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they

want, so they can have all the fun they desire,

and we won't have to tell their parents they

got them at school.

And we said, that's another great idea...

------------------

Then some of our top elected officials said it

doesn't matter what we do in private as long as

we do our jobs. And we said,it doesn't matter what

anybody, including the President, does in private

as long as we have jobs and the economy is good....

------------------

And someone else took that appreciation a

step further and published pictures of nude

children and then stepped further still by making

them available on the Internet.

And we said, everyone's entitled to free speech....

------------------

And the entertainment industry said, let's

make TV shows and movies that promote profanity,

violence and illicit sex...

And let's record music that encourages rape,

drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...

And we said,it's just entertainment and it has no

adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously

anyway,

so go right ahead.

------------------

Now we're asking ourselves why our children

have no conscience, why they don't know right from

wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to

kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.

------------------

Undoubtedly,if we thought about it long and

hard enough,we could figure it out.

I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...

"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW,"

------------------

~~Author Unknown~~

Top of Page

The Circle of Life

2006-09-07T04:40:00.000-04:00

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.

To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

~~Unknown Author~~

Top of Page

Showing Support for Our American Soldiers

2006-09-07T04:20:00.000-04:00

This is a really cool site where you can show your support of our troops.

It is sponsored by the Xerox corporation and they will print out the card of your design and mail it to an American soldier!

Let's say Thanks!

Top of Page

Evil Spammers

2006-06-19T18:58:00.000-04:00

Due to the evil spammers, I have had to take out my "Email Me!" link.

You will need to leave a comment instead, and I'll try to check in for them on occasion.

Sorry for this inconvenience......
c~b~n

Top of Page

11 Things Students Will NOT Learn In School

2006-06-05T19:06:00.000-04:00

by Charles J. Sykes
from his book, "Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rule 1: Life is NOT fair~get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: IF you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a BOSS.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping~~they called it OPPORTUNITY.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about YOUR mistakes. Learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you "save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation", try de-lousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with WINNERS and LOSERS, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING IN REAL LIFE.

Rule 9: Life is not divide into semester's. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you "Find Yourself". Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working FOR one.

Rule 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now. You're welcome.

Top of Page

Rewarding Lawbreakers: Why Amnesty Won't Work

2006-06-02T20:57:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Bill Fancher

While President Bush continues to push for a "guest worker" program for illegal immigrants, analysts warn it could result in an economic crisis.

Critics of the president's proposals for immigration reform continue to call it an "amnesty" that rewards those who break U.S. law.

James Boulet of English First agrees with participants in recent pro-immigration demonstrations who claimed Christopher Columbus did not have a green card when he came to America.

"True enough," says Boulet. "But when Columbus arrived, the Indians didn't have a welfare state either.

Illegal immigrants are not somehow immune to the pull of the American welfare state -- they're simply legally excluded from it." {Not once a child is born on American soil....at least in Texas! They then qualify for EVERY program out there and believe me with their third world attitudes they KNOW how to work the system.

"Latest statistics indicate that one out of every three Hispanic births in the United States are to illegal immigrants. According to U.S. law, those babies automatically become American citizens. Phil Kent of the American Immigration Control Foundation says many illegal Hispanic women cross into the U.S. just to give birth so their children will be citizens and become eligible for governmental assistance programs." from Agape Press }

The English First spokesman expects that will change once "amnesty" is granted. "Once illegal aliens receive amnesty or become guest workers, they would become immediately eligible for many billions in taxpayer-funded benefits," he says.

"[We can] expect their vaunted work ethic to vanish once the first welfare check arrives -- and America will realize it has imported a brand new underclass."

And the cost of that new underclass, says Boulet, will be staggering -- both financially and politically.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It means American born citizens do with LESS; less money, less benefits, less security, less respect from the greedy usurpers who think they are entitled to it because they are poor people from a poor country and all those rich Americans can just pay for them to live here.

Think this is too critical, then come on down and live on a border state and experience it for yourself.

Because they do have an air of entitlement; rather than being greatful or appreciative.

It is time to take care of our own citizens first. Too many live at the poverty level because of minimum wages; too many have NO health insurance; too many must work 2 or more jobs just to be able to pay the bills.

Remember: Charity begins at home America.

Top of Page

Campus Leaders Squelching Free Speech

2006-06-02T19:58:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Jim Brown

A conservative columnist has announced the latest winner of an annual mock award conferred upon "the university president who does the most to look the other way when free speech is under assault on campus." U.S. News & World Report columnist John Leo has declared a tie in this year's Sheldon Award competition.

The top prize in 2006 goes to Washington State University president Lane Rawlins, who financed and organized an attempt to shut down a student play, and who also threatened to expel a student from the school's teacher education program because of his conservative religious and political views. However, Rawlins must share the honor with the other award winner this year, DePaul University president Thomas Holtschneider.

This top "honor" was conferred upon Holschneider for, among other things, having censored a campus protest against affirmative action and having suspended a teacher without a hearing for debating pro-Palestinian students on campus. Leo calls Rawlins and Holtschneider "the Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of Sheldonism" this year.

The dubious award is named after former University of Pennsylvania president Sheldon Hackney, who did nothing about a major theft of student newspapers on his campus. In that incident, Leo points out, "minority students got so angry at an editorial in their paper [that] they stole 15,000 copies, and Hackney let them go, but he reprimanded the guard who caught them. I thought that was an amazing touch."

Now, the U.S. News & World Report editorialist notes, "every time a university president exceeds all boundaries by allowing unconstitutional speech codes or theft of newspapers, I give an annual award -- a mock honor -- to the failing university president."

According to Leo, the conservative viewpoint is nearly always the one that gets punished, censored, or silenced on campuses across the U.S. "Every year," he says, "I look for liberal and moderate victims of this, and they're very hard to find because, as you probably know, the university has been taken over by the 60s radicals, and they don't like dissent on the right."

Both of the latest Sheldon Award "winners" have repeatedly attempted to censor the expression of conservative students, Leo asserts, and both have failed to stand up for the constitutional rights of members of their campus communities. For that reason, he contends, both Holtschneider and Rawlins are equally worthy of the award for this year's most "spineless" university president.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is why I no longer support the main stream universities or public educational institutions.

I am an advocate of Christian schooling for all age groups. I also believe in the SBA calling our children out of the public schools. I don't want to see their "lights" extinguished by non-believers. It is foolish to think a 5 year old can stand up to an educator who advocates homosexuality, liberalism, anti-God and anti-Christian beliefs; much less an older student. Even God gave his prophets time to mature and grow in His wisdom before sending these MEN out into the world....MEN, not children.

The public school system just doesn't work any longer. They are becoming the holding cells for future inmates of the correctional facilities around this nation.

And too many teachers feel threatened while on the job. This is RIDICULOUS. An educator should not have to feel as if they are going into combat to teach school.

But mention God, Jesus, Christian principals and you can be sued.

You know, they can have their public schools. As for me and mine we will support the Christian institutions that do show a better way and provide a better education.

We also support the parents right to choose the school they want their children in....which means their tax money goes to the school they support!

sign me a Christian radical
c~b~n

Top of Page

The dumbing down of America

2006-06-02T18:58:00.000-04:00

Author: Americans Are Losing Their Critical Thinking Ability

from Agape Press
by Mary Rettig

An author and editor for the National Post in Canada says Americans are losing the ability to think critically, a problem he relates to the lack of objective reporting in the media.

Michael LeGault is the author of Th!nk: Why Crucial Decisions Can't Be Made in the Blink of an Eye (Threshold Editions, 2006). He says his book discusses why the premise behind Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking, a best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell, does not work.

Gladwell's Blink extols and even advocates "gut reactions" and snap judgments. But LeGault feels this is poor approach for reasoning minds, and he is concerned that increasing numbers of people in America seem to be moving away from thoughtful, critical decision-making, and turning instead to their emotions. {Be interesting to see the correlation to crime statistics as well....since so many are committed in the "hot" moment of passion or "gut reactions"!}

"The result of this has been, ultimately, that more and more people rely on received knowledge," LeGault says. They take their information and conclusions "from news media primarily," he asserts, or in any case, "from other people, rather than doing thinking on their own or asking questions -- hard questions." {Just lazy; inept; stupid?}

The author of Th!nk says this reliance on media for more and more information has caused the facts to be increasingly filtered through various biases. "Behind each one of these as it's presented in the media," he contends, "are other information and other sides to the story that are often not presented, and our general tendency is to believe these wholesale, without question."

Also, LeGault notes, this phenomenon has resulted in what he calls a "greatest hits" mentality, where news media outlets exploit hot-button issues in an effort to increase their ratings and bring in advertising dollars. As a result, he suggests, the public has come to rely on pithy pundits and appeals to passion instead of real, objective information.

Americans are buying into all kinds of media hype, LeGault asserts, because many {Ha! I'd say MOST} have lost the ability to think critically, weighing information
and separating opinion and
propaganda from actual facts.

He says this is why so many people tend to believe unfounded claims such as global warming theories or the idea that the Earth is running out of oil.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Americans have become stupid. Shocking? Too bad. It's true. They don't think for themselves any longer.....the sheeple (sheep + people) syndrome.

They are too busy numbing themselves with the banalities of the tv sitcom or the movie of the week.

They no longer read. Beginning to think that most don't know how to read anymore.

They swallow hook, line and sinker the "news" offered by "commercial" television, which has been nothing but liberal slanted propaganda for years now.

They swallow all information from our own government without QUESTIONING it.

Prime example: THE PATRIOT ACT. Which is destroying the Constitution of the United States. Or go read some executive orders from recent years. That ought to scare you to death. But you WON'T. That might mean missing the next episode of "American Idol" or "Survivor" or "Joey"--pick your own numbing anesthesia.

You kill the constitution, you have no "guaranteed" freedoms. You have a despotic government. In essence, you have become the modern day USSR.

Maybe YOU don't care that this is happening....fine; just reinforces my belief that Americans have become stupid over the years.

But those of us who do care, do not wish to see our country DESTROYED from within.

Sadly, I believe it is already too late.

sign me.....a retired educator who couldn't beat the liberal public school system
c~b~n

Top of Page

Insurance

2006-06-02T18:57:00.000-04:00

I have always stated that "insurance companies" are just legalized loan sharks.....you pay and you pay and you pay and you pay, and when you need them to pay, they deny and deny and deny and deny.... and the result: YOU DIE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Study Shows Low Competition Among Health Insurers Is Costing Patients
by Mary Rettig

from Agape Press

The American Medical Association (AMA) says a study it conducted shows there is extremely limited competition between health insurance providers in many metropolitan areas of the United States, and this has heavy implications for Americans.

The AMA looked at nearly 300 metropolitan areas in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 to determine what happened after a decade of unprecedented mergers and takeovers in the health insurance industry. The study found that in 56 percent of the markets, a single insurance company had a market share of 50 percent or greater.

{Competition is what keeps PRICES low; no competition = MONOPOLY = Total control = HIGHER PRICES}

Dr. Jim Rohack, the immediate past chairman of the AMA's Board of Trustees, says this lack of competition is very bad for the consumers. He says the researchers found that, under the kind of market consolidation they saw, patients had fewer insurance options and higher premiums. Also, due to those high costs, more people were uninsured.

"And the only one that was benefiting was the company itself, making record profits," {which is what a loan shark is after...PROFITS} Rohack adds. "Patients had less choice [in terms of] the health insurance that they could purchase, and we also found that the premiums had increased," he says, "yet the benefits provided to patients did not increase."

According to the former AMA Board of Trustees chairman, more competition among health insurance companies leads to lower costs for consumers as well as better healthcare, because it means patients have more choices. However, he says the recent study indicates that competition among the insurance carriers is on a steep decline, while health insurance premiums are rising quickly.

Rohack says the AMA's study will be turned in to the U.S. Department of Justice. That agency, he notes, will look further into the matter to determine whether any anti-trust laws have been violated by the insurance companies.

{Yet, EVERY time the government gets involved, things do not improve.....government regulation is NOT a good thing; not for the business, not for the consumer. When will businesses LEARN THIS?}

Top of Page

Spirituality and medicine

2006-06-01T18:57:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
Original source Manmin News Service

More than 500 physicians from 20 countries are expected to gather to discuss how spirituality and medicine go together {About darn time too!} and to present medical data about the works of divine healing at the Third International Christian Medical Conference on June 1-2 at Grand Convention Center in Cebu City, the Philippines.

The conference -- with the theme "Spirituality & Medicine - III (Pursuit for Excellence)" -- will seek to enhance believers' faith while emphasizing the fact that God is indeed the Healer.

International delegates and some of the best in their medical fields will exchange notes on divine healing and present more than ten cases backed by medical data in which patients received healing by prayer.

Presented will be healing cases of first-degree disability, stomach cancer, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, tennis elbow tendonitis, Celiac disease, infertility, facial burn, intra-cerebral hemorrhage, quadriplegia, spinal tuberculosis, and many other healing cases of incurable and terminal diseases.

Keynote addresses will be delivered by Hon. Antonio Yapha, Jr., M.D., chairman of Committee on Health, House of Representatives, the Philippines, and Rev. Bishop Romeo Corpuz, Sr., president of All Creation Global Network Ministries, Inc.

On June 2, Dr. David Prentice, Ph.D. (senior fellow for life sciences at Family Research Council, a Washington, DC-based think tank) will give a special lecture entitled: "Stem Cells, Cloning, and Other Biotechnologies: What Value for Human Life?"

More information about the conference is available on the Internet through the World Christian Doctors Network.

Top of Page

The Taking Hostage of the United States

2006-05-21T23:57:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Chad Groening

A Messianic Jewish believer thinks Israel and the United States have something very much in common: a large number of foreign occupiers who believe the land belongs to them.

Jan Markell is founder of Olive Tree Ministries in Minnesota. She shares that she watched the recent mass demonstrations by illegal immigrants and their supporters in major U.S. cities -- and believes they have the same desire as Palestinians living in Israel.

"The Palestinians claim that their land has been stolen by the Israelis. But it was not stolen -- God gave them that land generations ago," says Markell. "And yet Palestinians are claiming that they've been disinherited and the land taken away from them.".

The ministry leader sees a parallel. "Now we have a lot of Mexicans saying [they] are going to reoccupy America -- at least the southwest part of America. [They are saying] 'We are going to take it over again because it was rightfully ours, and you stole it from us.'"

Markell says just as the Israeli government seems willing to give away God's covenant land to the Palestinians, U.S. politicians seem more interested in getting the Hispanic vote than in acting in the best interests of American citizens. "America's politicians do seem to want to cater to this particular class of people," she says.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This Texan says, Just TRY IT.

Whatever happened to foreswearing alliegance to any other entities or governments when becoming a U.S. citizen?

Whatever happened to the consequences for treason?

Because advocating the hostile take over of any part of the United States IS treason.

You don't have to kill them.....just SEND THEM HOME TO MEXICO OR WHEREVER. Let them go fix their own countries and quit draining the resources of mine.

Harsh? Too bad. They made their beds, now they can go home and lie in them.

Top of Page

THE religion of peace

2006-05-08T18:57:00.000-04:00

Matthew 12:35

A good person produces good words from a

good heart, and an evil person produces evil

words from an evil heart.

Matthew 7:20

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Top of Page

If you are religious, butt out of politics

2006-05-04T20:57:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Bill Fancher

...Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has threatened "people of faith" with what one religious leader calls "the supreme insult."

Rob Schenck, director of the National Clergy Council, describes recent comments by Dean "just outrageous ... Insulting ... [and] demeaning."

He is talking about remarks attributed to the DNC leader, who warned Christians to get out of politics.

Schenck summarized Dean's comments: "[He said] you're either religious or you're involved in politics, but you can't do both. {No, we CAN do both, Dean and his ilk just don't WANT us to do both because they don't want to be held accountable.}

So if you are religious, butt out of politics."

Besides being unconstitutional, the comments are an insult, says Schenck. "This is precisely the kind of bullying that Howard Dean and other Democrats have been engaging in for years now," the ministry leader says.

"It is nothing but a malicious bullying {I'd say it is HATE Speech...umm, their own laws CAN and SHOULD be applied to them as well!} to say to religious people, 'You either stay in your churches and be quiet, or come out and be a part of the public, but you don't do both.'

And that, to me, is a supreme insult." Schenck says Christians must be involved in politics without fear of their churches seeing their tax-exempt status revoked, a threat voiced by Dean. {Does this mean that their "freebies" can be revoked as well if they tick 'we the people' off? Franking privileges...etc...it would be really nice to see in print exactly what benefits politicians receive. There must be somewhere a "benefits package" that is given to them.....why not to their employers 'we the people'? }

Republican Senator Sam Brownback {For President!} also objects to Dean's discrimination. "People should not have to choose between participation in civic activities and their faith," he says. "That is wrong, it's un-American, and people shouldn't threaten groups on that as well."

The Kansas lawmaker wants to remove the tax-threat potential supported by Dean. "It is my hope we can pass the bill that Walter Jones has had in the House for some period of time to remove this potential for penalty that's in the tax code," Brownback states.

The Jones bill would allow churches to say anything they want without fear of the Internal Revenue Service revoking their tax-exempt status.

Top of Page

11

2006-05-02T18:56:00.000-04:00

This is truly chilling , the last thing is even freakier!

1) New York City has 11 letters
2) Afghanistan has 11 letters.
3) Ramsin Yuseb (The terrorist who threatened to destroy the Twin
Towers in 1993) has 11 letters.
4) George W Bush has 11 letters.

This could be a mere coincidence, but this gets more interesting:
1) New York is the 11th state.
2) The first plane crashing against the Twin Towers was flight number 11.
3) Flight 11 was carrying 92 passengers. 9 + 2 = 11
4) Flight 77 which also hit Twin Towers, was carrying 65 passengers. 6 + 5 = 11
5) The tragedy was on September 11, or 9/11 as it is now known. 9 + 1 +1 = 11.
6) The date is equal to the US emergency services telephone number 911. 9 + 1 + 1 = 11.

Sheer coincidence..?! Read on and make up your own mind:
1) The total number of victims inside all the hi-jacked planes was 254. 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.
2) September 11 is day number 254 of the calendar year. Again 2 + 5 + 4 = 11.
3) The Madrid bombing took place on 3/11/2004. 3 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 =11.
4) The tragedy of Madrid happened 911 days after the Twin Towers incident.

Still unconvinced about all of this..?! Try this and see how you feel afterwards; it made my hair stand on end: Open Microsoft Word and do the following:
1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.
2. Highlight the Q33 NY.
3. Change the font size to 48.
4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS

What do you think now?!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wingdings not supported by blogger. Came via email. Thought it was rather interesting.....

Top of Page

The flaw of the "Hate Crimes" definition

2006-04-29T18:56:00.000-04:00

FBI Agent: Muslim Student's Alleged Assault May or May Not Be a Hate Crime
from Agape Press
By Jim Brown

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the alleged attack on a Muslim student at a large Baptist university in Texas as a possible hate crime.

According to the female Muslim student, she was walking to her dorm on the Baylor University campus on April 1 when a white male assaulted her and threatened to kill her. She claims the man grabbed her headscarf, threw her to the ground and kicked her, meanwhile uttering anti-Muslim slurs.

FBI Special Agent Rene Salinas of San Antonio is leading the investigation into the matter and says the suggestion has been made {c~b~n would agree} "that the alleged attack on this particular student was caused or was the direct result of a hate crime." As a result of this allegation, he explains, "the FBI has initiated a preliminary investigation under a civil rights violation -- it would be a civil rights/hate crime -- to make a determination if the allegation is true."

Salinas notes that two factors typically prompt a hate crimes investigation. The crime "has to be racially motivated or religiously motivated," he says, as it would appear to be in this case, if the allegations are true.

However, the federal agent points out, not all crimes involving persons of a particular race or religion or their property are necessarily hate crimes.

For instance, he asserts, "The three college students that were burning the Baptist churches {!! IF not religiously motivated, then WHAT precisely was it? } well, it's not just the fact that they were Baptist churches [or that] they were African American or black Baptist churches."

For the authorities to designate the church burnings a hate crime, evidence would have to suggest that the perpetrators were specifically motivated.{Gee, you think maybe they just hate churches? More specifically, Baptist churches? NOT a HATE CRIME????? This is the flaw in the government's definition of a "hate" crime. Or perhaps it is just their ANTI-Christian bias blatantly showing for once.....}

In 1992 Congress defined a hate crime as any crime in which "the defendant's conduct was motivated by hatred, bias, or prejudice, based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of another individual or group of individuals."

According to the FBI spokesman, a crime such as the burning of black churches or Baptist churches might not be prosecuted under hate crime legislation if nothing in the crime indicates the victim was specifically targeted for one of the specified reasons. {Watch them sell it to us as the "boys will be boys" syndrome.}

"If an individual, for example, goes to a black Baptist church and starts putting up swastikas and all sorts of hate symbols and so forth on it, then the FBI gets involved in that situation," Special Agent Salinas explains.

{Symbols are BAD; Fire is OK.........

Seems to me they are trying TOO HARD to explain WHY they are not treating the burning of many Baptist churches as a hate crime as opposed to the Muslim woman's attack.

Frankly, I don't see a difference and this angers me when my own country can treat the destruction of places of worship as a run-of-the-mill crime; when in fact, it is EVERY bit as serious as what happened to this Muslim woman.

HATE is HATE.

It should NOT be tolerated by anyone or any government!}

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No Denying, Abortion Harms Women

2006-04-29T18:55:00.000-04:00

New Zealand Researcher
from Agape Press

A self-described pro-choice atheist and rationalist set out to prove that abortion does not have any psychological consequences. He found the opposite, and the results were so profound that they cannot be ignored in the scientific field or the political arena.

Professor David Fergusson, New Zealand researcher at Christchurch School of Medicine and Health, said, "[F]rom a personal point of view, I would have rather seen the results come out the other way -- but they didn't. And as a scientist you have to report the facts, not what you'd like to report."

"Those having an abortion had elevated rates of subsequent mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance use disorders," according to the research published in the Journal of Child Psychiatry and Psychology.

Numerous journals refused to publish the research, {Here's that LIBERAL BIAS--don't like the TRUTH, then don't PUBLISH the TRUTH} but Fergusson defended its relevance saying it would be "scientifically irresponsible" to overlook the findings.{Good for him! Truth Matters!} "To provide a parallel to this situation, if we were to find evidence of an adverse reaction to medication, we would be obligated ethically to publish that fact," he explained.

"If we were talking about an antibiotic or an asthma risk, and someone reported adverse reactions, people would be advocating further research to evaluate risk," Fergusson explained. "I can see no good reason why the same rules don't apply to abortion."

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A Mother Asks...

2006-04-29T18:50:00.000-04:00

Author Unknown

A mother asked President Bush,
"Why did my son have to die in Iraq?"

Another mother asked President Kennedy,
"Why did my son have to die in Viet Nam?"

Another mother asked President Truman,
"Why did my son have to die in Korea?

Another mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt,
"Why did my son have to die at Iwo Jima?"

Another mother asked President W. Wilson,
"Why did my son have to die on the battlefield of France?"

Yet another mother asked President Lincoln,
"Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?"

And yet another mother asked President G. Washington,
"Why did my son have to die near Valley Forge?"

Then long, long ago, a mother asked...
"Heavenly Father, why did my Son have to die on a cross outside of Jerusalem?"

The answers to all these are similar --
"So that others may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom."

IF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS,
PLEASE, FEEL FREE......TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM !!!

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Proof of Liberal Tolerance

2006-04-29T06:44:00.000-04:00

Sorry, not today......rather it is their intolerance that is showing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

from Agape Press
by Jim Brown

The author of a controversial, edgy, conservative book about what's happened to America is thanking liberal professors at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus for effectively publicizing the book.

By a 21-0 vote, with nine abstentions, faculty at OSU-Mansfield voted to have the school launch a formal investigation into the actions of librarian Scott Savage. Professors accused the devout Quaker of sexual harassment for recommending a book -- The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian -- as required reading for the incoming freshman class. It was one of four recommended by Savage. (See earlier story)

Reportedly {Of course!} the charges against Savage have since been dropped -- and his attorney has not ruled out a lawsuit over the attack on the librarian's reputation.{Go for it! About time someone stood up to these bullies.} But the faculty vote apparently has had some unintended consequences. Author Kupelian says the almost two dozen professors who voted for the investigation have done him a big favor.

"It's a great irony -- a wonderful irony, from my point of view -- that these professors were so concerned about the possibility that their freshmen might read my book, that outside of the rarified air of the college campus the rest of America has heard about this story and has gone in droves to buy [the book]," he says. {I've been waiting to get it when I can buy it used from Amazon! as my public library takes forever to get these books.}

Kupelian's book was published almost a year ago -- but because of the controversy on the OSU-Mansfield campus, sales have "skyrocketed," says the author. "Right now it's [number] 30 or 40 on Amazon.com -- and it's been the number-one current events book for the last three or four days," he says.

And what about the nine faculty members who abstained from voting? Kupelian says he has a theory.

"You have to wonder: why did they not vote on this matter? It can't be because they didn't have an opinion," he speculates. "I say it's because they knew that this was bogus [and] ridiculous to bring a guy up on charges of sexual harassment for recommending a book."
Consequently, he says, those professors could not vote in favor of the investigation against Scott Savage -- but at the same time they could not vote against it. Otherwise, says Kupelian, they would run the risk of being characterized along with him as "a homophobe and a bigot and a hater."

Kupelian, who is managing editor of WorldNetDaily.com, sees another irony in the whole ordeal: his book is available for purchase in the Ohio State University bookstore.

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V-chip technology

2006-04-29T05:44:00.000-04:00

No Solution to Indecency Violations, Say Critics
Instead of Pumping 'Sewage,' Why Not Just Clean It Up?

from Agape Press
by Jody Brown

At their annual convention on Monday, the National Association of Broadcasters heard a pitch from the former head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) about an upcoming ad campaign designed to inform parents about V-chip technology and television program ratings. "We want to tell parents that they, and they alone, have total power to control every hour of television programming," said Jack Valenti in announcing the $330 million ad campaign.

Family-friendly media watchdogs say the television industry is merely trying to dodge its responsibility to police itself and its content. And the head of the FCC says the multi-million-dollar ad campaign just announced by the industry won't be enough to satisfy his agency's mandate to patrol the airwaves for indecency.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has his own translation of Valenti's statement. The "avalanche" of ads, he says, is designed to persuade parents it is their sole responsibility to monitor what their children watch on TV. "In other words," says the FRC president, "the MPAA wants to continue to pump out the sewage and make you [parents] responsible for the cleanup."

"How noble. How empowering for you," Perkins says tongue-in-cheek. "And how ridiculous."

Since the FCC's announcement in mid-March, the four major networks -- ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox -- have sued the FCC over the indecency rulings. The networks claim the FCC "overstepped its authority" in making rulings that are "unconstitutional and inconsistent with … previous FCC decisions."

Some media watchdogs claim that lawsuit is nothing more than an attempt by the networks to obtain the right to indiscriminately broadcast foul language in violation of current law. One of those who feels that way is L. Brent Bozell of the Parents Television Council (PTC) -- and he has a similar response to the ad campaign being promoted by Valenti and the MPAA. Bozell says his group's research has shown that the V-chip and the ratings system -- the core elements promoted by the ad campaign -- have failed.

"We have found that most television programs airing foul language, violence, and inappropriate sexual dialogue do not use the appropriate descriptors that would warn parents about the presence of offensive content," the PTC president notes.

"Without accurate descriptors, the V-chip fails -- and thus, the ratings system is rendered meaningless."

According to Bozell, the only solution is for the industry to "clean up its act," rather than to try to make the public more aware of technology and ratings that have been proven to be ineffective. The ad campaign, he asserts, will not solve the problem.

"They're spending $300 million to defend themselves against their wretched excesses," he says. "Why don't they just stop airing their wretched excess?"

Someone else agrees with Bozell's assessment of the multi-million-dollar advertising blitz -- and that someone is Kevin Martin, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. "I'm not sure that's the complete answer," Martin said of the campaign Tuesday in Las Vegas. He noted that live sports programming, such as the Super Bowl, is among the type of programs not rated.

In addition, Reuters reports, Martin observed that his agency's research indicates that upwards of 40 percent of the TV sets in the U.S. do not have V-chips or other blocking technology.

He believes that other initiatives -- such as family-tier options or "a la carte" offerings by cable companies -- would give consumers more choice.

Consequently, parents would have more control over what they allow into their homes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$300 million sure is a lot of moolah to try to justify something many Americans don't want coming into their homes!

I am for the a-la-carte programming and when this is passed by the Congress (I believe it will be); namely because the cable industry refuses to do this on their own so the government had no choice but to get involved; I will consider bringing television back into my home.

Until then, I can live without tv.

c~b~n

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Countries World Watch List of Persecuted Christians

2006-04-29T05:10:00.000-04:00

Updates:

Much of the world would like you to believe Christians are no longer persecuted. Especially in America. But they would be wrong. It is just more subtle in our country. The world feels there will be no consequences for these heinous crimes. This is more than hate speech. This is torture and murder. When nations refuse to speak up, they are complicit in these murders.....

India Pastor Martyred in Cover-up

After preaching at a service at Beradakia Church in his native town of Baliguda, Kandhamala district in India, 35-year-old Pastor Jimendra Nayak never made it home to the village of Barakhema.

He took an auto rickshaw after the service to return to his home in Puri district but he didn't leave the vehicle alive. Pastor Nayak's body was found inside the cabin of the rickshaw with his head badly smashed. Police insist that he died in a mysterious "accident," but VOM contacts investigating the pastor's death reveal that the pastor's accidental death was highly unlikely.

Bystanders interviewed by VOM sources around the bus stop where Nayak was last seen reported unfamiliar people discretely asking questions about the pastor's whereabouts, the time of his service, etc.

No investigation has taken place yet, and for several weeks, relatives couldn't get a postmortem report. The pastor had previously been threatened and detained by radical Hindus many times in order to keep him from his missionary work.

He is survived by the living testimonies of his wife, one-year-old son, 14-year-old sister, eight-year-old handicapped brother and his elderly parents, whose faith has been strengthened by this incident.

Need to know the truth? Sign up for you free newsletter: Voice of the Martyrs

† † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †

from Agape Press
by AP

The president of the persecution watchdog group Open Doors USA says an estimated 200,000 Christians are imprisoned in North Korean labor camps, where many face torture and execution.

Rev. Carl Moeller says escapees will testify this week at congressional hearings and demonstrations in Washington as part of North Korea Freedom Week. The goal, he says, is to appeal for prayer and international pressure on the communist regime.

For the fourth year in a row, Open Doors has ranked North Korea as the worst violator of religious rights in the world. Moeller calls it "one large concentration camp, with the entire population trapped in a nightmare that doesn't end." He urges American Christians in particular to pray for their fellow believers in North Korea.

† † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † † †

A World Watch List of 50 nations where Christians face the most intense hostility and harsh treatment because of their faith.

A map showing the persecuted Christian church from the Voice of the Martyrs

List is from open doors usa

1. KOREA 2. Saudi Arabia 3. Iran 4. Somalia 5. Maldives

6. Bhutan 7. Vietnam 8. Yemen 9. Laos 10. China

11. Afghanistan 12. Uzbekistan 13. Turkmenistan

14. Eritrea 15. Comoros 16. Pakistan 17. Egypt

18. Myanmar (Burma) 19. Azerbaijan 20. Morocco

21. Brunei 22. Libya 23. Iraq 24. Cuba 25. Djibouti

26. India 27. Sudan 28. Nigeria (North) 29. Tajikistan

30. Sri Lanka 31. Russia (Muslim Rep: Muslim republics of

the Russian Federation: Chechnya, Kabardino Balkarya,

Dagestan and Tatarstan) 32. Tunisia 33. Qatar 34. Nepal

35. Indonesia 36. Turkey 37. Algeria 38. Ethiopia

39. Bangladesh 40. Mauritania 41. Kuwait 42. United Arab

Emirates 43. Belarus 44. Colombia (Conflict Areas)

45. Oman 46. Jordan 47. Syria 48. Mexico (Southern

Mexican state of Chiapas) 49. Philippines (South: Mindanao)

50. Kenya (Northeast)

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NBA OR NFL?

2006-04-26T08:44:00.000-04:00

36
Have been accused of spousal abuse

7
have been arrested for fraud

1
for criminal trespass

19
have been accused of writing bad checks

117
have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3
have done time for assault

71,repeat71
cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14
have been arrested on drug-related charges

8
have been arrested for shoplifting

21
currently are defendants in lawsuits, and

84
have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?

Giveup yet? . . . Scroll down

Neither the NFL or the NBA..... it's the 535 members of the United States Congress.

The same group of idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year designed to keep the rest of us in line.

Capitol Hill Blue's The Rant

Ask Me On the Issues

Dasbach said "In fact, if this study is correct, the best way to cut crime may be to lock up Congress and throw away the key."

~~~~~~~~~~~
Yet, they still have the right to vote!! Wonder what felons feel about this!
c~b~n

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Tough Love

2006-04-26T07:30:00.000-04:00

If we loved our children we would be this tough on them. Think this kid will EVER make this mistake again???? I really doubt it.....

This mom ain't no liberal!

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TV ala carte

2006-04-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

A man and his wife are sitting in the living room and he says to her, "Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state dependent on some machine. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

"OK," says his wife as she gets up and unplugs the TV.

Update

from Agape Press

by Jody Brown...

Blowing an earlier report on "a la carte" cable programming out of the water, the FCC has just released a report stating that consumers could be "better off" under such a system -- and could possibly even pay less than they are now for programming they don't wish to have in their homes.

Cable providers have argued that allowing their users to bundle their own package of channels would be cost-prohibitive. That argument was propped up by a 2004 study by Booz Allen Hamilton {who named this man?} that concluded a la carte was not economical.

But a "Further Report" by the Federal Communications Commission [PDF] has found the 2004 report contained "mathematical errors" -- since acknowledged by Booz Allen -- and "relied on unrealistic assumptions and presented biased analysis" in its conclusions.

The FCC says with the calculations corrected, three of the four scenarios considered in the Booz Allen study would result in consumers' bills going down anywhere from 3 to 13 percent. {No wonder it was flawed....didn't want to lose that money; ummm, sounds like another set of modern-day, greedy robber barons, if you ask me.}

Today's report from the FCC, says Concerned Women for America, is exactly what consumers have been waiting for. "The FCC puts the lie to cable magnates' wild claims that a la carte would cost consumers more money and was not economically feasible," says CWA's Lanier Swann.

"That argument has fallen flat on its face now that the FCC has shown that consumers could save up to 13 percent on their monthly cable bill."

And like CWA has been saying all along in its push for "family-friendly" cable channel bundling, adds Swann, a la carte pricing "will not only put choice back into consumers' hands, it will also put a few dollars there as well."

CWA says Congress has no excuse not to act now on legislation calling for cable choice for cable users.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
{conservative~by~nature's comments enclosed}

Senate Forum Addresses Cable Choice, Decency Issues Participants Debate 'A La Carte' Idea, Proposals to Increase Media Regulation
By Jenni Parker
from Agape Press

{An idea whose time has come!}
Media executives, government regulators, consumer advocates, televangelists and other religious broadcasters gathered yesterday in Washington, DC, for an "Open Forum on Decency," held by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens of Alaska. One of the key figures participating was Kevin Martin, head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who advised the forum that selling cable channels "a la carte" is a good idea. {Wow, a government entity on our side!}

"We're not involved in this to bring about censorship," Stevens said. ...the "a la carte" system would help parents save money, keep closer tabs on what their children watch, and keep objectionable channels out of their homes. {As it stands right now, the media moguls are discriminating against an entire population of people who do not wish to view what they are offering~~nor do they want to be burdened with allowing this group to choose those programs they want. }

Cable and satellite providers have complained that offering "a la carte" pricing or more family-friendly tiers of channels would drive up their marketing, equipment, and customer service costs and hence would drive up consumer costs as well.

{Drive up their marketing costs? Good grief~~WORD OF MOUTH ALONE WILL SELL THIS CONCEPT WHEN EVERY CHRISTIAN tells their relatives and neighbors that they too can do this! Customer service costs~~how? Excellent customer service is GIVING THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT! You get GOOD calls then instead of angry, irate ones. Or cancelled contracts, memberships, whatever. I think these excuses are just that....excuses from a LAZY INDUSTRY THAT CAN'T BE BOTHERED ABOUT PLEASING THEIR CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN CONSUMERS. It's why I don't have TV. Until, they let ME decide what I want in MY home.....I can live without it. I suspect the real truth is the industry will find out that their "shows" will lose audiences and subsequently get cancelled~~but that's exactly where trash should go. Buh-bye trashy 'Desperate Housewives'...}

Offering a menu of available programming for a fixed price -- i.e., ten channels for $20 or 20 channels for $30. Parents then would be able to receive and pay for only the programming that they are comfortable bringing into their homes. {Which is fair, and not difficult. I think the industry just doesn't want the government telling them they have to do this. BUT if they had done it ON THEIR OWN, government intervention could have been avoided!}

Media Execs Balk at Increased Regulation and argue that the FCC has no authority to require them to offer a family-friendly tier of channels... {Told you so!}

FCC chairman Martin added that he believes the best solution to this controversy would be for the media industry to take measures to address the issue voluntarily. {But like the petulant children they are~~they will have to be told to do this. At this point, they won't, just to see if they can get away with it~~just like a willful child! Meanwhile, I remain TVless!}

"Profanity is the effort of the feeble mind to express itself." -- 1950s English teacher

{Oh, boy, America is IN TROUBLE THEN~~too many vocabulary challenged individuals leaves the feeble minded to rule the day. Ummm, that explains alot about the quality of tv and the "executives" who run it.....}

Top of Page

A Widely Hated America

2006-04-18T08:43:00.000-04:00

Ministry Leader Refutes this Media Depiction
from Agape Press
by Allie Martin

The president of a Christian ministry to India says the United States is appreciated throughout most of the world, despite media reports to the contrary.

Although reports in the national and international media often show anti-U.S. protests and demonstrations in European, Asian, and Middle Eastern nations, Dr. Samuel Thomas of the Hopegivers International ministry says the U.S. is known for its leadership and compassion in responding, especially when natural disasters strike, to need all over the world. The media would have the public think the U.S. is "hated by the world" or that "Americans are no longer loved," the ministry president observes, but he insists, "That is a lie of the devil."

Thomas, who describes himself as a "full-blooded Indian" and a native of India, says he is one of many people in his country and other nations around the world who have developed a deep appreciation for the U.S. "I can tell you, with all sincerity and praise to God," he asserts, "with a heart of gratitude, I am thankful to the United States of America. I am thankful for your people."

In 1960, Here's Life America founder Dr. Bill Bright was in India and gave money out of his own pocket to help Dr. Thomas' parents travel to Kota in the state of Rajasthan, where they began Emmanuel, the outreach that laid the foundation for Hopegivers International. Today, he notes, Hopegivers trains church leaders, produces Christian tracts and literature for its ministries, and operates 87 children's homes in India that provide shelter, food, and education for thousands of orphans.

Also, the ministry's Emmanuel Institutes graduate thousands of students each year, all of them committed to reaching out to more needy children, orphans, and others in desperate need. Helping Hopegivers to continue its work are its international supporters and sponsors, many of them in the U.S., who give money to help rescue orphaned and abandoned children in India and to spread hope in that country by spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

And just as India has benefited from American generosity through Hopegivers, so have many other countries seen similar benefits, the ministry's president points out. He notes that, thanks to numerous U.S.-based agencies and Christian organizations, America has become known for its compassionate outreach to the needy in other nations throughout the world. {Because, we whom God has blessed, can do no less.....we love our brothers and sisters in Christ; but we also love all people who are hurting and need a hand of comfort. What better way to show Jesus Christ's love than to reach out a helping hand. It's called walking your talk!}

"You know, the media tells us that the world doesn't want [the U.S.]," Thomas says, "but as soon as the tsunami comes, guess who India looks to. As soon as the earthquake takes place in Pakistan, guess who Pakistan looks to." Despite the picture the mainstream media often paint, he insists that America enjoys great respect among many nations throughout the international community.

When disaster strikes, Thomas observes, "It is amazing how, all of a sudden, then the favorite names are Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, World Vision, Compassion International, Food for the Hungry.

Where are all these based out of? They're based out of the United States."

If given the privilege of titling the Americans, Dr. Thomas says he would call them "not the military for the world, not the policemen, but the 'Good Samaritans' who are looking out for human life."

And that positive view, he asserts, is shared by countless

others in many Third World and developing nations.

Top of Page

!@#$%&@#$ PROFANITY !@#%&$@#@

2006-04-18T07:43:00.000-04:00

Proliferation of Public Profanity a Cultural -- and Spiritual -- Problem
from Agape Press
by Tim Wildmon

Perhaps you saw the same survey I saw the other day about Americans and public profanity. It said that we the people are cursing more frequently and using words that were once considered taboo in public.

I was probably 12 years old when I first heard the "f" word used by a neighborhood kid. I even asked my parents what it meant because I had no idea. Talk about an awkward moment for a parent. Today, however, you frequently hear words such as this out in the open. {Be prepared to be assaulted if you "Say" ANYTHING to the profane speaker!}

A few weeks back I was on an airplane and the 25-year-old male a few seats over was yaking on his cell phone, letting everyone in on his business that none of us cared about. About every 60 seconds he felt the need to use the "f" word. I don't know if that made him feel more adult or what.

Later in the airport waiting on a connecting flight, there was a lady, about 50, talking loudly on her cell phone. I heard her twice use the "f" word in what sounded like a casual conversation. Then while I walked at a local park earlier this week some teenage boys were playing basketball. One of them called another one a "mf" just as casual as you please. They were not in a fight, they were just talking to one another.

Raw profanity has become an acceptable part of popular culture today. {Even "Star Trek" acknowledged that, sadly, in #4 "The Journey Home". The one where Spock just couldn't get it right, and Capt. James Kirk didn't do much better.....he and Spock discuss this on their bus ride to see the whales and talk about how this "language" is represented in all the literature of the time. Then he proceeds to mention Jacquelyn Susan among others and Spock's response is oh, the greats. I dispaired when I heard that. I thought trash would be recognized as trash no matter the time period....guess I was WRONG.}

Rap music -- the most popular music among young people today -- is filled with gutter language. They play it loudly in their cars. Movies and television programs use hard profanity on a regular basis. In a way, we have become desensitized to it. This has been the goal of Hollywood for many years. There was a time before the mid-60s when foul language was not used on television, in movies or popular music. {Remember when Spock zapped the annoying punk rocker and his obnoxious music on the same bus ride--to the gratitude and applause of his fellow commuters?! Who's brave enough today to try it?}

But today many people mock you if you complain about public profanity. They say it's just the way people talk today and the language one uses doesn't matter.
{But it does. You can "speak" blessings or you can "speak" curses. It is your choice. "The Power of Spoken Blessings" by Bill Gothard}

My question then is, why use words like "f" and "mf" and "gd" in public if language doesn't matter? Why didn't the teenage boy on the basketball court just say, "Give me the ball, John," instead of "Give me the ball 'mf'?" . {Want respect? Then you must give respect. Oh, it is the golden rule again! See "Jaywalking with Jay Leno" The Narrow Minded Christian }

Why did certain words come out of the young man's mouth and not others? I contend most people who use foul language intentionally do so because they understand the words themselves represent rebellion against societal norms -- or what used to be societal norms.

Otherwise, why use that kind of language? It's an attention grabber. Then, after using profanity for a long period of time, it does become second nature -- just the way people talk.

For the Christian, foul language is forbidden by the Bible. That is why using profanity in public was considered unacceptable before we became a post-Christian culture. Christian values and morals are now considered passé or "old-fashioned" to many Americans – especially the younger generation, sad to say. {They'll label you a prude if you object. Ok, fine. I can live with that. The question is, can you live without it? With each "desensitization" to old taboos, the spirit is irreparable harmed.}

In the New Testament book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul gives these instructions to followers of Jesus:

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there by any obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving"
(Ephesians 5:1-4).

In Ephesians 4:29 Paul says:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

What I take from this is that we shouldn't tear down people personally. So, in the spirit of that biblical command, I don't desire to attack anyone. If we have criticism of someone, we can do so without attacking that person himself -- and do so with the purpose of achieving a positive resolution to the problem. We can talk about an offense without mounting a personal attack on the one who has offended.

Even though we know the standard, still, we are human and we often fail to live up to those standards. But the occasional slip is not what I am talking about. I wish it were. What I am talking about is a serious profanity problem in the general population.

Sadly, I doubt we can reverse this trend. As I stated earlier, in many respects our American society has rejected the Christian moral value system. So this really is the way people talk to each other if they don't care what God thinks about the words that come out of their mouths. To them -- to us in our current cultural context -- it doesn't seem to matter.

But according to God's Word, words still matter.

Top of Page

Dangers of the Dalai Lama

2006-04-18T06:43:00.000-04:00

from Agape Press
by Fred Jackson

...Amid the latest Islamic terrorist attacks, the world's best known Buddhist monk{another false religion; but Christianity is not calling for its believers' destruction} is claiming Islam is really a compassionate faith that is being unfairly maligned.

The Dalai Lama spoke to a gathering of international Islamic leaders in San Francisco, California, over the weekend and told listeners that all human beings are prone to violence and an entire faith should not be judged by what he called "a few mischievous people." {Mischievous? Strapping a bomb on my chest and blowing myself and others up who happen to worship differently makes me "mischievous"? Well, what if I decide to drop an atomic bomb on an Islamic country? Am I still mischievous? Or am I finally just a murdering, bigot?

When they do these things to Israel or America, what exactly is the difference? Murderers are murderers. They are NOT mischievous. Then the entire religion needs to be recognized for what it is.}

One of the organizers of the San Francisco meeting said he hoped the presence of the Dalai Lama could warm Americans to Islam, {Can you see an "agenda" when it's presented to you America?} since many Americans have mixed feelings about that religion but are receptive to Buddhism.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Christian Ministry Leader Urges Prayer as Dalai Lama Visits Mayo Clinic
from Agape Press
by Mary Rettig and Jenni Parker

Olive Tree Ministries founder and director Jan Markell says the patients and staff at the famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, need a prayer of protection on April 17. She believes a guest who will soon be visiting the hospital may pose a greater danger to the patients than the illnesses that brought them there.

From her own personal experience at the medical facility, the head of Olive Tree Ministries says she knows the Rochester clinic is a place where many people go as a last resort when they have exhausted all other hope for treatment of their diseases. Because of this, the Tibetan Buddhist leader's impending visit is "a disaster waiting to happen," she contends.

"You've got hundreds if not thousands of people like that, in that mental state," Markell observes, "and then along comes this false prophet, who probably is going to give them some kind of lie because he represents everything that has to do with the New Age movement."

The bottom line, the ministry leader says, is the need for people "to pray for this thing that's going to happen on April 17." At a time in the Church and in society when many people desire to experience God in a fresh new way, she contends, bringing the Dalai Lama before people who are already in a vulnerable state just paves the road for false doctrine and New Age spirituality to enter their lives.

Markell suspects that the public's fascination with the Dalai Lama may be a mark of many people's desire to have a fresh encounter with God. "But this is a false god in a false religion, who has nothing to offer anybody," she emphasizes. "As a matter of fact, he's a Buddhist, and Buddhists don't even believe there's a God."

But despite what Tibetan Buddhism teaches, Olive Tree Ministries' founder asserts, the Dalai Lama cannot offer anyone peace because there is no true peace apart from salvation in Jesus.

"The intriguing thing," she says, "is the way people are flocking to want to hear this man. I guess I don't understand, other than that we're in such days of deception now, as the Bible predicted."

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Remarkable Obituary

2006-04-11T18:42:00.000-04:00

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Mr. Common Sense.

Mr. Sense had been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red-tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such value lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn)and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).

His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Mr. Sense declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student; but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a bit in her lap, and was awarded a huge financial settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents,Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.

He is survived by two stepbrothers, My Rights and Ima Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

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