Democrats and Dictators

Here's just the tip of the iceberg as far as Democrats who love Dictators. I mean, even a pimply-faced kid in my neighborhood pizza parlor was raving about Fidel Castro (thanks to his tax-paid liberal teachers, of course)!

Jerry Brown and Fidel Castro:
Click Here
Mayor Brown hurried to be in Cuba for the 47th anniversary of Castro's revolution...and read aloud a declaration offering Oakland's friendship and solidarity.

Cindy Sheehan and Hugo Chavez:
Click Here
Sheehan thanked Chavez for “supporting life and peace.”

Harry Belafonte and Hugo Chavez:
Click Here
Belafonte accused U.S. news media of falsely painting Chavez as a “dictator,” when in fact, he said, there is democracy and citizens are “optimistic about their future.”

Madeleine Albright and Kim Jong-il
Click Here
Albright called North Korean dictator Kim Jun Il a "charming" guy and a "good dancer." Albright based these well chosen comments on the one and only time she visited the ironclad dictatorship, when she danced the night away with the dictator in a gala ball-like atmosphere.

Jimmy Carter and...who can count?
Click Here
Jimmah has never met a dictator he didn't love.

Healthcare for illegal aliens?

...in California about half of the "uninsured" are really illegal aliens, hence why should they be covered in the first place. Is this why we need an overhaul of the health care delivery system so more illegal aliens can come to California for free health care?

Great question! Find out Here

Jack Kelly seconds the motion

In a recent New York Post article, Ralph Peters made the case for this as well:

We must get rid of al-Sadr: When will the president do what it takes to clean up the militias and win in Iraq? Sunday, October 29, 2006 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

That this question can still be asked illustrates why things are going south for the United States in Iraq:

Why is Moqtada al-Sadr still alive?

Once again, I say AMEN!

When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane

The Funnies for the Week
Courtesy of Stephen Frank's California Political News & Views

1. When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.

2. Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don’t have film.

3. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?

4. What happens if you get scared half to death twice?

5. I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

6. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?

7. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.

8. Just remember---if the world didn’t suck, we would all fall off.

9. Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

10 Life isn’t like a box of chocolates....it’s more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.

Yin and Yang

"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."

Albert Einstein

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what you can do for your country - ask what your country can do for you."

New Democratic Manifesto

Blacklisted

Did you know that YouTube has censored Michelle Malkin? Did you know that YouTube has a list of over 1,000 conservatives it is blacklisting? If they want to be an arm of the Democrat Party they should be listed as an in-kind donation—and they should have a warning on their front page, "YouTube is for free speech, as long as you want more taxes, bigger government and refuse to tell the truth about the United States."

Watch this!

Courtesy of Stephen Frank's California Political News & Views

Who are you?

A Montana cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers,

"Sure, Why not?"

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

You're a Democratic Congressman in the U.S. Government", says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie Democratic Congressman, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep.

Now give me back my dog!

Paglia predicts war!

I'm not a Bush hater. I've always viewed him as a decent fellow who was pushed into the presidency because he was his father's son. But he's been out of his depth in foreign affairs from the start. He certainly lacks the basic verbal skills for the presidency -- reading speeches authored by others is no substitute. But I've become concerned about Bush's mental state in the past few months. Sometimes in his press conferences or prepared statements (which I listened to on the radio), I heard a sort of Nixonian tension and hysteria. His vocal patterns were over-intense and his inflections impatient, lurching and sarcastic. There was this seething quality to his speech that worried me and that seemed to signal that something major is being planned -- perhaps another military incursion.

To summarize:

• Nixonian tension and hysteria
• Over-intense vocal patterns
• Impatient inflections
• Lurching inflections
• Sarcastic inflections
  
• Seething quality of speech

All signals that "something major is being planned -- perhaps another military incursion"!!!

I'll bet you can't wait to read more: Salon Interview: Camille Paglia

Modern Math

Bill Clinton was paid 12 million dollars for his memoirs...


Hillary Clinton got 8 million dollars for her memoirs...


That's 20 million dollars for the memoirs of two people who for 8 years testified under oath that they couldn't remember a thing!!!

Ten Good Reasons to Vote GOP

Reprinted from NewsMax.com

Analysis: Ten Good Reasons to Vote GOP
Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com
Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006


If the polls are to be believed, the Republicans who control the White House and Congress are in trouble.

Their problem?

People vote their pocketbooks, or wallets, the old adage goes.

But the economy is booming. Even gasoline prices have plummeted. Unemployment, the bogeyman of politicians, has shrunken to a record low point.

As for the security matter, since 9/11, the worst attack on American soil since the Civil War, the United States has been free of any significant terrorist attack. None. Zippo. Zilch.

If Americans do vote the GOP out of either House of Congress, many of these accomplishments are threatened.

Should Democrats get control of the House of Representatives, they have already promised that one of the Republican initiatives that made all these things possible will be rolled back.

Higher taxes -- and with it, economic recession and more unemployment.

The Democrats will also signal the terrorists a "victory" for their side with a push for a quick withdrawal from Iraq. Remember, the Congress, not the president, funds our troops abroad. A Democratic Congress will most assuredly withhold funding unless Bush relents.

The list of Republican accomplishments is both long and real, and provides the platform upon which even greater results will be built under a Republican Congress and White House.

For sure, the GOP has had its share of shortcomings. The economy could be doing better. The deficit could be smaller. The postwar plans in Iraq could have been better implemented.

If anything, the Republicans are facing a message deficit. The liberal media establishment is just not letting them tell their story to the American people.

Here are 10 good reasons why you should vote Republican come election day. You won't hear about them on ABCCBSNBC News.

Reason #1. The economy is kicking butt. It is robust, vibrant, strong and growing. In the 36 months since the Bush tax cuts ended the recession that began under President Clinton, the economy has experienced astonishing growth. Over the first half of this year, our economy grew at a strong 4.1 percent annual rate, faster than any other major industrialized nation. This strong economic activity has generated historic revenue growth that has shrunk the deficit. A continued commitment to spending restraint has also contributed to deficit reduction.

Reason #2. Unemployment is almost nil for a major economy, and is verging on full employment. Recently, jobless claims fell to the lowest level in 10 weeks. Employment increased in 48 states over the past 12 months ending in August. Our economy has now added jobs for 37 straight months.

Reason #3. The Dow is hitting record highs. In the past few days, the Dow climbed above 12,000 for the first time in the history of the stock market, thus increasing the value of countless pension and 401(k) that funds many Americans rely on for their retirement years.

Reason #4. Wages have risen dramatically. According to the Washington Post, demand for labor helped drive workers' average hourly wages, not including those of most managers, up to $16.84 last month -- a 4 percent increase from September 2005, the fastest wage growth in more than five years. Nominal wage growth has been 4.1 percent so far this year. This is better or comparable to its 1990s peaks. Over the first half of 2006, employee compensation per hour grew at a 6.3 percent annual rate adjusted for inflation. Real after-tax income has risen a whopping 15 percent since January 2001. Real after-tax income per person has risen by 9 percent since January 2001.

Reason #5. Gas prices have plunged. According to the Associated Press, the price of gasoline has fallen to its lowest level in more than 10 months. The federal Energy Information Administration said Monday that U.S. motorists paid $2.21 a gallon on average for regular grade last week, a decrease of 1.8 cents from the previous week. Pump prices are now 40 cents lower than a year ago and have plummeted by more than 80 cents a gallon since the start of August. The previous 2006 low for gasoline was set in the first week of January, when pump prices averaged $2.238. In the week ending Dec. 5, 2005, prices averaged $2.19. Today, gasoline can be found for less than $2 a gallon in many parts of the country.

Reason #6. Since 9/11, no terrorist attacks have occurred on U.S. soil. Since 9/11 the U.S. has not been attacked by terrorists thanks to such programs as the administration's monitoring of communications between al-Qaida operatives overseas and their agents in the U.S. and the monitoring of the international movement of terrorist funds -- both measure bitterly opposed by Democrats.

Reason #7. Productivity is surging and has grown by a strong 2.5 percent over the past four quarters, well ahead of the average productivity growth in the last 30 years. Strong productivity growth helps lead to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product, higher real wages, and stronger corporate profits.

Reason #8. The Prescription Drug Program is working. Despite dire predictions that most seniors would refrain from signing up to the new Medicare prescription benefits program, fully 75 percent of all those on Medicare have enrolled, and the overwhelming majority say they are happy with the program.

Reason #9. Bush has kept his promise of naming conservative judges. He has named two conservative justices to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. In addition, he has named conservative justices who are devoted to the Constitution as it is written and not as activist liberal judges think it means. The strong likelihood that one or more justices will retire from the Supreme Court makes it mandatory for the Republicans to hold the Senate and have a chance to name new conservative justices.

Reason #10. The deficit has been cut in half three years ahead of the president's 2009 goal, with the 2006 fiscal year budget deficit down to $248 billion. The tax cuts have stimulated the economy and are working.

In contrast to this stunning record of real achievement, the Democrats offer no real plans for the way they want to improve America or make us safer.

Instead, issues like the Mark Foley scandal have been used to smokescreen their own lack of ideas in a public debate.

The choice voters will make is whether they want higher taxes and less security by surrendering the tools used to combat terrorism or lower taxes and the continued use of tools like the Patriot Act, terrorist surveillance, terrorist interrogations and missile defense.

Consider what leading Democrats are promising if they gain control of Congress.

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., who would lead the House tax-writing committee if Democrats win in November, said he "cannot think of one" tax cut he would renew. That agenda would result in $2.4 trillion tax increase over the next 10 years.

If Democrats take majorities in the House and Senate, the average family of four can expect to pay an average of $2,000 more in taxes.

The leader of House Democrats and the woman who would be speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said after 9/11 that she "doesn't really consider ourselves at war ... we're in a struggle against terrorism."

By opposing the Patriot Act, terrorist surveillance missile defense and even interrogating the most dangerous terrorists captured on the battlefield, Democrats are in direct opposition to the vital tools we use to fight terrorism.

Many Democrats, including the prospective House Ways and Means chairman, favor cutting off funding for the war in Iraq.

Democratic leaders have made it clear that they see investigations and impeachment as viable options should they take control of Congress. They are therefore promising to tie the hands of the president and his administration in the middle of a war.

Democrats want to reverse the president's economic policies that have led to a historically strong economy.

Enough said.

The best solution I've heard to change course in Iraq

Former intelligence officer Ralph Peters has the best solution to the problems in Iraq of all that I've read: KILL MUQTADA NOW

Here are some excerpts:

I lost faith in our engagement in Iraq last week. I can pinpoint the moment.

* * *

We should've killed him in 2003, when he first embarked upon his murder campaign. But our leaders were afraid of provoking riots.

* * *

We must kill - not capture - Muqtada, then kill every gunman who comes out in the streets to avenge him.

* * *

And after we've killed Muqtada and destroyed his Mahdi Army, we need to go after the Sunni insurgents. If we can't leave a democracy behind, we should at least leave the corpses of our enemies.

* * *

The holier-than-thou response to this proposal is predictable: "We can't kill our way out of this situation!" Well, boo-hoo. Friendly persuasion and billions of dollars haven't done the job. Give therapeutic violence a chance.

* * *

There's still a chance, if a slight one, that we can achieve a few of our goals in Iraq - if we let our troops make war, not love. But if our own leaders are unwilling to fight, it's time to leave and let Iraqis fight each other.


AMEN

Larry Elder's Open Letter To Andy Rooney

Dear Mr. Rooney,


You ask, in your recent "60 Minutes" commentary, for the president to finally flat-out "explain" why we have troops in Iraq. While busy preparing your commentaries, you perhaps failed to hear the president explain this – over and over and over again.

Allow me to try.


Read Larry Elder's Open letter to Andy Rooney

A Homeless Woman

A woman was walking down the street when she was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked her for a couple of dollars for dinner.

The woman took out her bill fold, extracted ten dollars and asked, "If I give you this money, will you buy some wine with it instead of dinner?"

"No," I had to stop drinking years ago, the homeless woman replied.

"Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?" the woman asked.

"No," I don't waste time shopping, the homeless woman said. "I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive."

"Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?" the woman asked.

"Are you NUTS!" replied the homeless woman. " I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!"

"Well," said the woman, " I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my hubby and myself tonight.

The homeless Woman was astounded.

"Won't your hubby be furious with you for doing that?" I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.

The woman replied, "That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.

Beware! The Zlob

Spyware creators are exploiting the popularity of Internet video clips to convey their nasty cargo. A Trojan program called Zlob masquerades as a video-decoder program intended to be an update for Microsoft's Windows Media Player. Users may come across a video clip they'd like to see, and on clicking a link are given an error message and a link to install a new version of the player software. The user's browser is then redirected to a download site that gives them a program that includes the Zlob Trojan, which in turn downloads more spyware and other malicious software programs.

Social-networking sites a 'hotbed' for spyware

R.S.V.P.

“Thomas Sowell says the question for this election is not whether you or your candidate is Republican or Democrat but whether you’re ‘serious’ or ‘frivolous.’ A lot of Americans, and not just their sorry excuse for a professional press corps, are in the mood for frivolity.

It’s like going to the theater. Do you really want to sit through that searing historical drama from the Royal Shakespeare Company? Or would you rather be at the sex comedy next door?

In the 1990s, Americans opted for the sex comedy—or so they thought. But in reality the searing historical drama carried on; it was always there, way off in the background, behind the yuk-it-up narcissist trouser-dropper staggering around downstage. The mood of the times was to kick the serious stuff down the road so we could get back to President Lounge Act offering to feel our pain.

With North Korea, the people delegated to kick the can a few years ahead—Madeleine Albright, Jimmy Carter are now back, writing self-congratulatory op-eds about their genius and foresight.

Not at all.

Albright’s much-touted ‘agreement’ was a deal whereby Washington agreed to prop up a flailing basket-case state in order to enable it to buy enough time to become a serious destabilizing threat to its neighbors and beyond.

Many of our present woes—not least Iran—derive explicitly from the years when Carter embodied the American ‘superpower’ as a smiling eunuch...

Life isn’t a night on Broadway where you can decide you’re not in the mood for ‘Henry V’ and everyone seems to be having a much better time at ‘La Cage Aux Foley’.”

—Mark Steyn

Semper I (a poem)

“Semper I” is an old Marine Corps term applied to those selfish careerists who place their own success ahead of their men and the well-being of the Corps. Congressman John Murtha is a living example of that disgraceful term. [originally published on The American Thinker].

FEATURED ON BOOTMURTHA.com (A campaign organized by Vets for the Truth to redeploy John Murtha.)

A bugle blows in Arlington,

Lilting notes fill still sad air,

An eagle’s tears a globe fall on,

Trail an anchor with despair,

For a man we’d wish had not to die,

Brave youth among the best,

A Marine, he lived for Semper Fi,

And with Semper Fi he’ll rest.



So sadly is the contrast,

Between those who talk and fight;

Fat Pols for whom their war’s past,

But now can’t see the light,

Accusing brave young fighting men,

Of crimes they can’t defend,

Disgraceful fat old congressmen,

Who’ve lost the will to win.



Yes there we see the difference,

Between those who fight to win,

And a congressman with no sense,

Who’s committed grievous sin;

He’s turned against his Corps,

And no one knows quite why,

Except he loves himself much more:

Classic case of Semper I

Semper Fi to all Marines everywhere from an old paratrooper who holds Murtha in as much contempt as you do.

Russ Vaughn 327th Parachute Infantry Regiment
101st Airborne Division
Vietnam 65-66

There's one last thing to try (in Iraq)

Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International since October 2000, reaches an audience of over 25 million worldwide...here's his idea to save Iraq:

There is one last thing to try: privately but forcefully threaten a reduction of U.S. support for the current government. Nothing else—not the promise of aid, arm-twisting by the American ambassador, phone calls from President Bush—seems to have worked. It could be an honest conversation that explains to Iraq's governing coalition that American support cannot be unconditional. Without the American military, this Iraqi government would likely fall, and many of its members' lives might be in danger. Perhaps that will focus their minds.

Of course, there is a good chance that even this won't work. At that point—a few months from now—we will have to be willing to follow through on the threat. That does not mean a complete withdrawal. But American forces should be reduced and repositioned so as to create a much smaller, less active, less ambitious and, one hopes, more sustainable American presence in Iraq.

Now, it's entirely possible that there is more than one thing left to try. I just hope someone, somewhere figures out what it is really soon.

I want Iraq to be successful in achieving a free and peaceful society, do you?

Unfortuneately, there are people who hate President Bush so much that they would actually rather see Iraq descend into chaos than be a successful society just so they wouldn't have to give the President any credit or see him get a place in history for this achievement.

That is sick and really twisted.

Deep Thoughts

...and words of wisdom, for people who are too serious:


1. Save the whales. Collect the whole set.

2. A day without sunshine is like....night.

3. On the other hand, you have different fingers.

4. Remember, half the people you know are below average.

5. He who laughs last thinks slowest.

6. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

7. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.

8. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.

9. How many of you believe in psycho kinesis?...Raise my hand.

10. OK...so what's the speed of dark?


Stephen Frank's CA Political News & Views (10/23/06)

Mosques now to be used to unite Iraq

Well, just as I came up with my brilliant solution to save Iraq by closing down the mosques, Amir Taheri writes in the New York Post (10/20/06) that they will now be used to SAVE Iraq!

Here are highlights from the article that I've pieced together:

IRAQ: UNITING AGAINST THE JIHADIS BUT WORRIED THE AMERICANS WILL SPLIT

by Amir Taheri (member of Benador Associates)

Iraq today is the central battlefield in the global war between two mutually exclusive visions of the future. Yet the jihadists now know they can't win on that battlefield.

Recent events highlight the growing isolation of the jihadists and their Saddamite allies:

* A tribal alliance has joined together all Arab Sunni clans of western Iraq in a united front to "chase al Qaeda out of Iraq."

This was partly a response to a split inside al Qaeda's Iraq branch.

* Iraq's National Assembly gave near-unanimous approval to a new plan for peace and reconciliation. Backed by all ethnic and religious communities through their political parties, the plan furthers the marginalization of the jihadists and Saddamites.

More, the plan envisages the creation of a unified information office to harmonize the sermons delivered at mosques, regardless of their affiliations. The idea is to use the mosque as a forum for a unified and democratic Iraq, rather than a hub of sectarian agitation.

* A third event is set to take place in Mecca next week at the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. This will bring together prominent Sunni and Shiite clerics from Iraq and eight other Muslim countries to discuss and approve a declaration demanding an end to sectarian feuds in Iraq. An initiative of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the gathering reflects growing impatience with the jihadists throughout the Muslim world.

The Mecca gathering represents the first major effort by Sunnis and Shiites toward mutual recognition as acceptable versions of the same faith since 1947.

* Despite the dramatic increase in terrorist attacks in recent weeks, new Iraq is holding its own because Iraqi morale is holding.

That morale, however, is under constant attack from two sources.

The first is the part of the international (especially pan-Arab) media that depicts Iraq as a wayward train racing ahead with no light at the end of a dark tunnel.

The second threat to Iraqi morale is by far the most serious. It concerns uncertainty about the commitment of the United States and its allies to new Iraq.

The key to the future of Iraq lies in the United States.

My solution to the violence in Iraq

Fight fire with fire.

Provide a radical solution to a radical problem:

SHUT DOWN ALL THE MOSQUES IN IRAQ

President Bush stated that he's told the new government in Iraq that they will be required to make difficult political decisions...let them make this one.

Let them announce that this is a result of the actions of Iraqi's who are using their religion to justify their violence and therefore they will not be allowed the privilige (not the right) to attend their mosques.

Let them make it clear that if this ban is removed at some point in the future and the violence resumes, the Mosques will be again SHUT DOWN.

I believe this is a good idea and something that should be done because NOT doing it will allow this situation to continue.

New threat in Europe could affect U.S.

Remember the riots in France when disaffected Muslims (the ones who get free money and free food and free houses) where burning everything in site?

Well, Europe has found a much greater threat to their stability--and it's something that is going on here in the United States too!

Professor Daivd Aikman from Patrick Henry College warns:

The European Union has just uncovered another dangerous threat to European social stability: home-schooling. Yes, German police recently arrested the mother of children who were being home-schooled. The father had to flee with the children to Austria. The European Court of Human Rights upheld the German ban on home-schooling, which dated back to 1938 in the Nazi era. ... Think about that at a time when Americans, even Supreme Court justices, are advocating the use of foreign legal precedents for American court rulings. Do we really want to start jailing home-schooling parents?

I wouldn't be one single bit surprised if the SP's (secular progressives) in the U.S. answered a resounding "yes" to this question, would you?

Affiliate "Project X"

On October 3rd, 2006, the affiliate marketing community went "bezerko" over a product called Affiliate Project X. But was this all a smoke screen...did it really follow-through?

Since launch, the results are in at Affiliate Underground

Medical cost reference guide (great charts!)

The Blue Cross & Blue Shield Association is pleased to present the fourth annual Medical Cost Reference Guide: Facts and Trends to Support Knowledge-Driven Solutions. The guide provides information on trends in the healthcare industry from nationally recognized data sources.

To address these trends, the Blue Cross & Blue Shield companies offer a vision for the improvement of healthcare delivery--our BluePrint for the Future. The goal is to encourage knowledge-driven approaches that can lead to better, more affordable care for consumers.

Select a section below to view detailed data on each critical area as well as on general trends and statistics. Move forward and back using the arrows to view the entire document in order.

lgstarr: There are 7 total sections, but I've provided three below that I think represent the most immediate concerns for a lot of us.

National Healthcare Trends

Understanding the economics of our healthcare system is an important step toward creating solutions that lead to better, more affordable care. To further that understanding, this guide offers information on how the U.S healthcare system is financed and the costs associated with providing health services. U.S. healthcare spending was nearly $1.7 trillion in 2003 and is expected to grow to almost $2 trillion by 2005. Our healthcare system continues to grow at a rate much faster than the rest of the economy.

Expanding Access to Care

Access to care is a far-reaching problem in the U.S. that impacts all healthcare stakeholders. Challenges to access are manifest in many issues from the problem of the uninsured to the cost of malpractice insurance and the decreasing availability of emergency care. To broaden access, new health plan benefit designs are being developed such as consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) which often help to expand coverage options for medium- and smaller-sized companies and underinsured groups such as young professionals.

General Health Statistics

Summary health statistics for the U.S. population are important in tracking the performance of the health system. These statistics help to assess health progress and to identify areas for improvement. This section highlights some of the more important birth, life expectancy, and mortality trends.

Free speech takes a hit at Columbia University

Free Speech Takes A Hit (an editorial from the Hartford Courant published on 10/17/06 about two very different incidents at Columbia University)...but did it really?

On Friday, October 13, 2006 Gateway Pundit's post Former Nazi: "Today's Leftist Youth Like Hitler's Storm Troopers" , provided this revealing information about the nature of what really happened at Columbia University.

A former Nazi youth, was interviewed on Hannity and Colmes on Thursday night and warned that today's leftist youth protesters behave like Hitler's Storm Troopers... No kidding! Hilmar ought to know!

Flopping Aces has the video: The Leftist Attack On Free Speech posted By Curt on 10/13/06.


And the other invited guest mentioned in the Courant?


Mixed reports on Columbia dis-inviting Iranian President Ahmadinejad Published by Shoshana Olidort 9/21/06.

Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs apparently extended an invitation to Iranian President Ahmadinejad to speak at the school’s World Leaders Forum. According to Columbia Spectator and JTA, the invitation was accepted but the event, which was scheduled for Rosh Hashana eve, was cancelled because the “school couldnt make proper security and logistical arrangements.” But BWOG reports that Public Affairs Director Robert Hornsby denied the event was ever scheduled. The New York Sun reported that the invitation was shrouded in “secrecy and confusion,” with President Bollinger’s statement about the invitation released just before midnight last night. The same article noted that Columbia’s vice president for public affairs, Susan Brown, denied the invitation, calling it a rumor.
LionPAC, Columbia’s pro-Israel student group posted flyers protesting the event across campus.

What Wouldn't Ahmadinejad Do? By Bari Weiss and Birk Oxholm
Issue date: 9/22/06 Section: Opinion at the Columbia Spectator

In Ahmadinejad's Iran, gays are killed, women are stoned, and democratic activists are flogged in public squares. He has jailed dissidents. He has denied the Holocaust. He has gleefully called for the destruction of the Jewish state. We have said no to hateful words, but we have reached out to a perpetrator of hateful deeds.

I do not think that inviting law-abiding United States citizens to an American university is the same as inviting known murderers and thugs who have sworn to destory Israel, and our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech should not apply to non-citizens. Our constitution is for the citizens of the United States. Other countries do not use our consitution to govern their own countries and their own people.

Use YouTube? You need to know this!

To YouTube customers:

Start downloading your favorite YouTube videos today because Google is going to have to clean house in a major way - and soon.

My guess is there will be a rapid-action pipeline set up between Google Legal and YouTube and as soon as credible complaints start coming in, there will be a team of people in place to - manually - make the copyright violating vides disappear one by one.

Read more here: If you can't beat them, buy them (10/11/06)

Evan Sayet

8PM Saturday, October 28th, The Friars of Beverly Hills:

The Four Great Religious Truths

It's important for those of all faiths to recognize these four religious truths:


1. Muslims do not recognize Jews as God's chosen people.


2. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah.


3. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian World.


4. Baptists do not recognize each other at Hooters.

Sauron destroys Israel

George Soros (aka Sauron) and his wealthy Jewish American friends "have now decided to aim their fire directly at Israel" according to a report from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Here's some highlights from an article by Caroline Glick (senior Middle East fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C. and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post): Soros moves on to Israel

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's speech at the American Task Force for Palestine's inaugural dinner in Washington on Wednesday evening was but the latest sign that America's alliance with Israel is weakening.

*************************************************************************************

The Democratic Party's sharp turn leftward in recent years has been a major factor in weakening the US-Israel alliance. The ideological transformation of the party is the fruit of a collaborative effort by leading financiers, radical-leftist ideologues and political activists. Together these forces built organizations that dictate the party's agenda; finance the campaigns of politicians who embrace this agenda; and work to defeat conservative Republicans and Democrats who disagree with their agenda.

*************************************************************************************

MoveOn.org is the most influential organization of this type established in recent years. Its principal financiers are American Jewish billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis.

*************************************************************************************

...it is not too late to change course. The Jewish American anti-Israel lobby is scheduled to be launched on October 26. Now is the time for the Olmert government to forthrightly announce that the new lobby is not pro-Israel, but rather anti-Israel.

*************************************************************************************

Like Jews for Jesus, Jews who work to weaken Israel's security, undermine Israel's relations with the US and strengthen Israel's enemies take themselves beyond the broad tent of the American Jewish pro-Israel community.

*************************************************************************************

Israel's alliance with the US is based on the fact that most Americans support Israel. American support for Israel finds its roots in foundations as diverse as religion, politics, morality, security, culture and economics. While the alliance is visibly weakened, its foundations remain solid. To rebuild American political support for Israel and to enhance the US-Israel alliance, it is imperative that Israel be capable of understanding the nature of this support. This understanding begins by making distinctions between our many friends and our foes and acting on these distinctions. Not all of our friends are Jews and not all Jews are our friends.

Whose side are you on?

Fundamental difference

One day a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week." The florist is pleased and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open his shop there is a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week." The cop is happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open up there is a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Later a Republican comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week." The Republican is very happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open, there is a thank you card and a dozen different books such as "How to Improve Your Business" and "Becoming More Successful."

Then a Democrat comes in for a haircut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies: "I'm sorry, I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week." The Democrat is very happy and leaves the shop.

The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen Democrats lined up waiting for a free haircut.

(And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between left and right...)

International black slavery ring?

I know I'm using a lot of "question marks" in my titles these days...it's just a combination of the absurdity of modern life combined with a fear of lawsuits (bloggers are starting to get sued now since the Foley scandal).

Today's thought is, regarding Madonna's newest adventure/competition, which strangely resembles the recent adventures of Brad and Anjie: Are poor little black children from third world countries considered property or are they just considered kids-up-for-adoption like in the U.S.?

Has Eye of the Child (the only search results I found for them brings up stuff like "pink eye and your child") discovered an international black slavery ring? Or has it just stumbled upon a new superstar reality show?

"It's not like selling property," said a statement by Eye Of The Child. They were speaking a day after Malawi's High Court granted an interim order for the star to adopt the boy, named as David Banda. "It is about safeguarding the future of a human being who, because of age, cannot express an opinion," said the group.

Aside from the fact that adopting-poor-little-dark-children-from-third-world-countries seems to be in vogue with the Hollywood crowd these days, I sense a sequel coming: "I was Madonna's son for a day"--or a week or a month or however long this newest drama lasts).

I can't wait.

Censorship in America?

Isn't it ironic that it is ostensibly the most vocal group for civil rights and human rights and "all that stuff" who ends up behind something like this:

[Michelle] Malkin may have been the first casualty in the coming information war but she certainly will not be the last. Yet online conservative elites seem not to care. They fail to realize that voters are increasingly accessing news and information from these new media sources and that these sources are using their editorial discretion to publish and promote a liberal — not conservative — agenda.

YouTube refused to say why her videos were “offensive” and there was no avenue available to challenge the decision. Today, her videos are gone and her voice is suppressed on the most important video “node” on the Internet.

Read more

Think this is just an isolated example? Look what happened when Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist was invited to speak at Columbia University last week:

Everything you really need to know about the protesters is contained in this sentence: "Shame on the College Republicans for inviting this fascist thug and provoking such outrage on our campus." In other words, the act of inviting a controversial speaker is worse than violence against that speaker...oh, and the speaker must be a "fascist thug" because he doesn't agree with the writer's left-wing sensibilities which are typical of Columbia students.

Read more

Shame on these liberals! Shame on the real fascists in our country!

The David Zucker Albright Ad

Watch this "scary" campaign ad created by a Hollywood producer/director. It was supposed to be used by GOP groups in the final weeks of the 2006 campaign but they think it's just "too hot" to handle!

This is a recreation of former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's 2000 visit to North Korea--one GOP strategist said: "Nobody could believe Zucker thought any political organization could use this ad. It makes a point, but it's way over the top."

Zucker (a long time Democrat) produced and directed such comedies as "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun." In 2004 he embraced the Republican Party based on concerns he had about national security issues and voted for President George W. Bush.

Clinton and The Bomb

After entering into an agreement with the United States in 1994, the Clinton administration ignored evidence the North Koreans were violating the agreement and continuing to build a nuclear weapon.

A review of recent history shows that that the Clinton administration gave up a clear and perhaps last best chance to nip the North Korean bomb in the bud:

Timeline of a Nuclear Bomb

Foley: The right fight

The glaring differences between the current House Speaker and the person who wants his job should make it easy for voters across the country to determine which candidate better represents their core beliefs regardless of what Foley has done. And, this same principle should apply to candidates in states and congressional districts across the country.

The fact is that people bothered by this incident should compare the voting records of those seeking to use this scandal to take over the Congress to those currently in control.

For example, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) has virtually the exact opposite voting record from Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois):

DENNIS HASTERT

NANCY PELOSI

Voted twice in 2003 for a bill outlawing partial birth abortions. Has consistently voted in favor of outlawing flag-burning. Voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Voted against funding the National Endowment for the Arts in 1992 and 1998. Voted for all four articles of impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. Voted for the Child Custody Protection Act in 2006. Voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill in 2003. Voted for the Border Security Bill in 2005. Voted for the Terry Schiavo Incapacitated Persons Bill in 2005. Voted against stem cell research in 2005 and 2006. Voted for the Same Sex Marriage Resolution (stating that marriage is a union between a man and a woman) in 2006. Voted for the Welfare Reform Bill twice in 1995, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 twice, and the Welfare Reform Bill twice in 2003. Voted for the President’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Voted for the Patriot Act in 2001, and its reauthorization in 2005.

She has consistently voted against any restrictions to abortion, including partial-births. She has consistently voted against laws that would ban flag-burning. Voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Voted against all four articles of impeachment in 1998. Voted against the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill in 2003. Voted against the Child Custody Protection Act in 2006. Voted against the Secure Fence Act of 2005 and the Border Security Bill in 2005. Voted against reauthorizing the Patriot Act in 2005 and 2006. Voted for stem cell research in 2005 and 2006. Voted against the Same Sex Marriage Resolution in 2006. Voted against the Welfare Reform Bill twice in 1995, against the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 twice, and against the Welfare Reform Bill twice in 2003. Voted against the President’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.

THE AMERICAN THINKER

SO: JUST TALLY UP THE PROS AND CONS FOR YOURSELF
IT'S THAT EASY FOLKS!

It's gonna be a bumpy ride

In an email I received today, NewsMax.com reports thatCaroline Glick, Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post said: “Any objective observer of the developments in our region understands that the storm of war is rapidly approaching us. With Moscow’s blessing, the Palestinians, Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran are steadfastly preparing for battle.”

I wanted to know more, so I found this article she wrote on 10/05/06:

"Column One: As the storm of war approaches"
The clouds of the coming war are converging upon Israel. But our political and military leaders refuse to look up at the darkening sky.

The Russian bear has awakened after 15 years of hibernation. Under the leadership of former KGB commander President Vladimir Putin, Russia is reasserting its traditional hostility towards Israel.

As Bette Davis once said in "All About Eve": Fasten your seat belts...it's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Democrats: Chardonnay-Swilling Surrender Junkies

America has polarized into two camps:


Republicans and other conservatives, who would rather fight than surrender.

Democrats and other Liberals, who would rather surrender than fight. They so covet power for themselves, and the illusion of a “peace” that cannot last, that, rather than join a Republican President, George W. Bush, in a determined war to defeat the anti-Liberal, anti-Democratic, Islamic Jihad, they would rather surrender their own future and freedom, surrender America’s future and freedom, and ultimately surrender the entire edifice of Western Civilization, Judeo-Christian Civilization, to an aggressive, intolerant, imperialist, militant, fundamentalist, terrorist Islamic theocracy that will ultimately destroy every freedom Liberal Democrats claim to be for.

“ . . . choose well,
your choice is brief,
and yet endless . . “
Goethe

Read more from Raymond Kraft, lawyer and writer living and working in Northern California.

Jimmy Carter: Anti-Semite?

WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK (10/08/06):
Carter damages Israel’s and his own image by Ira Forman

President Carter unfairly damages Israel’s worldwide image when he resorts to distortions and falsehoods about her actions. He damages any realistic prospects for reviving the peace process when he ignores the deeply dysfunctional nature of Hamas ideology and policies. But perhaps the most tragic outcome of his charges is the damage it does to his own reputation and legacy.

JERUSALEM WATCHMAN (03/20/06):
The Dangerous Dreams of Jimmy Carter

Would that this Georgian peanut farmer’s ability to damage and weaken Israel had been limited to the single term he enjoyed in the White House between 1977 and 1981. Tragically for the people of our region, it has not.

YAHOO ANSWERS:
Is Jimmy Carter Anti-American?...Anti-Semitic?

Use the link below and decide for yourself:
Click Here

HENRY KISSINGER:
“The Carter administration has managed the extraordinary feat of having, at one and the same time, the worst relations with our allies, the worst relations with our adversaries, and the most serious upheavals in the developing world since the end of the Second World War."

NEWSMAX.COM (10/21/02):
Jimmy Carter, Traitor?

In the same month that Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a new book reveals that Carter may be guilty of treason, based on newly unearthed Soviet documents...The facts show that, far from bringing peace, Carter has left a trail of disaster behind his long path.

Republicans reward wealth, not work says Nancy Pelosi

The Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor reports today:

The federal budget estimate for the fiscal year just completed dropped to $250 billion, congressional estimators said Friday, as the economy continues to fuel impressive tax revenues.

If Democrats win control in the Nov. 7 midterm elections and Pelosi takes the gavel as the first Madam Speaker in history, here's what she says will happen:

Bush-era tax cuts would have to be rolled back for those above "a certain level." She mentioned annual incomes of $250,000 or $300,000 a year and higher, and said tax rates for those individuals might revert to those of the Clinton era. Details will have to be worked out, she emphasized.

And then she makes a statement that tells you she is completely "loopy" (a favortie expression of the Culture Warrior Bill O'Reilly):

"We believe in the marketplace," Pelosi said of Democrats, then drew a contrast with Republicans. "They have only rewarded wealth, not work."

That's impossible to do since it takes work to CREATE wealth! Pelosi obviously lives in some kind of liberal la-la land.

Take the World Wealth Report for example:

WORLD WEALTH REPORT FINDS HIGH NET WORTH INDIVIDUALS INCREASINGLY EARN RATHER THAN INHERIT WEALTH (The 10th Anniversary Report from Merrill Lynch and Capgemini Also Finds Europeans Pay More to Live “The Good Life”)

NEW YORK, July 11 – High net worth individuals (HNWIs), people with net financial assets of at least US$1 million excluding their primary residence and consumables, are increasingly earning rather than inheriting their financial wealth, according to the 10th Anniversary edition of the World Wealth Report (“The Report”), which was released in June by Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Capgemini.

The Report found that while business ownership or the sale of a business is the primary source of wealth (37 percent) for the majority of the world’s HNWIs, income ranks second at 24 percent as the source of wealth, and inheritance rates third at 18 percent. In previous reports, inherited wealth accounted for more of HNWIs’ assets than it does today. In fact, as recently as 2001 inheritance represented 21 percent of the source of wealth of Americans and 37 percent of Europeans.

“Clearly, earned wealth has grown faster than wealth passed down from an earlier generation,” said Bertrand Lavayssière, Managing Director, Global Financial Services, Capgemini. “It’s also clear that, with just 10 percent of their wealth coming from investment performance, HNWIs are very good at creating new wealth and are not simply relying on global economic prosperity and market performance to expand their financial holdings.” The trend is likely to continue.

Report findings show that in North America the largest share (32 percent) of HNWI wealth is from income versus business ownership (26 percent) and inheritance (16 percent).

However, in Europe business ownership or the sale of a business was clearly the top source of wealth at 50 percent, while income ranked at only 13 percent.

Meanwhile, Middle Eastern HNWIs derived the largest portion (32 percent) of their wealth through inheritance, while their counterparts in the Asia Pacific region became wealthy primarily through personal business and investment performance.
Cost of Living “The Good Life"

For a copy of the 2006 World Wealth Report, as well as more specific regional data, please visit www.capgemini.com/worldwealthreport.”

It's funny how Nancy mixed up the statistics for our country with those of the middle eastern countries: "Middle Eastern HNWIs derived the largest portion (32 percent) of their wealth through inheritance".

Here's what you'll really get if you help the Democrats get into office:

"We must share the benefits of our wealth" beyond the privileged few, she added.

Well, Nancy, guess what? There's only one way to do that and it's failed all over the world (remember the Soviet Union?). It's called COMMUNISM:

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

It's not so much that "communism" is a dirty word, it's just that it doesn't work.

The real truth about Muslims?

I recently received the following via email:

Muslims have stated that England will be the first country they take over.

These are pictures not shown on American TV or in American Newspapers (as they might help Bush's war on terror), but were forwarded to me by a Canadian Friend who thought Americans ought to know!

These pictures are of Muslims marching through the streets of London during their recent "Religion of Peace" demonstration:

Why would anyone think that we should be at war with such nice, peaceful Muslims!

Americans need to know.

*************************************************************************************
ALLAH IS DEAD

Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
Tuesday, 19 September 2006

A careful reading of Pope Benedict XVI's speech on Faith and Reason, delivered at the University of Regensburg, Germany, on September 12 leaves one with the overwhelming impression of being in the presence of an absolutely world-class intelligence. I could not encourage you more to read and study it entire.

At root and on purpose, the speech is a devastating assault on the metaphysical foundation of Islam. It's become a commonplace to refer to our war with Islamofascism as a "War of Ideas." The war is now joined for real. The fight Benedict picked with Islam is exactly the fight we need. It is a fight in which Islam is defenseless.

This goes far beyond the Kafkaesque hypocrisy of Moslem barbarians threatening to kill the Pope for accusing Islam of being a religion of violence rather than peace. What Benedict really accused Islam of is being inhuman - because it's god, Allah, is inhuman.

In this speech, the Pope wiped away all the weepy touchy-feely "we all believe in the same God" claptrap. The Pope's fundamental point was the connection between mankind and the Christian God, and the lack of it with the god of Islam.

Register to read more...

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Washington Post Op-Ed Columnist slams Democrats

Washington Post Op-Ed Columnist Sebastian Mallaby opens with the following:

After years of single-party government, the prospect of a Democratic majority in the House ought to feel refreshing. But even with Republicans collapsing in a pile of sexual sleaze, I just can't get excited. Most Democrats in Congress seem bereft of ideas or the courage to stand up for them. They clearly want power, but they have no principles to guide their use of it.

A large part of his discussion is focused on the unfathomable refusal of the Democrats to discuss Social Security reform: "If today's Democratic leaders were even a little bit awake, they would realize that the case for Social Security reform has grown stronger since the Clinton era".

He then summarizes with this caveat about voting for the Democrats:

I'm not saying that Republicans are at all better, and of course elections breed some policy timidity. But the infuriating thing about the Democrats is that, just a decade ago, they knew how to empathize with voters' economic insecurities without collapsing into irresponsibility; they combined attractively progressive social policies with sensible pro-market fiscal responsibility. Now many in the party have lost interest in this necessary balance. If the Democrats win a measure of power next month, it's hard to see what they will do with it.

Read "A Party Without Principles"

97 Reasons Democrats Are Weak On Defense And Can't Be Trusted To Govern In Wartime

Today's Democrats are nothing like Presidents Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy, who with courage and decisive action kept on top of their jobs and aggressively confronted one national defense crisis after another.

#1 starts, of course, with Jimmy Carter

#97 sums it all up:

When it comes to which party has proved more capable in acting to defend and protect Americans from foreign enemies, there is only one choice. From Johnson to Carter to Clinton, virtually all the defense policies and decisions made by Democratic administrations have been unsuccessful. And in many cases, they have unintentionally but materially increased the danger to our national security and the safety of all Americans.

There are 97 really important reasons to Read this INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY article!

The Dash

The grass is truly greener...

...is it Photoshop???

Why does crossing this line cost your doctor $82,300?

An obstetrician in Illinois pays $110,100 a year
for malpractice insurance. Next door in
Wisconsin, the same doctor would pay $27,800.

Why?

Find out here

Prayers

L
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A
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T
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T
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A
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K

Happy Birthday Emmett Chapman

Ever wanted to get inside the mind of a great musician?

Well, here's your chance!

I received this from Emmett Chapman's daughter yesterday and she has, most certainly, gotten inside the mind of her Dad as you'll see...

Tomorrow is my dad's 70th birthday.
The article below was written for him and will be published on his website, www.stick.com.
This is a preview of it.
~d.

The Stars, the Moon and Everything

When I was a little girl my father, Emmett, would take me out at night into the backyard at our house in North Hollywood and show me the moon and the stars. It is one of my earliest memories of him. I was just a baby, I don't know if I was even talking yet. I have this basic imprint memory of him holding me in his arms and we are looking up into the sky. He points to Mars and says in a quiet, nighttime voice, "Look Diana, that's Mars. It's the red one. Mars rules Scorpio. You are a Scorpio!" I look up in wonderment at the tiny little point of light that didn't look very red to me at all, and look back at him, full of wonder and awe. And so I learned the planets before I knew my numbers. It's in my bones.

This ability to think abstractly and to creatively use my mind and imagination came directly from him. He would play with me like this all the time. We would talk about the world and dinosaurs and Greek myths and boys and Jungian symbolism and polyrhythmic times and handwriting analysis and what colors matched what people we knew, all with the background calliope of music of Coltrane and Miles and Stravinsky and Cream and The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix and Tim Buckley and Debussy, and whatever he was listening to at the moment, which was everything. He would always present me with the hidden or the mysterious, the scientific and the philosophical. Any subject was fair game and we would romp and roll through conversations like puppies with a bone. We would talk about cell structure and DNA and how sound travels through water from the perspective of a dolphin. We wondered and discussed the great questions of life like, was it important to dance, or vote, or go to school.

One of the first books that he made both my sister and I read was The Naked Ape - A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal by Desmond Morris. I think I was about eleven, which would have made Grace about six. We plowed through it somehow. The next one, a couple of years later was, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, by Julian Jaynes. Good grief! Still, what a gift. He was sure we would love it as much as he did. He always talked to us about ideas and God and colors and science, and I am truly a better and broader person for it. It was like being home-schooled by a mix of Socrates and Jimi Hendrix.

There's not a day that goes by that I don't appreciate how this young training set me up for the rest of my life. I learned to think abstractly. I understood archetypes and patterns before I knew the alphabet. He taught me about the universe and the stars and everything. And there's not a day that goes by that I don't actively use this ability in everything I do.

I have known many astrologers during my time. My father is one of the best of them. His ideas, like in everything he thinks about, are unique and his own. His view on the planets and their relationship is based on a blending of the most ancient understanding of astrology and their strict, geometric, astronomical relationships - and, of course, it all directly applies to music. The cover art of his first album, Parallel Galaxy, has his horoscope on it, and this you may not know, he figured out a way to play it on the Stick! (See this hyperlink for more on this: Parallel Galaxy and The Real Parallel Galaxy).

One of our ongoing debates in astrology/astronomy has been about the planet Pluto, which he has always maintained (and was way ahead of his time about) was just two ice balls orbiting each other. Well, in traditional Western astrology, Pluto is the other ruler of Scorpio, and considered pretty important. Over time, he wore me down to the point that I had pretty much dismissed Pluto as an important aspect of a horoscope - even though it's supposedly my own co-ruling planet! Ultimately, he was right. Just last month the New York Times reported that Pluto had been officially demoted in status from a planet to a dwarf planet, barely beating out asteroid status.

Emmett's mind is always turning things inside out, upside down and rightside up again. He wonders about things. He wonders about everything.

My big question as a child was, "Why?"

His big answer back to me was always, "Because."

His big Because comes from a place in him that wonders why too. And I admire that in him so much. My dad will as happily engage a nine-year-old as a fifty-year-old. He loves to stretch thought and bend ideas around. He just loves a thoughtful conversation. I call people like him astronauts. They fly way out there and then come back to earth and tell us what they saw.

Next time you are outside at night, look for the brightest white star in the sky, the one that is low and rising. That's Venus. Venus rules Libra. Venus is the planet of beauty and love and music. Emmett is a Libra. When you see Venus, I hope you think of him.

Happy Birthday, daddyo.

~love
to infinity~
Diana

Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do - John Mayer

Diana Lang
from the City of Angels
818/888-7319
www.DianaLang.com

TRUE/FALSE

What Clinton Didn't Do . . .
. . . .and when he didn't do it.

(1) In his Fox interview, Mr. Clinton said "no one knew that al Qaeda existed" in October 1993, during the tragic events in Somalia. NOT TRUE

(2) Clinton paid little attention and turned the first terrorist attack on American soil over to the FBI. TRUE

(3) By the end of Clinton's first year as President, al Qaeda had apparently attacked twice and the attacks would continue for every one of the Clinton years. TRUE

(4) Referring to the Clinton cabinet, State Department counterterrorism official Michael Sheehan asked Richard Clarke: "What's it going to take to get them to hit al Qaeda in Afghanistan? Does al Qaeda have to attack the Pentagon?" TRUE

*************************************************************************************

There is much more to Mr. Clinton's record--how Predator drones, which spotted bin Laden three times in 1999 and 2000, were grounded by bureaucratic infighting; how a petty dispute with an Arizona senator stopped the CIA from hiring more Arabic translators... ETC. ETC. ETC.

Bill Clinton lied. People died.

America's most prominent American political consultant (called "the most influential private citizen in America" by Time Magazine), Dick Morris really knows Bill Clinton.

His NewsMax bio says:

Morris began his relationship with Clinton in 1977 when he handled the Arkansas Attorney General's successful campaign to become the youngest Governor in the nation. Morris did not work on Clinton's defeat for re-election in 1980 but did oversee his comeback victory in 1982 as well as his Arkansas re-election victories in 1984, 1986 and 1990. Dick Morris is almost universally credited with piloting Bill Clinton to a stunning comeback re-election victory in 1996 after the president lost Congress to the Republicans two years before.

So we have to believe him when he says that "the real Bill Clinton emerged Sunday during Chris Wallace’s interview on Fox News Channel".

Here we saw "the man those who have worked for him have come to know – the angry, sarcastic, snarling, self-righteous, bombastic bully, roused to a fever pitch. The truer the accusation, the greater the feigned indignation."

But what this article gives us is a point-by-point rebuttal of what Clinton's points were in that interview with Wallace and it shows that Clinton was NOT, as Condi Rice has already pointed out, telling it like it was at all!

Here are some points in contention:

(1) Clinton told Wallace, “There is not a living soul in the world who thought that Osama bin Laden had anything to do with Black Hawk Down.” Nobody said there was...and that wasn't the point! Read more

(2) Clinton said conservatives “were all trying to get me to withdraw from Somalia in 1993 the next day” after the attack which killed American soldiers. Again, NOT THE POINT! Read more

(3) The president told Wallace, “I authorized the CIA to get groups together to try to kill bin Laden.” But the 9/11 Commission tells a different story! Read more

(4) Clinton claims “the CIA and the FBI refused to certify that bin Laden was responsible [for the Cole bombing] while I was there.” Morris states: "But he could replace or direct his employees as he felt. His helplessness was, as usual, self-imposed."

But there's more:

Read more in THE HILL: The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress (Tuesday September 26, 2006).

There is the obvious of course: Clinton/Gore had 8 YEARS; the Bush administration had 8 MONTHS.

Why don't we just bomb ourselves into oblivion already?

Steve Frank of California Political News and Views sent this around today:

Thanks to Joel Strom for this tidbit.

If the GOP loses the House, radical, corrupt Democrats will run the place. One of them is Alcee Hastings of Florida:

Another target in the RNC's "educational papers" is Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings, an impeached former federal judge whom Pelosi has indicated she would put in charge of the supersecret House Intelligence Committee.

Hastings, who was indicted on charges of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, was impeached by the House (by a vote of 413-to-3) and removed from the bench in the Senate by a vote of 69-to-26. He later ran and won his seat in a solidly Democratic district.

"That an impeached judge could conceivably become head of the Intelligence Committee I think many Americans would find alarming," RNC spokesman Danny Diaz told me.

But this is a guy who voted against the Patriot Act giving government authorities the tools to protect the country from terrorists in October 2001, just a few weeks after the airline attacks by Islamic fanatics.

WAITING FOR SHIT LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN IS LIKE WATCHING A SLOW DEATH GO DOWN IN SLOW MOTION!!!

At this point, a vote for a Democrat is a vote to pull the trigger of the gun that is pointing to your head and the heads of your children.

Unfortunately, it's also pointing at all the rest of us who'd really prefer to live.

Does Confronting Terrorism Make It Worse?

DOES CONFRONTING TERRORISM MAKE IT WORSE?

Posted on 9/23/2006 at "Rightwing Nuthouse" in response to 30-page National Intelligence Estimate completed in April (also featured in the New York Times and Washington Post articles today):

I am not disputing the conclusions in this leaked report. I am resisting the implications that some would draw from it; that if only we had not confronted the jihadists or worked to solve the root causes of terrorism, none of this would be true today.

I totally reject that notion. In fact, I believe it delusional thinking to say that we’d be any safer if we hadn’t invaded Iraq or if we had just lobbed a few cruise missiles at Osama Bin Laden following 9/11, or even if we had put enormous pressure on Israel to come to an agreement with the Palestinians. All of this ignores the one overarching truth about the nature of our enemies (and their tens of millions of supporters around the world); what they seek, we cannot give them.

Please read more here

UPDATE FROM WHITE HOUSE

A newspaper report that a U.S. intelligence analysis found that the Iraq war gave rise to a new generation of Islamic radicals and made the overall terrorism problem worse was "not representative of the complete document," the White House said on Sunday.

Best quality (in synch): "Clinton Gone Wild"

Clinton Gone Wild (VIDEO)
By MsUnderestimated

Others have posted the video from YT intially, but the audio and video are WAY out of sync. I have a better cut, with more info, and higher quality video.

These are excellent!

INTERVIEW UPDATE: FROM INTERVIEWER CHRIS WALLACE

I was delighted to get the chance to interview former President Clinton. This was the first one-on-one sitdown he's ever given "Fox News Sunday" during our 10 years on the air.

The groundrules were simple--15 minutes--to be divided evenly between questions about the Clinton Global Initiative and anything else I wanted to ask.

I intended to keep to the groundrules. In fact--I prepared 10 questions--5 on the CGI and 5 on other issues.

I began the interview with 2 questions about Mr. Clinton's commitment to humanitarian causes. His answers were cogent and good-humored.

Then--I asked him about his Administration's record in fighting terror--fully intending to come back to CGI later (as indeed I did).

I asked what I thought was a non-confrontational question about whether he could have done more to "connect the dots and really go after al Qaeda."

I was utterly surprised by the tidal wave of details--emotion--and political attacks that followed.

The President was clearly stung by any suggestion that he had not done everything he could to get bin Laden. He attacked right-wingers--accused me of a "conservative hit job"--and even spun a theory I still don't understand that somehow Fox was trying to cover up the fact that NewsCorp. chief Rupert Murdoch was supporting his Global Initiative. I still have no idea what set him off.
Former President Clinton is a very big man. As he leaned forward--wagging his finger in my face--and then poking the notes I was holding--I felt as if a mountain was coming down in front of me.

The President said I had a smirk. Actually--it was sheer wonder at what I was witnessing.

I tried repeatedly to adhere to the ground rules--to move the President along--and back to the CGI. But he wanted to keep talking about his record fighting terror.

When it became clear he wanted to throw out the ground rules--then I just went with the flow of the interview.

Possibly the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of...

In John Kerry's Europe posted by Rabbi Aryeh Spero on July 26, 2004 he tells us this:

The idolization by some Americans of the mores of Europeans is nothing new. For decades they have berated the American people for "not following the European example." John Kerry is one of America's loudest proponents of conditioning America's security on French and German approval. In fact, when asked by reporters to describe his wife, the former Mrs. Heinz of Pennsylvania, he gushed forth the best compliment his worldview could offer: "She's so European!" Hopefully Mr. Kerry is simply referring to her ancestry and not her world outlook.

Puzzled by this mysterious infatuation of so many liberals with things European, I have finally run across a possible answer to this mystery:

THE LAST TABOO? Europeans pay big for barnyard sex
It's legal – and it doesn't scare the horses, say customers, animal houses of ill repute (Posted on WorldNetDaily September 22, 2006 8:55 p.m. Eastern)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editor's note: Parental discretion is advised for this story. It includes material many will consider offensive.

Read more if you can stomach it...

The answer? Liberals really, really mean it when they advocate secular-progressive and LIBERAL ideas!

Confessions of a Washington Post senior political reporter

Ah ha!

But we all knew this already, now, didn't we?

On the Thursday, September 21, 2006, episode of his radio show, host Hugh Hewitt interviewed Thomas B. Edsall, who up until recently was a senior political reporter for the Washington Post. He had been with the paper for 25 years. Through precise and direct questioning by Hewitt, Edsall admitted something that is rarely heard from a liberal these days. In a shocking admission, Edsall articulated that the biases of the mainstream media are "overwhelmingly to the left." He also proposed that Democratic reporters outnumber Republicans "in the range of 15-25 to 1"!

Read more

Help stop government censorship

The Left has a problem with the free market and free speech.

They are upset that the ABC Docudrama on 9/11 was allowed to be aired. They decry the "corporate media" and some even believe that 9/11 was an "inside job." These zealots are gathering at the FCC public hearing in Los Angeles on October 3rd to complain about all of these things to the federal government, in order to convince the government to play the role of "big brother" by controlling the media.

FreedomWorks is asking freedom-loving Californians to join us in our
campaign to stand up to these moonbats and protect free speech and the free market. If you are interested in helping us, please contact field coordinator Matt Schumsky at mattsd8(AT)cox.net or (619) 944-2833 in San Diego or congressional action team leader Rick Reiss at dogbyte6rer(AT)netscape.net or (951) 285-6398 in Riverside County.

We'd like to counteract the Left's propaganda by attending the FCC hearing and speaking out against censorship and other forms of government control over the media. For more details about the hearing, please see below.

Sincerely,

Brendan Steinhauser
Grassroots Manager
Freedom Works
"Fighting for lower taxes, less government and more freedom."
http://www.freedomworks.org/
(202)-942-7612 office
(202)-379-6583 cell

New technology for breaking mental barriers

I recently received this letter from the publisher of Impulsive Profits' free daily trades, ChartTraders and the Rapid Fire Swing Trading ebook. There's a new super hi-tech method for self improvement that's like nothing else you've ever seen--and I remember the early days of Brother Charles' Synchronicity tapes!

Here's the letter:

When we look at a certain object, a painting for example, we won't be able to appreciate it if it's just an inch away from our face...but if we view it from a greater distance, we'll have a clearer vision of the whole work.

Similarly, we may reach a point in our life when we are ready for change and suddenly desire the type of information that will help us unlock our self improvement power. Until that time comes, problems can be staring us right in the face but we won't see them. The only time we think of unlocking our self improvement power is when everything gets bad--sometimes really bad.

OptiMINDzation

Take the frog principle for example:

Try placing Frog A in a pot of boiling water. What happens? He twerps! He jumps off! Why? Because he is not able to tolerate sudden change in his environment - the water's temperature. Then try Frog B: place him in lukewarm water, and then turn the gas stove on. Wait till the water reaches a certain boiling point. Frog B then thinks "Ooh... it's a bit warm in here".

People are like Frog B in general. Today, Anna thinks Carl dislikes her. Tomorrow, Patrick walks up to her and tells her pretty much the same thing. Anna doesn't mind what her friends say and doesn't change. The next day, she learns that Kim and John also dislike her, but Anna doesn't realize her need for self improvement until the entire community dislikes her.

We learn our lessons when we experience pain. We finally see the warning signs and signals when things get rough and tough. When do we realize that we need to change diets? When none of our jeans and shirts would fit us! When do we stop eating candies and chocolates? When all of our teeth have fallen out! When do we realize that we need to stop smoking? When our lungs have gone bad! When do we pray and ask for help? When we realize that we're going to die tomorrow!

The only time most of us ever learn about unlocking our self improvement power is when the whole world is crashing and falling apart. We think and feel this way because it is not easy to change. But change becomes more painful when we ignore it.

OptiMINDzation

Change will happen, like it or hate it. At one point or another, we are all going to experience different turning points in our life - and we are all going to eventually unlock our self improvement power not because the world says so, not because our friends are nagging us, but because we realized it’s for our own good.

Happy people don't just accept change, they embrace it. Now, you don't have to feel a tremendous heat before realizing the need for self improvement. Unlocking your self improvement power means unlocking yourself up in the cage of thought that "it’s just the way I am". It is such a poor excuse for people who fear and resist change. Most of us program our minds like computers.

Jen repeatedly tells everyone that she doesn't have the guts to be around groups of people. She heard her mom, her dad, her sister, her teacher tells the same things about her to other people. Over the years, that is what Jen believes. She believes it’s her story. And what happens? Every time a great crowd would troop over their house, in school, and in the community - she tends to step back, shy away and lock herself up in a room. Jen didn't only believed in her story, she lived it.

Jen has to realize that she is not what she is in her story. Instead of having her story post around her face for everyone to remember, she has to have the spirit and show people "I am an important person and I should be treated accordingly!"

Self improvement may not be everybody's favorite word, but if we look at things in a different point of view, we might have greater chances of enjoying the whole process instead of counting the days until we are fully improved. Three sessions in a week at the gym would result to a healthier life, reading books instead of looking at porn will shape up a more profound knowledge, going out with friends and peers will help you take a step back from work and unwind. And just when you are enjoying the whole process of unlocking your self improvement power, you'll realize that you're beginning to re-shape your life for the better and become happy again.

Yours for an Optimized Mind,

Stephen Pierce
OptiMINDzation
Peak State Products
2232 S. Main st #421
Ann Arbor, Michigan
48103
US


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