Habanero Heat

Dead Goldfish Offered the Vote in Illinois - FOXNews.com Elections

2008-10-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Dead Goldfish Offered the Vote in Illinois - FOXNews.com Elections

And this does not include the over 200,000 suspected fraudulent votes already cast in Hamelton County, Ohio.

FOX Forum « FOXNews.com

2008-10-21T09:13:00.000-05:00

FOX Forum « FOXNews.com

Eagleburger: Obama Is Going to be a Real Problem

Biden: Obama Will be 'Tested' by World in First 6 Months of Administration - FOXNews.com Elections

2008-10-21T09:11:00.000-05:00

Biden: Obama Will be 'Tested' by World in First 6 Months of Administration - FOXNews.com Elections

Obama Praised 'Searing and Timely' Book by Ayers - FOXNews.com Elections

2008-10-21T09:09:00.000-05:00

Obama Praised 'Searing and Timely' Book by Ayers - FOXNews.com Elections

The Fantastic 5

2008-07-13T11:05:00.000-05:00

Good afternoon World from southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S.A., where politics has been anything but boring. Now, I know a lot of people depend on their political news from CNN, and the major networks, who are trying their hand at propaganda to convince voters that there are only 2 contestants in this U.S. Presidential race of 2008, when in actuality, there are 5 major candidates, according to 'Project Vote Smart' at http://www.votesmart.org/election_president.php:

Now, you would think that a U.S. President would be decided by U.S. citizens. If this is the case, why is Barack H. Obama campaigning in Europe just a few months before the Presidential election?

Notice also that Barack H. Obama has gotten a tremendous amount of money from contributions over the internet. Do you honestly believe that all these contributions came from U.S. registered voters during a time of economic crisis in our country? Remember, other countries are prospering now, at the expense of the United States, and they have the money to donate to U.S. Presidential candidates.

Will the next President of the United States work for U.S. citizens, or will he serve Kenya, Israel, Germany, England, Mexico, or some other country?

Personally, I will be voting for a man I believe will have the United States' best interest at heart. I will be voting in someone who I believe actually loves this country.

Contrary to what I have heard people from Europe and Mexico say, the United States is more than a place where people come to make money, and then take that money back to their country of origin. This is my home.

I love the United States of America. I want the next President of the United States to feel that way also, not just spout it on television commercials. U.S. voters are not cattle to be herded. We have hearts & minds. We have questions. We want answers. Not propaganda.

So please research all 5 candidates, and decide for yourself who would be best for you and your family. Don't let the media and foreigners decide for you. Ask questions. Demand honest answers.

Hopefully, with God's grace, we will all get through this Presidential election with our sanity in tact.

End of an Error...Or is it?

2008-02-24T10:45:00.000-05:00

It seems a lot of people are calling for "change" & "unite America". Have people forgotten in only 7 years, George W. Bush ran on the same platform? George W. Bush declared we needed change, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush declared that he would unite the United States, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush ran on charisma, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush is a junior (named after his father), just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush was able to raise of lot of money for his campaign, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush is Evangelical, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush has 2 daughters, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. George W. Bush had accomplished absolutely nothing legislatively before becoming President, just like Senator Barack Hussein OBama. So where is the change?

As a matter of fact, Senator Barack Hussein OBama called Dick Cheney his cousin. Dick Cheney is our Vice President who sent us to Iraq, and who is making millions of dollars along with Halliburton in Iraq. So again, where is the change?

I hear on news reports, countries like Ireland & Israel supporting Senator Barack Hussein OBama. Why do we care whom citizens of other countries want us to have for President? Do they ask us during their elections? No. Of course not. They vote for whom they believe will be best for their country, not ours. So why should we care whom other countries choose as our President. Oh...that is right...MONEY. Our Presidential campaigns are determined by money. And there is no stipulation on where the money comes from. So people in countries like Ireland & Israel can send money to candidates they like for U.S. President via the internet, which greatly influences our Presidential race.

It is time we, the citizens of the United States, take back our own country.

It is bad enough that countries like England come over here and have a hostile take-over of American companies...companies we depend on like Columbia Gas (our gas company that supplies & delivers our heating oil), and then they decide they need to raise our gas prices by 11% so they can make a profit.

It is bad enough that the dollar has plummetted, so European investors can buy up interest in American companies.

Now, the world influences our elections because they can fund candidates. The internet has made it very simple. And yes, money means everything in a Presidential election. Think about it...We hear about the Republican & Democratic parties because they are well funded. They have the money to be heard.

What about our less wealthy Presidential candidates?

Here is a list from Project Vote Smart at http://www.votesmart.org/election_president_search.php?type=alpha:

Stephen
Adams
Independent

Donald Kenneth
Allen
Independent

Thomas Wayne
Allen
Other

Yul L.
Anderson
None

Jose Miguel
Aparicio
Independence

Blake
Ashby
Independent

Richard Steven
Atkins
None

Daniel Avery
Bacon
Independent

Jared Arlen
Ball
Green Party

Jon Jay
Banks
Libertarian

Terry Lee
Barkdull
Unknown

Michael W.
Bay
Other

William David
Beadles
Citizen's

Carl Durantye
Belle
Independent

William F.
Berg
Independent

Sheila
Bilyeu
Independent

David Michael
Bishop
Other

Greg
Black
Independent

John Douglas
Blyth
Independent

Christopher David
Borcik
Independent

Matthew Jay
Borman
American

Jeffrey Harlan
Boss
Independent

Jacques Yves
Boulerice
Native American

John Taylor
Bowles
Other

J.
Boydston
Constitution

Jeffrey Earl
Brown
Independent

Dan Byron
Canfield
None

Myrtle Charlotte
Carlyle
None

Jerry Leon
Carroll
Other

James Harlin
Carter
Other

Janice Marie
Chase
Other

Jeanne
Chebib
Unknown

Liza Dawn
Cherricks
Independent

Richard H.
Clark
Independent

Todd Marvin
Clayton
Constitution

Michael James
Cortney
Independent

Eric Leland
Creviston
Unknown

Claire Elisabeth Fields
Cruise
Independent

HRM Caesar St Augustine De
Buonaparte
Other

Michael Christopher
Dutcher
Independent

Earnest Lee
Easton
Independent

Max
Englerius
Other

Clarita
Fazzari
Independent

Bennie Lee
Ferguson
Independent

Richard Earl
Fleharty
Independent
Elizabeth Mason
Frothingham

Ida Cecilia
Garza
Independent

Mark Blair
Graham
Unknown

Jon A. Greenspon
No
Party Affiliation

Jackson Kirk
Grimes
United Fascist Union

William Long
Hale
Independent

Albert
Hamburg
Independent

Dennis M.
Hanaghan
Independent

Curtis
Hayward
Independent

John Robert
Henry
Independent

Samuel B.
Hoff
Independent

Daniel J.
Imperato
Independent, Libertarian

William Michael
Ingram
Independent

Robert Garrison
Jackson
Libertarian

Michael Paul
Jingozian
Libertarian

Stanton T.
Jolley
Independent

Arnold Matthew
Jones
Independent

Robert Coleman
Jorgensen
Other

Daniel Melzine
Kingery
None

David Allen
Koch
None

Steve W.
Kubby
Libertarian

Christopher
Lafontaine
Unknown

God Johan Josephe
Lally
Other

Jared Benjamin
Lee
Independent

Kip
Lee
Libertarian

Joseph Felix
Leonaitis
Independent

Robert
Locke
Constitution

Bradley K.
Lord-Leutwyler
None

Steven Douglas
Mabey
Unknown

Mike Benjamin
Martisko
Other

Joseph
Martyniuk
Independent

James Hatton
McCall
Independent
Laura Jane
McCumber

Frank Edward
McEnulty
None

Megally Z.
Megally
Independent

Kent Philip
Mesplay
Green Party

John Glenn Barry
Metcalf
Other

Andy Clown
Miannay
Independent

Joseph C.
Miechowicz
Independent

Hubert Billy
Miles
None

Robert W.
Milnes
Libertarian

Omar Jones
Monahan
None

Brian Joseph
Moran
Other

George C.
Nelson
Other

Robert Sherman
Nix
Unknown

Sandra Queen
Noble
None

John Stuart
Nolan
Unknown

Lawrence Anthony
Obern
Unknown

William John
Ohlsen
Independent

Jeffrey Charles
Petkevicius
Independent

George David Joseph
Phillies
Libertarian

Matthew D.
Pinnavaia
Other

Deshon
Porter
Independent

Samuel Lyndell
Powell
Independent

James John
Prattas
Independent

Madison Augustine
Primus
Other

Mark Shane
Robinson
Other

Ralph Marshall
Robinson
Independent

Paul Russell
Rosenberger
Unknown

Gary W.
Ruff
Independent

Cameron
Sadovsky
Independent

Joseph Charles
Schriner
None

Larry Joseph
Schuetter
Other

Jonathon
Sharkey
Independent

Christine
Smith
Libertarian

Douglas
Stanhope
Libertarian

Michael
Sugerman
Independent

Kat Swift
Green
Party

Charles Joseph Leo
Symonds
Unknown

Edward Anthony
Szynalski
Independent

Nanci Jean
Taylor
Independent

Bruce Calvin
Trask
Reform

Da Vid
The Light
Party

Hugh
Wallace
Independent

Lanakila
Washington
Independent

James Louis Dezort
Watchman
Independent

Thomas
Wells
Other

Ruth Bryant
White
Independent

Daniel E.
Williams
Libertarian

Jomo K. Manual
Williams
Other

Kelcey Brian
Wilson
Other

Robert B.
Winn
Independent

Frank
Zilaitis
None

Now, to be fair, money is not a new concept in politics. After all, our founding fathers believed that the average man was not intelligent enough to vote, and women were not allowed to vote at all. The only men that were allowed to vote were land owners...which meant men with money.

Today, women have the privilege to vote along with men, and no one has to take a reading test anymore before being allowed to vote. But not every citizen is allowed to vote in the United States. To vote, a person has to have an address. We have many homeless in the United States who are not allowed to vote simply because they do not have an address. So they are not counted. With returning vets; people losing their homes from natural disasters & the mortgage scam; people losing their jobs through no fault of their own because companies outsource to China, Mexico, India, and other countries; people not being able to get new jobs because of the power of the credit industry here, where credit scores can prevent a person from getting hired; there are many people becoming homeless in our country every day. And these citizens of the United States will not be allowed to vote.

Yet, people from other countries will have influence in our elections.

Lets start will Nigeria. Barack Hussein OBama's father was born & raised in Nigeria. By international law, this gives Barack Hussein OBama a duel citizenship. Of course Nigeria will help to fund OBama's campaign. After all, OBama has a stake in Nigeria as well as the United States, so he will want Nigeria to do well. Here is the CIA's site on Nigeria: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni.html

Now, according to the CIA website,

Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire
boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree
Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to
Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving
patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of
Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but
imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute
between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem
River all contribute to the delay in implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon
have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation
treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

Having a father who was born and raised in Nigeria, and legally allowed to be citizen of Nigeria via international law, which side of this dispute do you believe OBama will take?

In all fairness, OBama is not the only Presidential candidate allowed a duel citizenship via international law. Senator John McCain was born in Panama. Even though the land was owned by the U.S. at the time, it is now part of Panama, and Panama could claim him.

So much for Democracy. We live in a country where some of our own citizens have no vote, yet we give voice to people of other nations who have the money to influence our elections. How democratic is that?

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

2008-02-16T11:59:00.001-05:00

Still dealing with the flu for after a week, I sincerely hope all of you are feeling much better than I.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day here, & I hope you all had a wonderful celebration.

Our Valentine's Day. started at 4 a.m., since my husband had to be at University of Pittsburgh Center Presbyterian-Shadyside Hospital by 6:30 for a 7:30 a.m. colonoscopy (which I highly recommend everyone have, as many of you already know about my husband's best man dying 3 days before we were scheduled to be married, died of colon cancer).

The drive, which normally takes 45 minutes, took us 75 minutes, with 15 minutes just to scrape off the ice from the car windshield.

Dr. McGrath was really wonderful, and after 55 minutes of examining my husband, let us know that he was able to examine 98% of my husband's colon, since he could not get to the other 2 percent, because my husband has what is known as a "floppy colon". My husband and I had never heard of afloppy colon before, so we looked it up on the internet. Turns out that a floppy colon is a birth defect that usually does not show up until later. The colon is not firmly attached to the abdomenal wall, so it can "flop" or twist.

My husband joked that he was going to ask Dr. McGrath if he (my husband) would get flowers afterwards (since it was Valentine's day & he was having the procedure done).

That afternoon, my husband was feeling terrific, while I was miserable with chest congestion, sinus congestion, sore throat, 101.1 degree fever. So my husband cooked me a Valentine's Day dinner of steak, baked potato, fried corn balls.

O.K....now on to politics like I promised last post...

I have noticed that many Republicans already concider McCain the Republican primary winner, so they have/are registering Democratic, so they can make sure their issues have the best chance of winning. I honestly believe that this is why there is a sudden surge in new people registering Democrat & voting for OBama. Quite simply, between OBama & Clinton, I honestly believe that McCain has the better chance of beating OBama.

Now, about Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton:

According to Clinton's campaign site at http://facts.hillaryhub.com/, Clinton accuses OBama of making false remarks about her, and gives her point of view.

According to Project Vote Smart at http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=55463, here is information on Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton:

Current Office: U.S. Senate
Current District: Junior Seat

Office Seeking: President

First Elected: 2000

Last Elected: 11/07/2006

Next Election: 2012

Party: Democratic

Gender: Female

Family:

Husband: William
1 Child: Chelsea.

Birth Date: 10/26/1947

Birthplace: Chicago, IL

Home City: Chappaqua, NY

Religion: Methodist

Education:

JD, Yale University, 1973
BA, Wellesley College, 1969.

Professional Experience:

Attorney, Rose Law Firm, 1976-1992
Faculty, University of Arkansas Law School, 1975
Author
Former Staff Attorney, Children's Defense Fund.

Political Experience:

Candidate, United States President, 2008
Senator, United States Senate, 2000-present
First Lady, President Bill Clinton, 1992-2000
First Lady, State of Arkansas, 1978-1980, 1982-1992.

Organizations:

Co-Founder, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families
Board Member, Arkansas Children's Hospital
Board Member, Children's Defense Fund
Board Member, La Farge
Board Member, The Country's Best Yogurt Company
Board Member, Wal-Mart.

Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees:

American Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession
Chair, Arkansas Educational Standards Committee
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe
Co-Chair, Congressional E-911 Caucus
Democratic Policy Committee
Democratic Technology and Communications Committee
Board Member, Legal Services Corporation
Senate National Guard Caucus
Senate Rural Health CaucusSenate Steel Caucus
Chair, Steering and Coordination Committee
Chair, Task Force of National Health Care Reform.

Committees:

Armed Services, Member
Environment & Public Works, Member
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, Member
Special Committee on Aging, Member
Subcommittee On Readiness and Management Support, Member
Subcommittee on Airland, Member
Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, Member
Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Member
Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health, Chair
Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Member

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

2008-02-13T12:58:00.000-05:00

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton

John Sidney McCain, III

Michael Dale Huckabee

These are the 4 presidential candidates for 2008 that are still left in the Democratic & Republican primaries, with Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. & Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton competing for the Democratic bid while John Sidney McCain, III & Michael Dale Huckabee competing for the Republican bid.

These 4 job applicants are interviewing for one of the most important positions in the United States, Commander-in-Cheif. We, the citizens of the United States, are the employers who need to decide which applicant to hire.

Many employers look at resumes, credit history, criminal record, background check. So for one of the most important jobs in the U.S., we shouldn't do any less.

So lets take a thorough look at each job applicant.

http://www.votesmart.org/election_president_search.php?party=Democratic&go.x=16&go.y=13

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

Barack Hussein OBama, Jr.:

Current Office: U.S. Senate

Current District: Junior Seat

Office Seeking: President (Announced, General)

First Elected: 11/02/2004

Last Elected: 11/02/2004

Next Election: 2010

Party: Democratic

Astrological Sign: Leo

Awards:

Best Spoken Word Album, Grammy Award, 2006
Chairman's Award, National Association for the Advancement Colored People, 2005
100 most influential people in the world, Time Magazine, 2005
10 people who will change the world, New Statesman, 2005
Harold Blake Walker Award, Christopher House, 2005
Rock the Nation Award, Rock the Vote, 2005
Outstanding Legislator Award, Campaign for Better Health Care and Illinois Primary Health Care Association, 1998
Best Freshman Legislator Award, Independent Voters of Illinois, 1997
Monarch Award for Outstanding Public Service, 1994
40 Under 40 Award, Crain's Chicago Business, 1993.

Current Car:

Ford Escape hybrid
Chrysler 300C.

Date of Wedding Anniversary: 1992.

Father's Name: Barack Obama, Sr. (deceased).

Favorite Book:

The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Moby Dick
Shakespeare's Tragedies
Parting the Waters
Gilead, by Robinson
Self-Reliance by Emerson
The Bible
Lincoln's Collected Writings.

Favorite Food: (to cook) Chili.

Favorite Movie:

Casablanca
Godfather I and II
Lawrence of Arabia
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Favorite Musician:

Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Bob Dylan
Stevie Wonder
Johann Sebastian Bach (cello suites)
The Fugees.

Favorite Quote: "The Arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." Martin Luther King.

Favorite Sport: Basketball.

Favorite TV Shows:

Sportscenter
C-SPAN (Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network).

Hobbies or Special Talents:

Basketball
writing
loafing with kids.

Mother's Name: Ann Dunham (deceased).

Personal Hero and Why:

Martin Luther King Jr.
Mohandas Gandhi
Pablo Picasso
John Coltrane.

Pets (include names): None.

Publications:

"Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" (1995)
"The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" (2006)
"It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina" (2006).

Gender: Male

Family:

Wife: Michelle
2 Children: Malia, Sasha.

Birth Date: 08/04/1961

Birthplace: Honolulu, HI

Home City: Chicago, IL

Religion: United Church of Christ

Education:

JD, Harvard Law School, 1991
BA, Columbia University, 1983
Attended, Occidental College.

Professional Experience:

Attorney
Lecturer.

Political Experience:

Senator, United States Senate, 2005-present
Keynote Speaker, 2004 Democratic National Convention
Senator, Illinois State Senate, 1996-2004.

Organizations:

Member, Trinity United Church of Christ, present
Center for Neighborhood and Technology
Chicago Annenberg Challenge
Cook County Bar
Cook County Bar Association Community Law Project
President, Harvard Law Review
Board Member, Joyce Foundation
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law
Leadership for Quality Education
Board Member, Woods Fund of Chicago.

Committees:

Foreign Relations, Member
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions, Member
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Member
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Member
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security , Member
Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration, Member
Veterans' Affairs, Member

Senator Barack H. Obama Jr. repeatedly refused to provide any responses to citizens on the issues through the 2008 Political Courage Test when asked to do so by national leaders of the political parties, prominent members of the media, Project Vote Smart President Richard Kimball, and Project Vote Smart Vote Smart staff.

2003-2008 Fundraising:
Raised:
$103,903,553
Spent:
$85,571,464
Cash on Hand:
$18,848,240
Debts:
$792,681
Last report:
December 31, 2007

2003-2008 Source of Funds

Individual contributions
$102,126,891
(98.3%)
PAC contributions
$8,840
(0.0%)
Candidate self-financing
$0

Other
$1,767,822
(1.7%)

2003-2008 PAC Contribution Breakdown

Business
$666,153
(54.4%)
Labor
$286,400
(23.4%)
Ideological/Single Issue
$271,494
(22.2%)

How complete are this candidate's 2003-2008 campaign finance reports?

Full Disclosure
$66,406,801
(86.2%)
Incomplete
$2,451,146
(3.2%)
No Disclosure
$8,169,719
(10.6%)

Abortion Issues

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Planned Parenthood 100 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 0 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 100 percent in 2005.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council 100 percent in 2003.
2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Federation for Right to Life 50 percent in 2002.
2001 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council 100 percent in 2001.
1997-2000 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Federation for Right to Life 0 percent in 1997-2000.
1997-1998 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council 100 percent in 1997-1998.

Agriculture Issues
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Council of Agricultural Employers 66 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Farm Bureau Federation 35 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Farmers Union 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Wheat Growers 50 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Council of Agricultural Employers 100 percent in 2005.

Animal Rights and Wildlife Issues
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Fund for Animals 60 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the The Humane Society of the United States 60 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the The Humane Society of the United States 20 percent in 2005.

Arts and Humanities

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Trust for Historic Preservation 100 percent in 2005.

Budget, Spending and Taxes

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Tax Reform 15 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the FreedomWorks 25 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Taxpayers Union 16 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Citizens for Tax Justice 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Tax Limitation Committee 8 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Tax Reform 0 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the FreedomWorks 6 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Taxpayers Union 6 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Taxpayers for Common Sense 40 percent in 2005.
2001-2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois 10 percent in 2001-2002.
1999 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois 0 percent in 1999.

Business and Consumers
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee 10 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Government Contractors 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association 92 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 55 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Forest and Paper Association 42 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Associated General Contractors of America 62 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Warehouse Logistics Association 25 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Manufacturers 16 percent in 2005-2006. The following ratings indicate the degree that each elected official supported the interests of the organization in that year.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Electrical Contractors Association 67 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Federation of Independent Business 12 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Restaurant Association 38 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Retail Federation 17 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Small Business Association 28 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors-National Association 40 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Public Citizen's Congress Watch 69 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Business-Industry Political Action Committee 15 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Sleep Products Association 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Maryland Business for Responsive Government 23 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Federation of Independent Business 17 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council 9 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 39 percent in 2005.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Prosperity Project 12 percent in 2003.
2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce 39 percent in 2002.
2001-2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois National Federation of Independent Business 29 percent in 2001-2002.
2001-2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Prosperity Project 67 percent in 2001-2002.
1999-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association 100 percent in 1999-2006.
1999-2000 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois National Federation of Independent Business 40 percent in 1999-2000.

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 93 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Civil Liberties Union 83 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Human Rights Campaign 89 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Iranian American Political Action Committee 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights 94 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Council of La Raza 100 percent in 2005.

Conservative
2007 Senator Obama supported the interests of the The Club for Growth 33 percent in 2007.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 8 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Prosperity 42.9 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Conservative Index - The John Birch Society 18 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Eagle Forum 0 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Composite Conservative Score 14 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Conservative on Economic Policy 0 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Conservative on Foreign Policy 12 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Conservative on Social Policy 21 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the The Club for Growth 7 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Traditional Values Coalition 20 percent in 2006
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Campaign for Working Families 0 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Concerned Women for America 11 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Conservative Union 8 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Eagle Forum 33 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Conservative on Economic Policy 12 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Conservative on Foreign Policy 15 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Republican Liberty Caucus 25 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Republican Liberty Caucus on personal liberties 45 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Republican Liberty Caucus on economic issues 5 percent in 2005.

Crime Issues
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants 70 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Criminal Justice Association 75 percent in 2005.

Drug Issues

2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors 100 percent in 2005-2006.

Education

2006 Senator Obama supported the interest of the National Association for College Admission Counseling 100 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Education Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association for College Admission Counseling 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Elementary School Principals 0 percent in 2005.

Energy Issues

2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Campaign for America's Future 100 percent in 2005-2006 on energy legislation.

Environmental Issues

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Land Rights Association 11 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Wind Energy Association 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the League of Conservation Voters 100 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Lands Alliance 50 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Wilderness Coalition 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Comprehensive US Sustainable Population 69 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund 82 percent in 2005-2006
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Partnership for America 0 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Land Rights Association 17 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Wilderness Coalition 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the League of Conservation Voters 95 percent in 2005.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Environmental Council 100 percent in 2003.
1998 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Environmental Council 75 percent in 1998.

Family and Children Issues

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Children's Defense Fund 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Family Research Council 0 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Family Association 0 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Children's Defense Fund 100 percent in 2005.

Foreign Aid and Policy Issues
2006 In 2006 Armenian National Committee of America gave Senator Obama a grade of B-.
2006 In 2006 Citizens for Global Solutions gave Senator Obama a grade of A+.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Latin America Working Group 67 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Peace Action 67 percent in 2006.
2006 In 2006, The Genocide Intervention Network--Darfur Scores assigned Senator Obama a grade of A+ based on voting records, bill sponsorship and other activities related to ending the genocide in Darfur.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA) 67 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Council for a Livable World 83 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Friends Committee on National Legislation 92 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation 83 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation's position, Senator Obama received a rating of -2.
2005 In 2005 Citizens for Global Solutions gave Senator Obama a rating of A-.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Latin America Working Group 50 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Peace Action 89 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the PeacePAC 100 percent in 2005.

Government Reform
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the State PIRGs Working Together 86 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group 86 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Citizens Against Government Waste 13 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interest of the National Association of Counties 81 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Citizens Against Government Waste 13 percent in 2005.

Gun Issues
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Gun Owners of America 100 percent in 2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Gun Owners of America 0 percent in 2005.
2004 Based on lifetime voting records on gun issues and the results of a questionnaire sent to all state legislative candidates in 2004, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund assigned Senator Obama a grade of F (with grades ranging from a high of A+ to a low of F).
2002 Based on lifetime voting records on gun issues and the results of a questionnaire sent to all state legislative candidates in 2002, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund assigned Senator Obama a grade of F (with grades ranging from a high of A+ to a low of F).
1998 Based on a questionnaire and the votes that National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund considered to be the most important in 1998, they have assigned Senator Obama a grade of F (with grades ranging from a high of A+ to a low of F-).

Health Issues
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Academy of General Dentistry 50 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 100 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Nurses Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Breast Cancer Coalition 60 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 On the votes that the St. Joseph Health System considered to be the most important in 2005-2006, Senator Obama voted their preferred position 75 percent of the time.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Public Health Association 80 percent in 2005.

Immigration

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Immigration Lawyers Association 88 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the English First 0 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of Americans for Better Immigration 28 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Federation for American Immigration Reform 43 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Iranian American Political Action Committee 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the U.S. Border Control 8 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Federation for American Immigration Reform 0 percent in 2005.
2003-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Better Immigration 14 percent in 2003-2006.

Labor

2007 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 75 percent in 2007.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 93 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 75 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers 40 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 94 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Transportation Communications Union 75 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the United Auto Workers 85 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the AFL-CIO 92 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Federation of Government Employees 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors 0 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Service Employees International Union 92 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Transportation Communications Union 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the United Auto Workers 93 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers 100 percent in 2005.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois AFL-CIO 89 percent in 2003.
2001 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois AFL-CIO 89 percent in 2001.
1999 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois AFL-CIO 92 percent in 1999.

Liberal

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 95 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Composite Liberal Score 86 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Economic Policy 87 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Foreign Policy 85 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Social Policy 77 percent in 2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Americans for Democratic Action 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Committee for an Effective Congress 95 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Composite Liberal Score 83 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Economic Policy 87 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Foreign Policy 76 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Journal - Liberal on Social Policy 77 percent in 2005.

Military Issues

2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) and-WILL 66 percent in 2005.

National Security Issues
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Center for Security Policy 21 percent in 2005-2006.

Science and Medical Research

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 0 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Parkinsons Action Network 100 percent in 2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 0 percent in 2005.

Senior and Social Security Issues

2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 100 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Alliance for Retired Americans 100 percent in 2005.

Social Issues
2007 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby's position, Senator Obama received a rating of 68.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby 77 percent in 2006.
2006 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to National Association of Social Workers's position, Senator Obama received a rating of 100.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Population Connection 100 percent in 2006.
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Secular Coalition for America 90 percent in 2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Population Action International 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy 75 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Mennonite Central Committee 90 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Based on a point system, with points assigned for actions in support of or in opposition to National Association of Social Workers's position, Senator Obama received a rating of 100.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Population Connection 100 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Population Institute 100 percent in 2005.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Citizen Action Illinois 96 percent in 2003.
2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Churches in Action - ILLCAAAP 0 percent in 2002.
2002 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Family Institute 50 percent in 2002.
1999-2000 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Churches in Action - ILLCAAAP 100 percent in 1999-2000.
1998-1999 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Churches in Action - ILLCAAAP 100 percent in 1998-1999.
1998 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Family Institute 80 percent in 1998.
1997-1998 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Association of Social Workers - Illinois Chapter 100 percent in 1997-1998.
1997 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Illinois Churches in Action - ILLCAAAP 0 percent in 1997.

Trade Issues
2005-2006 In 2005-2006 USA Engage gave Senator Obama a grade of C.

Transportation Issues

2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2003 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Automotive Wholesalers of Illinois 40 percent in 2003.

Veterans Issues
2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 80 percent in 2006.
2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator Obama a grade of B+.
2006 Senator Obama sponsored or co-sponsored 12 percent of the legislation favored by the The Retired Enlisted Association in 2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 92 percent in 2005.

Welfare and Poverty
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the RESULTS 100 percent in 2005-2006.

Women's Issues

2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Association of University Women 90 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Business and Professional Women USA 100 percent in 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the Federally Employed Women 100 percent in the 2005-2006.
2005-2006 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Organization for Women 91 percent in 2005-2006.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the American Association of University Women 83 percent in 2005.
2005 Senator Obama supported the interests of the National Organization for Women 100 percent in 2005.

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

We will examine the rest of the candidates records in the next post.

Let Our Votes Count

2008-02-11T07:39:00.000-05:00

Sunday mornings are usually invested in watching first CBS News: Sunday Morning (http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/sunday/main3445.shtml), then switching over to ABC News: This Week With George Stephanopoulos (http://abcnews.go.com/thisweek), then finishing off with NBC News: Meet the Press (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/). Yesterday, they talked a lot about "super delegates". Makes them sound a lot like super heroes, but they are not heroes, in my opinion, at all. They are a reminder, for me, that we do not live in a democracy. Our votes do not really count. This is being demonstrated at many different levels.

First, we are made to vote on electronic machines that have been proven to be easily hacked, and votes changed, with no proof of our vote.

Second, a delegate, and especially a super delegate, does not have to elect the candidate with the most popular votes in that particular state. According to an OBama campaign representative, super delegates should choose whatever candidate that delegate believes is best for the political party, and not necessarily whom the voters elect.

Third, in Washington, after only 87% of the votes were counted, they determined a winner, and quit counting votes. To me, that is saying that our votes do not matter.

How can we preach democracy to other countries when we do not practice democracy in our own country, without being hypocritical? I realize we are not a democracy in the United States, and our government is set up as a republic, yet, we teach children that we are a democracy here. I did not learn that we were a republic until my mom took her citizenship test when I was a child. To become a citizen of the U.S., people have to know we are a republic, and not a democracy, yet, many natural citizens of the U.S. truly believe that the U.S. is a democracy because of the propaganda spouted by our politicians, schools, media.

Why should our government be honest?

History has taught us that our most respected Presidents broke laws. George Washington was a faithful and loyal subject of Britain before the Revolutionary War. Abraham Lincoln suspended Habius Corpus during the Civil War. What will history say about our current president?

So with political parties breaking laws (not allowing all votes to be counted...and maybe even changing votes, though that is harder to prove), are they just following examples of former presidents?

Growing up, I was taught, "It is not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game." I wonder what politicians are taught growing up.

Still Undecided

2008-02-10T17:17:00.000-05:00

A week ago Friday, I joined a gym. Nothing fancy. No pool. No showers. Simply a gym with weights, treadmill, stationary bike. Yet, it was all I really needed to see some definition in my calves, and firmness in my biceps already. This simple gym, with no hype, no glitz, no glamor is helping me to accomplish what I need done for my body.

In politics, I am not looking for hype, glitz, nor glamor, but simply someone who can accomplish what I need done for my country, The United States of America.

Essentially, there are 3 candidates right now left in the Presidential 2008 Election, not including any independents, or candidates outside the Democrat or Republican parties, and I still have no clue whom I will vote for in April, let alone November.

Normally, as I stated before, I am registered "no party", yet, for this Pennsylvania Primary coming up, I registed "Democrat" so I will be allowed to vote.

First of all, the amount of melanin, the makeup of the 23rd pair of chromosomes, and the sexual preference of a candidate does not matter to me, as those qualities do not tell me what kind of definition that candidate will bring to the Oval Office. What I am looking at is past voting records, and quite frankly, none of them look outstanding.

As for experience, none of them have been President of the United States before, so none of them have experience.

As for change, change is not always better. After all, Hitler promised change, and he did change Germany.

As for moral standings, Hitler did not drink alcohol. Hitler did not smoke. Hitler was not unfaithful. Do we want to elect a Hitler?

Like a gym for our body, I think we need to look beyond hype, glitz, glamor, and choose a candidate that will help our country be the best it can.

Now, the question is, which one?

Presidential Election 2008 & the issues

2008-01-06T01:03:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I drove to the Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles to register for the Primary Election, here in Pennsylvania, that will take place in April. A nice woman handed me a form to fill out and mail. I filled it out at the DMV, and then asked a guy who worked there if it was all filled out correctly. He was very kind, and told me to take the application to the courthouse, instead of mailing the form, to make sure I get registered. So I followed his advice and drove to the courthouse. Registering took less than a minute, and I was given my voter's registration paper, and told that I have until March to change my mind on parties.

I am about as moderate as they come, but I had to choose a party to be able to vote in the primary. When I registered, I was leaning towards John Edwards, simply because of the issues...but, like the woman said, I have until March to change my mind for parties, and then until April to change my mind about who to vote for in that party.

Here are the issues I care about and how I feel about them:

Health Care - I believe all legal citizens of the United States should be able to receive the same health coverage as our law makers receive on our tax money, and to take the burden of the cost of health care from civilian employers.

Education - Simply, without giving an equal opportunity for an excellent education to every child, our country will deteriorate. This should not be Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" where only "A" citizens receive the best education, but one where even the most impoverished citizen can receive the best education.

1st Amendment - I am a firm believer in the freedom of speech.

2nd Amendment - I am a firm believer in the right of every citizen to bear arms.

Immigration - I am a firm believer that illegal immigration is ILLEGAL -- not just undocumented. And I believe it is hypocritical of our government to wage a war of paranoia against terrorism, yet allow illegal immigration.

So, let talk about each issue separately:

The New York Times at http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/index.html#/context=index/issue=health has a list of where presidential candidates stand on the issue of Health Care. I will mention my top 3 candidates on the issue. To see the rest, please click on the link provided above:

Dennis J. Kucinich: Establish Medicare for all; pay for it by removing costs related to private insurers and implementing taxes for the highest earners and a payroll tax.
Proposal to Expand Coverage
ESTABLISH MEDICARE FOR ALL
"A not-for-profit health care system is not only possible, but H.R. 676, a bill that I introduced, and a number of Congressmen, the Conyers-Kucinich bill, actually establishes Medicare for all, a single-payer system and it's a not-for-profit system. It's time we ended this thought that health care is a privilege. It is a basic right, and it's time to end this control that insurance companies have not only over health care but over our political system. I'm talking about a real deal for the American people, a universal single-payer not-for-profit Medicare for all."— Presidential Forum on Health Care March 24, 2007
Paying for Additional Costs
REMOVE COSTS RELATED TO PRIVATE INSURERS
"At least 30% of the $3.2 trillion spent annually for health care in the United States goes to the for-profit system, while 50 million Americans, many of them working, are without health insurance. About $660 billion goes for corporate profits, executive salaries, stock options, advertising, marketing, and the cost of paperwork. If we took all that money and we put it into a public health system, a national health care plan, we would have enough money to cover everything for everyone."— House floor July 12, 2006
IMPLEMENT TAXES FOR THE HIGHEST EARNERS AND A PAYROLL TAX
"(B) Increasing personal income taxes on the top 5 percent income earners.
(C) Instituting a modest and progressive excise tax on payroll and self-employment income.
(D) Instituting a small tax on stock and bond transactions."— H.R. 676
Barack Obama: Require that all children have health insurance; pay for it by rolling back President Bush's tax cuts for people earning over $250,000; aims for universal coverage.
Proposal to Expand Coverage
REQUIRE THAT ALL CHILDREN HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE; AIMS FOR UNIVERSAL COVERAGE
Require employers to provide insurance or contribute to the cost. Exempt smallest businesses. Reimburse employers for catastrophic health costs. Provide subsidies for low-income people. Create purchasing pool with choice of competing private plans and one public plan like Medicare. Expand Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
"The main disagreement with John [Edwards] and I is John believes that we have to have mandatory insurance for everyone in order to have universal health care. My belief is that most families want health care but they can't afford it. And so my emphasis is on driving down the costs, taking on the insurance companies, making sure that they are limited in the ability to extract profits and deny coverage -- that we make sure the drug companies have to do what's right by their patients instead of simply hoarding their profits. If we do those things then I believe that we can drive down the costs for families. In fact, we've got very conservative, credible estimates that say we can save families that do have health insurance about a thousand dollars a year, and we can also make sure that we provide coverage for everybody else. And we do provide mandatory health care for children."— CNN debate for Democratic candidates June 3, 2007
MORE DETAILS
Quality Affordable Health Care for All by the End of Barack Obama's First Term in Office (barackobama.com)
Paying for Additional Costs
ROLL BACK PRESIDENT BUSH'S TAX CUTS FOR PEOPLE EARNING OVER $250,000
To help pay for all this, we will ask all but the smallest businesses who don't make a meaningful contribution today to the health care coverage of their employees to do so by supporting this new plan. And we'll also allow the temporary Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire.— University of Iowa, May 29, 2007
John Edwards: Require everyone to get health insurance, subsidized by employers and the government; pay for it by rolling back President Bush's tax cuts for the highest earners.
Proposal to Expand Coverage
REQUIRE EVERYONE TO OBTAIN INSURANCE, SUBSIDIZED BY EMPLOYERS AND THE GOVERNMENT
Require employers to provide insurance or contribute to cost, with subsidies for low-income people. Create regional nonprofit pools that offer private plans and at least one public plan like Medicare. Expand Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program to serve adults below the poverty line and children and parents below 250 percent of the line.
"What we're going to do is cover every single American, including the 47 million who don't have coverage. We're going to bring down costs for everybody. And for most Americans, we're going to help them pay the cost. It's based on a concept of shared responsibility. In the case of employers, we're going to ask them to do more to either insure all their employees or to contribute to their being insured. The government will help subsidize the health care and create health care markets so we have more competition and deal with issues like preventative care, mental health care, to make sure those kind of things -- chronic care -- are, in fact, being done. And then, finally, for individuals, we're going to make sure they have insurance. They have to have insurance so that everybody has health insurance."— "Meet the Press," Feb. 4, 2007
MORE DETAILS
Health Care (johnedwards.com)
Paying for Additional Costs
ROLL BACK PRESIDENT BUSH'S TAX CUTS FOR THE HIGHEST EARNERS
The tax cuts that George Bush gave to people who make over $200,000 a year will have to go away to pay for my health care plan. My universal health care plan costs 90- to $120 billion a year. I do not believe, having spent a lot of time on this, that you can achieve universal health care without--without finding a revenue source, and that's my revenue source.— Face the Nation, Feb. 25, 2007

Now, for the issue of Immigration, we head for the Republican side of the isle with:

Mitt Romney: No path to legalization; toughen penalties hiring illegal immigrants; finish building border fence.
On the Border Fence and Border Security
Finish building border fence.
"My view, you have to secure the border, number one, have an employment verification system, number two, and number three, say to those that are there illegally, get in line with everybody else; you're not going to have a special doorway, any particular advantage, by having come here illegally, to become a permanent resident."— Republican debate, May 15, 2007
On Illegal Aliens Already in the Country
NO PATH TO LEGALIZATION; TOUGHEN PENALTIES FOR EMPLOYERS WHO HIRE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Issue biometric identification cards to noncitizens and create a verification system. Streamline system to recruit skilled workers. Cut financing to cities where officials cannot enforce immigration laws.
"The first thing I'd like them to do is to register, so I know how many there are, and what their circumstances are. And on that basis, we can see who would receive temporary employment visas and who would instead be required to return home."— San Francisco Chronicle, March 17, 2007
"There's no question as we deal with the issue of immigration, having a national special card that indicates a person's name, date, birth date, biographic information, and an indication of their work status will allow us to know who's here legally, who's not, who can work and who cannot."— Republican debate, May 3, 2007
Actions on the Issue
As governor of Massachusetts, opposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Vetoed a bill allowing the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at the states universities.
Signed an agreement with federal authorities in December 2006, allowing Massachusetts State Police troopers to arrest and seek deportation of suspected illegal immigrants they encounter over the course of their normal duties.
Fred D. Thompson: No path to legalization; increase enforcement against illegal workers; finish border fence.
On the Border Fence and Border Security
Finish border fence; increase patrol agents to at least 25,000.
"Well, I'm concerned about the next 12 million or 20 million. So that's why enforcement, and enforcement at the border, has to be primary."— "Fox News Sunday," March 11, 2007
On Illegal Aliens Already in the Country
NO PATH TO LEGALIZATION; INCREASE ENFORCEMENT AGAINST ILLEGAL WORKERS
Require employers to use the Homeland Security database to verify status. Cut financing to governments that offer benefits to illegal immigrants or do not enforce laws.
"You know, if you have the right kind of policies, and you're not encouraging people to come here and encouraging them to stay once they're here, they'll go back, many of them, of their own volition, instead of having to, you know, load up moving vans and rounding people up."— "Fox News Sunday," March 11, 2007
"We need to tell them, if you're going to have sanctuary cities in violation of the law, you're not getting federal money."— In Naples, Fla., Oct. 23, 2007
Actions on the Issue
Voted yes on the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2001, which increased the size of the border patrol and mandated tighter monitoring of temporary visas.— More Information
Voted yes on "A bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to H-1B nonimmigrant aliens," which increased the number of visas available to high-tech workers.— More Information
Ron Paul: No path to legalization; voted for fence along Mexican border.
On the Border Fence and Border Security
"The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. ... We must do whatever it takes to control entry."— Campaign Web site,
On Illegal Aliens Already in the Country
NO PATH TO LEGALIZATION
No services for illegal immigrants, including hospitals and schools. End birthright citizenship.
"We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals."— Campaign Web site,
Actions on the Issue
Voted yes on the "Secure Fence Act of 2006," which created 700 miles of new fence along the US/Mexico border.— More information
Voted yes on the "Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005," that would have made it a federal crime to live in the U.S. illegaly and didn't provide any options for current illegal immigrants to gain legal status.— More information

The Right To Choose

2007-12-26T01:43:00.000-05:00

I lay on the office room table as instructed, expecting an ultrasound and prenatal physical. Noticing a technician strapping my wrists down sent me into a panic. I could not move. With a loaded needle in hand, the technician told me to be quiet and injected me with some kind of tranquilizer. Still, I fought, screamed, and cried "No", as Dr. Bernard Rosenfeld forced his hand between my legs and murdered the twins that were within me.

How did this happen?

Lets go back a few months.

I was in an abusive marriage trying to get away.

When I told my paternal grandmother, she said, "You made your bed, now you lay in it."

When I told my mom, she said, "Don't worry honey, he will change."

When I called a shelter, they said, "We will never have a bed available to you because you do not have any children, and you are not hispanic."

When I went to a lawyer, he said, "You have to stay with someone else during a year separation before you can get divorced. If you get an apartment, your husband can enter any time he pleases because of the joint property law in Texas.

When I asked one of my best friends if I could stay with her, she said that she "was dating one of my (then) husband's friends who worked with him in the Coast Guard." So she let me know that staying with her was not an option.

When I told my then-husband that I wanted a divorce, he told me that if I left him, he would shoot me, and then turn the gun on himself. I believed him.

So I started 1988 joining my then-husband in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

February 1988, Shaun, a friend and co-worker's of my then-husband who was one of the few who knew of the spousal abuse, phoned and said, "I thought you were going to leave Richard.".

I replied, "I am. I just need to find a time to get away without his knowing.

Shaun replied, "Don't do that. Let me talk to him.

I replied, "I have no where to say yet."

Shaun replied, "You can stay with me.

I replied, "What will people think.

Shaun replied, "Who gives a f*** what people think.

I have absolutely no idea what Shaun said, but next thing I knew, Richard said I could leave under certain conditions...

I had to co-sign a new car loan for Richard
I had to take my name off the lease so he could have a roommate and get money from our apartment
I had to let Richard decide what I could take

Richard then escorted me to the South Carolina boarder where he let me know that I could come back any time.

So I euphorically felt free for the first time in years as I drove to Port Lavaca, Texas, on 28 February 1988.

The next month, I felt like I might be pregnant and went to the Port Lavaca Clinic for a test. The test showed up negative.

My breasts were growing and tender, so I went back for another test. Still, the doctor said I was not pregnant, and had me go to the hospital for an ultrasound. The technician said, "let me check your abdomen first." There we saw twin fetuses. I was pregnant after all.

I went to Dr. Kirby Smith for a prenatal exam. I had Champus insurance, since my then-husband was Coast Guard, but Dr. Smith said that I had to pay the $800 dollars first and then have Champus reimburse me. I did not have $800.

Shaun and friends were pressuring me into an abortion. I told them that I did not want an abortion. I was looking at options like adoption & keeping the twins.

I was concerned though because I knew I would need medical care.

A friend told me about Houston Women's Clinic, and to check it out. They had counceling there, and would do prenatal exams, which I called to confirm. Plus, I checked the doctor out, and he was board certified and had excellent credentials, and it would only cost $300 for the ultrasound and prenatal exam.

It was early May when Shaun drove me 2 hours to Houston Women's Clinic. At the clinic, the councelor did not even talk to me. She talked to Shaun. Then Shaun asked me for my credit card, which I gave him. Next thing I knew, I was taken into a room and told to completely strip, and put on a hospital gown, which I did. After a wait that seemed to take forever, the doctor entered, and really did not say much. As I stood there, he leaned against the cabinet looking me slowly down then up as I told him I wanted an ultrasound.

The doctor replied that he would do an ultrasound, and someone would be in to get me.

When a nurse came in and told me to follow her, I thought we were going to a room for the ultrasound. I was curious when she asked me if I needed to urinate, but I thought she was just being conciderate.

Instead of going for an ultrasound, she took me to a room where they strapped me to a bed, drugged me, raped me, and murdered my twins.

They ignored my "no's", screams, and cries.

Afterwards, they led me out to the waiting room to Shaun. Shaun said, "I did not think you would get an abortion." ...like it was my choice.

When I called back after the stuff they injected me with wore off, to complain & ask why, I was told that the doctor changed his mind about the ultrasound and he did not owe me an explaination, and then the nurse called me a baby and said I cried during the entire rape. O.K., she used the word procedure, but to me, it was a rape.

When I asked for my medical records, the nurse told me that they did not have to give them to me.

So then I proceded to write a letter to the medical board.

That letter never got finished. With the twins, a part of me died also. A part I have never been able to get back. And this doctor is still practicing.

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter Town Meeting Tomorrow

2007-08-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

Please join U.S. Senator Arlen Specter at a town meeting to identify and discuss the most pressing issues facing Pennsylvania and the United States of America, on Thursday, 16 August 2007 at 14:15 (2:15 p.m.), at California University of Pennsylvania, Old Main Chapel, 2nd floor, 250 University Avenue, California, Pennsylvania, 15419.

My husband & I will not be able to attend this meeting as he has to work, so I am guessing the majority of attendees will be senior citizens and college students, just because this meeting is during the average person's working hours here in the U.S.. So though Arlen says he looks forward to seeing everyone there, the truth is, if he wanted everyone there, he would have had the meeting on a weekend or in the evening.

What I find even more interesting is, in general, the people who will be working during this meeting, pay the most taxes. Retired senior citizens and college students, in general, have lots of tax breaks, and just do not have the income to pay a lot of taxes. So what is Arlen trying to pass that will cost a lot of tax dollars?

Now to switch subjects...

I want to talk about fleas.

My husband and I are very attentive towards our cats. We made sure our cats did not have fleas, and neither did our residence. Even the vet would check our cats, gave them a clean bill of health, as far as fleas were concerned.

Yesterday, my husband woke up with his legs eatten by fleas.

Some months ago, our downstairs neighbor moved in with 2 flea infested dogs. I saw the fleas on the dogs, but she would deny they had fleas, stating that it was just the dogs allergies. So I offered to wash the dogs using flea shampoo I had bought. I bugged my neighbor until she agreed to let the dogs get shampooed. I should have known better when I saw dog feces on her rug, and that the dogs had no dog toys, but my heart went out to the dogs, and I wanted to help.

We shampooed the dogs outside using the garden hose.

What I had not counted on, was that her apartment was seriously infested also, and through trying to help her and the dogs, I brought fleas up to my apartment.

So my husband and I gave all 3 cats a flea bath, then I stripped the chair and couch and washed the cushions, and am washing all the clothes and bedding. We sleep on an air mattress, so I do not have to worry about fleas there.

I emptied the living room, vacuumed, then my husband scrubbed Borax into the carpeting to kill any fleas that may be in the carpeting.

So far, we believe the fleas are concentrated in the bedroom, which is where I undress. I am guessing when I sat on my neighbor's couch, fleas may have jumped onto my clothes, or it could have been from her carpeting. It could have also been from the dogs themselves.

I flea comb the cats every day, and have not found any fleas on the cats, but it is better to be safe than sorry. I feel so guilty that through trying to help someone else, I hurt my own family.

And it really makes me angry that my downstair's neighbor lies at every opportunity.

O.K...she is a senior citizen. But why deny having fleas when it is obvious her place is infested? And why deny smoking when she has ashtrays in her living room? And why call me downstairs during a serious thunderstorm to plug in her television which she was able to unplug herself? And why tell her satellite television provider it was not raining during a serious storm when her reception went out? And why put handicapped licence plates on your car (which you got because your now deceased husband was terminally ill) when you are not handicapped yourself? And why call the landlord to complain her overhead light does not work when my husband and I both told her that it just needed a new light bulb, which she refuses to buy herself? And why have my husband go down to her apartment to hook up the water connection to her new refrigerator/freezer when her son-in-law works for Lowe's where she bought the frig?

I knew she lied. I overlooked it. But when it hurts my family, that is another matter.

My husband woke up yesterday with his calves flea bitten. It will not happen again.

Lesson learned.

Does anyone else find it too coincidenantal that Karl Rove resigns soon after the results of the Iowa Republican straw poll?

2007-08-13T07:59:00.000-05:00

I seriously would not be surprised is Mr. Rove left the White House today to go work on Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Mitt Romney won Saturday, 11th of August. Karl Rove resigns from the White House on Monday, 13th of August. For most of us, the Iowa straw poll does not mean anything. So why have it in the first place? To waste more taxpayer money? That is possible. Our government loves wasting our money. Giving 30 billion dollars to Israel, and spending over a billion dollars on a U.S. embassy in Iraq is evidence of our government wasting money that could better be spent on education, health care, our soldiers, flood & hurricane survivors.

But Karl Rove resigning the first week day after the Iowa Republican straw poll was more than coincidence. Of course, I am just theorizing here. For me, the timing is far too suspicious.

If you would like to read about the Iowa Republican straw polls, you can find that at Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSN1026027920070812.

If you would like to read about Karl Rove resigning, you can find that at CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/13/rove.resign/index.html.

Lets Get To Know Our Presidential Candidates for 2008

2007-07-23T09:39:00.000-05:00

First of all, I would like to thank those who emailed me in regards to my blog about Presidential Candidates 2008.

To the Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters who emailed me, I agree it would be nice to have a "first man" for once instead of a "first lady", but I would not vote for a presidential candidate based on gender for the same reason I would not vote for a presidential candidate based on ethnicity. Every person is an individual, and should be judged as such.

To the Barack Obama supporters who emailed me, I agree we need someone in office with common sense. From growing up in different parts of the country and the world, I have noticed that different people have conflicting definitions of "common sense". For example, when I was living in Texas, I found a wallet on the side of NASA Rd 1 in Seabrook while walking, so I went back to the payphone at my apartment complex since it was the closest phone around (this was in the early '90s) and phoned the police. I was asked to bring the wallet into the station, so I walked to the station, picking up more pieces of the wallet along the way. Now, there were people who thought I was stupid for picking up pieces of some guy's wallet from the side of the road, though the wallet contained family photos and personal information, and common sense told me it was the right action to take, where for others, "common sense" would have said "finders keepers, losers weepers", or to "just ignore it" like I was told by a neighbor of mine. My neighbor actually got upset with me for taking the wallet to the police.

Another example was when I was in Houston, Texas, witnessing a young woman get dragged into an elevator trying to fight the guy off. I wanted to help. The guy I was with stopped me telling me that she was just a hooker, and to look the other way. To him, that was common sense. Not to me. So I walked over to the police station and told an officer what I saw. A couple police officers went to check it out and the girl told them that she was just rehearsing for some acting job. Still, my "common sense", which is not the same as everyone's, told me to do something to help someone who may be in danger. There were a half dozen people who saw this girl get dragged into the elevator...I was the only one of the who took any action other than "looking the other way" or ignoring it. That was what "common sense" told them to do. Actually, the guy I was with told me I had no "common sense" because I went to the police, which put my own life in danger.

So I agree that Barack Obama has "common sense", but who's definition?

The problem I have with Barack is that he does not take responsibility. When I was a kid, and invited a friend over, I was responsible for anything my friend did in our home. By the same token, Barack is the one who hires his staff. He is responsible then for anything his employees send out to the media. Yet, Barack likes to deny responsibility. We already have a President and Vice-President like that. I do not want to vote someone into office like our current administration.

There is a Voter's Research Hotline at 1-888-VOTE-SMART where you can ask any question, any time, which is manned by Project Vote Smart. Here is their website: http://www.vote-smart.org/program_hotline.php

2008 Presidential Candidates in alphabetical order, along with their status & political party:

Status.............. Name..................... Party
Announced Laura Davis Aaron Democrat
Potential.... Steve Adams Independent
Announced Donald Kenneth Allen Independent
Potential.... Gene Amondson Prohibition
Announced Warren Roderick Ashe Democrat
Announced George H. Ballard Democrat
Announced Terry Lee Barkdull Unknown
Announced Daniel James Barnett Republican
Potential.... Bob Barr Libertarian
Withdrawn Evan Bayh Democrat
Announced Carl Durantye Belle Independent
Announced Joseph R. Biden Democrat
Withdrawn William Hobert Blakley Republican
Potential.... Michael R. Bloomberg Independent
Announced John Douglas Blyth Independent
Announced John Taylor Bowles Other
Announced J. Boydston Constitution
Announced Ryan Joseph Brady Democrat
Announced Dewey R. Broughman Republican
Potential.... Elaine Brown Green Party
Announced Samuel D. Brownback Republican
Announced Edward Allan Buck Republican
Announced Emperor Caesar Democrat
Announced Raymond Joseph Caplette Democrat
Announced Jerry Leon Carroll Other
Announced Anthony Lungo Carter Republican
Potential.... Patrick Cazneau Unknown
Withdrawn Gene Chapman Constitution
Announced Jeanne Chebib Unknown
Potential.... Wesley K. Clark Democrat
Announced Hillary Rodham Clinton Democrat
Announced Eamon Patrick Clune Republican
Announced Hugh Cort Republican
Announced John H. Cox Republican
Announced Randolph Wilson Crow Democrat
Announced Claire Elisabeth Fields Cruise Independent
Announced Orion Karl Daley Independent
Announced Jack L Dietz Democrat
Announced Christopher J. Dodd Democrat
Announced Susan Gail Ducey Republican
Announced John Reid Edwards Democrat
Announced Max Englerius Other
Announced Philip Epstein Democrat
Announced Clarita Fazzari Independent
Announced Lowell Jackson Fellure Republican
Announced Bennie Lee Ferguson Independent
Announced Richard Francis Flynn Democrat
Announced Michael Keith Forrester Democrat
Announced Robert L.eonard Forthan Republican
Announced Danny M. Francis Democrat
Announced Anthony Keith Gallagher Republican
Announced Ida Cecilia Garza Independent
Announced Daniel A. Gilbert Republican
Withdrawn James S. Gilmore Republican
Potential.... Newton Leroy Gingrich Republican
Announced Rudolph W. Giuliani Republican
Potential.... Albert Gore Democrat
Announced Mark Blair Graham Unknown
Announced Maurice Robert Gravel Democrat
Announced Raymond Ferrill Green Republican
Announced Jon A. Greenspon No Party Affiliation
Announced Jackson Kirk Grimes United Fascist Union
Potential.... Charles T. Hagel Republican
Announced Albert Hamburg Democrat
Announced Curtis Hayward Independent
Announced Samuel B. Hoff Independent
Announced Joe Honeychurch Republican
Announced Mildred T. Howard Republican
Announced Michael D. Huckabee Republican
Announced William Charles Hughes Democrat
Announced Duncan L. Hunter Republican
Announced Daniel J. Imperato Independent
Announced Michael Paul Jingozian Libertarian
Announced Arnold Matthew Jones Independent
Announced Keith Russell Judd Independent
Announced Timothy Charles Kalemkarian Republican
Announced John Joseph Kennedy Democrat
Withdrawn John Forbes Kerry Democrat
Announced David Allen Koch None
Announced Philip A. Kok Republican
Announced Yaphet Kotto Republican
Announced Karl Everett Krueger Democrat
Announced Steve W. Kubby Libertarian
Announced Dennis J. Kucinich Democrat
Potential.... Karen Kwiatkowski Libertarian
Announced Dal Anthony LaMagna Democrat
Announced Monroe Lee Democrat
Announced Joseph Felix Leonaitis Independent
Announced Alden Link Republican
Announced Elvena E. Lloyd-Duffie Republican
Announced Yehanna Joan Mary Malone Republican
Announced Mike Benjamin Martisko Other
Announced Joseph Martyniuk Independent
Announced John Christopher Mason Democrat
Announced John Sidney McCain Republican
Announced James Hatton McCall Independent
Announced Frank Edward McEnulty None
Announced Orleans Victor Mcfoy Democrat
Announced Sherry Ann Meadows Democrat
Announced Lee L. Mercer Democrat
Announced Kent Philip Mesplay Green Party
Announced James Creighton Mitchell Republican
Announced Omar Jones Monahan None
Announced Brian Joseph Moran Other
Announced Robert Edward Edward Moreau Republican
Announced Michael Moriarty Independent
Announced Abdul (Kareem) Muhammad Republican
Potential.... Ralph Nader Independent
Announced Sandra Queen Noble None
Announced Barack Hussein Obama Democrat
Announced Frederick Eugene Ogin Republican
Potential.... George E. Pataki Republican
Announced Ronald Ernest Paul Republican
Announced Jeffrey Charles Petkevicius Independent
Announced George D. J. Phillies Libertarian
Announced Deshon Porter Independent
Potential.... James John Prattas Democrat
Announced William Nathaniel Raven Republican
Announced Bill Richardson Democrat
Announced Willard Mitt Romney Republican
Announced Paul Russell Rosenberger Unknown
Potential.... Gary Rostad Democrat
Potential.... Mary J. Ruwart Libertarian
Announced Cameron Sadovsky Independent
Announced Marshall Samuel Sanders Republican
Announced Launeil Neil Sanders Republican
Announced Ole' Savior Democrat/Farmer/Labor
Announced Barbara Ann Scaff Democrat
Announced Joseph Charles Schriner None
Announced Jonathon Albert Sharkey Independent
Announced Scott J. Sheldon Democrat
Announced Jack Shepard Republican
Announced Freddy Irwin Sitnick Republican
Announced Christine Smith Libertarian
Announced Richard Michael Smith Republican
Announced Michael Charles Smith Republican
Announced Johns Wallace Stevenson Republican
Announced Michael Sugerman Independent
Announced Charles Joseph Leo Symonds Independent
Announced Tom Gerald Tancredo Republican
Announced Jeffrey Chapman Thomas Democrat
Announced Tommy G. Thompson Republican
Potential.... Fred Dalton Thompson Republican
Potential.... Michael Tienken Independent
Announced Linda Tompkins Independent
Announced Bruce Calvin Trask Reform
Announced Corrogan R. Vaughn Republican
Withdrawn Tom Vilsack Democrat
Announced Hugh Wallace Independent
Potential.... Mark R. Warner Democrat
Announced Lanakila Washington Humanistic
Announced Thomas Wells Unknown
Announced Ruth Bryant White Independent
Announced Kelcey Brian Wilson Other
Announced Robert B. Winn Independent
Announced Marc Wolin Republican
Announced Vernon Edgar Wuensche Republican

8 of the political parties:

Constitution http://www.constitutionparty.com/

Democrat http://www.democrats.org/

Green http://www.gp.org/

Libertarian http://www.lp.org/

Natural Law http://www.natural-law.org/

Reform http://www.reformparty.org/

Republican http://www.rnc.org/

Socialist http://www.votesocialist.org/

As you can see, there are more choices than just Republican or Democrat. The choices give me hope in case I do not like the Republican or Democratic candidate that wins their party's primary elections.

Presidential Election 2008

2007-07-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

If you would have asked me a couple years ago who my favorite Republican & Democratic presidential candidates were, I would have probably answered John McCain & Hillary Rodham Clinton. That was a couple years ago. A lot has changed since then. I have watched more debates, as well as more television interviews. Even more importantly to me, I have watched how different candidates have voted on issues. After all, actions do speak much louder than words.

I am registered "no party", and still have not decided for which primary I will register.

Candidates on the Republican side (in alphabetical order):

Sam Brownback
Newt Gingrich
Rudy Giuliani
Chuck Hagel
Mike Huckabee
Duncan Hunter
John McCain
George Pataki
Ron Paul
Mitt Romney
Tom Tancredo
Tommy Thompson
Fred Thompson

Candidates on the Democratic side (in alphabetical order):

Joe Biden
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Chris Dodd
John Edwards
Al Gore
Mike Gravel
Dennis Kucinich
Barack Obama
Bill Richardson

The reason I wrote Republican candidates before Democratic candidates was simply for 2 reasons:

the republican list was longer
the current executive branch is Republican

If the primary presidential election was today:

If I was registered Republican, I would vote for Ron Paul simply because to me, he seems like he has the most sense, does not appear to be a Bush "yes" man, does not give me the impression that he will run this country on paranoia like his predecessor.

I also liked Ron Paul in the debate against Rudy Giulliani. After that televised debate, you could not pay me to vote for Giulliani. It is bad enough that Giulliani sucked as the mayor of New York and was about to be voted out of office on 11 September 2001, and then somehow, Giulliani's political career was saved at the expense of thousands of casualties.

The way Ron Paul voted is also a huge plus to me. You can see for yourself on this website: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/02/iraq_debate_by_the_numbers.html

Now, on to the other side of the isle if the election was today:

If I was registered Democrat, I would vote for...shoot...this one is more difficult for me. Let's start with who would not receive my vote:

I would not vote for anyone who voted for the war. This can be seen on the senate website at http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=107&session=2&vote=00237

There were 77 yeas and 23 nays.

Those that voted for the war were:

Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Biden (D-DE)
Bond (R-MO)
Breaux (D-LA)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Campbell (R-CO)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carnahan (D-MO)
Carper (D-DE)
Cleland (D-GA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
Daschle (D-SD)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Domenici (R-NM)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Edwards (D-NC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Fitzgerald (R-IL)
Frist (R-TN)
Gramm (R-TX)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Helms (R-NC)
Hollings (D-SC)
Hutchinson (R-AR)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Miller (D-GA)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Nickles (R-OK)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Santorum (R-PA)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Smith (R-NH)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thompson (R-TN)
Thurmond (R-SC)
Torricelli (D-NJ)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

The only ones who voted against the war were:

Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Chafee (R-RI)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Graham (D-FL)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Reed (D-RI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wellstone (D-MN)
Wyden (D-OR)

Notice all the presidential candidates who voted for the war, and not a single presidential candidate is on the "against the war" list. Now, to be far, not all presidential candidates were Senators in 2002, and only Senators in 2002 had the option of voting for or against going to war against Iraq.

So thank goodness the primary election is not today, as I am still undecided.

4th Branch of the U.S. Government

2007-07-19T13:28:00.000-05:00

In school, I learned that there were 3 branches of the U.S. government:

Legislative
Judicial
Executive

But I have learned since graduating that school did not always feed me the most accurate information. They did not teach me about the 4th branch of government, which I learned from the Internet and television.

On TV, there is a show, Traveler, which is based on the premise of a secret 4th branch of government in the U.S.:

Our vice-president, Dick Cheney, claimed he was not part of the executive branch, which could only have meant he is a branch onto his self...hence, the 4th branch:

I Googled "fourth branch of government" and found confirmation. There are 2,240,000 websites listed on Google about our 4th branch of government.
There are even lyrics about our 4th branch of government:

http://www.lyrics007.com/print.php?id=TWpRek9EVXo
The 4th Branch
by Immortal Technique

[Talking]
The new age is upon us
And yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave
For those who hide behind the false image of the son of man
shall stand before God!!! It has begun
The beginning of the end
Yeah..
Yeah... yeah, yeah

[Verse 1]
The voice of racism preaching the gospel is devilish
A fake church called the prophet Muhammad a terrorist
Forgetting God is not a religion, but a spiritual bond
And Jesus is the most quoted prophet in the Qu'ran
They bombed innocent people, tryin' to murder Saddam
When you gave him those chemical weapons to go to war with Iran
This is the information that they hold back from Peter Jennings
Cause Condoleeza Rice is just a new age Sally Hemmings
I break it down with critical language and spiritual anguish
The Judas I hang with, the guilt of betraying Christ
You murdered and stole his religion, and painting him white
Translated in psychologically tainted philosophy
Conservative political right wing, ideology
Glued together sloppily, the blasphemy of a nation
Got my back to the wall, cause I'm facin' assassination
Guantanamo Bay, federal incarceration
How could this be, the land of the free, home of the brave?
Indigenous holocaust, and the home of the slaves
Corporate America, dancin' offbeat to the rhythm
You really think this country, never sponsored terrorism?
Human rights violations, we continue the saga
El Savador and the contras in Nicaragua
And on top of that, you still wanna take me to prison
Just cause I won't trade humanity for patriotism

[Hook]
It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view of the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Read about the history of the place that we live in
And stop letting corporate news tell lies to your children

[Verse 2]
Flow like the blood of Abraham through the Jews and the Arabs
Broken apart like a woman's heart, abused in a marriage
The brink of holy war, bottled up, like a miscarriage
Embedded correspondents don't tell the source of the tension
And they refuse to even mention, European intervention
Or the massacres in Jenin, the innocent screams
U.S. manufactured missles, and M-16's
Weapon contracts and corrupted American dreams
Media censorship, blocking out the video screens
A continent of oil kingdoms, bought for a bargain
Democracy is just a word, when the people are starvin'
The average citizen, made to be, blind to the reason
A desert full of genocide, where the bodies are freezin'
And the world doesn't believe that you fightin' for freedom
Cause you fucked the Middle East, and gave birth to a demon
It's open season with the CIA, bugging my crib
Trapped in a ghetto region like a Palestinian kid
Where nobody gives a fuck whether you die or you live
I'm tryin' to give the truth, and I know the price is my life
But when I'm gone they'll sing a song about Immortal Technique
Who beheaded the President, and the princes and sheiks
You don't give a fuck about us, I can see through your facade
Like a fallen angel standing in the presence of God
Bitch niggaz scared of the truth, when it looks at you hard

[Hook]
It's like MK-ULTRA, controlling your brain
Suggestive thinking, causing your perspective to change
They wanna rearrange the whole point of view in the ghetto
The fourth branch of the government, want us to settle
A bandana full of glittering, generality
Fighting for freedom and fighting terror, but what's reality?
Martial law is coming soon to the hood, to kill you
While you hanging your flag out your project window

[Talking]
Yeah..
The fourth branch of the government AKA the media
Seems to now have a retirement plan for ex-military officials
As if their opinion was at all unbiased
A machine shouldn't speak for men
So shut the fuck up you mindless drone!
And you know it's serious
When these same media outfits are spending millions of dollars on a PR campaign
To try to convince you they're fair and balanced
When they're some of the most ignorant, and racist people
Giving that type of mentality a safe haven
We act like we share in the spoils of war that they do
We die in wars, we don't get the contracts to make money off 'em afterwards!
We don't get weapons contracts, nigga!
We don't get cheap labor for our companies, nigga!
We are cheap labor, nigga!
Turn off the news and read, nigga!
Read... read... read...
(the video below is of the song printed above)

In school, I learned Pluto was our 9th planet. I now know that Pluto is one of 44 dwarf planets in our solar system.
In school, I learned that 1+1=2. I know know that 1+1=infinity. (You are more than welcome to look this one up as I know some of you are thinking I have no idea what I am talking about here...think about it though...how many parents did you have? 1 parent plus 1 parent equals infinity of offspring. That is just one example.)
In school, I learned that there were only 3 branches of the U.S. government. I know now that there is a 4th branch of government. Who or what that branch is exactly, and what that branch's purpose, is still a mystery to me.

Happy Birthday to Me

2007-07-18T10:40:00.000-05:00

Monday was my 43rd birthday. It was really nice of Pop Ullom to send me a $25 check and birthday card for my birthday, and it was really nice of my parents to send me a $50 check and birthday card for my birthday. It was kind of weird though...my dad wrote in the card "Have a very nice birthday best try not to get as old as us :-) Love Mom & Dad". What does "best try not to get as old as us" suppose to mean?

I have been feeling really drained & depressed, not even wanted to get on the Internet. Let me start from the beginning...

First of all, my birthday has never really been a time for celebration except for when I was 8 years old (in the picture above) & my dad was still alive. See, I grew up with the "Count curse". I was told for as long as I remember that for 6 generations, when the oldest child, who was always a son, was 7 years old, the father would die. My dad was expecting me to be a boy because of the "curse", so when I was born female, there were people in my dad's family who openly doubted I was my father's daughter.

My dad was completely prepared to die when I was 7 years old. He took out life insurance, had a will drawn up, and even had a professional family photo taken when I was 6 years old.

We did not celebrate my birthdays and it was treated like a curse also. But then I turned 8 years old and my dad was still alive. So my parents threw a birthday party for me/dad still being alive/my sister being born and coming home from the hospital party.

That was the first and last birthday of mine my family ever celebrated. I remember when I was turning 9, I heard my mom bring it up to my dad, but my dad said that I had a birthday party the year before and did not need another birthday party.

I turned 13 in Calabria, Italy. Day before my birthday, a couple of guys from the U.S. Coast Guard base riding their mopeds, got side swiped by a car and had to be flown to Germany for emergency surgery. "Cookie" was really sweet though. "Cookie" was the cook on base, and he baked me a cake, and brought it out to me for my birthday.

Then a week before my 20th birthday, I was woken up at 6 a.m. by the rapist I was then married to and one of his friends, told "happy birthday, you are going to have your first orgasm". I yelled "no", and tried to fight back, but leverage was against me, and there were 2 of them.

The wonderful guy I am married to now, & I, want to have children. Time is not on our side. And each birthday I have now makes it less likely we will have the family we want.

That is stress enough...now to add to it...

30 June 2005, I was stopped at a red light. A company van from Blume's rear ended me. He never bothered to try stopping. So I got whiplash, and spent a lot of money on medical bills. My insurance only paid up to $5,000.00, then the rest was transferred to my health insurance and me. My health insurance then filed an adium, then whatever money I was reimbursed for medical expenses, they would be paid first.

I am still seeing doctors for my neck, and still have problems from it.

There is only a 2 year statute of limitations, and National Penn Insurance (Blume's car insurance company) told me I had to pay the bills first, then they would reimburse me. So I gathered the bills I had relating to the car accident, and sent it in overnight mail. This was in June.

I called John Null of National Penn Insurance who was handling the claim on Friday, and he said that the bills were too expensive, and he was going to have to decide which ones he would reimburse me for and which ones would not be reimbursed. He said this would take a few months, but that I would not be reimbursed for all my medical expenses related to the accident. So even though I was completely following the law, and the van hit me, I would still have to pay much of the expenses relating to the accident according to Mr. Null.

And he is completely ignoring the lost wage expense and travel to and from the doctors expense.

Our system is really messed up.

Then to top this all off like I did not have enough stress...

I called Capital One Auto finance to see what my pay off amount was since we only have 2 months left on our loan. When I said, "when I pay this off, you will report to the credit reporting agencies that the car is paid off, and that we paid on time every month, right?" The woman on the other end said "no", we don't have to. So I asked to talk to the supervisor, and he said that because we filed bankruptcy a few years ago, they can continue to put in our credit report every month that we filed bankruptcy, but they do not have to put in that we made out car payments on time every month, or that we paid the car off.

The only reason we filed bankruptcy to begin with was because my husband was laid off work on Halloween 2002. I saw on the Oprah Winfrey show about credit, and contacting credit card agencies to request suspending rates for different reasons. So I called MBNA to let them know my husband (fiance at the time) was laid off work, which was a huge mistake. As soon as I did that, the credit card companies raised the interest rates to 28% claiming we were suddenly high risk. I had no idea they could do that, but apparently, they can, and they did.

I continued to pay the credit cards, but could not catch up at those rates. Then a mortgage broker told us that we should file bankruptcy because it would take us 40 years to pay off the credit cards, and we would never be able to buy a house. So reluctantly, we filed bankruptcy because of the credit cards.

The weird thing is...when my husband got the job he has now, his old job that laid him off wanted him back. They said they made a mistake in laying him off.

So that leaves us to where we are today...

Companies can report whatever they like to credit reporting agencies, and our government seems to let them get away with it.

People can rear end us and get away with it, and we get left holding much of the expense.

Things for me could be worse though...I could be a military veteran in the United States.

The Right to Vote

2007-06-17T11:21:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day!!!

I just transferred some of the genealogy blogs from this site to a blog I started some years ago called "Count On It"...I decided to make "Count On It" my genealogy blog. It is at http://CountOnIt.blogspot.com.

Now, let me go back a few weeks to the state primary election here in Pennsylvania. Our governor put on the primary ballot a proposal to raise state income tax. Personally, I feel we already pay more than enough income tax, while our lawmakers use the money to vacation...so my husband and I went to vote against this proposal. My husband was registered "independant" and I was registered "no party", so we drove to the our polling place in Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, where we were told that because we were not registered either Republican or Democrat, we were no allowed to vote.

I insisted that I had the right to vote for the income tax proposal. This centurian woman behind the table, in her "do not talk back to me tone" told me that she took a class and they said that only registered Democrats & registered Republicans were allowed to vote. So I replied that she needs to get on the phone with the election board and check because no one was taking away my right to vote on the tax proposal.

So one of the younger senior citizens made the phone call, and came back saying that we had the right to vote for the proposal. But the centurian holding the book still did not let us sign in the registration book at this time that we voted. So my husband and I went to vote, and the senior citizen who was suppose to help those who did not know how to vote, was actually telling us which box to mark...which is suppose to be completely illegal. And, the booths were completely open, and I noticed a woman looking over my shoulder as to how I was voting.

Then to top it off, after my husband & I voted, I said I still needed to sign the registration book. The centurian sternly told me that I did not vote, and I do not sign the book. So I told her to get back on the phone and check. She obviously was not happy about this. But it turned out I was right. So she let us sign, but all the signatures were done in pencil instead of pen.

We did not vote until 5:30 p.m., which makes me wonder how many other registered voters were turned away just because they were not Democrats or Republicans.

In Pennsylvania, we have several political parties according to http://www.politics1.com/pa.htm:

STATE POLITICAL PARTIES:

America First Party of Pennsylvania

Communist Party of Pennsylvania

Constitution Party of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Democratic Party

Green Party of Pennsylvania

Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania

Reform Party of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Republican Party

Social Democratic Party of Pennsylvania

Socialist Party of Pennsylvania

And http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm tells about different parties. Notice, it is not just Democrat & Republican, and denying a person the right to vote on an income tax proposal because that person is not registered Democrat or registered Republican is undemocratic.

So how in the world can we ethically tell other countries to practice democracy, when we do not practice democracy ourselves? I guess the government is like my dad, when my dad used to say, "Do as I say, not as I do."

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day

2007-05-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

Having been a military wife myself, I know first hand that it is not the easiest life to live. So I want to let military spouses know they are appreciated on Military Spouse Appreciation Day, which is May 11th.

There is a particular military spouse I would like to acknowledge: my mom.

Being married now to a non-military man, I know I come first in his life. I know that no matter what happens, he will be there for me, that he will always "have my back".

In military life, the enlisted person puts his/her job first, and "has the back" of the people with which he/she serves. The spouse is expected to "hold down the fort" while the military person is doing his/her duty.

With moving every 2 to 4 years, it is difficult for the military spouse to have a career, as their lives are centered around the military career.

Military spouses make a lot of personal sacrifies, but rarely receive any medals for their valor.

So here is a medal for military spouses:

Blackwater Falls, West Virginia

2007-05-03T08:35:00.000-05:00

I just created this slideshow of pictures my husband and I took last year of Blackwater Falls. These pictures were taken in June, on our way back home from vacation in Canaan Valley, West Virginia. We stopped at Blackwater Falls, and took the short hike to these beautiful views that you see on the pictures.

Child Abuse

2007-04-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine on care2 sent me the poem of Sarah which got me thinking about child abuse, then remembering my own experiences.

When I was in Hastings, Michigan for my great-aunt Elva's funeral, my dad complained to me about Ferrysburg, stating that he did not like that place because someone there had reported my parents for child abuse and he said they tried to take us away, but the Coast Guard intervened on my dad's behalf. I did not know before that this was the 2nd time. Appearantly, according to my dad, "they" tried to take us away when I was a toddler living in Detroit, Michigan.

Was I abused?

I am the adult child of an alcoholic and a military brat.

The Coast Guard had a saying..."If we wanted you to have a family, we would have issued you one." The Coast Guard taught how to kill, not how to be a good spouse or a good parent.

And as for the alcohol, that just created a Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde. I loved my dad when he was Dr. Jeckyl. Mr. Hyde was a terror.

Appearantly, according to my paternal grandmother, it was something that ran in our family. Her father was an alcoholic. She also told me that when my dad's father and she was married, my dad's dad hit her. She told her mom, and her mom told her "you made your bed, now you lay in it", so she waited until he was asleep and beat him with some kind of wood. She said he never hit her again after that.

My dad's father died of heart disease when my dad was 7 years old, and my dad was responsible for financially supporting his family delivering papers in the morning and working at a store after school, so I know my dad's life as a child was not easy either.

When I was about 14, we had just come back to the states from Italy, and I was doing dishes with my paternal grandmother. I remember telling her that I never wanted to have kids because I did not want to be like my dad. She replied that just because my dad was an alcoholic would not mean I would be one. That was when she told me about her dad, and stated that she was not an alcoholic, which was true. Yet the cycle continued. Not with me. Some how, I did not get the "alcohol gene", but my grandmother was not an alcoholic either, yet it skipped a generation to my dad. That concerns me, since I really want to have children, fearing I will have a child who will inherit my father's alcoholism.

I am very fortunate that I had other adults in my life who cared about me, and I am very grateful for these people.

I will always remember the babysitter in Ferrysburg, Michigan, who gave me the little doll.
I will always remember the other babysitter in Ferrysburg, Michigan, who gave me the lifesize doll with the huge box of baby clothes, even though my mom did take the box of clothes away from me when my sister was born and dress my sister in the doll clothes.
I will always remember Mr. Bob Coobaugh (sp?) in Ferrysburg, Michigan, who used to weld my bike back together for me.
I will always remember Mrs. Ida May Thomas in Ferrysburg, Michigan, who taught Bible school from her trailer, and taught me how to crochet, played Scrabble with me, and paid attention to me.
I will always remember Paula's mom in Ferrysburg, Michigan, who used to give me taffy.
I will always remember Mr. Charles Shultz in Cape May, New Jersey, who gave me $50 for sweeping his storage so I could go to Walt Disney World with the rest of my Baptist Youth Fellowship group. He also made sure I ate every night, even though I was self concious of eating food that did not belong to me. I only had the $50 dollars I earned from Mr. Shultz to pay for admission into the park, which left only a few dollars for food or anything else I needed during the 3 days in Kissimee, Florida (this was when I was 12 years old), so I was very concious of my budget & everything else.

I realize the list can go on for quite a while. I want to thank all the people who cared about me along the path of growing up. Thank you.

Who runs our country?

2007-04-10T07:01:00.000-05:00

It would be great to believe that we the people decide who runs our country, but then I see news reports where there are some people who believe that having raised more money than someone else for primary election use means more people in your political party want you to be president.

Then we hear from a Republican candidate who admits registering as a Democrat just to vote for someone he believes cannot win.

To donate money to a candidate, a person does not even have to register to vote, let alone register for a party. So don't you think there are corporations, people from different countries, people from different political party lines donating money to affect the outcome of a primary presidential race? Think about it.

When did becoming president have to do with having the most money? Actually, it has been this way since the beginning of the U.S.

Many of us learned in school that the reason George Washington became General, and from that our first President of the U.S., because he had the money to outfit the troops.

Now Corporations run our country and our lives.

Think about it...

To rent an apartment, buy a house, get a job...these are all affected by our credit scores. Our credit scores are determined by companies and corporations. And to even see what our own credit score is, we have to pay the 3 companies that control our lives with personal information other companies and corporations tell them about us. It does not have to be accurate. If it is inaccurate, a person has to jump through hoops to try to correct it, and the companies & corporations are believed before the individual.

And most of the individuals who work in these companies who control our lives are not even here in the U.S. When calling, I usually find myself talking to someone in a call center in another country like India.

So I am not afraid of countries like Iran or Iraq having a nuclear bomb. The real danger is where these countries have our personal information and identities. After all, we know that here in the U.S., our identities are our social securities numbers, not our names.

In Houston, Texas, I was dating a guy who's ex-employer used my ex-boyfriend's social security number to set up cable in the ex-employer's home. When my ex-boyfriend found out, he was obviously upset and told the cable company that he never lived there, and he had proof. The cable company told my ex-boyfriend that it was his responsibility to repay the ex-employer's bill since he let his ex-employer have his social security number (yes, they really said that because I was there and heard her...even though to get a job here in the U.S., it is required that a person give the employer their social security number), and it was up to my ex-boyfriend to then sue his ex-employer for the money.

Even the war in Iraq is hindered by corporations. Our military cannot accomplish their mission because much of our tax money is going to pay mercenaries who get in the way, and are not accountable to the U.S. military rules of engagement. Think about it...would you rather join a military that has rules, regulations, and little pay, or a corporation where you have no rules, no regulations, and at least 10 times more money? So who is really in charge in Iraq?

Even our health care is dictated by companies and corporations. It is our employers who decide our health insurance, and what to cover. Yet, our politicians have government health insurance. It is our tax money that pays for their health insurance. So how is it they would not accept a government plan for all Americans because they said it was socialism? Why is it our represenatives in government can be socialists with health care? Where is the logic?

Why is it our tax money can support corporations like Haliburton to buy politicians like Cheney, but it cannot support hard working American individuals to get health care?

And then, while we wait on the insurance companies to pay our doctor and hospital bills, the doctors and hospitals turn our accounts into credit reporting agencies as delinquent, and our credit scores plummet, which makes it much more difficult to rent an apartment, to buy a house, to buy a vehicle, to land a job.

So who really runs our country?

Most people do not know who donates money to primary presidential elections. Do you really believe that all the money being donated though is from an individual who wants that candidate to win the main presidential race? And will that candidate be like Cheney and let corporations run our land?...at a cost of course. Our cost.

When did the U.S. become about the Corporations instead of about the People?

2007-04-05T06:30:00.000-05:00

I heard on both the 6 p.m. and the 11 p.m. news and different network stations yesterday that gas prices are predicted to rise to $4.00 a gallon this summer. This is outrageous.

On the 11th of December, 2006, we paid $2.359 per gallon of gas.

On the 25th of January, 2007, we paid $2.439 per gallon of gas.

On the 13th of March, 2007, we paid $2.549 per gallon of gas.

On the 22nd of March, 2007, we paid $2.589 per gallon of gas.

On the 28th of March, 2007, we paid $2.649 per gallon of gas.

We do not drive a big SUV. Instead, we drive a small Hundai Elantra that has almost 100,000 miles on it. These miles were mostly aquired going to and from work. Where we live, there is no public transportation, since Perryopolis is classified as a rural area. When we moved here, we looked for apartments closer to where my husband works, but they were mostly for senior citizens, or they did not accept our 3 precious cats. Since we are not senior citizens yet, we found an apartment about 15 miles away.

That means we have to drive to work.

Now, it is ironic to me that driving to and from work is not tax deductible according to our H&R TaxCut software, but executives can deduct the cost of playing golf. Does this sound right to you?

And yet the price of gas continues to rise. Why?

According to USA Today at http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2006-01-30-exxonmobil_x.htm

ExxonMobil amasses record $36B 2005 profit

And according to Business Week at http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/feb2007/pi20070201_663405.htm

Exxon Mobil (XOM)
Reiterates 5 STARS (strong buy)
Analyst: Tina Vital
The company posts fourth quarter operating EPS of $1.69, vs. $1.65
one year earlier, reflecting lower natural gas price realizations
and narrowed refining margins, and beating our estimate by 17 cents. Results exclude a tax benefit of 7 cents. Oil and gas production declined 0.9% but was above our expectations; we forecast 3% growth for 2007. We are increasing our 2007 operating EPS estimate by 55 cents to $7.12 and our forecast for 2008 by 78 cents to $7.59. Blending our discounted cash-flow and relative valuations, we are raising our 12-month target price by $5 to $89, an expected enterprise
value of 7.4 times our 2007 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization) estimate -- a premium to peers.

So while we are held hostage by the price of gas, oil companies here in the U.S. are making record profits. We are suppose to have laws against this kind of extortion, yet, why would our politicians care since our president is an oil man himself. Of course he is going to side with the oil companies.

It really bothers me when I hear foreigners say that the U.S. is a good place to make money, but not a good place to live, so they make money here, and then go back to their home to live. Well, this is my home. I care. I live here.

When I was in Greece in the summer/fall of 1997, I saw on the news 4 of our Republican senators proclaim that President Clinton who was trying to negotiate peace between Greece and Turkey had no power to negotiate any kind of deal, and that the House of Representatives in the U.S. held all the power. I heard Senator Frist declare this, and I thought "how treasonous". The senators were there to help negotiate the sale of weapons, so it was in there interest that Greece and Turkey remain at war.

Now, it is ok for a Senator to proclaim on Greek television that the president of the U.S. has no power, but a person is un-American for questioning 9/11 or the war in Iraq. Where is the logic?

If the price of gas is raising because of the shortage of oil, then why are oil companies making record breaking profits?

We are an intelligent nation. Let's remember to ask questions. Why are prices sky rocketing, when oil companies are making record breaking profits? Why are we paying Halliburton trillions of dollars? Why do we have mercinaries in Iraq and Afghanistan undermining our military? Who is really profitting from this war in Iraq? It is not the American people. It is not the Iraqis. So are we there so a few executives can become billionaires? Is it worth the thousands of lives that have been taken from us? Or are we just cattle to be called to slaughter whenever our corporations demand it?

World Religions in Education

2007-04-03T13:21:00.000-05:00

First of all, I would like to say:

Happy Passover!!!

Happy Holy Tuesday!!!

Happy Declaration of the Second Republic "Power Taken by the Military" in Guinea!!!

Last night, my husband switched over to CNN at about 7 p.m. to catch the news. A piece about a new law in England caught my interest. It seems, according to CNN, that England has decided to quite teaching about the Holocaust for fear of offending people. A year ago, I would not have understood this, but after my experience with a forum about the holocaust at http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=671&pst=776268
I understand.

There are laws in Europe that make it illegal to deny The Holocaust, and God forbid we question anything. In the group, I announced I would play devil's advocate because of the law that made it illegal to deny the Holocaust.

Next thing I knew, I was sent hate messages and told by care2 that the group needed a warning or to be made private or to delete the thread. I chose to post the warning in the heading of the group. I was also told by someone that it was insulting for me to even bring up the topic of holocausts.

So with this reaction, is it any wonder England would pass a law forbidding the subject of the Holocaust?

It reminds me of the incident at Pittsburgh airport where a rabbi threatened to sue the airport because the airport had a Christmas tree and not a Star of David. So the airport took down the Christmas tree since it felt unable to represent every religion in the world.

Looking for stories on the subject, I found this I would like to share. It is by W. Owen Cole:

World Religions in Education

Shap Journal 2000 – 2001

Time

It ain't necessarily so

W Owen Cole

Historians and traditionalists, which is what Religious Education teachers often are, frequently behave in different ways when faced with identical facts. The religious studies person is primarily concerned with the meaning of an event, not with whether it actually happened. Within the Christian tradition we may be used to this and have come to accept it, but have we? Recently, I was asked to moderate some MA essays about the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Not one of the writers made the point that the evidence is almost totally unreliable; most of it comes from Christian sources, the New Testament, the rest is probably based on hearsay. No contemporary British court of law would give it a hearing. The students, and most of the tutors were Christians, so they were credulous to an extent that an historian is not allowed to be. Of course, the religious studies approach is to consider what the death and resurrection of Jesus mean. There are circumstances in which the RE teacher may have to be concerned with what actually happened. I select four examples from English history.

St Alban

Not, one would think a controversial character, but the actual date of his martyrdom, if discovered, might set back the Christian presence in Britain by one hundred years, from about 304 to just before 212. Usually his death is placed in the period of Diocletian's final great persecution, but the Caesar Constantine seems to have avoided the order being carried out. If, as records suggest, Alban was tried before a Caesar it mightwell have been a son of the Emperor Severus whoaccompanied him to Britain and became emperor whenhe died here. Is Alban part of the story of the Romanswhich we teach? Incidentally, when you teach the Romans what place do we give to Jesus, the member of the Roman Empire whohad the greatest influence upon world history, taking along view, of any member of the Empire? Or Paul, the best known Roman citizen? More is known about him than almost any of the emperors. Is it proper to be silent about them?

The Crusades

Most famously this is the story of Richard the Lionheart. You may not teach that allegedly he was gay but knowing this, does it affect your thinking about him or them? Is the all too common picture of gays as effeminate challenged? But also, the English hero had little time for these islands, visiting only twice, and briefly, to be crowned and raise money for the Third Crusade. (He did not love England as much as theEnglish have traditionally loved him). Crusaders raised much of the money they needed for the expedition from the Jews who were bankers, being allowed to do few other things, such as own landed estates. For aficionados of Robin Hood, if it all happened in the days of Richard, friars had not yet been invented! (pace, Harry Ramsden). In 1190 a crusader from York borrowed money fromthe Jews to finance his venture. He stirred up the citizens of York against the Jews who sheltered in Clifford's Tower where they were burned to death. He, meanwhile, went to the Minster where the bonds of the transaction were stored, and destroyed the evidence by burning it in the nave of the Minster. A hundred years later, 'the King's Jews', as they were known, having no wealth left, and so being of no value, were expelled from England. Among the last was a group put on a boat fora continental destination. Their boat grounded on the mud flats near the mouth of the Thames. The captain advised his cargo to stretch their legs. When the tide turned and the Jews tried to re-embark, they were repelled and left to drown, as he reminded them how God had helped them at the Red Sea! Officially, there were no Jews in England until Oliver Cromwell readmitted them in 1655. How did Shakespeare and his audience know that Shylock was a typical Jew? The story of Jewish massacres and the Jews' eventual expulsion, an episode of English history which I did not know about until 1990, reminds us that holocaust was not an isolated episode in Jewish history. The first British legislation aimed at controlling immigration was passedin 1905 when the British were anxious not to be overwhelmed by Jews seeking shelter from persecution in eastern Europe. Some of those who sought sanctuary in the thirties were turned away, often to face death. In the second world war period, Jewish and other refugees were sometimes put into concentration camps in fear that they might be spies. The story of British Jewry should serve as a reminder that the tolerant image which our governments seek to create and perpetuate is not necessarily true.

Slavery

For many years I taught about Clarkson and
Wilberforce and England's part in suppressing the slave trade. Only comparatively recently have I discovered how active they had been in promoting the industry. Even more recent is my awareness that black African rulers shared with Europeans in the process of enslavement, a fact which some blacks have yet to come to terms with. Liverpool, Bristol, and the Industrial Revolution were built, not a little, on the foundations of slavery. As an interesting aside it might be noted thatnowhere in the New Testament is slavery condemned! Perhaps it does advocate humane slavery, as I heard someone argue recently. What is humane slavery? Incidentally, much as I enjoy the music of Nat King Cole, he reminds me continually, that at least one member of my clan owned slaves and made them take his name!

The legacy of Empire

The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre so vividly depicted inthe film Gandhi and the assault on participants in the Salt March alerted many people for the first time to a side of imperialism with which they were not familiar. Recent television programmes about the contribution of Commonwealth citizens to the British opposition to Germany in two world wars have brought about a realisation that two and a half million volunteers from what was India, and others from the Caribbean, came to the aid of what they were taught was the mother country. They were with the British Expeditionary Force,they faced the hazard of Dunkirk, they were at El Alamein and, most famously, in Burma. Yet how often are they seen even in news footage of these events? Churchill, apparently, did not like them. Montgomery preferred not to notice them, unlike his predecessor Auchinleck who spoke several Indian languages. Some years ago a plaque to the contribution of the Indians was unveiled by our present queen in St Paul's Cathedral, but in 1995 few Indians were to be seen in the national commemorative parades and the serviceswere purely Christian. Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs, who had volunteered to fight for the Empire and had won 28 VCs, were not allowed publicly to pray for Britain or the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, as we might say, it might be remembered that non-conformists were often not well represented in Middlemarch and other nineteenth century novels, and that they were only invited to take part in the King's Coronation as recently as 1902. Roman Catholics, as opposed to pre-Reformation Catholics have yet to be offered a place. Times have changed. They will be next time, but is the UK yet multifaith enough to include other religions, not merely as guests but as full participants? A multifaith, multiracial Britain - it ain't necessarily so, yet. A healthy nation is one which can face up to its pastand then, like Pilgrim, let the weight fall off hisshoulders. First, however, it must be acknowledged that the toleration and decency on which we pride ourselvesis very recent. History cannot be eliminated but perhaps it can be redeemed. The RE teacher can do no more and no less than look for truth and on the way, perhaps win the respect of Hindus, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs or not,who may sometimes regard confession as a sign of weakness. Meanwhile, it is up to them to reconsider their religious traditions in the light of a timely more accurate and realistic rewriting of history.

Ethics Here in the U.S. Have Gone Nuts

2007-04-02T06:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, while my husband and I were at Target, where I bought our cats a couple really adorable decorative collars, my husband told me that Circuit City was laying off thousands of workers just because they get too much money. They are getting layed off, then they can reapply for their job after 10 weeks at a discounted hourly rate. So I looked the story up and here it is on Yahoo news:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070328/ap_on_bi_ge/circuit_city_layoffs

Circuit City to cut more than 3,500 jobs

Now, here is the part of the story that really gets to me:

The news of the layoffs came as a surprise to Rachelle Gouled, who earned
about $7.75 an hour working on the sales floor at a Circuit City in Roseville,
Minn.

$7.75 and hour, and Congress has been talking about raising the minimum wage, and there was concern for small businesses...Circuit City is not a small business. Obviously, it is the large Corporation that does not want the minimum wage to become a living wage, as evidence here.
$7.75 times 40 hours a week is only $310.00 a week. And that is gross. Take out federal, state, local, occupation privilege taxes and the employee takes home less than $300.00 a week. Now, there are 52 weeks in a year. $310.00 times 52 weeks is only $16,120.00 gross yearly pay if they work a full 40 hours every week in the year without a vacation.

And this is too much money for a corporation to pay a hard-working deserving employee?

Yet, CEOs who work only 10 months and are fired for incompetence receive a parting gift of $25 million dollars. Now where is the logic?

Fortune magazine says this:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/07/10/8380799/

Voters are outraged. Big investors are
demanding change. Even some CEOs admit there's a crisis. But rewards that defy all economic logic don't simply spring from greed. Corporate America's executive-compensation system is broken.
A look at CEO earnings (for 1 year)

Lee Raymond
$405 Million
That's the 2005 comp, lump-sum pension, and current value of various stock grants with which Exxon's chief rides into retirement.

Bob Nardelli
$250 Million
The total value of the package Home Depot has paid him so far. He's collected about 30%. The rest varies with the stock price.

William McGuire
$1 Billion
UnitedHealth's CEO holds a ton of options. Alleged accounting flaws have hit the stock. But his potential reward (above) remains rich.

Hank McKinnell
$99 Million
Pfizer's CEO took heat for a hefty pension built up over many years (present value: $83 million). He earned $16 million in 2005.

Franklin Raines
$90 Million
Fannie Mae's boss made that from 1998 to 2003. But auditors now say the earnings his comp was based on were overstated by $11 billion.

Phil Purcell
$66 Million

So how is it an executive can make millions when they obvioulsy do not perform their jobs well, yet people who do perform their jobs well who make less than 20 thousand dollars a year get fired for making too much money?

Yet, look at our vice-president. He is associated with Halliburtion, which is making billions of dollars from our tax money to help line the Vice-President's pockets with millions of dollars...so much that last year, our vice-president received a 1.2 million dollar tax refund.

So obviously, while our politicians are lining their personal pockets with the tragedy that has befallen the U.S., can we really expect change before we vote the greedy, self-serving S.O.B.s out of office?

The insanity needs to stop!

Expendability

2007-03-19T16:23:00.000-05:00

Email I received today from one of my Senators

2007-03-01T16:50:00.000-05:00

Dear Ms. Count-Wayt:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the treatment of prisoners detained by the United States in connection with the global war on terrorism. I appreciate hearing from you.

The United States has no higher priority than the war against terrorism. In the course of this struggle, we must make every effort to detain those who engage in acts of terrorism and to obtain information from detainees that will enable us to prevent future attacks. At the same time, it is imperative we wage the war in a way that upholds the values the United States has always advanced, making clear by our actions and our example that we stand for freedom and fairness.

In the June 2006 Supreme Court decision, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , the Court held that military commissions used in prosecuting enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay must be authorized by Congress and must obey the legal obligations of the Geneva Conventions' Common Article III and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The decision explicitly urged Congress to legislate a solution by properly establishing military commissions to try alien unlawful enemy combatants.

Following the Hamdan decision, members of the Senate Armed Services Committee worked with President Bush to craft legislation to establish military tribunals. I generally supported the legislation drafted by these Senators and the administration; however, I had serious reservations about a provision in the bill which eliminated detainees' right to habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is the right of those in custody to challenge their detainment in court. During my tenure as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 109th Congress, I held a hearing on September 25, 2006, to specifically address habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees. During the Senate's consideration of the legislation, I offered an amendment which would have guaranteed habeas corpus for detainees. Unfortunately, the amendment failed on a narrow 48-51 vote.

On September 28, 2006 the Senate passed the Military Commissions Act by a vote of 65-34. Although my amendment was rejected, I voted in favor of the bill because I believe, without this legislation, the ability of our government to effectively fight the global war on terrorism would be hindered. I believe this legislation is severable, meaning the legislation was composed in a fashion where a court could rule on the constitutionality of individual provisions without rendering the entire legislation unconstitutional. Therefore, I am confident the courts will address the legislation's constitutionality by ruling on the provision limiting habeas corpus.

Although I believe courts will ultimately strike down the habeas corpus provisions of the Military Commissions Act as unconstitutional, as a cautionary measure, I have introduced S.185, the Habeas Corpus Restoration Act. This legislation would ensure detainees have the ability to challenge their detention in federal courts. While the 109th Congress did not yield sufficient time to consider this legislation, I look to move forward on this legislation in the early days of the 110th Congress.

I supported the Military Commissions Act because, aside from the problematic habeas corpus language, the bill enacts good policy. It amplifies Congress's previous legislation prohibiting torture. Additionally, the bill provides that military commissions must be established in accordance with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions. Finally, it establishes specific guidelines for the use of hearsay evidence and coerced testimony and the handling of classified information.

As a member of the United States Senate, I have a consistent record of voting to ensure we adhere to the same values we fight to protect. On October 5, 2005, I voted in favor of an amendment introduced by Senator John McCain to the Fiscal Year 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act prohibiting "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment" of detainees. This amendment passed on a 90-9 vote in the Senate and was signed into law by President Bush on December 30, 2005. During consideration of the Fiscal Year 2005 Defense Authorization Act, I supported an amendment offered by Senator Leahy that stated it is policy of the United States to treat prisoners in its control humanely. Furthermore, I cosponsored an amendment offered by Senator Durbin reaffirming prisoners of war and enemy combatants must not be tortured or treated inhumanely. In light of the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq , I cosponsored the Senate resolution that condemned the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and called for a full and complete investigation to ensure justice is served.

On June 25, 2003, I wrote to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice expressing my concern over the mistreatment of enemy combatants in the custody of the United States . Our reputation has been significantly marred by the abuse of some detainees. The images and stories appearing in both the American, and perhaps more significantly, the Arab and international media have the potential to damage America 's standing as the unquestioned champion of human rights and the rule of law.

I believe the United States should make it clear that all interrogations of enemy combatants are conducted in a manner consistent with our obligations under the "Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment." This treaty, ratified by the United States , provides the most widely accepted definition of torture and other forms of unlawful mistreatment.

Thank you again for contacting me. The concerns of my constituents are of great importance to me, and I rely on you and other Pennsylvanians to inform me of your views. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://specter.senate.gov .

Sincerely,

Arlen Specter

TEN THINGS TO PONDER IN 2007

2007-02-05T17:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks Cal for this list:

Number 10

Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9

Good health is merely the
slowest possible rate at
which one can die.

Number 8

Men have two emotions:
Hungry & Horny. If you see him
without an erection, make him
a sandwich.

Number 7

Give a person a fish & you feed
them for a day; teach a person
to use the Internet & they
won't bother you
for weeks.

Number 6

Some people are like a Slinky..........
not really good for anything, but
you still can't help but smile
when you shove them
down the stairs.

Number 5

Health nuts are going to feel
stupid someday, lying in
hospitals dying of
nothing.

Number 4

All of us could take a lesson from
the weather. It pays no attention
to criticism.

Number 3

Why does a slight tax increase cost
you two hundred dollars and a
substantial tax cut saves
you thirty cents?

Number 2

In the 60s, people took acid to make
the world weird. Now The world is
weird and people take Prozac
to make it normal.

AND THE NUMBER 1
THOUGHT FOR 2007:

We know exactly where one cow with
Mad-cow-disease is located among
the millions of cows in America, but
we haven't got a clue as to where
thousands of illegal immigrants
&terrorists are located.

Maybe we should put the
Department of Agriculture
in charge of immigration.

Please Help Fix Our Health Care System

2007-01-30T15:44:00.000-05:00

I listened to the president's speech, and we have health care insurance, still the health care system is broken.

I have been really depressed because of what is going on with health care and the the problems from the car accident, and the cost, and the games UPMC Physician Services is playing. So I decided I am tired of being depressed.

Depression is anger turned inwards. So I decided to do something with the anger...so I called my reps and told them to please fix our health care system.

I am asking you to please call them also...to please fix our health care system. We should have the same options for health care that our reps in Washington are getting.

Here are the websites:

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=PA

Casey, Robert P., Jr.

- (D - PA) Class I

UNITED STATES SENATE WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202)224-6324

Web Form: casey.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Specter, Arlen

- (R - PA) Class III

711 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4254

Web Form: specter.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInfo.Home

http://www.house.gov/murtha/contact.shtml

Congressman Murtha

800-289-2642 from Western PA
(or)
814-535-2642
(or)
202-225-2065

Thanks!!!

Thank you God with humble heart for giving me the day

2007-01-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

Thank you Beth for emailing me this:

How would you feel if your were kidnapped from your home and forced to live in a cage?

2007-01-15T22:02:00.000-05:00

Friday evening, my husband and I went to Rosspark shopping center. I loved window shopping in Ikea. Then my husband bought some stuff at Hobbytown USA. Afterwards, we saw a pet store that my husband wanted to see if they had Wellness brand cat food. Instead of Wellness brand catfood, they had caged animals...animals my heart really went out to. I saw dogs shivering, and I felt so helpless to save these poor souls from conditions I would not want to tolerate. I saw beautiful birds where one was plucking it's feathers out. I saw exotic saltwater fish & coral and wondered how many came from the oceans. I even said this out loud to my husband, not realizing an employee was listening, and he then just said *hi* to let me know he heard.

When we left the pet store, I felt so heart broken for the animals in there.

Warning...this is a link to a website that has a heartbreaking slideshow of wild animals that people have bought as pets

Pets are for life

2007-01-04T16:55:00.000-05:00

It really ticks me off when someone dumps a pet to die. Night before last, my husband and I were driving back from Lowes and Giant Eagle heading south on 51. My husband had changed lanes to turn into the main section of Perryopolis when he noticed that in the middle of the street a kitten raised his head. So we went back around and my husband checked to see if the kitten was still alive. The kitten was breathing, but was quickly dying. The kitten looked to be about a half a year old. It was clean, and did not act ferrel, but it had no collar and no tags. So much husband took the kitten out of the middle of the road once he was able to get to the kitten because of traffic. He layed the kitten down on the grass at the side of the road. It was really heartbreaking.

My husband and I do not own cell phones, and we did not know of an animal hospital anywhere around. We could not take the kitten back to our apt because we did not know if the kitten had any diseases that could spread to our cats. So we went home where I immediately got the phone book and called the only 24 hour animal hospital in there. They were at least a half hour drive away, and she told me that the cat would be dead before we got to the hospital. She suggested we call an animal shelter. So I called, but none was open. Then, for lack of thinking of anything else to do, and feel desprit, I called 911. I told the operator, and she said she would call the emergency number to Noah's Ark...a shelter in Uniontown. She said she would have someone from Noah's Ark call me back.

Someone did call back. My husband told him where the kitten was.

I have heard nothing else since about the kitten.

For everyone who has experienced child abuse...hopefully together we can end the pain

2007-01-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

According to Time magazine, Sharon Batts was an unlikely candidate for pop stardom. But at age nine the brown-eyed third-grader from the Fort Worth suburb of Bedford successfully bypassed the music-industry moguls with a hit single about a subject few would have picked for Top 40 playlists 2 decades ago. "Dear Mr. Jesus,/ I just had to write to you," Sharon's tinny voice sings plaintively. "Something really scared me/ when I saw it on the news./ A story about a little girl/ beaten black and blue." After imploring Jesus to come to the rescue of abused children, the song concludes, "Dear Mr. Jesus,/ please tell me what to do./ And please don't tell my daddy/ but my mommy hits me, too."

Recorded in September 1985 by the Bedford-based Gospel Workshop for Children, a nonprofit evangelical Christian "music ministry" organized by Sharon's mother Jan, Dear Mr. Jesus first aired in 1986 on a Port Arthur, Texas, radio station. Word of mouth and a 4 1/2-minute music video starring Sharon and her doll Bessie slowly spread the song on stations in Florida and Texas, where it attracted a response from hundreds of overwrought callers eager to discuss their own experiences with child abuse.

Being an adult child of an alcoholic, I hope we can continue the healing.

Dear Mr. Jesus,
I just had to write to you
Something really scared me
When I saw it on the new
A story about a little girl
Beaten black and blue
Jesus, thought I'd take this
Right to you

Dear Mr. Jesus,
I don't understand
Why they took her mom and dad away
I know that they mean to hit
The father's manly hands
Tell them just how big they are

I pray
Jesus, don't let them hurt your children
Bring me love and shelter from the storm
Please don't let them hurt your children
Won't you keep us safe and warm

Dear Mr. Jesus,
They say that she may die
I will hope the doctors stop the pain
I know that you could save her
And take her up to the sky
So she will never have to hurt again

Please don't let them hurt your children
Bring me love and shelter from the storm
Please don't let them hurt your children
Won't you keep us safe and warm

Dear Mr. Jesus,
Please tell me what to do
And please don't tell my daddy
That my mommy hits me too

Please don't let them hurt your children
Bring me love and shelter from the storm
Please don't let them hurt your children
Won't you keep us safe and warm

Please don't let them hurt your children
Bring me love and shelter from the storm
Please don't let them hurt your children
Won't you keep us safe and warm"

Video of Saddam Hussein being executed...very disturbing & graphic...no child should see this

2007-01-02T08:20:00.000-05:00

Originally posted as a link on the Something Awful forums, I saved and uploaded it to google video before it died...

That is what was written on the video when I watched it.

I first heard the news on television. I had no idea though it was this horrible. Then I saw a video on BBC which was really disturbing. Then this video with the chants from the executioners. This does not seem like justice to me...but more like a lynching. Really disturbing.

War on Terror

2006-11-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Amazing how so many Americans believe that the terrorism attack of the U.S. began on 11 September 2001 by Al Queda, when in reality, the U.S. has been under attack by members of our own government long before 9-11. Who will protect us from our government?

Check it out for yourself:

1931 Dr. Cornelius Rhoads, under the auspices of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Investigations, infects human subjects with cancer cells. He later goes on to establish the U.S. Army Biological Warfare facilities in Maryland, Utah, and Panama, and is named to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. While there, he begins a series of radiation exposure experiments on American soldiers and civilian hospital patients.

1932 The Tuskegee Syphilis Study begins. 200 black men diagnosed with syphilis are never told of their illness, are denied treatment, and instead are used as human guinea pigs in order to follow the progression and symptoms of the disease. They all subsequently die from syphilis, their families never told that they could have been treated.

1935 The Pellagra Incident. After millions of individuals die from Pellagra over a span of two decades, the U.S. Public Health Service finally acts to stem the disease. The director of the agency admits it had known for at least 20 years that Pellagra is caused by a niacin deficiency but failed to act since most of the deaths occurred within poverty-stricken black populations.

1940 Four hundred prisoners in Chicago are infected with Malaria in order to study the effects of new and experimental drugs to combat the disease. Nazi doctors later on trial at Nuremberg cite this American study to defend their own actions during the Holocaust.

1942 Chemical Warfare Services begins mustard gas experiments on approximately 4,000 servicemen. The experiments continue until 1945 and made use of Seventh Day Adventists who chose to become human guinea pigs rather than serve on active duty.

1943 In response to Japan's full-scale germ warfare program, the U.S. begins research on biological weapons at Fort Detrick, MD.

1944 U.S. Navy uses human subjects to test gas masks and clothing. Individuals were locked in a gas chamber and exposed to mustard gas and lewisite.

1945 Project Paperclip is initiated. The U.S. State Department, Army intelligence, and the CIA recruit Nazi scientists and offer them immunity and secret identities in exchange for work on top secret government projects in the United States.

1945 "Program F" is implemented by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). This is the most extensive U.S. study of the health effects of fluoride, which was the key chemical component in atomic bomb production. One of the most toxic chemicals known to man, fluoride, it is found, causes marked adverse effects to the central nervous system but much of the information is squelched in the name of national security because of fear that lawsuits would undermine full-scale production of atomic bombs.

1946 Patients in VA hospitals are used as guinea pigs for medical experiments. In order to allay suspicions, the order is given to change the word "experiments" to "investigations" or "observations" whenever reporting a medical study performed in one of the nation's veteran's hospitals.

1947 Colonel E.E. Kirkpatrick of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission issues a secret document (Document 07075001, January 8, 1947) stating that the agency will begin administering intravenous doses of radioactive substances to human subjects.

1947 The CIA begins its study of LSD as a potential weapon for use by American intelligence. Human subjects (both civilian and military) are used with and without their knowledge.

1950 Department of Defense begins plans to detonate nuclear weapons in desert areas and monitor downwind residents for medical problems and mortality rates.

1950 In an experiment to determine how susceptible an American city would be to biological attack, the U.S. Navy sprays a cloud of bacteria from ships over San Francisco. Monitoring devices are situated throughout the city in order to test the extent of infection. Many residents become ill with pneumonia-like symptoms.

1951 Department of Defense begins open air tests using disease-producing bacteria and viruses. Tests last through 1969 and there is concern that people in the surrounding areas have been exposed.

1953 U.S. military releases clouds of zinc cadmium sulfide gas over Winnipeg, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Fort Wayne, the Monocacy River Valley in Maryland, and Leesburg, Virginia. Their intent is to determine how efficiently they could disperse chemical agents.

1953 Joint Army-Navy-CIA experiments are conducted in which tens of thousands of people in New York and San Francisco are exposed to the airborne germs Serratia marcescens and Bacillus glogigii.

1953 CIA initiates Project MKULTRA. This is an eleven year research program designed to produce and test drugs and biological agents that would be used for mind control and behavior modification. Six of the subprojects involved testing the agents on unwitting human beings.

1955 The CIA, in an experiment to test its ability to infect human populations with biological agents, releases a bacteria withdrawn from the Army's biological warfare arsenal over Tampa Bay, Fl.

1955 Army Chemical Corps continues LSD research, studying its potential use as a chemical incapacitating agent. More than 1,000 Americans participate in the tests, which continue until 1958.

1956 U.S. military releases mosquitoes infected with Yellow Fever over Savannah, GA and Avon Park, Fl. Following each test, Army agents posing as public health officials test victims for effects.

1958 LSD is tested on 95 volunteers at the Army's Chemical Warfare Laboratories for its effect on intelligence.

1960 The Army Assistant Chief-of-Staff for Intelligence (ACSI) authorizes field testing of LSD in Europe and the Far East. Testing of the European population is code named Project THIRD CHANCE; testing of the Asian population is code named Project DERBY HAT.

1965 Project CIA and Department of Defense begin Project MKSEARCH, a program to develop a capability to manipulate human behavior through the use of mind-altering drugs.

1965 Prisoners at the Holmesburg State Prison in Philadelphia are subjected to dioxin, the highly toxic chemical component of Agent Orange used in Viet Nam. The men are later studied for development of cancer, which indicates that Agent Orange had been a suspected carcinogen all along.

1966 CIA initiates Project MKOFTEN, a program to test the toxicological effects of certain drugs on humans and animals.

1966 U.S. Army dispenses Bacillus Subtilis variant Niger throughout the New York City subway system. More than a million civilians are exposed when army scientists drop light bulbs filled with the bacteria onto ventilation grates.

1967 CIA and Department of Defense implement Project MKNAOMI, successor to MKULTRA and designed to maintain, stockpile and test biological and chemical weapons.

1968 CIA experiments with the possibility of poisoning drinking water by injecting chemicals into the water supply of the FDA in Washington, D.C.

1969 Dr. Robert MacMahan of the Department of Defense requests from Congress $10 million to develop, within 5 to 10 years, a synthetic biological agent to which no natural immunity exists.

1970 Funding for the synthetic biological agent is obtained under H.R. 15090. The project, under the supervision of the CIA, is carried out by the Special Operations Division at Fort Detrick, the army's top secret biological weapons facility. Speculation is raised that molecular biology techniques are used to produce AIDS-like retroviruses.

1970 United States intensifies its development of "ethnic weapons" (Military Review, Nov., 1970), designed to selectively target and eliminate specific ethnic groups who are susceptible due to genetic differences and variations in DNA.

1975 The virus section of Fort Detrick's Center for Biological Warfare Research is renamed the Fredrick Cancer Research Facilities and placed under the supervision of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) . It is here that a special virus cancer program is initiated by the U.S. Navy, purportedly to develop cancer-causing viruses. It is also here that retrovirologists isolate a virus to which no immunity exists. It is later named HTLV (Human T-cell Leukemia Virus).

1977 Senate hearings on Health and Scientific Research confirm that 239 populated areas had been contaminated with biological agents between 1949 and 1969. Some of the areas included San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Key West, Panama City, Minneapolis, and St. Louis.

1978 Experimental Hepatitis B vaccine trials, conducted by the CDC, begin in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ads for research subjects specifically ask for promiscuous homosexual men.

1981 First cases of AIDS are confirmed in homosexual men in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, triggering speculation that AIDS may have been introduced via the Hepatitis B vaccine

1985 According to the journal Science (227:173-177), HTLV and VISNA, a fatal sheep virus, are very similar, indicating a close taxonomic and evolutionary relationship.

1986 According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (83:4007-4011), HIV and VISNA are highly similar and share all structural elements, except for a small segment which is nearly identical to HTLV. This leads to speculation that HTLV and VISNA may have been linked to produce a new retrovirus to which no natural immunity exists.

1986 A report to Congress reveals that the U.S. Government's current generation of biological agents includes: modified viruses, naturally occurring toxins, and agents that are altered through genetic engineering to change immunological character and prevent treatment by all existing vaccines.

1987 Department of Defense admits that, despite a treaty banning research and development of biological agents, it continues to operate research facilities at 127 facilities and universities around the nation.

1990 More than 1500 six-month old black and Hispanic babies in Los Angeles are given an experimental" measles vaccine that had never been licensed for use in the United States. CDC later admits that parents were never informed that the vaccine being injected to their children was experimental.

1994 With a technique called "gene tracking," Dr. Garth Nicolson at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX discovers that many returning Desert Storm veterans are infected with an altered strain of Mycoplasma incognitus, a microbe commonly used in the production of biological weapons. Incorporated into its molecular structure is 40 percent of the HIV protein coat, indicating that it had been man-made.

1994 Senator John D. Rockefeller issues a report revealing that for at least 50 years the Department of Defense has used hundreds of thousands of military personnel in human experiments and for intentional exposure to dangerous substances. Materials included mustard and nerve gas, ionizing radiation, psychochemicals, hallucinogens, and drugs used during the Gulf War .

1995 U.S. Government admits that it had offered Japanese war criminals and scientists who had performed human medical experiments salaries and immunity from prosecution in exchange for data on biological warfare research.

1995 Dr. Garth Nicolson, uncovers evidence that the biological agents used during the Gulf War had been manufactured in Houston, TX and Boca Raton, Fl and tested on prisoners in the Texas Department of Corrections.

1996 Department of Defense admits that Desert Storm soldiers were exposed to chemical agents.

1997 Eighty-eight members of Congress sign a letter demanding an investigation into bioweapons use & Gulf War Syndrome.

Then according to San Francisco Chronicle at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/10/28/MN50317.DTL :

Finally, in 1995, a committee named by President Bill Clinton to investigate the "murky record" of the incidents reported there had been more than 4,000 such experiments. In one, conducted at the University of California at San Francisco, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the universities of Chicago and Rochester, 18 people were injected with plutonium without their knowledge or consent.

The investigating panel said that while most of the experiments were conducted "to advance biomedical science," many were intended to "advance national interests in defense or space exploration," and the investigators identified several studies in which patients died from "acute radiation effects."

Email I received today from Senator Arlen Specter

2006-11-10T12:17:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uIIZa0Hp7E

Dear Friend :

Thank you for contacting me regarding the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I appreciate your concern on this important matter.

Our nation has always been concerned with the need to protect our citizens from harm while preserving the freedom and privacy we all cherish. The need for this often-difficult balance became even more acute after the attacks of September 11, 2001. We now realize we face a cruel and brutal enemy who will stop at nothing to terrorize our country. We know this enemy has infiltrated our nation in the past and has worked from within to attack us. Therefore, we must work together to ensure this never happens again.

One method the President has chosen to combat this constant threat is the Terrorist Surveillance Program (TSP). I recognize Pennsylvanians hold a wide range of views on this program, and I know many citizens will not agree on whether this program is necessary. However, I believe there are several issues surrounding the TSP on which we can all agree and I have introduced a bill to address these issues. I have introduced S.2453, the National Security Surveillance Act, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 13, 2006.

First, we know the TSP will be subjected to multiple courtroom challenges. On August 17, 2006, a federal district court in Michigan ruled that the program violates the Constitution. Dozens of other challenges are pending, and the courts hearing these other cases may or may not agree with the Michigan court's decision. We are facing the risk of a host of inconsistent standards and decisions regarding the same program. My bill avoids this inconsistency and instead promotes uniformity and predictability by directing cases involving the TSP and any similar programs to the FISA courts.

Second, we know the FISA courts can be trusted to maintain the confidentiality of classified information relating to the TSP. In the twenty-six years since the FISA courts were established, they have never compromised the highly sensitive information with which they are entrusted. Although it is vital the judges who rule on the TSP's constitutionality know the details of the program, it is also vital the program's details are disclosed only to judges who will properly maintain confidentiality. We can trust the FISA court judges with this task.

Finally, we all value our constitutional system of checks and balances. My bill re-asserts the importance of this system by providing a strong judicial check on executive authority. The bill allows the federal judges of the FISA courts to rule on the constitutionality of the TSP and any similar surveillance programs. Since our nation's founding, we have trusted our courts to protect citizens' privacy and to enforce our constitutional rights. My bill allows our judiciary to continue in this trusted role.

Thank you again for expressing your concerns on the Terrorist Surveillance Program. The views of my constituents are very important to me, and I appreciate you keeping me informed of your views. Should you have any further questions regarding this issue or any other issue, please do not hesitate to contact my office or visit my website at http://www.specter.senate.gov/.

Sincerely,
Arlen Specter

Please remember to vote tomorrow

2006-11-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

And remember to look through the hype at the real issues. To illustrate the point, a friend of mine emailed this joke to me:

THIS IS A NONPARTISAN JOKE THAT CAN BE ENJOYED BY BOTH PARTIES! NOT ONLY THAT, IT IS POLITICALLY CORRECT!!

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I don't understand," stammers the senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning......Today you voted."

Election is in 14 days

2006-10-24T11:02:00.000-05:00

Saturday, my husband drove me to Lasik Institute for an evaluation for lasik surgery on McKnight Rd., in northern Pittsburgh. It was the first time I remember being on McKnight road, and was impressed with all the malls on that road. Inside the Lasik Institute, the waiting room was immaculate, huge, and wonderfully designed with marble floors and cherrywood paneled walls. The receptionist there was very professional.

The evaluation did not go so well. I was told that in one eye, my astigmatism could not be completely fixed, and I was not a candidate for lasik, though I may be a candidate for PRK. The Lasik Institute do not accept any vision insurance, and PRK scares me, which makes contacts and glasses seem more appealing to me. My husband saw the positive side...with PRK, my one eye could be completely corrected, and my other eye could be better. It still scares me.

After Leaving McKnight Rd at around 4:30 p.m., we headed to Borders at South Hills Mall which my husband found on the internet. We had never been to South Hills before. I absolutely love Borders Book store there! Two large floors packet with books, magazines, newspapers from different countries, coffee shop...a wonderful reminder that life is amazing. We were in literature heaven. I found a spiritual magazine that I would have bought, but it was free (even better), and my husband found some books that we bought. By the time we left, it was dark outside. Before leaving South Hills, we found a Barnes & Noble book store that looked huge also, and we were drawn like moths to a flame.

Inside Barnes & Noble, on a table of new hardcover books, I noticed an autobiography of our current president, George W. Bush. So I picked up the book to see when it was written, and skim the book. To my amazement, the book was written while our president was in the White House. Now, how in the world does a reigning president of the United States have time to write and have published his autobiography? Then I remembered our Vice-President, Dick Cheney. More evidence of who is really running our country, and why Haliburton is making billions of dollars and has so much power in this war against Iraq, while many of our soldiers are living below the poverty line and more military brats are becoming "war orphans".

Our election is in 14 days. I am seriously concerned about this election. Not about how people will vote. What I am concerned about is the new electronic voting booths that have been proven can easily be hacked, and there is no paper trail. Polls say that most Americans want a change in leadership. If election day comes, and we have the same people running our government, it will not be because of the American people.

This image is from http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/U.S._Senate_election,_2006

According to dkosopedia.com:

Seats up for election:
Republican incumbents are red,
Democratic incumbents are blue,
open Republican seats are pink,
open Democratic seats are light blue,
and the open independent seat is yellow.
States without a seat up for reelection are gray.

We bought a Washing Machine and Dryer for our clothes

2006-10-20T06:59:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, I got a recommendation from a guy in Pennsylvania Group Forum for an appliance store in Washington, PA. So I called. The guy I spoke with was really great and helpful. He informed me that he was out of my area, but he would look for someone in his buying co-op who was in our area. He phoned back and gave my the phone number. So I called the number he gave me and left a message.

My husband had just gotten back home and I received a call from a great guy at Voss appliances. After affirming he had clothes dryers, I asked where he was. I gave the phone to my husband to get directions. So we went to Voss appliances, where the salesman was really great. He agreed with my husband that Maytag & Whirlpool were better than GE Profiles as far as how well they were built.

We thought about buying the Whirlpool washer & dryer set from him, but I needed time alone with my husband and a chance to talk and get something to drink. So we went to Panera's at Century III where I ordered an iced decalf skimmed milk latte for myself and a diet rootbeer for my husband. We then ordered a baker's dozen of bagels to go, as well as 2 sourdough bread bowls.

I told my husband I would compromise as we could get a Whirlpool.

We decided that since Best Buy was right there, we would look at dryers there to compare, but we were both leaning towards Voss since we really liked that it was a family style business and we really liked the salesman. At Best Buy, my husband found the same washer and dryer set. The dryer alone was $50.00 cheaper at Best Buy. The salesman told me that if we bought the set, delivery would be free, which he later renigged on after he had rung it up. Delivery was $30, and he nagged us until my husband finally gave in to buying a new power cord for $20, even though the power cord we had was only a couple years old. Then the saleman nagged us several times about buying insurance on the washer and dryer for $200.00 that was good for only 4 years. I said "no" at least a half dozen times. The salesman was extremely unprofessional and extremely annoying. I liked the salesman at Voss much better.

I did not sleep well Wednesday night because I was upset about buying the washing machine and dryer at Best Buy, wondering if I should cancel the whole thing because of the salesman.

He was even so rude as to charge my card as a debit instead of a credit card like I asked him. If he had put it though as credit, I would have had protections from Visa, and a donation would have been made for breast cancer research. I am still upset over that.

Our washer and dryer are suppose to be delivered Monday. I should be happy about getting a new washer and dryer, but it just reminds me of the salesman we bought it from, and I get upset all over again. Lessoned learned: never buy a large appliance from Best Buy ever again.

Somehow I need to find out when Best Buy will be delivering, because I have an appointment in Connellsville on Monday morning.

Yesterday, John did not get much sleep because I did not sleep well, and actually got up at 4 a.m. because of that blasted salesman and regretting buying the washer & dryer from him, and the way the entire experience played out.

The salesman at Best Buy did not even work for the sale. The guy at Voss did all the work. Best Buy just had a better deal on the washer & dryer. The saleman at Best Buy, if anything, was trying to annoy us to talk us out of buying a washer & dryer there, though I doubt he realized it. It really annoys me when salesmen lie to me, don't listen to what we want, and are just outright rude. Thinking about it now after how we were treated at Best Buy, I would undo the sales there and go to Voss just because of the blasted service at Best Buy. I am still really upset over it.

So, like I said, my husband did not sleep well. And he was not feeling well to boot. So he called in sick yesterday and laid around in his sweatclothes, while I went to my appointment with my new doctor, Dr. Krafty. My appointment was at 11:15 a.m., but I finally saw her after 3 p.m. She was really great though. I have to get some tests done Monday, and if everything checks out, I start on a diet pill to help me lose weight. The risk is the pill could raise my blood pressure, so that will have to be checked every month.

The wait in the doctor's office was not bad though because others that were there waiting were really nice, and we all talked. One guy there was a Republican, where there were others there that didn't like Santorum. We discussed politics, but it was all civil and educational.

After the doctor's visit, I stopped at the post office in Star Juction and bought some postcard stamps as well as mailed 2 certified letters, a post card, and a letter. The post office there is about the size of a small bathroom, with just 2 employees working there...1 in front waiting on customers and 1 in the back sorting mail.

I got home around 4:30 p.m.

Poor John still was not feeling well. He had not eaten lunch. So for supper, he nuked some fried chicken that comes in a box. I asked him if he wanted anything with the chicken. That was all he ate.

I on the other hand had 1 chicken breast, Greek country olives, some feta cheese, and a pita bread.

John seemed to feel a little better today. He went to work.

Buying a new clothes dryer

2006-10-18T08:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, it all started when I got out of bed with a huge headache. That should have been warning enough to stay under the blankets.

I went downstairs to transfer the clothes from the washer to the dryer to find that the dryer did not work. No time to hold a funeral for ancient artifact, otherwise known as Whirlpool Cleantouch, I inherited from my mom. We needed a new dryer. So I phoned my husband that instead of watching NCIS tonight, he would be helping me shop for a new clothes dryer...and while we were at it, we needed to pick up some more cat litter.

My headache would not go away. So I thought I would work on the blog, changing the look, and worked to get it to upload faster, as well as get rid of the pop-up ads that came with some of the extras I had on the blog. Rusty decided he was going to help, and had some creative ideas of his own, which added a couple of extra hours reworking the code a few times, until I finally just let it be. Plus, I needed to look for dryers.

So I got on Consumer Reports and learned about the GE Profile DPSB620EC[WW] which is a CR Best Buy. They had Kenmore (Sears) Elite 6697[2] as a recommendation also, but my husband swore he would never shop at Sears again after dealing with a very rude salesman in the tool department.

So it was off to Uniontown to Lowe's and Home Depot to look for a new clothes dryer. Lowes was our first stop. We looked at all the dryers, but I did not see any GE Profiles. My husband liked Maytag because they had a better constitution and life span...at least that is what their reputation stated, and Consumer reports did back that theory up.

Next stop was Home Depot. They had GE profiles, but not the one I was looking for. So I tried to get help. Two employees looked right at me as I tried to get their attention for help, but they continued to just walked by. Oh well. It was back to Lowes then. We had looked back over all the dryers again armed with Consumer Reports print out. I was looking at the last, and most expensive, washer/dryer set when the manager of the department comes over to "tell" us what we wanted. It would have been nice if he actually listened. He was trying to sell us a washer when I told him we were looking for a dryer. He explained to me that dryers were basically the same, and we would want a dryer to match the washer would would be getting. So we walked out sadly without a dryer we really needed.

So today, we will probably be driving up to Century III to look for a dryer.

I also need to wash clothes, and probably hang them up in the bathroom, reschedule the car mantainance appointment that I had to cancel yesterday because I learned John had a doctor's appointment would interfere schedule wise, and the list goes on.

Mark 7:1-8:10

2006-10-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

This morning at 10 Eastern Standard Time, Norma, a friend of mine, called to invite me to Bible Study. She let me know that there would be a picnic, so to pack myself a lunch. She told me to meet her at the church at noon. So I called John and told him about Norma's call so he would know where I was in case he needed to get a hold of me. Then I called Bowser to set up an appointment to get the right rear wheel bearing replaced, and get a wheel alignment done. I was informed that the alignment would cost $69.95, and the labor for the wheel bearing would be about $100.00. For the price of the wheel bearing itself, they transferred me to to the parts department where I was told to leave a message, which I did. While in the kitchen putting together the picnic lunch, Bowser called back and informed me that the part would be $141.51.

Since I was doing laundry, I made sure the washer and dryer had stopped, and that the back door was shut and locked.

Time was running short, so I did not put any makeup on, and just wore my hair in a pony tail. I threw on a pair of flannel lined blue jeans and burgandy colored pullover with black trim. And I wore my gray hiking sandles.

The cats made sure I had cleaned their water dishes and fed them before I left.

Norma had called back to let me know she was picking me up at 11:45 instead. So I made sure I was out the door at a quarter til noon.

I did not see any sign of Norma, so I walked to the corner and checked my mailbox. Mail had not come yet.

When Norma arrived, she was dressed ready for the Red Hatters meeting later this evening. She was completely in red and purple. Red Hatters is where I met Norma. I was a pink hatter. For me, Red Hatters was not fun, but Norma really enjoys it. Then again, Norma is a widow in her 70's, where I am married and 42, so it makes sense we would find different stuff enjoyable.

After Norma picked me up, we stopped to pick up another friend of Norma's who goes to Norma's church. She was really nice with pretty pale blue eyes and a pale sand coral sweater who looked to be about Norma's age. When we got to the church meeting spot, there was another woman there with pretty pale skin who looked like she was in the age group of the other 2 women. Then came the pastor who was about my age.

We all got on the bus. The pastor drove. I sat behind the pastor. The lady with the pale blue eyes sat behind me. Norma sat across from me. The woman with the pretty pale complexion who also smoked sat behind Norma. The leaves were beautiful on our way to Ohiopyle where we ate our picnic lunches by the level 1 rapids.

Norma and I shared greek country olives, feta cheese, pita flat bread, lipini beans, pumpkins seeds mixed with sesame seeds, organic granola bars, fruit (Norma ate a banana while I had an orange), and drinks (Norma drank bottled water while I had the Coke zero). It was a great lunch. After lunch, the minister had layed out 3 blankets for us to all sit on during Bible study. Before we had even gotten on the bus, he had passed out Bibles.

This was the Bible Study from the paper the minister had handed out:

I. Session 6- The Inclusivity of the Kingdom: Mark 7:1-8:10
A. Purity Rules and an Honor Challenge, 7:1-5. Critics of Jesus grows. Mark explains purity rules for Gentile readers. Holiness is the concern, not hygiene. The external was more important to them than the internal. Those who were unclean could not enter the sanctuary for fear they would makeit unclean; women, gentiles, Jews with imperfect bodies, etc. The scribes from Jerusalem want to discredit Jesus, for no true holy man would fail to follow the purity laws.
B. The Disciples Eat Bread with Unwashed Hands: Table fellowship should bring communities together, but purity rules would separate Jews and Gentiles.
C. Jesus' Response to the Challenge: Not Subtle, 7:6-13. Corban refers to an offering dedicated to God so that it cannot be used for other purposes, including care for parents. Jesus' words suggest some were using it to let themselves "off the hook" of parental care and that the religious leadership endorsed the practice (for the money would eventually go to the temple). Thus, he says, they have "made void" the work of God. Jesus Subverts the Sribes' and Pharisees' View of Purity, 7:14-23. The rules for who is holy and who is not are tossed out. Remember that in Mark a parable is any teaching that "stands the world on its head," and this one does. Though Jesus seems displease with their lack of understanding again (4:10-13), he graciously explains. Purity, he said, is a matter of the heart (7:18-21), which means that a Gentile could be as pure as a Jew, a woman as pure as a man, a leper as pure as a priest. Mark's editorial addition, "thus he declared all foods clean," makes clear his understanding that when the kingdom of God draws near, everyone is welcome at the table.
D. The Syrophoemician Woman and the Children's Bread, 7:24-30. As a Gentile and a female, this woman was automatically unclean to a Jewish man, but there's more. The association of Phoenicia with ancient Jewish struggles over foreign religious practices, especially temple prostitution, means "syrophoenican" could indicate a woman from the "seamier" side of a city. Furthermore, this woman approached Jesus, a Jewish man with a religious vocation to whom she was unknown and unrelated, so that she has stepped out of "her place." She did so on behalf of her daughter, a further liability since sons, not daughters, wer rthe focus of a family's hopes. Finally, her daughter was possessed by an "unclean" spirit, a note that completes the portrait of a thoroghly impure woman--female, foreign, pagan, sexually suspect, inappropriately assertive, and "home" to an unclean spirit. Does the crude response of Jesus show his humanness? Can Jesus grow, mature?
E. "Be Opened!" 7:31-37. Jesus stays in Gentile territory, opening the eyes and ears fo those who will see and listen.
F. Bread for the Gentiles, 8:1-10. Since the feeding of the five thousand, we've noted the references to bread (Greek, artos) in this part of Mark's story: Jesus fed them artos in the wilderness, the disciples in the boat didn't understand about the artos, the diciples ate artos with unwashed hands, the children's artos should not be fed to the dogs. In and around these stories, Jesus has undone the puity rules that divided Jews and Gentiles, making it possible for everyone to come to his table. Now this section of Mark comes to a close with Jesus again feeding bread (artos) to a multitude in the wilderness (8:1-10). The story is remarkable similar to the first feeding story: Jesus had been teaching the people for a while, the diciples are clueless, they have but a few loaves and fish to share, yet everyone eats and is satisfied. The key difference is that this feeding happens in Gentile territory. The boundaries (the sea; the purity rules) have been crossed, the bread has been shared, everyone has been filled. The kingdom of God had drawn near. So, do we understand about the bread?

I got this picture of Korban Inscription from http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/israel/korban-inscription.html .
After Bible study today, I did some research on the internet and found some archaeology that has to do with today's bible study:
This Korban Inscription is a fragment of a stone vessel excavated at the ruins of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. On the fragment are the 4 Hebrew consonants KRBN (kaph, resh, beth, nun), which spell the Hebrew word "korban" meaning "sacrifice." The inscribed word is the same word used by Jesus in Mark 7. With the inscription are two inscribed doves or pigeons. The Korban Inscription is from the time of Jesus and kept at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Korban Inscription discovery is important in the study of Biblical Archaeology because the word is mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament.
"But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye." Mark 7:11-13

The America I believe in leads the world on human rights

2006-10-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

This is a pledge I made today:

We're in a struggle for the soul of our nation. Congress has just given the President authority to detain people indefinitely without charge or trial.

Outraged, and in response, Amnesty International has launched a new campaign that will fight to restore our traditional American values of justice, rule of law, and human dignity.

In the coming weeks and months, we will as a nation either end some of the worst human rights abuses of the Bush administration or continue down this destructive path. Amnesty is fighting for the America we believe in, the America that leads the world on human rights.

Be part of this campaign. Shape the outcome. Join with Amnesty International to restore "The America I Believe In." Start now by signing the pledge.

This campaign is mobilizing people of conscience all across America to speak out. Please join us. We won't stop until we turn America around on human rights.

The America I Believe In doesn't torture people or use cruel, inhumane treatment. . . doesn't hold people without charge, without fair trials, without hope, and without end. . .doesn't kidnap people off the street and ship them to nations known for their brutality. . .doesn't condone prisoner abuse and excuse high-ranking government officials from responsibility for that abuse. . .doesn't justify the use of secret prisons. . .and does not rob people of their basic dignity.

I'm joining with Amnesty International USA to restore The America I Believe In. The America I Believe In leads the world on human rights.

I'm committing to tell friends and family about the campaign. I'm also committing to contacting my members of Congress and my local media to tell them that the America I Believe In defends human rights and justice for all.

http://believe.amnestyusa.org/site/c.igLQIUOCKtF/b.2070843/k.BDE5/Home.htm?msource=W7aibicare&z00m=1794050

Do you know about Mkultra?

2006-10-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

What do you think of Mkultra?

I just learned about this today when a friend emailed me about his brother that he believes when through this. So I did some research and learned this really happened. You can read about it at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKULTRA

I have seen sci-fi stories about this stuff, but did not realize it was really happening to this extent until today.

THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE

2006-10-07T15:19:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages:

Thanks Cal for emailing this story to me. The timing is perfect, so I am sharing it with everyone here:

The Daffodil Principle Several times my daughter had telephoned to say. "Mother, you must come and see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. Going and coming took most of a day and I honestly did not have a free day until the following week. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove the length of Route 91, continued on I-215, and finally turned onto Route 18 and began to drive up the mountain highway. The tops of the mountains were sheathed in clouds, and I had gone only a few miles when! the road was completely covered with a wet, gray blanket of fog. I slowed to a crawl, my heart pounding. The road becomes narrow and winding toward the top of the mountain. As I executed the hazardous turns at a snail's pace, I was praying to reach the turnoff at Blue Jay that would signify I had arrived. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these darling children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!" My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her. "I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car. The mechanic just called, and they've finished repairing the engine," she answered. "How far will we have to drive?" I asked cautiously. "Just a few ! blocks," Carolyn said cheerfully. So we buckled up the children and went out to my car. "I'll drive," Carolyn offered. "I'm used to this." We got into the car, and she began driving. In a few minutes I was aware that we were back on the Rim-of- the-World road heading over the top of the mountain. "Where are we going?" I exclaimed, distressed to be back on the mountain road in the fog. "This isn't the way to the garage!" "We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils." "Carolyn," I said sternly, trying to sound as if I was still the mother and in charge of the situation, "please turn around. There is nothing in the world that I want to see enough to drive on this road in this weather." "It's all right, Mother," she replied with a knowing grin. "I know what I'm doing. I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience." And so my sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge and she was kidnapping me! I couldn't believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils, driving through the thick, gray silence of the mist wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb. I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, gray and heavy with clouds. We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert. On the far side of the church I saw a pine needle covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, hand lettered sign "Daffodil ! Garden." We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees. The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt. Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the gray, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered. Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise. Even in the mist filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety (I learned later that there were more than thirty five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils. A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches and great tubs of coral and carmine tulips. As though this were not magnificence enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance. These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. T! he effect was spectacular. It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of the flower bedecked mountain top. Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me even against my will. This was a once in a lifetime experience. "Who?" I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, "and how, and why, and when?" "It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well kept A- frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house, my mind buzzing with questions. On the patio we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in 1958." There it was. The Daffodil Principle. For me that moment was a life changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty five years before, had begun one bulb at a time to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts, simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle! of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, often just one baby step at a time, learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world. "Carolyn," I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen, "it's as though that remarkable woman has needle pointed the earth! Decorated it. Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that's the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short circuiting that process. Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth!" And all, just one bulb at a time. The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!" My wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said with the same knowing smiles she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom! It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use tomorrow?" Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards --------------- The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you

According to an old Hindu legend...

2006-10-07T15:01:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages

..there was once a time when all human beings were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found.
Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide. "Let's bury it deep in the earth," said the gods. But Brahma answered, "No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it." Then the gods said, "Let's sink it in the deepest ocean." But Brahma said, "No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it." Then the gods said, "Let's take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there." But once again Brahma replied, "No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity." Then the gods gave up and said, "We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach."

Brahma thought for a long time and then said, "Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the center of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there."

All the gods agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring--searching for something already within themselves.

Author unknown

Five Finger Prayer

2006-09-28T07:34:00.000-05:00

Windows Live Mail

1. Your thumb is nearest you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger, as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Seeing Your Perfection

2006-09-19T16:46:00.000-05:00

We are each born into this world with unique gifts. Within us is a glimmer of the divine, a light that can potentially make the world a more beautiful place. But in many, that light lies dormant, snuffed out by fears and feelings of inadequacy. To spark it is to attract attention, face the possibility of rejection or the responsibility of success, and risk being labeled immodest. Yet when we undermine the light by hiding our aptitudes and quashing our dreams, we deny ourselves and others a wealth of experiences. Your abilities are a part of who you are and when you take pride in them, you affirm the love, esteem, and trust with which you view yourself. Moreover, as you express the light within, you grant others permission to do the same, freeing them to explore their own talents.

For some, we are taught to hide our light from the world since childhood. Relatives caution us that the professions associated with our aptitudes are unattainable. Our peers may be envious of our skills and thus overly critical of the activities we instinctively enjoy. And authority figures admonish us to be humble and avoid showing off. But there is a vast chasm that separates those who let their light shine and those who seek only to draw attention to themselves. When you dare to share your light with the world, the beauty and perfection of your soul become clearly visible. You become a whole being-the literal embodiment of your vast potential. Whether you are a wonderful dancer, a first-rate cook, quick with numbers, or a natural negotiator, you'll come to understand that you do the world no favors when you hold yourself back.

If you have hidden your light for so long that it has shrunk to an ember, make a list of everything you do well, however impractical, silly, or seemingly inconsequential. Then ask yourself how you can positively utilize those abilities in your daily life. The gifts you were born with were not granted to you arbitrarily. While you may never discover what impact your light has had on others, you can be certain that when you embrace your talents and share them with others, you will spread illumination in the world.

When You Rearrange the Letters

2006-09-18T17:28:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages:

"PRESBYTERIAN:
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER:
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION:
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

DORMITORY:
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

THE EYES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When! you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS:
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z 'S

A DECIMAL POINT:
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES:
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO:
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER"

Frequently Asked Questions About Health Care

2006-09-18T17:21:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages: "Frequently Asked Questions About Health Care

Q. Do all diagnostic procedures require pre-certification?
A. No. Only those you need.

Q. I just joined a new HMO. How difficult will it be to choose the doctor I want?
A. Just slightly more difficult than choosing your parents. Your insurer will provide you with a book listing all the doctors who were participating in the plan at the time the information was gathered. These doctors basically fall into two categories--those who are no longer accepting new patients, and those who will see you but are no longer part of the plan. But don't worry--the remaining doctor who is still in the plan and accepting new patients has an office just a half day's drive away!

Q. Well, can I get coverage for my pre-existing conditions?
A. Certainly, as long as they don't require any treatment.

Q. What happens if I want to try alternative forms of medicine?
A. You'll need to find alternative forms of payment.

Q. My pharmacy plan only covers generic drugs, but I need the name brand. I tried the generic medication, but it gave me a stomach ache. What should I do?
A. Poke yourself in the eye.

Q. I think I need to see a specialist, but my doctor insists he can handle my problem. Can a general practitioner really perform a heart transplant right in his office?
A. Hard to say, but considering that all you're risking is the $10 co-payment, there's no harm giving him a shot at it.

Q. Will health care be any different in the next century?
A. No, but if you call right now, you might get an appointment by then. "

A Woman Should...

2006-09-15T18:58:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A set of screwdrivers,
A cordless drill, and
A black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
One friend who
Always makes her
Laugh...
And one
Who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A good piece of furniture
Not previously owned by
Anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
Eight matching plates,
Wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will
Make her guests feel honored.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A feeling of control over Her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to fall in love Without losing herself.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
HOW TO QUIT A Job
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
When to try harder,
And WHEN TO WALK AWAY.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That she can't change
The length of her calves,
The width of her hips, or
The nature of her parents.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That her childhood
May not have been Perfect,
But; It's over.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she would and Wouldn't
Do for love or money.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to live alone,
Even if She doesn't like it.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Whom she can trust, Whom she can't,
And why she shouldn't Take it personally.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Where to go,
Be it to her best friend's kitchen table,
Or a charming inn in the woods,
When her soul needs soothing.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and can't accomplish
In a day,
A month,
And a year.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
She is a Daughter of the most High King.
She is loved.
She is royalty.
Her steps are ordered.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Her real beauty is having a quiet and gentle spirit.
She has choices everyday to speak words that encourage, build-up and edify.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to love unconditionally
and let go of grudges and hurts.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That she is who she is and
there is no else like her, therefore,
she is special and unique.

A poem a care2 friend sent to me called "The Penny"

2006-08-12T11:53:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages:
"The Penny

Remember this every time you pass that little penny in the parking lot.
I always thought that it was for Good Luck, but I love this version better:

I found a penny today
Just laying on the ground.
But it's not just a penny,
this little coin I've found.
~~
Found pennies come from heaven,
That's what my Grandpa told me.
He said Angels toss them down.
Oh, how I loved that story.
~~

He said when an Angel misses you,
They toss a penny down.
Sometimes just to cheer you up,
To make a smile out of your frown.
~~

So, don't pass by that penny,
When you're feeling blue. It may be a penny from heaven,
that an Angel's tossed to you.
~~

So now pass this on to the people who you care about
and who you feel are Angels to you,
I just did.
An Angel is now watching over you.

Have A Great Day!

'Don't let your worries get the best of you, remember, Moses started out as a basket case'"

Facts about Lebanon from a care2 friend of mine

2006-08-11T07:21:00.000-05:00

Care2 Connect - Personal Messages:
1. Lebanon has 18 religious communities living together **
2. It has 40 daily independant newspapers
3. It has 42 universities
4. It has over 100 banks (that is banks and not branches of a bank)
5. 70% of the students are in private schools.
6. 40% of the Lebanese people are Christians (this is the highest percent in an Arab country)
7. There's 1 doctor per 10 people in Lebanon (In Europe & America there's 1 doctor per 100 people)
8. The name LEBANON appears 75 times in the Old Testament
9. The name CEDAR (the tree which is Lebanon's symbol) appears 75 times too in the Old
Testament!!
10. Beirut was destroyed and rebuilt 7 times (this is why it's compared to The Phoenix).
11. There are around 13.5 Million Lebanese 3.5 in Lebanon around 10 Million Lebanese outside Lebanon.

MORE INTERESTING FACTS

1. Byblos (city in Lebanon) is the oldest, continuously living city in
the world.
2. Lebanon's name has been around for 4,000 yrs non- stop (it's the oldest
country/ nation's name in the world!)
3. Lebanon is the only Asian country that doesn't have any desert land.
4. There are 15 rivers in Lebanon (all of them coming from its own
mountains)
5. Lebanon is one of the most populated countries in its archeological
sites, in the world.
6. The first alphabet was created in Byblos (city in Lebanon)
7. The only remaining temple of Jupiter (the main Roman god) is in
Baalbeck, Lebanon (The City of the Sun)
8. The name of BYBLOS comes from the BIBLE!!!
9. Lebanon is the country that has the most books written about it.
10. The Phoenicians (Original People of Lebanon) built the 1st boat, and
they were the first to sail ever!
11. Phoenicians also reached America long before Christopher Columbus did.

AND...

12. The 1st LAW school in the world was built in Lebanon, in Downtown
Beirut.

And it is meant to be destroyed... a country with such history

*kindly forward*

Tarot reading a friend did for me

2006-07-31T11:24:00.000-05:00

Howdy Hope your weekend is going well so far? We are getting hot again eh?

I am using the DruidCraft Tarot since none was requested

Asked the question. What's up with Helen's profession, family and purpose?

Pulled 3 cards and got.

Card 1) This is for your purpose

7 of Wands. Life has been nothing but an up-hill battle. Now on top of it all, you are still fighting. Now people seem jelious of the fact you made it. They are still out to crumble your every achevement. It is coming at you in all different directions. In the card we see a man he is traped on top of a tower. Below him are many people trying to get to him, so they can take what he has worked hard for. Looks to me that your purpose for right now is to fight against the obstacles that are challenging you. As you tackel each of these challenges your knowledge and your wisdom grow. Every problem thrown at you that you conqure has only made you stronger. That bother's most people, cause most of the people aound you seem to be weaker and feel everything should be handed to them. In short your fighting the challenges they give you, offend them... You may find it helpful to combine introspection with the energy and enthusiasm you could be feelings at present. What that all means is your purpose is to show the strength you possess to all other's so they know they also can fight their fight and win. A true leader for us under dogs

Card 2) This is your profession.

7 of cups. Here we see a very lax-a-daisy man sitting at a clear pool of water. One foot is in the water as to say the water is soothing, calming, but at the same time the meaning of the card is to much day dreaming will only get you to sleep. In most decks this card will show 7 cups filled with different meterials we think we may "need" in life. In this card 6 of the 7 cups are sumerged in the pool of water. The most lavished of cups sits near the foot he has in the water. Water is clensing, some use it to show the future. Place a bowl in the full moon light and let the imagination be your guide kinda thing. The place he is at is very secluded. As if it were his very own oassis. His day dreams of what could have been done or what should have been done, hinder his what now has to be done.

What all of this is saying to me for you is. Stop the dreaming. Only go for goals you know can be achieved. Not to worry about what other's may think of the work your doing isn't their cup of tea. They are not the ones drinking the tea now are they? You have many ideas as to what you should be doing, but they are all muddled with thoughts of what one's make everyone happy. Lets try to just make Helen happy for once They all will just have to accept that Helen don't play by their rules, cause Helen is a big girl and has made her own rules that have been going very good for her for a very long time now. Tell them to get over it, deal with it. OR leave you the heck alone.

With this card anything is possible. You have many talents. A jack of all trades. The world is literly waiting for you just to say, OK this is it. This is what i want to do. But at the present time. You place it on hold cause of the confusion that is all around you, conflicting your very thought of what your purposed job should be. You can not and will never be able to make everyone happy. So lets try and just make Helen happy.

Card 3) This is for your family.

The Chariot. The Major card represented by Cancer. In this deck we see a female warrior. She is the victorious Charioteer. Bold, daring, trustworthy. In most decks we'll see this card as a man trying hard to hold on tightly to the reins of his out of control horses. In this card we see a woman, in full control of the 2 opposite horses she has taken charge of. One light one dark representing our very own mind frams. We always seem to be the ones to look at things from both perspectives. One story of the Chariot is that he/she is the child born from the High Priestess (the reveler of all truths) and the Magician (the all knowing teacher of the elements and how to properly use them) So with this Chariot's 2 parents being so important to ones own needs. It can be said that this Charioteer is wise in thought. Has been taught to go on her own judgments/instincs, yet she is still very young and in the learning process.

The very first part of the meaning to this card being an outcome (as what it is in this reading) says. Successful Engagement With Life. If this card is to show as an outcome in relation to a problem or difficulity, then it is likely that you will find a successful resolution.

Still on the Chariot

The message of the Chariot is.

Maturity and wisdom come from courageously engageing the difficulties and challenges of life. The art of success lies in knowing when to surrender and when to take control.

What is really wild about this entire reading is ALL the cards are 7's. The number 7 in wiccan/pagan traditions is very important. Seven signifies mental perfection, healing, completion, music and attainment of high spirituality. Additionally, you are unique and eccentric.

Esoteric: 7s is faith - faith in the things that can't b seen, but nevertheless exists. 7 must know the ultimate truths, it is through experience that understanding develops and faith in the unknown is attained.

Mundane: Positive: Faith, observation, investigation, meditation, discovery, knowledge, wisdom, perfection
Negative: Fear, faithlessness, pessimism, skepticism, doubt, ignorance,e escapism

In a Reading: Many 7s indicate a period of introspection or solitude. They also indicate unlooked for advantages or gain.

Now all of this adds up to 21. 7+7+7=21 the 21st card of the tarot is the Universe/World. Means you are going to achieve. You'll conquer any and all challenges. You literlly have the world in your hands. A end of a cycle. And are embarking into great success and a sense of deep and satisfying fulfillment. A cycle has completed itself, and now there is an easing sense of completion.

2+1=3 The Empress. She is all about unconditional love. You are in a state of mind where you are feeling a bit incomplete due to the lacking in the child barring. This is commen, but the Empress is here to say that even if you never have the child physically from your body, doesn't mean you can not physically love another child. She asks we all learn from people like your self. A very open, honest and loving person of all people/beings. She has all the nurishments one needs to fulfill any and all life goals. Keep patient and all the fighting, confusion and lacking of success will all come into place, very soon.

There you go. I hope this made sense to you?

Peace and Love,

(my wonderful friend)

To see pictures of the tarot cards, you can check out this web site:
http://tarotstudies2.50webs.com/druid_craft_deck.shtml

THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT: John Godfrey Saxe's ( 1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend

2006-07-28T18:21:00.000-05:00

It was six men of Indostan,
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approach'd the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," -quoth he- "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee:
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," -quoth he,-
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said- "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," -quoth he,- "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL

So, oft in theologic wars
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean;

And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I love this story as use it quite often. It is one of my favorite theme stories, and believe it is very relevant in what is going on in the Middle East as well as the rest of the world.

Early this morning, I picked my husband up from the airport, as he was arriving back from a 2 week business trip in Malaysia. Now, as you probably know, Malaysia is a hugely Muslim country, yet, when he comes back, he sings the praises of the people there, about how generous and how nice they are.

So why the wars?

My take?

I believe it has a lot to do with oil companies making profits.

I also believe it has a lot to do with Iran developing nuclear weapons. If Iran officially gets involved with this thing between Israel and Lebanon, then it is an open door for the U.S. to go in and bomb the nuclear facilities. Like my husband mentioned on the drive home, this is a poker game, where the U.S. is hoping to up the anti.

In politics, history has taught us that usually wars are not always what they seem, or for reasons propaganda tries to brainwash us with.

What is truth?

2006-07-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Truth, like I have mentioned before, is like 6 blind men trying to see an elephant. They all see the elephant differently. And we all see the truth differently. Just because one person's truth does not match what someone else believes, does not necessarily make either of them wrong.

I remember in college, in Biology 403 & 404, Dr. F. would tell us that there is truth, and there is absolute truth. Truth is what we believe to be true. Absolute truth is what the universe knows is true. And he told us that what he was teaching us, we could learn tomorrow was all wrong. This happened to Newton as well as Einstein. Newton did not know about binary stars. Einstein did not know about quantum physics. These newer discoveries did not fit their theories. Yet, we still learn from Newton and Einstein, and we expand upon their truths.

Iraq in the Bible

2006-07-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

Set Your E-mail Free:

"1. The Garden of Eden was in Iraq.

2. Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, was the cradle of civilization!

3. Noah built the ark in Iraq.

4. The Tower of Babel was in Iraq

5. Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq!

6. Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor, which is in Iraq!

7. Jacob met Rachel in Iraq.

8. Jonah preached in Nineveh - which is in Iraq.

9. Assyria, which is in Iraq, conquered the ten tribes of Israel.

10. Amos cried out in Iraq!

11. Babylon, which is in Iraq, destroyed Jerusalem.

12. Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq!

13. The three Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq (Jesus had been in Iraq also as the fourth person in the Fiery furnace!)

14. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the 'writing on the wall' in Iraq.

15. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.

16. Ezekiel preached in Iraq.

17. The wise men were from Iraq

18. Peter preached in Iraq.

19. The 'Empire of Man' described in Revelation is calledBabylon, which was a city in Iraq!

And you have probably seen this one. Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq! However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia . The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deep roots.

Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible.

No other nation, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated it than Iraq."

O.K...I got this from a care2 friend of mine. We all know (ok...not all...there are people who still believe President Bush) that President Bush used 9/11 to wage war on Iraq, and that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. I posted this because I like the history.

If this doesn't open your eyes, nothing will!

2006-07-11T10:08:00.000-05:00

MSN Hotmail - Message: "SUBJECT:
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, DO YOU THINK THAT
THIS CAN BE STOPPED AT THIS POINT?How do you think that this is going
to affect your grand children in years to come?

From the L.A Times:

1. 40% of all workers in L.A. County (L.A. County
has 10 million people) are working for cash and not
paying taxes. This was because they are predominantly
illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

2. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are
for illegal aliens.

3. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los
Angeles are illegal aliens.

4. Over 2/3 of all births in Los Angeles County
are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal, whose
births were paid for by taxpayers.

5. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California
detention centers are Mexican nationals here
illegally.

6. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles
County are living in garages.

7. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los
Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of
the border.

8. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties
are illegal.

9. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish
speaking.

10. In L.A. County 5.1 million people speak
English. 3.9 million speak Spanish (10.2 million
people in L.A.County).

(All the above from the Los Angeles Times)

Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our
crops, but 29% are on welfare.

Over 70% of the United States' annual population
growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New
York) results from immigration.

The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer
in 1997 was, (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay),
a NET $70 BILLION a year, [Professor Donald Huddle,
Rice University]. The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes
paid minus services used) for the average adult
Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE number.

29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal
aliens.

If they can come to this country to raise Hell and
demonstration by the thousands, Why can't they take
charge over the corruption in their own country?

We are a bunch of fools for letting this continue.

THE U.S. VS MEXICO: On February 15, 1998, the
U.S. and Mexican soccer teams met at the Los Angeles
Coliseum. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Mexican
even though most lived in this country. They booed
during the National Anthem and U.S. flags were held
upside down. As the match progressed, supporters of
the U.S. team were insulted, pelted with projectiles,
punched and spat upon. Beer and trash were thrown at
the U.S. players before and after the match. The
coach of the U.S. team, Steve Sampson said, "This was
the most painful experience I have ever had in this
profession."

Did you know that immigrants from Mexico and other
non-European countries can come to this country and
get preferences in jobs, education, and government
contracts? It's called affirmative action or racial
privilege. The Emperor of Japan or the President of
Mexico could migrate here and immediately be eligible
for special rights unavailable for Americans of
European descent.

Recently, a vote was taken in the U.S. Congress to
end this practice. It was defeated. Every single
Democratic senator except Ernest Hollings voted to
maintain special privileges for Hispanic, Asian and
African immigrants. They were joined by thirteen
Republicans. Bill Clinton and Al Gore have repeatedly
stated that they believe that massive immigration fromcountries like
Mexico is good. They have also backed
special privileges for these immigrants.

Corporate America has signed on to the idea that
minorities and third world immigrants should get
special, privileged status. Some examples are Exxon,
Texaco, Merrill Lynch, Boeing, Paine Weber, Starbucks
and many more.

DID YOU KNOW?: That Mexico regularly intercedes
on the side of the defense in criminal cases involving
Mexican nationals? Did you know that Mexico has NEVER
extradited a Mexican national accused of murder in the
U.S. in spite of agreements to do so? According to
the L.A. Times, Orange County, California is home to
275 gangs with 17,000 members; 98% of which are
Mexican and Asian. How's your county doing?

According to a New York Times article dated May
19, 1994, 20 years after the great influx of legal
immigrants from Southeast Asia, 30% are still on
welfare compared to 8% of households nationwide. A
Wall Street Journal editorial dated December 5, 1994
quotes law enforcement officials as stating that Asian
mobsters are the "greatest criminal challenge the
country faces." Not bad for a group that is still
under 5% of the population.

Is education important to you? Here are the words
of a teacher who spent over 20 years in the Los
Angeles School system. "Imagine teachers in classes
containing 30-40 students of widely varying attention
spans and motivation, many of whom aren't fluent in
English. Educators seek learning materials likely to
reach the majority of students and that means fewer
words and math problems and more pictures and
multicultural references."

WHEN I WAS YOUNG: I remember hearing about the
immigrants that came through Ellis Island. They
wanted to learn English. They wanted to breathe free.
They wanted to become Americans. Now, far too many
immigrants come here with demands. They demand to be
taught in their own language. They demand special
privileges--affirmative action. They demand ethnic
studies that glorify their culture.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?: Send copies of this letter to
at least two other people, 100 would be even better.
Help us get the word out.
California Coalition for Immigration Reform
5942 Edinger, Suite 113-117
Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Phone 714-921-7142