Midwest Thinking

http://pattidickinson.wordpress.com/

2009-11-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

http://pattidickinson.wordpress.com/

We The People Stimulus Package

2009-11-09T08:38:00.001-06:00

When Revolution is the Only Answer

2009-02-27T13:21:00.003-06:00

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ...
And what country can preserve its liberties, if it's rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure."
by:
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US President
Source:
November 13, 1787, letter to William S. Smith, quoted in Padover's Jefferson On Democracy, ed., 1939

Obama's path still unclear, agenda unfocused

2009-01-18T10:07:00.001-06:00

By E. THOMAS MCCLANAHAN
The Kansas City Star

President-elect Barack Obama said recently that overhauling Social Security and Medicare would be central to his effort to curb federal spending.

That struck me as odd, for two reasons. I don’t recall any extended discussion of entitlement reform during the campaign, and the idea that federal spending will be curbed strains credulity in the face of the massive stimulus package taking shape.

It’s a strange moment. Here we are two days from Inauguration Day, yet I can’t recall any previous incoming president whose agenda and persona seemed more fuzzy.

Despite the long campaign, Barack Obama remains something of an enigma: community organizer, state senator, U.S. senator, presidential candidate and ultimate victor, a man with a scant resume on whom the nation’s hopes now ride.
Inaugurations of new presidents are always hopeful interludes. The beginning of a new administration also implies a new era, the crossing of a certain threshold. That’s especially true this time, thanks to the reeling economy and the profound sense of continuing crisis.

But the new era that’s about to dawn is — like Obama himself — extraordinarily ill-defined.

“They ran on change and were reticent about specifying what that change is going to be,” said Missouri State University political scientist George Connor. “I think that was a conscious decision on the part of the Obama campaign. Even their specifics weren’t that specific.”

Even at this late date, what Obama will do as president remains murky. In recent weeks, he has backed away from many of his most liberal campaign promises. Among them: pledges to impose a windfall profits tax on oil, withdraw rapidly from Iraq, allow openly gay men and lesbians to serve in the military, raise taxes on the wealthy and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Treaty.

He has appointed a Cabinet comprising largely well-known, competent centrists, to the acute discomfort of his allies on the left.

“Isn’t there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?” complained OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers.

Roger Hickey of the Campaign for America’s Future told Politico, “There’s a concern that he keep his basic promises, and people are going to watch him.”

Backing away from liberal campaign promises, in my opinion, is a good beginning. But it’s too early to say that the man judged the most liberal senator in 2007 by the National Journal has become a closet centrist.

Once the economy is on a more even keel, he’s not likely to back away from other key pledges. Government intervention into health care will increase massively. Those tax increases on families making more than $250,000 have only been delayed, not abandoned.

The massive stimulus package poses a grave danger if a huge spending increase becomes permanently embedded in the federal budget. That will lead to a permanently higher level of taxation and a lot less prosperity in the future.

A decade ago, the free market was in ascendancy. As Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw wrote in The Commanding Heights, “All around the globe, socialists are embracing capitalism, governments are selling off companies they had previously nationalized and countries are seeking to entice back multinational corporations that they had expelled just two decades earlier. … Today, politicians on the left admit that their governments can no longer afford the expansive welfare state, and American liberals recognize that more government may not hold the solution to every problem.”

Today that time — the late 1990s — seems quaint. The pendulum has swung back to another worldview, and Washington is now dominated by many who believe that, indeed, the solution to almost every problem is more government. Time will tell how it works out.

Obama certainly deserves every chance of success, but he’s more likely to find it if he sticks to his recently discovered centrist leanings.

To reach E. Thomas McClanahan, call 816-234-4480 or send e-mail to mcclanahan@kcstar.com.

What would Jack do?

2009-01-14T08:46:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:55:00.001-06:00

I wish you all a wonderful and loving Christmas.

Obama's Clinton-era picks tend to fit the Bill

2008-11-21T11:41:00.000-06:00

Hillary Clinton, former staffers up for top jobs

By Christi Parsons and Peter Nicholas | Washington Bureau
November 21, 2008
WASHINGTON — The roster shaping up for the Barack Obama administration is starting to look a little familiar, with an ironic pattern emerging as one name after another is added to the list.

A striking number of new and potential team members can trace their professional history to the same political birthplace—the administration of President Bill Clinton.

There's Sen. Hillary Clinton, of course, the former first lady now under consideration for secretary of state. And Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the former Bill Clinton aide who will be Obama's chief of staff. And Eric Holder, once top deputy to former Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and now Obama's likely pick for attorney general. There's the new White House lawyer, the budget director and so on.

For all his talk of transformation, Obama's earliest decisions suggest something odd: The more things change, the more they look like the 1990s. Some predict a Clinton Restoration in the making.

"Voters hoping to see Obama bring a lot of fresh faces to D.C. must be disappointed," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "So far, it's been more like Clinton.gov than Change.gov."

It makes sense that the incoming Democratic president might fish for talent in the same pond as the last Democratic president. If Obama is looking for depth of expertise, there's a good chance that many job prospects were in or around the White House a decade ago.

But there's a certain irony to the developing pattern, given Obama's campaign pledge not to spend the next four years "refighting the same fights that we had in the 1990s."

"There's no question about the talent level," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director and policy adviser to Republican John McCain's presidential campaign. "They have a public relations problem in the appearance of not really fulfilling the, quote, change mandate."

The Clinton alums began to populate the new team right away, when Obama picked Emanuel from Illinois' congressional delegation for the first big assignment. After serving as political director in the Clinton White House, Emanuel agreed to help assemble and captain Obama's team as chief of staff.

Since then, the names of former Clinton administration officials have flowed plentifully, with more than two dozen set either to serve on an Obama transition team or to staff positions in the new administration.

At the same time, Hillary Clinton appears to be a serious candidate to head the State Department. By some lights, Obama never really considered Clinton as his vice presidential running mate, instead floating her name for the job while never formally vetting her.

But Clinton friends believe Obama seems more serious now, and developments suggest she is getting a more thorough review.

Hoping to ease qualms about how the former president's tangled business dealings might affect his wife's shot at the job, Bill Clinton gave the Obama transition team a complete list of more than 200,000 donors to his presidential library and charitable foundation, according to a Democrat familiar with discussions between the two camps.

Clinton had not previously released that material, arguing many donors had given money believing the gifts would not be disclosed.

With that donor list in hand, Obama has important new information needed to investigate whether making her secretary of state might pose any conflicts of interest.

Clinton loyalists think her prospects of becoming secretary of state are improving as rivals for the position fall away. Allies of Clinton consider her possible nomination smart.

"You have to give the president-elect an incredible amount of credit for building a Cabinet with stars in it," said Gov. Ed Rendell, credited with helping Clinton win the Pennsylvania primary. "It goes against the grain. You're told, 'Don't have anyone in there with their own base of support, or too famous.' "

Still, Clinton could complicate things. Obama has a vast network of volunteers whom he is counting on to help him get what he wants out of Congress—supporters who worked for "change."

Tom Bethany, 22, briefly ran the Obama campus campaign organization at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He says he's worried about the abundance of people with ties to the Clinton White House landing jobs.

"I think Obama's message of change could very easily be lost," Bethany said.On the economic team, several Clinton veterans are in the mix. CBO Director Peter Orszag is the possible budget director.

And in an anxiously awaited pick, Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has been mentioned frequently as Obama's treasury secretary.

The fact that such positions are still up in the air makes it too early to guess the actual impact of a Clinton reunion, says Republican Holtz-Eakin.

"Key appointments haven't happened yet," he said. "The question is, 'What will he choose to do?' "

cparsons@tribune.com

peter.nicholas@latimes.com

2008-11-04T08:32:00.000-06:00

John McCain Brings Down The House! Alfred E. Smith Dinner Part 2

2008-10-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

John McCain Brings Down The House - Al Smith Dinner Part 1

2008-10-17T15:16:00.001-05:00

Obama is going to spread YOUR wealth round!

2008-10-17T15:03:00.000-05:00

Sounds like a socialist...

Inside Obama’s Acorn

2008-10-16T14:26:00.000-05:00

Inside Obama’s Acorn
By their fruits ye shall know them.

By Stanley Kurtz

What if Barack Obama’s most important radical connection has been hiding in plain sight all along? Obama has had an intimate and long-term association with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (Acorn), the largest radical group in America. If I told you Obama had close ties with MoveOn.org or Code Pink, you’d know what I was talking about. Acorn is at least as radical as these better-known groups, arguably more so. Yet because Acorn works locally, in carefully selected urban areas, its national profile is lower. Acorn likes it that way. And so, I’d wager, does Barack Obama...more

Who won the debate?

2008-10-03T09:34:00.002-05:00

Shocking Video Unearthed Democrats in their own words Covering up the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Scam that caused our Economic Cri

2008-09-30T08:39:00.001-05:00

Yes!

2008-09-29T13:20:00.002-05:00

The U.S. House of Representatives finally got one right! I'm so glad there were enough Republicans and Democrats willing to stand against more huge government! Who do you think got us into this mess? How was everything two years ago before the Dems got control of Congress. No leadership. None.

Real Ghosts Caught on Camera attacking people ⌂ ‡ part 2

2008-09-12T13:03:00.001-05:00

2008-09-09T08:18:00.001-05:00

NObama

2008-09-04T16:21:00.002-05:00

The truth comes out...

2008-08-27T12:16:00.002-05:00

Cardinals, Bishops, Congressmen Oppose Pelosi on Abortion
By Tim Waggoner
8/27/2008
LifeSiteNews (www.lifesitenews.com)

"As fellow Catholics and legislators, we wish you (Pelosi) would have made a more honest effort to lay out the authentic position of the Church on this core moral issue before attempting to address it with authority"

WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – "Catholic" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blatantly fallacious remarks on August 24 regarding the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion have triggered a tidal wave of criticisms from clergymen, congressmen and Catholics nationwide.

Responding to a question from NBC's Meet the Press moderator Tom Brokaw about when human life begins, Pelsosi appealed to her extensive research on the issue as well as her "ardent" Catholic faith to claim that, "I don't think anybody can tell you when life begins."

She asserted that "over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition," in attempt to support her pro-abortion and pro-contraception stance. Watch the full interview here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwUSt7dfj5I)

The response to Pelosi's statements has been intense as Catholic leaders across America are wondering how a "Catholic" with a self-proclaimed broad understanding of the Catholic Church's position on human life could have overseen the straightforward teaching contained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).

Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl quoted this teaching (section 2270-2271 of the CCC) in a letter responding to Pelosi's comments: "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception…Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable." (Catechism, 2270-2271)

Rebuking her, Archbishop Wuerl said that, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi misrepresented the history and nature of the authentic teaching of the Catholic Church against abortion."

Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Denver, also issued a release on Pelosi's remarks, explaining that Pelosi's belief that a woman has the "right to choose" to end her baby's life contradicts Catholic teaching and addressing her comments suggesting the Catholic Church has been polarized on the issue over the course of history.

None of the early Fathers "diminished the unique evil of abortion as an attack on life itself, and the early Church closely associated abortion with infanticide. In short, from the beginning, the believing Christian community held that abortion was always, gravely wrong," said Archbishop Chaput.

"Catholics who make excuses for it - whether they're famous or not - fool only themselves and abuse the fidelity of those Catholics who do sincerely seek to follow the Gospel and live their Catholic faith," he added.

Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Bishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Doctrine also wrote a response letter.

After mentioning the fact that scientists are certain that "a new human individual comes into being from the union of sperm and egg at fertilization," the bishops wrote, "In keeping with this modern understanding, the Church teaches that from the time of conception (fertilization), each member of the human species must be given the full respect due to a human person, beginning with respect for the fundamental right to life."

Edward Cardinal Egan of the Archdiocese of New York is another Church leader that has stepped up to defend the faith of his people. Please see upcoming separate LifeSiteNews.com coverage on his comments.

It was not only the leaders of the Church that felt the need to correct Pelosi. Ten congressmen have sent Pelosi a letter asking her to publicly rectify her misrepresentation of Catholic teachings.

"As fellow Catholics and legislators, we wish you (Pelosi) would have made a more honest effort to lay out the authentic position of the Church on this core moral issue before attempting to address it with authority," said the congressmen. "Your subsequent remarks mangle Catholic Church doctrine regarding the inherent sanctity and dignity of human life; therefore, we are compelled to refute your error."

"To reduce the scandal and consternation caused amongst the faithful by your remarks, we necessarily write you to correct the public record and affirm the Church's actual and historical teaching that defends the sanctity of human life," concluded their letter, which contained the following signatures.

Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (MI)
Hon. Steve Chabot (OH)
Hon. Virginia Foxx (NC)
Hon. Phil Gingrey (GA)
Hon. Peter King (NY)
Hon. Steve King (IA)
Hon. Daniel Lungren (CA)
Hon. Devin Nunes (CA)
Hon. John Sullivan (OK)
Hon. Patrick Tiberi (OH)

2008-08-26T16:01:00.001-05:00

Move the Clouds

2008-08-25T08:22:00.000-05:00

Move the clouds and Mary
Past Windmill Hill.
The place
Where we were born again
So long ago and away -
From stone cave and sea.

Move my soul and Mary
Past the accident of words
Where we lie
In sleep
Our minds the place
Where we are born again.

Like all the times before
Holding (fighting)
When I saw a bird hit
By a car
(Not dead until a second pass) and pain.
A car leaving and
The woman screaming
"Don't!"
Trying to absorb quiet.
Again
Washing the mind.
Sleep.
In threes
How many times the three
Will come
To windmill Hill
Until we
Move the clouds and Mary.

LINK

Hey

2008-08-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to try this.

----------------
Now playing: Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield - The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
via FoxyTunes

BLOG

2008-08-22T15:06:00.002-05:00

I have a BLOG that I'm updating on a daily basis. Please visit it. It is called "10 Past Midnight" and can be found HERE.

How to work out a crop circle is man made GUARANTEED!

2008-08-15T22:13:00.001-05:00

New BLOG

2008-08-11T20:42:00.001-05:00

Make sure to check out my new BLOG 10 Past Midnight. You can see it here. This is a BLOG dedicated to my photography and writing. It is updated every day.

Copyright Information

2008-08-05T12:48:00.001-05:00

All contents of this blog are Copyright ©2009 by Wood Dickinson. All rights are reserved. Any content from other sources are covered by their copyright and used by fair use. All content from other sites are properly identified. Please email me if you have any questions.

The Truth!

2008-08-05T10:15:00.001-05:00

The One

2008-08-01T13:30:00.002-05:00

Look at the new AD.

2008-08-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

Now Out!

2008-06-26T13:52:00.002-05:00

Rent or buy

Out Today

2008-06-24T08:01:00.003-05:00

Order the new film

Raising Jeffrey Dahmer

order here

Obama: I’ll Fight To Strip Telecom Immunity From FISA

2008-06-22T19:33:00.001-05:00

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., issued a statement in support of the House’s update of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but said he would try to strip a provision granting immunity to telecommunication companies when the bill comes to a vote in the Senate next week.

The House approved a compromise bill Friday that would set new electronic surveillance rules that would also shield telecoms from lawsuits arising from their participation in the government’s warrantless eavesdropping on telephone and computer lines in the United States... Read More

WOW

2008-06-06T09:44:00.001-05:00

Jobs: 'Not as bad as we thought'

2008-06-04T13:24:00.000-05:00

Employers trim payroll for fourth straight month, although decline is less than forecasts. Unemployment rate dips to 5%.

-read more-

Another Global Warming Hoax exposed

2008-06-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs

2008-05-28T18:33:00.002-05:00

By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 1:08 AM on 27th May 2008

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.

But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.

The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is 'ahead of its time'.

The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.

For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.

Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.
Enlarge Tim Yeo

MP Tim Yeo MP, says the scheme could be more effective at cutting Britain's greenhouse gas emissions

Mr Yeo, chairman of the committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with a low carbon footprint with cash.

'We found that personal carbon trading has real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way,' he said.

'The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. It is important to meet these challenges.

'What we are asking the Government to do is to seize the reins on this, leading the debate and coordinating research.'

The Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.

The Climate Change Bill going through Parliament aims to cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. The Government has said it backs the idea in principle, but it is currently too expensive and bureaucratic.

Environment Minister Hilary Benn said: 'It's got potential but, in essence, it's ahead of its time. There are a lot of practical problems to overcome.'

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report into the scheme found it would cost between £700million and £2billion to set up and up to another £2billion a year to run.

Tory environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth added: 'Although it does have potential we should proceed with care. We don't want to alienate people and we want everyone to be on board.'

But critics say the idea is deeply flawed. The scheme would penalise those living in the countryside who were dependent on their cars, as well as the elderly or housebound who need to heat their homes in the day.

Large families would suffer, as would those working at nights when little public transport is available.

It would need to take into account the size of families, and their ages. There is huge potential for fraud.

Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said the cards would be hugely unpopular. 'The Government has shown itself incapable of managing any huge, complex IT system.' he said.
HOW THE SCHEME WOULD WORK

Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.

The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.

Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.

A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.

When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.

When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.

Anyone who doesn't use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.

source

Here is our future

2008-05-28T18:29:00.002-05:00

In the Cards

Brits consider radical plan to measure personal emissions
By Mike Wendling

What would you be willing to do to slow climate change?

Oh sure, you might drive and fly less. You might already have, like me, signed up for a green-energy plan. But would you hand over an ID card every time you filled up your gas tank? Would you let the government track each time you turned on your washing machine or computer? How about your nose-hair trimmer?

Residents of the U.K. might soon be compelled to take such measures. Although it hasn't received much publicity outside the climate-research community, the dry-sounding yet radical idea of "Domestic Tradable Quotas" -- basically, personal energy rationing -- already has some influential backers in Britain.

I first stumbled upon this concept while putting together a radio documentary on the cultural effects of climate change. My journey began on a train from London to Norwich, a city in eastern England that's home to one of the country's main climate-research hubs, the Tyndall Center.

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A scientist friend of mine who works at the center had promised to show me around and make a few introductions. Before that, however, she showed me a recent paper written by a few of her colleagues. "If you're really interested in this sort of thing," she said, "you've got to check out this."

The paper was titled "Domestic Tradable Quotas: A policy instrument for the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions" [PDF]. At the time, as you can imagine, I stifled a yawn and said, "Oh yeah, thanks" -- but the laziness that passes for journalistic skepticism evaporated as I digested the report's language.

Here's how it would work. Every resident of the U.K. would receive an annual, identical allocation of carbon units, a number that would be reduced each year in line with the government's climate-change goals. Each energy-quaffing Brit would also be issued a plastic card, like a climate-change Visa with an environmental spending limit. Every time cardholders used carbon-based energy -- for example, by buying fuel or electricity -- they'd have to swipe the card, and a number of DTQ points would be deducted.

According to research by Tina Fawcett of the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University, personal emissions among Britons currently vary by a factor of up to 12 -- so capping everyone's energy use at the same level might be a recipe for all sorts of trouble, in the nation that brought us soccer hooligans. But low-carbon users who don't drive or fly much would be able to sell their excess units to Hummer owners, jet-setters, and others who refuse to get on the energy-reduction bandwagon. Under the model being studied, the units' financial value would fluctuate throughout the year according to supply and demand, creating a government-supervised free market in carbon emissions.

Let's Get Personal

Armed with this eye-opening report, I tracked down one of its primary researchers, Kevin Anderson. Since his research was peppered with phrases such as "equal per capita basis," "trans-community theory of justice," and even "communitarianism," my mind was swimming with images of a bearded, sickle-waving Marxist. I was, of course, wrong. One of the main men looking at the possibility of thrusting Britain headfirst into a low-carbon economy is a friendly, perfectly reasonable chap.

"If we collectively decide to reduce the amount of carbon we emit, we have to decide what is a fair way of doing that," he told me. "This scheme means that every individual, whether you're the queen or someone living on a poor housing estate, will get the same allocation." He suggested the economic effects of DTQs might not be too profound. People would be expected to change their behavior, he explained; faced with the financial disincentive of having to shell out at the end of the year for extra credits, he believes most would.

Queen Elizabeth.
Will the queen have to hoof it?
Photo: Tom Hanks.
Much to my surprise, Anderson also told me that DTQs had already been considered in Parliament -- albeit as part of a "10-minute rule bill," a truncated legislative proposal that's more of an attention-getting device than a serious attempt at passing a law. The bill's sponsor was Member of Parliament Colin Challen.

"We have to get far more personal in the ways we tackle carbon emissions," Challen told me. "A voluntary approach will only get through to about 20 percent of the population." He said he'll propose DTQs again in the current session of Parliament, in hopes of getting more people interested. He's found some support among his colleagues, but says some elements in the Department of Trade and Industry and in the Treasury are "understandably wary" of the proposal.

Challen heads a parliamentary group on climate change. But he's a "backbencher" -- the rough equivalent of a junior member of Congress -- and although he does belong to the ruling Labor Party, he'd be the first to admit that his sway over Tony Blair is somewhat limited. So, after chatting with him, I rang up MP Elliot Morley, a minister in the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs who has special responsibility for climate change. He does have Blair's ear, and in all honesty I expected him to be a bit frosty to such a radical plan -- that is, if he knew much about it at all.

Wrong again.

"Personal carbon allowances are a very attractive intellectual idea," he told me by phone while on a chatter-filled train. "The implementation would potentially be very expensive, but that shouldn't stop us from looking at the arguments."

Although the details have yet to be worked out, the government would have to either establish or sponsor the establishment of a nationwide database, produce and distribute the carbon cards, and make sure the whole system runs smoothly once it's in place. Some of the costs could potentially be passed on to members of the public.

"There is a big job involved in explaining the idea of carbon allowances to the public," Morley pointed out. "[But] we shouldn't rule any idea out just on this basis."

So ... No Twisted Knickers?

For a serious plan that could have an astonishing impact on the country's environment, politics, and economics, DTQs have received scant attention from London's usually feverish press. Perhaps that's because the idea is relatively new, and there are a few major problems that have yet to be even looked at, much less ironed out. (I'm sure it has nothing to do with Jude Law.)

One major issue would be the complexity of toting up and transferring, buying, and selling carbon points. At a very basic level, it might be difficult to determine what kinds of transactions would be included. My wife's car commute to work certainly would, but what about mine and Elliot Morley's long-distance train rides? Or the energy my computer is using while I write this story? Or even the purchase of a head of lettuce that was trucked in to a grocery store? The question of if and how the energy from these economic interactions would be counted is far from straightforward.

Then there's the issue of having an extraordinary amount of personal detail in a centralized government database. Britons have already dealt with a recent proliferation of public closed-circuit television cameras (of the type used to capture suspects' images in the recent bombings); a central London "congestion charge" program that keeps detailed records of license plates and vehicle movements; and a nasty legislative fight over mandatory ID cards.

In fact, some activists worry that Blair could piggyback DTQs onto ID cards in a massive attempt to greenwash the latter and make them more palatable to his center-left base. But, says Michael Parker, spokesperson for No2ID, an anti-identification-card organization, "There's clearly many other ways in which such a [carbon-trading] scheme could be offered without adding the massive bureaucracy of an ID-card system."

Despite these potential problems, Challen says DTQ implementation is "not a matter of if, but when." Anderson predicted a program could be set up within four to 10 years. Last month, the influential Sustainable Development Commission, which reports to the prime minister, recommended that the government "formally consider" the proposal within two years. With the government taking the issue seriously, researchers are whispering about a critical mass and scrambling for funding to advance their studies, while NGOs and charities pay close attention as well.

In other words, the queen might want to look into switching full-time to the old-school renewable horse-and-buggy -- just in case.

source

Over the past 30 years:

2008-05-28T18:23:00.002-05:00

Which party blocked the development of new sources of petroleum?-- Democrat
Which party blocked drilling in ANWR?-- Democrat
Which party blocked drilling off the coast of Florida?-- Democrat
Which party blocked drilling off of the east coast?-- Democrat
Which party blocked drilling off of the west coast?-- Democrat
Which party blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast?-- Democrat
Which party blocked building oil refineries?-- Democrat
Which party blocked clean nuclear energy production?-- Democrat
Which party blocked clean coal production?-- Democrat

read more

Bill Maher: Pope ‘Used to be a Nazi’; Compares Church to Cult, Bear Stearns

2008-05-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

visit source
By Matthew Balan | April 14, 2008 - 12:28 ET

Bill Maher, true to form on his "Real Time" program on HBO on Friday, went on a tirade against Pope Benedict XVI and the Catholic Church, only days before the Pope’s visit to the U.S.. He stated that the Pope "used to be a Nazi" and compared him to a cult leader. He then went on to call the Church a "child-abusing religious cult" and "the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia." "And that’s the Church’s attitude: 'We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,' which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion."

Following a profanity-tinged one-liner concerning the raid on the Texas compound of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Maher quipped, "In fact, whenever a cult leader sets himself up as God’s infallible wingman here on Earth, lock away the kids. Which is why I’d like to tip off law enforcement to an even larger child-abusing religious cult. Its leader also has a compound, and this guy not only operates outside the bounds of the law, but he used to be a Nazi and he wears funny hats. That’s right, the Pope is coming to America this week and ladies, he’s single!" At the "funny hat" line, Maher displayed a picture of Pope Benedict wearing a wide-brimmed hat called a saturno

Maher’s smear to the contrary, Pope Benedict didn’t "used to be a Nazi." In fact, as the New York Times itself reported after the Pope’s election in 2005, Pope Benedict’s father was anti-Nazi, and "Joseph Ratzinger [the Pope’s birth name] huddled with his father and older brother around a radio and listened to Allied radio broadcasts," an act that if they were caught doing, they would have been sent to a concentration camp.

Maher then devoted the rest of his anti-Catholic rant to the clergy sex abuse scandal angle. [Audio of the highlights from this rant are available here.]

MAHER: Now I know what you’re thinking: "Bill, you shouldn’t be saying that the Catholic Church is no better than this creepy Texas cult." For one thing, altar boys can’t even get pregnant. But really, what tripped up the little cult on the prairie was that they only abused hundreds of kids, not thousands, all over the world. Cults get raided, religions get parades. How does the Catholic Church get away with all of their buggery? Volume, volume, volume!

If you have a few hundred followers, and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If have a billion, they call you 'Pope.' It’s like, if you can’t pay your mortgage, you’re a deadbeat. But if you can’t pay a million mortgages, you’re BearStearns and we bail you out. And that is who the Catholic Church is: the BearStearns of organized pedophilia -- too big, too fat. When the current pope was in his previous Vatican job as John Paul’s Dick Cheney, he wrote a letter instructing every Catholic bishop to keep the sex abuse of minors secret until the Statute of Limitations ran out. And that’s the Church’s attitude: 'We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it,' which is fine, far be it from me to criticize religion. But just remember one thing: if the Pope was -- instead of a religious figure -- merely the CEO of a nationwide chain of day care centers, where thousands of employees had been caught molesting kids and then covering it up, he'd be arrested faster than you can say 'who wants to touch Mr. Wiggle?'

Maher grossly misrepresented the contents of the 2001 letter then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote to the bishops. He did not tell them to "keep the sex abuse of minors of State of Limitations ran out." The letter clarified that the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had jurisdiction according to the Church’s law (canon law) to try clerics concerning abuses of the sacraments, and also, as the letter put it, a "delict against morals, namely: the delict committed by a cleric against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue [thou shall not commit adultery] with a minor below the age of 18 years."

Maher has a long record of mocking religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. A few months earlier in January 2008, Maher mocked Catholics’ belief concerning the Eucharist and called Jesus a "2,000 year-old space god." In May 2007, he compared the sacrament to gay oral sex. And in April 2007, he joked about President Bush attending the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast and how "you could tell this was a Catholic prayer breakfast because [Maher laughs] it was in the morning and he said 'I'm dying for a little joe' and they brought him an altar boy."

—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.

Obama: "We can't drive Our SUV's and eat as much as we want..."

2008-05-20T14:58:00.001-05:00

"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK," Obama said. "That's not leadership. That's not going to happen," he added.

OK - so you want the government to tell you what car to drive (or car you CAN'T drive), what you can and can't eat as well as control your thermostat! WOW. Not me. I want to live in a free country.

Truth and Lies

2008-05-16T10:56:00.002-05:00

It is vital today to be able to tell that which is true from that which is a lie. This counts in all areas of your file. We are bombarded daily by a view of the world that is full of lies. We must look young to be happy. We don't need to be married to show commitment. To name a few.

Belief in God is being back benched. I can talk in public schools about all religions and religious figures as long as they aren't Jewish or Christian. If I bring up Jesus then I have crossed some line of separation of church and state. That too is a lie.

You can separate yourself from God or you can live a life in accordance with his will. God will not separate himself from you. The real problem is God will sit in judgement of your actions someday and a lot of us don't want that. We want to do what we please. We think if we just say, I don't believe in God, that how this all works will change.

Do you really want to believe that lie?

Massive quake kills nearly 10,000 in China

2008-05-12T20:16:00.003-05:00

CHENGDU, China - A powerful earthquake toppled buildings, schools and a chemical plant Monday in central China, killing nearly 10,000 people and trapping untold numbers in mounds of concrete, steel and earth in the worst quake in three decades.

The 7.9-magnitude quake devastated a region of small cities and towns set amid steep hills north of Sichuan’s provincial capital of Chengdu. Striking in midafternoon, it emptied office buildings across the country in Beijing and could be felt as far away as Vietnam.

Snippets from the state-run Xinhua News Agency and photos posted on the Internet underscored the immense scale of the devastation. In the town of Juyuan, south of the epicenter, a three-story high school collapsed, burying as many as 900 students and killing at least 50, Xinhua said. Photos showed people using cranes, mechanical hoists and their hands to remove slabs of concrete and steel. As many as 2,300 people were still buried under rubble, Xinhua said.

Teenagers struggled to break free from the rubble, “while others were crying out for help,” Xinhua said. Families waited in the rain near the wreckage as rescuers wrote the names of the dead on a blackboard, the news agency reported.

Parents of the dead students built makeshift religious altars at the site, resting the corpses on any available piece of plywood or cardboard, and burning paper money and incense in a traditional honor for their child in the afterlife, according to NPR’s Melissa Block.

In Beichuan county, northeast of the epicenter, 80 percent of the buildings fell, and 10,000 people were injured, Xinhua said. Men younger than 50 were ordered to bring tools to the area to help dig out any survivors. About 600 people died in Shifang city, which was the site of a major chemical leak. The Xinhua report did not say whether people were killed by the quake or the chemical leak.

'We're afraid'
The earthquake hit one of the last homes of the giant panda at the Wolong Nature Reserve and panda breeding center, in Wenchuan county, which remained out of contact, Xinhua said.

In Chengdu, it crashed telephone networks and hours later left parts of the city of 10 million in darkness.

AP - source

Coming soon

2008-05-09T14:46:00.001-05:00

My film Raising Jeffrey Dahmer will be out June 24, 2008! You can pre-order at Amazon. Click here.

GlobalWarmingHoax

2008-05-09T13:13:00.001-05:00

Look at the other side of the question...here

UFO Alert: FAA Silences Air Traffic Controllers and Hoax Theory has Problems

2008-04-29T09:21:00.001-05:00

April 26, 2008 at 06:44:46

by Bill Knell Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.com - source-

Tell A Friend

On Monday, April 21, 2008, odd red lights appeared in the sky over Phoenix, Arizona. Video and photos were taken and Air Traffic Controllers in the main tower at Sky Harbor International Airport saw them. The FFA says that the lights did not appear on radar and weren't a threat to any air traffic, so no action was taken. However, the FAA has issued a statement saying that they will not allow the Air Traffic Controllers to talk about what they saw.

According to regional FAA Spokesperson Ian Gregor, it's against agency policy to allow the ATCs to discuss what they saw. The Phoenix New Times reported the story about the silencing of the Sky Harbor Air Traffic Controllers. They have already filed an official request to receive any documents or recordings that contain statements about the lights by the ATCs.

When asked what the FAA plans to do about the appearance of the lights in the sky over Phoenix on Monday night, FAA Spokesperson Ian Gregor said, "There is nothing to investigate." This is in direct opposition to the FAA policy to investigate anything and everything strange that might be reported in the sky over the USA. That policy has been in place since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01.

Just a day after the lights were spotted, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported that Phoenix resident Lino Mailo claimed his neighbor launched several helium balloons with flares on them. Lilo says the balloons went up in the sky from his neighbor's yard around 8pm on Monday night. A Phoenix Police Helicopter Pilot also says that he saw what he believed were helium balloons with flares hanging from them. Despite these claims, there are some problems with the helium balloons explanation.

After hearing the hoax story, I contacted a friend who lives in Phoenix. He agreed to try and reach Mailo or his neighbor. Since the article came out on Tuesday, attempts to contact Lino Mailo have failed. He does not answer his door and his neighbor wasn't home when my friend stopped by on two occasions. In fact, people living two houses down from Mailo say that they know Lino's next store neighbor and he was not home on Monday night. They claim they were out in their own backyard that evening and would have seen balloons with flares being launched. They also agreed to ask him about the flare story when they next see or speak with him.

By contrast, a number of witnesses have come forward to say that jets took off from Luke Air Force Base on Monday night. Luke still claims they had no aircraft in the sky that evening. Further, I asked Kelly Atwood, a professional photographic software expert, to take a look at the video and photos from 4/21/08 lights event. She has extensive experience examining UFO photos for legitimacy and has been able to identify many hoaxes involving balloons, dry cleaning bags and flares.

Kelly says that the lights were too bright and the wrong color to be flares. She also states that the video does not show the normal affect that flares exhibit as they burn. Instead, the lights resemble objects that would have been much larger with a steady source of illumination. Kelly lives in phoenix, but was working on Monday night and didn't see the lights.

Apart from the holes in the hoax story, the FAA issues and Luke Air Force Base denials that jets were in the air when residents living near Luke say jets taking off, there are other things that point to the fact that strange lights have been back over Phoenix for some time. All told, there have been hundreds of reports about strange lights and unidentified objects in the Phoenix area since the original March 13, 1997 infamous 'Phoenix Lights' event. Many of the reports include photos, video, and come from credible witnesses.

http://www.ufoguy.com

Bill Knell is a popular Speaker, Author and Consultant with eclectic interests. Best known for his Paranormal Research and Seminars, Bill also excels in the area of personal, business and financial advice and management. Featured in the Wall Street Journal, Omni, the L.A. Times, Toronto Star and NY Times; seen on CNN, NBC Nightly News, Fox Television and many Cable Networks; heard on Mancow, Bob and Tom and Howard Stern; consultant to films like Independence Day, Men in Black, the Fifth Element and World of the Worlds.

UPDATE: Valley man: I was behind mystery lights in sky

2008-04-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Wednesday morning
PHOENIX -- Phoenix residents and the media still are abuzz over the mysterious four red lights that appeared in Monday night's sky in north Phoenix.

A man who lives on the north side of the city, however, claims he's responsible.

-more-

Gore Used Fictional Video to Illustrate ‘Inconvenient Truth’

2008-04-23T09:14:00.001-05:00

By Noel Sheppard | April 22, 2008 - 09:53 ET

It goes without saying that climate realists around the world believe Nobel Laureate Al Gore used false information throughout his schlockumentary "An Inconvenient Truth" in order to generate global warming hysteria.

On Friday, it was revealed by ABC News that one of the famous shots of supposed Antarctic ice shelves in the film was actually a computer-generated image from the 2004 science fiction blockbuster "The Day After Tomorrow."

link

China seen as biggest threat to stability

2008-04-15T11:41:00.002-05:00

By Ben Hall in Paris and Geoff Dyer in Shanghai
Published: April 15 2008 01:51 | Last updated: April 15 2008 01:51

China has overtaken the US as the biggest threat to global stability in the eyes of Europeans, according to a Harris opinion poll for the Financial Times.

The recent wave of protests and riots in Tibet and the ensuing Chinese crackdown, together with competition from cheap Chinese exports, appear to have dramatically hardened opinion, with the proportion of Europeans who saw China as the biggest threat almost doubling since last year.

The FT/Harris poll, carried out between March 27 and April 8, found an average of 35 per cent of respondents in five European countries saw China as a bigger threat to global stability than any other state. In the US, 31 per cent of respondents also named China, putting it way above Iran and North Korea, which were both perceived as greater threats last year.

The poll was carried out shortly after the unrest in Tibet and during the early stages of the controversial Olympic torch relay. But there were already rising tensions between the European Union and China over trade issues and exchange rates.

Italians were the most concerned about China with 47 per cent naming the country as the biggest threat, compared with 26 per cent when the question was last asked in June 2007. The Italian reaction was primarily an expression of resentment at unfair competition from Chinese manufacturers, said Marta Dassù, director of the Aspen Institute Italia, a Rome-based think-tank. “China is a symbol of what Italians dislike about globalisation,” she said.

The latest Harris poll found that China was the biggest threat for 36 per cent in France, up from 22 per cent last year, 35 per cent in Germany, up from 18 per cent, and 27 per cent in the UK, up from 16 per cent. All three last year ranked the US as a bigger threat.

Only inhabitants of Spain still considered the US to be a bigger threat than China, by 41 per cent to 28 per cent.

“The profile has changed,” said Mark Leonard, executive director of the European Council on Foreign Relations and author of What Does China Think?

“The story of the last five years has been about economic opportunities. The story of the last six months has been about China as a threat in Darfur and in Tibet.” The little that Europeans knew about China came from news coverage, recently unfavourable, whereas they were constantly consuming US popular culture, Mr Leonard explained.

The US was considered to be the biggest threat by 29 per cent of respondents in Europe, down from 32 per cent in June, which could indicate a softening of attitudes to the administration of George W. Bush as it reaches its final months.

www.ft.com/harrispoll

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Vision

2008-02-22T23:46:00.003-06:00

by Wood Dickinson

It sure seems to me that none of the presidential candidates have any true vision for America. It seems like they only wish to remake America in an image other than what our founding fathers had in mind. They want to control us through taxing us, making us get health care insurance or manipulate the economy.

Give away all they can at the expense of those in America who have been the most successful. Its like those of us who have done well and have some money are inherently evil people and don't care a wit about anyone less fortunate that ourselves.

We as a people can and do take care of each other and we also work hard to get ahead. There is no reason why I should give a penny to someone who refuses to work as hard as they can to help them selves.

I stand ready to help those truly in need. Where ever in the world they are. Americans are the most giving people on this planet.

We have no one running for president with vision and a passion to REALLY change things.

Climate Confusion: How Global Warming Leads to Bad Science, Pandering politicians and Misguided Policies that Hurt the Poor (Hardcover)

2008-02-12T14:42:00.000-06:00

by Roy Spencer (Author)

ORDER TODAY

Book Description
Roy Spencer shows that fears about global warming are vastly exaggerated and are driven by politics, not truth. A global superstorm has already arrived - but it is a storm of hype and hysteria. This ground-breaking book combines impeccable scientific authority with great wit to expose the hysteria surrounding the myths of global warming and climate change. Spencer shows that the earth is far more resilient than we think.

About the Author
Roy Spencer is a principal research scientist for the University of Alabama in Huntsville. In the past, he has served as Senior Scientist for Climate Studies at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Clinton sacks her campaign manager

2008-02-11T09:36:00.001-06:00

Anne Davies Herald Correspondent in Washington
February 12, 2008
-source-

HILLARY CLINTON has replaced her campaign manager in an attempt to shake up her presidential campaign, which is struggling to overcome the financial and political strengths of her rival, Barack Obama.

After a string of losses Senator Clinton sacked Patti Solis Doyle and replaced her with her long-time aide Maggie Williams.

Senator Clinton did not say why she had made the change, and a Clinton spokesman said the move did not reflect a shift in strategy.

But Larry Sabato, a professor of political science at the University of Virginia, told Reuters the move "can't be a good sign".

Despite freezing temperatures and snow, Democrat voters in Maine turned out to hand another caucus win to Senator Obama on Sunday, providing him with a clean sweep of the weekend's primary contests.

The win, which was achieved with 54 per cent of the vote to Senator Clinton's 33 per cent, will result in his securing at least 13 delegates to her eight, with three still to be determined.

Senator Obama now enters today's so-called Potomac Primary, when 240 delegates are up for grabs, with a winner's momentum and a huge fundraising advantage. He is likely to sweep all three primaries, with big wins in Maryland and the District of Columbia, which have large black populations, and with a handy victory in Virginia.

That should catapult him to the lead in the race for delegates to the Democrat national convention in August.

The Associated Press count, which includes some of the 796 "super-delegates" - governors, party officials and former presidents who have already declared their allegiance - puts Senator Clinton in the lead, with 1135 to Senator Obama's 1106 of the 2025 votes needed to win the party's nomination.

There were reports that John Edwards had a meeting with Senator Clinton at the weekend and was to meet Senator Obama this week to discuss the fate of the 26 delegates he amassed before pulling out of the Democrat race a fortnight ago.

Meanwhile, Mike Huckabee was basking in surprisingly strong victories in the Republican primaries in Louisiana and Kansas, and a narrow loss in Washington state on the weekend.

It is difficult to see how the former Arkansas governor can win the nomination because Senator John McCain is 500 delegates ahead after Super Tuesday but Mr Huckabee has vowed to stay in the race until a candidate earns the 1191 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination.

Asked on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday whether he was angling to be vice-president, he replied: "The question you ought to be asking me is, 'Would John McCain be my running mate?' "

On Sunday the President, George Bush, who has yet to endorse a candidate, gave Senator McCain a boost by vouching for his conservative credentials - which has been an issue for some Republican commentators.

"I think that if John is the nominee, he has got some convincing to do … that he is a solid conservative and I'll be glad to help him if he is the nominee," Mr Bush said. "But he is a conservative. Look, he is very strong on national defence. He is tough fiscally. He believes the tax cuts ought to be permanent. He is pro-life. His principles are sound and solid as far as I'm concerned."

"Anomaly" Discovered Beneath Ice in Antarctica

2008-02-11T09:31:00.001-06:00

WASHINGTON (AMP) - A spy satellite image of Antarctica reveals an "anomaly" two miles beneath the ice that could be a man-made structure, according to Congressional investigators who are demanding release of the image from the Pentagon.

The explosive revelation about the anomaly, located at the epicenter of recent seismic activity in East Antarctica, prompted an immediate denial from the Defense Department and feverish speculation among members of the international intelligence and archeological communities.

"If it's something the U.S. military has constructed down there, then they're violating the international Antarctic Treaty," said an aide to Nicole Fontaine, the European Parliament's French president who in the past has accused the U.S. of spying on European citizens. "If not, then it's something that's at least 12,000 years old, which is how long ice has covered Antarctica. That would make it the oldest man-made structure on the planet. The Pentagon should heed the calls of Congress and release whatever it's hiding."

The existence of the classified satellite image was reported this week by an unidentified federal agent who infiltrated the Pentagon last year during a General Accounting Office audit of lax security at 19 government installations. The sting operation, in which federal investigators carrying fake law enforcement credentials penetrated the FBI, CIA and State Department, was similar to one several years ago that embarrassed the Clinton Administration and prompted the hearings on Capitol Hill.

The image may have been captured by one of three missing U.S. spy satellites that space observers suspect have been moved into secret orbits over Antarctica to avoid detection.

But if history is any indicator, Congress will have to wait some time to catch a glimpse of any images captured by the satellites. It was only in 1999 that former President Bill Clinton decided to finally release Cold War spy satellite images of Antarctica to help scientists gauge the effects of the depleted ozone layer and global warming on the polar cap.

Visiting Christchurch, New Zealand, the main staging post for Antarctic expeditions, Clinton announced that the U.S. National Imagery and Mapping Agency was releasing seven previously classified Cold War images of Antarctica. The digital images, taken in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, provide detailed snapshots of the Dry Valleys region, a vast terrain of about 7,500 square miles shrouded in darkness for much of the year.

At the time, Clinton ignored questions about a secret American military installation in Antarctica, making a plea for the world to grapple with global warming and the fragility of the South Pole. "Unless we change course, most scientists believe the seas will rise so high they will swallow whole islands and coastal areas," he told several hundred people at New Zealand's International Antarctic Centre.

The Bush Administration, meanwhile, has refused to comment on the latest revelations and said it would not release any recent satellite overheads of Antarctica, citing "national security" concerns.

Story source:http://www.lantis.tv/amp/releases/anomaly.html

Related Links:
• Admiral Richard B. Byrd's Diary
• The Legend on the Piri Reis Map

HILLARY CLINTON WILL GO FOR BROKE

2008-02-07T11:20:00.000-06:00

PUTS UP HER OWN $5M AS TOP AIDES GO WITHOUT PAY
By DAPHNE RETTER in Arlington, Va., and MAGGIE HABERMAN in New York

February 7, 2008 -- Hillary Rodham Clinton personally lent her cash-strapped campaign $5 million late last month, and some top staffers are now going without pay, officials acknowledged yesterday.

The moves were revealed as Clinton and Barack Obama hun kered down for a war of attrition for the Democratic nomination after Super Tuesday failed to crown a winner. And a series of contests in the coming weeks seem likely to favor the Illinois senator.

EDITORIAL: Democrats's Danger

"My opponent was able to raise more money, and we intended to be competitive and we were. I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment," Clinton told re porters yesterday, after spokesman Howard Wolfson confirmed the loan.

At a stop in Iowa in December, Bill Clinton raised the issue of funding his wife's campaign. He told a crowd, "They say you couldn't stop me from spending all the money I've saved over the last five years if I wanted to, even though it would clearly violate the spirit of campaign-finance reform."

But yesterday Hillary Clinton made clear what the source of the $5 million was.

"From my money - that's where I got the money," she quipped.

Pressed on whether she was prepared to go beyond her initial $5 million payout, Clinton demurred and said, "I'm just going to leave it." But she is said to be weighing an additional loan.

Officials confirmed that some staffers have "voluntarily chosen to work without pay this month," including campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle - a move that echoes one by Rudy Giuliani's campaign last month when it hit the skids.

The development signaled serious problems in terms of resources, and could complicate fund-raising in the days to come as Clinton does battle in major states like Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania.

Within hours of Clinton's announcement, Obama's campaign manager sent out a fund-raising appeal by e-mail, saying the campaign had raised more than $3 million since Tuesday night and adding, "We have no choice - we must match their $5 million right now."

The Clintons' personal fortune is estimated between $10 million and $50 million, according to financial-disclosure forms. The couple's riches are due to advances and book sales from Bill and Hill's respective memoirs, and Bill's ton's highly lucrative turn on the lecture circuit.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Bill Clinton was due to receive a payout as large as $20 million as he disentangled from a financial deal with billionaire Ron Burkle, although sources said that deal hasn't been cut yet.

But the New York senator's answer yesterday firmly indicated she was drawing from her own pool of cash, which includes more than $7 million in a book advance for "Living History," and more than $3.5 million in royalties.

The timing of the loan was in the final weeks before Super Tuesday, as Sen. Clinton was battling for delegate-rich states against Obama.

Sources said there was little debate about it, and that "she just did it when it was clear we needed it."

"The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton's commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation," said Wolfson, who addressed the issue after it was raised on a conference call yesterday morning by a reporter.

"We have had one of our best fund-raising efforts ever on the Web today, and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy."

Sources said Clinton had raised close to $1 million on the Internet since Tuesday night.

Her supporters pointed to a new Gallup national poll showing she'd bumped up to a 13-point lead over Obama, 52 percent to 39 percent.

Clinton's fund-raising for January paled in comparison to Obama's - he raised $32 million to her $13.5 million.

"He's got a huge advantage in that he is the Internet candidate," said one Clinton campaign source, referring to Obama's ability to raise bucks on the Web.

daphne.retter@nypost.com

Cohiba, the finest cigar tobacco

2008-02-04T09:41:00.001-06:00

Cohíba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for General Cigar.

The name cohíba derives from the Taino word for "tobacco". The Cuban brand is filled with top-quality tobacco which, uniquely to Cohiba, has undergone an extra fermentation process; it is a type as well as a brand.

-more-

Lawyers Embrace U.S. Climate Practice at $700 an Hour (Update1)

2008-01-24T10:01:00.000-06:00

Now the real reason behind global warming!

read

dispatches from the new world of work

2008-01-17T09:20:00.000-06:00

Dan Hill - read-

Many Winners in Republican Presidential Field

2008-01-16T10:07:00.000-06:00

Romney Wins Home State Michigan Primary; John McCain, Second; Mike Huckabee, Third

-read-

10 Core Reagan Principles

2008-01-15T11:17:00.000-06:00

1. The idea that an individual was and should always be the master of his or her own destiny.
2. The belief in the unique character and powers of every human being and their personal opinions.
3. A belief in freedom under law, as opposed to the concept of modern liberalism that power is everything.
4. A belief that collectivism and the centralizing of power in Washington threatened Americans with a loss of freedom in their own communities and daily lives.
5. A belief in the individual over bureaucracy.
6. That modern liberalism has, in the words of Whittaker Chambers, a "vindictiveness...of temper."
7. That, as Reagan wrote, "we cannot diminish the value of an entire category of human life -- the unborn -- without diminishing the value of all human life."
8. That we will all die, but what makes the difference, as Reagan once said, is what we die for. That there are things worth dying for, and peace, alas, can never be purchased at any price but strength.
9. That freedom belongs to every individual by divine right.
10. That freedom is better than control.

clipped from: www.spectator.org

LIBERAL WEB SITE URGES DEMOCRATS TO STIR MISCHIEF BY VOTING ROMNEY IN MICHIGAN

2008-01-14T11:27:00.000-06:00

The liberal Web site Daily Kos, hoping to “make mischief for the Republican Party — and bolster the Democrats’ chances for taking...more

Obama emerges as a liberal Reagan who can reunite America

2008-01-14T11:24:00.000-06:00

Obama emerges as a liberal Reagan who can reunite America...more

Racial Issues Boil Over In Democratic Campaign

2008-01-14T11:22:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend, the issue of race surged to the forefront of the Democratic primary race. The New York Times reports Clinton and Obama "engaged in a war of words on Sunday over Mrs. Clinton's recent remark about the role that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. played...more

Clinton and Obama Spar Over Remark About Dr. King

2008-01-14T11:20:00.000-06:00

Escalating their fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama engaged in a war...more

Tata Nano - world's cheapest new car is unveiled in India

2008-01-11T11:17:00.000-06:00

It is 3 metres long, seats four comfortably or five at a squeeze, does 65mph and aims to revolutionise travel...more

Buildings on the moon?

2008-01-11T10:23:00.000-06:00

Taken in 1969 by Armstrong.

UFO in NYC

2008-01-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

Hillary a 'colossus'

2008-01-11T09:21:00.000-06:00

The world's most famous New Zealander, Mt Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary, was remembered as a "colossus'' today following his death...more

Woman, 33, disguised as boy, 13

2008-01-10T15:15:00.000-06:00

A nationwide search for a missing 13-year-old Czech boy exposed a bizarre case..more

Japan is really a scary place!

2008-01-10T14:06:00.000-06:00

Look at this!

2008-01-10T14:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T14:06:00.001-06:00

Women Who Find Ferrari Drivers Sexy Contribute to Global

2007-12-19T08:47:00.000-06:00

We doubt this came up last week at the United Nation's conference on global warming in Bali, but Britain's top government scientist says the best thing women can do to ease global warming is "stop admiring young men in Ferraris."

source

Players listed in the Mitchell Commission report

2007-12-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

The real LIST

Oh my...

2007-12-13T16:19:00.001-06:00

MITCHELL REPORT LIST OF NAMES

2007-12-13T16:09:00.001-06:00

Read the list here.

Sources: Forthcoming Mitchell report will be 'huge story'

2007-12-13T13:01:00.000-06:00

-more-

Here is a real HERO

2007-12-11T14:10:00.001-06:00

Jeanne Assam gives credit to God.

There can be no God

2007-12-11T13:56:00.000-06:00

Jeanne Assam saved lives last Sunday. She risked her life to save who knows how many from a lone gunman who did kill two before Jeanne Assam stopped him.

She credits God and the press feels they must drag her through the mud.

Read this.

The world has lost a good man

2007-12-06T11:31:00.001-06:00

Vincent J. Rubino
Vincent J. Rubino "Jim", of Lee's Summit, Mo., passed away peacefully on Sunday, December 2, 2007. Funeral services will be held Friday, Dec. 7, at 11 a.m. at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church and burial will be at Mount Moriah Cemetery South. Friends may come celebrate his life at visitation services on Thursday, Dec. 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Langsford Funeral Home in Lee's Summit. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Association. Arrangements: Langsford Funeral Home, 115 SW 3rd St., Lee's Summit, MO 64063 (816) 524-3700. Jim was born on Dec. 16, 1946, in Chicago, Ill. He married Jerilyn (Jeri) Ballantini on May 31, 1991, and they moved their joined family to Lee's Summit in 1992. Jim was a psychiatric social worker in the Kansas City area for over two decades. For many years he has had a private practice and worked with several institutions in the metropolitan area. He raised exotic birds as a hobby, and loved spending time with his children and grandchildren. Jim and Jeri enjoyed traveling and visiting with their friends. He was an active member of Woods Chapel UMC where he enjoyed singing with the choir. Jim is survived by Jeri and their daughters, Barbara (and Adam Gulin), Trisha (and Michael Hall) and Angela (and Brandon Brooks); his grandchildren, Alexandra, Rebekah, Rachael and Dominick; his father, Vito, of Arlington Heights, Ill.; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his mother, Olga; and grandson, Joshua. Published in the Kansas City Star on 12/5/2007.

Zogby Poll: Obama, Edwards Strong but Clinton Slips Against GOPers

2007-12-04T13:16:00.000-06:00

General election match-ups show the New York Senator would lose against every top Republican

click here to read all about it.

National Press Club Conference on UFOs - Witness Statements

2007-12-04T13:11:00.000-06:00

Read all about it.

RENEGADE PICTURES REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH LIONEL DAHMER

2007-11-29T08:48:00.000-06:00

-- The new film Raising Jeffrey Dahmer will be released on video early next year--

(Kansas City, Mo)…Kansas City based motion picture production company, Renegade Pictures, has reached a settlement with Lionel and Shari Dahmer so the release of a bio-pic about Lionel and his son, Jeffrey Dahmer, the notorious serial killer, can be released in 2008.

The Dahmer’s signed release allowed Renegade to continue with the project without the Dahmer’s interference in return for $90,000.

Barnholtz Entertainment, Inc is the distributor and the film will be released on DVD in 2008

Started in 2003, Renegade Pictures was created to utilize digital technology and make small-budget, mainstream feature films centered on moral values and principles. For more information on Renegade Pictures please visit www.renegadepicture.us

Meet the women who won't have babies - because they're not eco friendly

2007-11-26T13:32:00.000-06:00

By NATASHA COURTENAY-SMITH and MORAG TURNER

read

Today

2007-11-13T15:12:00.000-06:00

I have almost finished my book of photographs of Ireland. This has taken much longer than I though. The biggest problem is color management. Here is a photo I took at Boulder Beach in the Ring of Kerry. I was trying to capture the magic that is definitely alive and well in this wonderful country.

Enterprise Mission to Hold Press Briefing

2007-10-30T10:30:00.000-05:00

Enterprise Mission to Hold Press Briefing on Possible Connection Between Next Space Shuttle Discovery Mission and Classified NASA Findings, at the National Press Club on Tuesday, Oct. 30

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following media
advisory was issued today by the Enterprise Mission:

   Dear Colleague,

   My name is Cheryll Jones, former news anchor at CNN.

   I have a news alert I think you, as a member of fourth estate in these
very troubled times, will appreciate.

   Think of it as a "heads up" on what might become one of the most
important stories of the coming months.

   At 9:00 AM, Tuesday, October 30, 2007, at the National Press Club in
Washington DC, The Enterprise Mission - a private research and public
policy group - will hold a press briefing in the NPC Zenger Room.

   The subject: Why is NASA Determined to Launch Space Shuttle "Discovery"
October 23rd, Despite NASA Engineering and Safety Center Warnings NOT to
Launch? Has NASA Learned NOTHING from the Previous Schedule-Driven
Disasters of Challenger and Columbia? Are Classified NASA Lunar Findings
Secretly Pressuring the Aging Shuttle Program to Completion by 2010, to
Make Way for "Constellation" -- and the New "Space Race" to the Moon?

   Japan is currently in lunar orbit with the most sophisticated lunar
mission since Apollo. China is about to launch a major unmanned lunar
mission, on October 24th. In April, 2008 India will launch its first
comprehensive unmanned lunar mission. And, Russia recently announced its
own ambitious lunar plans -- for not only sending cosmonauts to the Moon by
2025, but establishment of a permanent moonbase soon after.

   All this on the heels of President George W. Bush's own "Vision for
Space Exploration" (VSE) - his sudden decision to "return Americans to
manned lunar exploration" ... made inexplicably, in the middle of his war.

   Why this abrupt international focus on a 21st Century Moon Program --
after over 30 years of the Moon being totally ignored? Did Apollo find
"something" of major importance on the Moon, which NASA just forgot to tell
the rest of us? And is this somehow connected with NASA's inexplicable
urgency to launch Discovery "on schedule," despite the safety issues? The
October 30th NPC briefing will present startling answers to these major
public policy questions - which could significantly affect the future of
the VSE and NASA.

   Leading the briefing will be Richard C. Hoagland: former NASA
consultant; CBS News Science Advisor during the Apollo lunar missions;
co-author of "Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA" (currently #1 on
Amazon's list for "Astronomy," and "Space Science"); and head of The
Enterprise Mission. Ken Johnston, former NASA Manager of the Data and Photo
Control Department of NASA's Lunar Receiving Laboratory at MSC during the
Apollo Program, will present supporting NASA documentation.

   According to The Enterprise Mission:

   This is an era of increasing concern for ever more government secrecy
and expanding classification. Hoagland and Johnston will demonstrate that
this "less than forthright NASA decision-making" actually began a long time
ago; citing specifics from the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958,
Hoagland will present startling evidence that, contrary to assumptions made
by politicians, members of the press and public for almost half a century,
NASA is NOT a "civilian" space agency, but is in fact "a defense agency of
the United States"; that, as a tax-supported federal institution, NASA's
1958 Congressional charter specifically instructs "Sec. 205 ... (d) no
[NASA] information which has been classified for reasons of national
security shall be included in any [NASA] report made under this section [of
the Act] ... " [Emphasis added].

   So, what criteria does NASA apply to classifying its scientific or
engineering information? And, what major NASA discoveries have never been
reported - either to the Congress, the American people or the press --
because of NASA's legal ability to lie? And why could these now be
politically significant ... ?

   Says Hoagland "the evidence that NASA is something other than the
'benevolent civilian science institution' it has pretended to be for 50
years, is as overwhelming now as it is disturbing. It is this 'dark
mission,' allowing the president to legally classify NASA's most important
scientific and technological findings without even other NASA scientists or
engineers, or Congress, the press or the American people becoming aware,
which we contend is now impelling this new 21st Century Space Race. A Race
whose outcome - unlike the first US/USSR race for 'mere' political prestige
50 years ago -- will literally shape the life of every human being now
alive on Earth, through the startling technological discoveries we have
evidence that NASA made on the Moon during Apollo ... brought back to Earth
... and then successfully kept secret for more than a generation."

   Supporting Hoagland's highly controversial data and analysis, Ken
Johnston, former LRL manager of NASA's photographic lunar archive in the
early 1970's, will give a first-hand account of how he was specifically
instructed by his NASA managers toward the end of the Apollo Program to
destroy unique Apollo records of what the astronauts actually recorded on
the Moon, rather than donate them to a university, high school or other
public archive. Hoagland and Johnston - using these 30-year-old original
Apollo images that Johnston, in disobeying that direct order, personally
preserved - will illustrate exactly what NASA hoped would never become
known: the apparent remains of extensive lunar ruins on the Moon, one of
the key projected discoveries cited by a pre-Apollo NASA/Brookings study as
"capable of destroying civilization."

   Hoagland and Johnston will then compare this 30-year-old data with
current Apollo images being posted on official NASA websites around the
world - revealing total confirmation of Johnston's 30-year-old claims -
including, an actual astonishing example of the extraordinarily advanced
technology the Apollo astronauts may have returned to Earth in the last
Mission of Apollo.

   Richard C. Hoagland and Ken Johnston will be available for interviews
immediately following the briefing - - which will last from 9:00 to 9:45 AM
- with a question and answer period following until 11:00 AM.

   Hope to see you at the Press Club:

   Tuesday, October 30th, 9:00 AM, Zenger Room -- Washington DC.

SOURCE Enterprise Mission

Yet again...

2007-10-19T09:26:00.000-05:00

An unlikely treasure-trove of donors for Clinton

Here you go...

2007-10-12T15:13:00.001-05:00

Archbishop Niederauer apologizes for giving Communion...

....to two members of the "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence" at Mass at Most Holy Redeemer parish on October 7th. Below is Archbishop George H. Niederauer's column for the October 19th issue of Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.

Column by Archbishop George H. Niederauer
Catholic San Francisco -- Oct. 19, 2007

A recent event that greatly concerns me needs some additional explanation -- and with it an apology. On Sunday, October 7, 2007, I celebrated Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Parish here in San Francisco, during my first visit there. The congregation was devout and the liturgy was celebrated with reverence. I noticed no demonstration, no protest, no disruption of the Eucharist.

At Communion time, toward the end of the line, two strangely dressed persons came to receive Communion. As I recall one of them wore a large flowered hat or garland. I did not recognize either of them as wearing mock religious garb.

Afterward it was made clear to me that these two people were members of the organization "Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence," who have long made a practice of mocking the Catholic Church in general and religious women in particular. My predecessors, Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop John Quinn, have both denounced this group's abuse of sacred things many times in the past. Only last year, I instructed the Administrator of Most Holy Redeemer Parish to cancel the group's use of the hall on the parish grounds, once I became aware of it.

In the year and a half since I arrived in San Francisco, there have been several instances of offensive attacks on Catholic faith and devotional life. Only two weeks ago Catholic San Francisco carried my remarks condemning the derisive use of the image of the Last Supper on a poster printed by another local group.

Although I had often seen photographs of members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, I had never encountered them in person until October 7th. I did not recognize who these people were when they approached me.

After the event, I realized that they were members of this particular organization and that giving them Holy Communion had been a mistake. I apologize to the Catholics of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and to Catholics at large for doing so.

The manner of dress and public comportment of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is deeply offensive to women religious and to the witness of holiness and Christian service that women religious have offered to the Church and to the world for centuries. The citizens of San Francisco have ample reason to be grateful to women religious for their unfailing support of those most in need, and to be deeply offended when that service is belittled so outrageously and offensively.

Someone who dresses in a mock religious habit to attend Mass does so to make a point. If people dress in a manner clearly intended to mock what we hold sacred, they place themselves in an objective situation in which it is not appropriate for them to receive Holy Communion, much less for a minister of the Church to give the Sacrament to them.

Therefore I conclude that the presence of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at the Mass on October 7th was intended as a provocative gesture. In that moment I failed to recognize it as such, and for that, as I have said, I must apologize.

Here you go...

2007-10-11T09:01:00.001-05:00

US accused of making insect spy robots

Mysterious 'snow' disrupts Israeli TV

By Tom Leonard in New York

Last Updated: 2:11am BST 11/10/2007

The US government has been accused of secretly developing robotic insect spies amid reports of bizarre flying objects hovering in the air above anti-war protests.

No government agency has admitted to developing insect-size spy drones but various official and private organisations have admitted that they are trying.


	A mechanical fly being developed at Harvard College

But official protestations of innocence have failed to kill speculation of government involvement after a handful of sightings of the objects at political events in New York and Washington.

Vanessa Alarcon, a university student who was working at an anti-war rally in the American capital last month, told the Washington Post: "I heard someone say, 'Oh my God, look at those.'

"I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?'. They looked like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects."

Bernard Crane, a lawyer who was at the same event, said he had "never seen anything like it in my life". He added: "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical or is that alive?'"

The incident has similarities with an alleged sighting at the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York when one peace march participant described on the internet seeing "a jet-black dragonfly hovering about 10 feet off the ground, precisely in the middle of 7th Avenue".

Entomologists suggest that the objects are indeed dragonflies. Jerry Louton, an expert at the National Museum of Natural History, said Washington was home to large, impressively-decorated dragonflies that "can knock your socks off".

However, he admitted that the dragonfly theory did not explain claims made independently by three people at the Washington event.

They all described seeing a row of spheres the size of small berries attached along the tails of the "dragonflies".

They also reported seeing at least three together. Mr Louton said that dragonflies never fly in a pack.

The CIA secretly developed a petrol-powered dragonfly drone back in the 1970s but the "insectothopter" was considered a failure as it couldn't handle crosswinds.

The CIA refused to discuss its subsequent work but it is known that the Defence Department has been funding research into inserting computer chips into moth pupae to create "cyborg moths" whose flight muscles can be controlled remotely.

Although experts say there are still considerable technical hurdles - not least finding a way of protecting the creations from hungry birds - some concede it is possible that some agency has secretly managed to make something that works.

"America can be pretty sneaky," said Tom Ehrhard, a retired Air Force colonel and expert on unmanned aerial craft.

Here you go.

2007-10-10T15:59:00.001-05:00

Inaccuracies in Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth

The decision by the government to distribute Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth has been the subject of a legal action by New Party member Stewart Dimmock. Although a full ruling has yet to be given, the Court found that the film was misleading in 11 respects and that the Guidance Notes drafted by the Education Secretary’s advisors served only to exacerbate the political propaganda in the film.

In order for the film to be shown, the Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that 1.) The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument. 2.) If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination. 3.) Eleven inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children.

The inaccuracies are:

The film claims that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidence global warming. The Government’s expert was forced to concede that this is not correct.
The film suggests that evidence from ice cores proves that rising CO2 causes temperature increases over 650,000 years. The Court found that the film was misleading: over that period the rises in CO2 lagged behind the temperature rises by 800-2000 years.
The film uses emotive images of Hurricane Katrina and suggests that this has been caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that it was “not possible” to attribute one-off events to global warming.
The film shows the drying up of Lake Chad and claims that this was caused by global warming. The Government’s expert had to accept that this was not the case.
The film claims that a study showed that polar bears had drowned due to disappearing arctic ice. It turned out that Mr Gore had misread the study: in fact four polar bears drowned and this was because of a particularly violent storm.
The film threatens that global warming could stop the Gulf Stream throwing Europe into an ice age: the Claimant’s evidence was that this was a scientific impossibility.
The film blames global warming for species losses including coral reef bleaching. The Government could not find any evidence to support this claim.
The film suggests that the Greenland ice covering could melt causing sea levels to rise dangerously. The evidence is that Greenland will not melt for millennia.
The film suggests that the Antarctic ice covering is melting, the evidence was that it is in fact increasing.
The film suggests that sea levels could rise by 7m causing the displacement of millions of people. In fact the evidence is that sea levels are expected to rise by about 40cm over the next hundred years and that there is no such threat of massive migration.
The film claims that rising sea levels has caused the evacuation of certain Pacific islands to New Zealand. The Government are unable to substantiate this and the Court observed that this appears to be a false claim.

Some new photos

2007-06-03T23:30:00.000-05:00

Study of a window. Comments welcome.

Liz and Piper

2007-06-03T23:14:00.001-05:00

Liz and Piper keep growing in there own way. Liz is very close to getting the GED thing done and that will be big. She is learning the value of her life and how choosing a better life companion will help her and Piper so much.

Trip to NYC coming up

2007-06-03T23:11:00.000-05:00

Off to NYC this week with Kathleen and Mary to see a couple of plays and eat some amazing food.

Les Miz and A Chorus Line are the plays we will see and dinner a Sardie's and Rainbow Grill. Touristy I know but still fun. Stay tuned.

Dahmer's Almost out of time...

2007-06-03T23:08:00.000-05:00

Come the 13th of June the Dahmer's will run out of time for filing on the suite we have against them. This will bring the issue to a close and allow distribution to go ahead. This has been a horrible ordeal for sure. I just wish for one someone would honor the commitments they make.

LD Away!

2007-04-29T19:00:00.000-05:00

LD is being sued! Now we'll see what happens.

What a week!

2007-04-13T19:36:00.000-05:00

I have been working on my photography this week. With things going from bad to worse where LD is concerned I think a law suit is in my future! Ho Hum...

The Band

2007-04-03T21:56:00.000-05:00

The band is coming along.

Hello its Tuesday!

2007-04-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

Went to opening day of Royals baseball and it was great. Spent time with my oldest son who was in from FL.

Closing another deal

2007-01-10T23:51:00.000-06:00

Some deals are big. Very big and you must let God sort them out. There are people trying hard to cheat me and we all know it. Now I have surprised them. I decided rather than be cheated I will expose their evils and they will fall even if I don't get money.

God, I follow. Guide me now.

Closing the Deal

2007-01-10T23:22:00.000-06:00

Have closed the deal on RJD with Berry Barnholtz. The movie is in preperation for delivery and documents name Lionsgate as the company getting the movie. Not for theatres but direct to DVD sales. Keep up at RJD.

SOLD!

2006-12-12T11:06:00.000-06:00

Raising Jeffrey Dahmer has sold for North America.

Christmas Again

2006-12-10T22:11:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful time of year. Life is good.