White House Attack on Free Speech

August 6th, 2009

 

This is so important, I borrowed this from an email message:

 

I’m writing you with urgency.  There’s a very troubling development underway in Washington – a bold attack on your free speech rights directly from the Obama Administration.
 
A recent White House blog written by the White House Director of New Media states that ”there is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there” both on the web and floating around in chain emails. 
 
The blog continues, ”since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help.  If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”
 
This is absurd!  In a nutshell, the White House is asking Americans to report on their neighbors, family, and friends who disagree with the President’s policy choices on health care.
 
This new White House reporting program strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and has no place in this important debate about health care.
 
Make no mistake, this outrageous attack on free speech is designed to stifle public debate about the health care issue – including growing concerns from Americans opposed to making abortion services mandatory health benefits.
 
Americans have the constitutional right to express their opinion and concerns about health care.  This wrong move by the Obama Administration is nothing more than a blatant attempt to intimidate those who have legitimate concerns about the health care plan.

 

Jay Sekluow

American Center for Law & Justice

(ACLJ)

Foreigners in the US

August 5th, 2009

 

The other evening I was sitting outside at The Coffee Rush Café enjoying the evening storm on the lake in Chandler.  Some folks were looking to sit under the roof and I offered to share my table.  They were from Bulgaria.

 

Approximately 3,000 Bulgarians are in Phoenix; however, I seriously question their level of acculturation.  In the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, America is not to be a polyglot boarding house but that is what we have become!

 

I have travelled extensively and remember Bulgaria rather well although I was there before Ceauşescu oppressed and brutalized that beautiful country next door—Romania.  Of course, the Bulgarians do not think Romania is so beautiful but that is a matter of historic rivalry.

 

My guests were somewhat rude.  Only one would address me in English.  I don’t know their language but one would think they would attempt to converse a little under the circumstances of sharing my table in extremely cramped quarters.  Eventually I left; I felt pushed.

 

When I meet foreigners I relish the moment and I look forward to engaging and learning from them, but these folks offered little of that.  I have lived abroad for years and always look forward to the opportunity to spend time with folks from other countries.  Their perspectives are always enriching if not eye opening.  This time it was eye opening.

 

To get a conversation going with these folks I had to be proactive even though they were practically sitting on my lap.  In retrospect, it was my table and because my table was the only table outside clearly posted “No Smoking” perhaps they were waiting for me to leave so they could light up.

 

Having had my first cigarette at 8 and quitting finally at age 23 after many failed attempts to cease smoking, I understand how difficult going without tobacco can be.  Come to think of it, I recommenced smoking during that trip to Bulgaria!  But I digress.

 

I opened with common rapport building questions and found out the fellow has been in America for 10 years.  He is a “businessman” associated with the local State educational system.  That sounded like an oxymoron.

 

Since, he’d come from abroad seeking a better life here for him and his family, I asked him what he thought about Obama and the change in America.  He shrugged smugly, “Oh, I think it’s a good thing.  This change.”

 

What he doesn’t appreciate and most foreigners coming here fail to appreciate is that although it may seem we are changing to become more like where they come from and what they are familiar with, they fail to recognize that they were drawn here for a set of reasons.  That set of reasons has to do with our identity and who America is and what America stands for.

 

Alas, they fail to realize they are pushing US to change to become like those countries they left and often abandoned in order to better themselves.  They fail to see how those changes are going to make America unattractive and America might not be able to offer the opportunities that drew them here.

 

This is a sad irony.  It reminds me of the Aesop’s fable “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg.”  Truly, Obama and his administration (and those secret society bastards behind his throne!) are bringing Obamanomics here for a reason:

 

To destroy US,

 

To purposely kill we who lay the golden eggs!

 

And out of envy and out of jealously those outsiders among US applaud our “change” and our destruction.  They seek our demise in order to bring US down to their level.

 

If we do not watch out it will soon be too late for US to act,

 

To Wake Up and Take America Back!

 

Earthquakes Rock Mexico’s Gulf of California Felt in Phoenix

August 4th, 2009

Yesterday 460 miles south of Phoenix four earthquakes magnitudes 5.8, 6.9, 5.0 and 6.2 hit in the California Gulf off the coast of Mexico.  The big one peaking at almost 7.0 on The Richter Scale shook several high rise buildings in downtown Phoenix  about midday.  Some of those office buildings were “voluntarily” evacuated.

My neighbor who recently “escaped” from California reminded this morning as I was running my dog about my earlier prediction.  I claim no such ability.  A friend apprised me first of the possibility and I just couldn’t sleep one night and listened to talk radio.

Still, 😉 those earthquakes occurred on the fault extensions of the San Andreas Fault and are part of the larger geological structure known as “The Ring of Fire.”

Those earthquakes circumnavigated a large island in the Gulf known as Isla Angel de la Guarda.

The earthquakes began on the south end of the island and progressed to the north end.  The initial release occurred south of the island followed by the big one which occurred further off shore southeast.  That was followed by a smaller aftershock slightly further south of the island.  Those three occurred in close proximity, and they were followed by another stiff jolt.  The  fourth occurred significantly deeper off the north and western tip closer to the island.

Isla Angel de la Guarda is also called Archangel Island.

Book Review: Griffin (1994) (2008) “The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve”

August 4th, 2009

Book Review: Griffin (1994) (2008) The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve. American Media. Westlake Village, California.

 

The 600 page book is the most comprehensive review of the history of money, banking and economics in a form that may be digested by the common man. Admittedly a lengthy tome, it is best read as the author G. Edward Griffin recommends—in order. All previous chapters lay the foundation for subsequent chapters. It is indeed a push to get through the first half of the book but by the time the reader gets to the middle, he has an understanding of the profound effects of money and economics on politics, history and war!

This is a must-read for every citizen and no student should graduate high school without having thoroughly digested Griffin’s seminal work on economics, the development of money and the history of banking. It is well-written and engaging. A seventh-grade student should be able to understand Griffin’s clear and concise writing.

Perhaps most importantly, the author offers a solution to the problem of money, more accurately the problem of fiat money. Griffin accurately and simply defines all of the terms and concepts he puts forward in his book. Beginning on approximately page 570 he offers a plausible solution in scarcely a dozen pages. His case against the Federal Reserve System is a walk back in history to the beginnings of money and banking encompassing the elements of war, revolution, oppression and fraud.

Griffin offers seven reasons to abolish the Federal Reserve System. On an extremely positive note, Griffin proposes a 16 step recovery plan to restore our country to a constitutional currency, putting the beast, the monster to sleep before the creature forever destroys our sovereignty and before The New World Order enslaves all of mankind, especially the little guy beyond our borders who has no hope for freedom and prosperity should our country fall.

While earlier editions can now be had at a bargain discount (center), due to its popularity it was recently out-of-print and only available at a premium. Griffin finally released a new edition of The Creature from Jekyll Island for 2008 (left). The author also offers an audio CD (right).

Bibliotherapy: “AD/HD: Ritalin Is Not The Answer: A Drug-Free, Practical Program for Children Diagnosed with ADD or ADHD”

August 4th, 2009

by David B. Stein

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 29, 1999)

Check back soon for my review of this handy little handbook on how to rear children. It is the manual my mother they always said they never made, “You didn’t come with a manual!”

Bibliotherapy for Couples & Marriage Counseling

August 4th, 2009

Hendrix (2007), Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples, 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback), Holt Paperbacks.

 

Harville Hendrix’s seminal work from 1985 upon which he has written approximately 30 titles stands as his best book of the series. The exercises in the appendix are highly recommended as engaging in such allows a couple to explore their conscious and subconscious values and images.

Hendrix put forth the idea that we choose partners who simultaneously have “the best qualities” and “the worst qualities” for us. He said consciously we choose those with the best qualities but subconsciously we choose those with the worst qualities in order to work out formerly unresolved issues from parenting and our families of origin.

Amazon.com Review
When Harville Hendrix writes about relationships, he discusses them not just as an educator and a therapist, but as a man who has himself been through a failed marriage. Hendrix felt the sting of his divorce intensely because he believed it signaled not only his failure as a husband but also his failure as a couples counselor. Investigating why his marriage dissolved led him to start looking into the psychology of love. Marriage, he ultimately discovered, is the “practice of becoming passionate friends.”
As a result of his research, Hendrix created a therapy he calls Imago Relationship Therapy. In it, he combines what he’s learned in a number of disciplines, including the behavioral sciences, depth psychology, cognitive therapy, and Gestalt therapy, to name just a few. He expounds upon this approach in Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples. His purpose in writing the book, he says, is “to share with you what I have learned about the psychology of love relationships, and to help you transform your relationship into a lasting source of love and companionship.”
Divided into three sections, the book covers “The Unconscious Marriage,” which details a marriage in which the remaining desires and behavior of childhood interfere with the current relationship; “The Conscious Marriage,” which shows a marriage that fulfils those childhood needs in a positive manner; and a 10-week “course in relationship therapy, ” which gives detailed exercises for you and your partner to follow in order to learn how to “replace confrontation and criticism … with a healing process of mutual growth and support.” The text is occasionally dry and technical; however, the information provided is valuable, the case studies are interesting, and the exercises are revealing and helpful. By utilizing his program, Hendrix hopes you too will be able to solve your marital difficulties without the expense of a therapist.

“Hendrix provides much insight into how spouses can mature through one another.” — — Booklist

“I know of no better guide for couples who genuinely desire a maturing relationship.” — — M. Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled

Beck (1988), Love is Never Enough: How Couples can Overcome Misunderstandings, Resolve Conflicts, and Solve Relationships Problems Through Cognitive Therapy, Harper & Row, Publishers.

 

Aaron T. Beck, M.D., is University Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and president of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. Dr. Beck is the author of thirteen books. He lives with his wife, Judge Phyllis Beck, in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and has four children and eight grandchildren.

Boycott: Bank of America Loves Illegal Aliens

August 2nd, 2009

At least in Arizona

B of A

Bank of America

Has made tons of loans to illegal aliens contributing in a major way to the

Real Estate melt down in The Valley.

Bank of America wrote thousands of mortgages to illegals without checking their status on the West side of Phoenix.

Look at all those empty houses on the West side of The Valley of the Sun!

Bank of America supports illegal aliens invading our country.

Maybe B of A should change its name to:

Bank of Illegal Aliens!

Boycott Wells Fargo: The Last Stage

August 2nd, 2009

Wells Fargo Bank just has plain

Bad Policies,

Bad Service.

Wells Fargo

Treats customers poorly

and

Treats employees poorly.

No other bank I know has such expensive fees and requires submission of

Biological identifiers and

Collects Fingerprints!

When merely cashing a check.

No other bank has such hefty fees [$20] for cashing a check on one of their accounts should one not have an account with Wells Fargo.

Moreover, Wells Fargo practices deception big time in their advertising!

Hence,

Boycott Wells Fargo

in the spirit of

The Revolution of Virtue

As my father says:

“I haven’t got time to wait for the last stage.”

1998 Obama Identified by High Level Russian Official as Chosen for the American Presidency!

August 1st, 2009

I have no idea of how credible this story is but here it goes:

In 1998 an American network engineer finished his job building a computer network in Russia.

Upon completion of the project the American went to enjoy dinner with his Russian hosts to the home of one of the managers for his client.

While trying to compliment the lady of the house about her beauty, she (wrongly) took what he said as an insult.

And the entire room full of guests went silent because she was the highest ranking person in the room with the most power.

She exclaimed,

‘You Americans think you’re so superior.

‘Well, let me tell you there’s a black named Obama who is being groomed right now to be President of the United States, and

‘HE’S ONE OF US!’

In other words, Obama’s philosophy lines up with the of the politburo of the former USSR.

Are You a Liberal?

August 1st, 2009

This question is much harder to answer and teasing out the history of liberalism is far more difficult than defining what “conservative” really means.

However, the essence of today’s “liberalism” in contrast & comparison to “conservatism” is that

Liberals are “deluded;”

whereas,

Conservatives are “psychotic.”

The liberal delusion is

“Someone will give me something for nothing.”

And there are various derivatives off that theme of entitlement and

“Something for Nothing.”

But the cost of government sponsored or government provided services is VERY HIGH.

Consider that at the time of the advent of “The Great Society” and LBJ’s [President Johnson’s] “War on Poverty,”

Americans were hopeful but we have learned a hard lesson.

There is more poverty today in America then there was when “The War of Poverty” began.

In the 1960’s a reliable estimate is that for every $1 in public services rendered Uncle Sam ate up $5!

That’s one helluva tax!

80%!

Alas, today the ratio is far worse.  I estimate that for every $1 in public services delivered, Uncle Sam takes $19!

“Big Government” is “Big Business.”

More diabolically,

The “hidden costs” are terrible!

For one, with the strong motivation of entitlement programs the toll on life quality and the toll on society are even greater.

For another, with the domination of The Medical Model on American Mental Health we’ve pretty much destroyed American health and American character.

So, which are you?

Are you deluded?

Or are you psychotic?

Perhaps the more important questions are:

Are conservatives or liberals more dangerous?

Are conservatives or liberals more effective in getting their message and agenda through?