10 Search Results for "penn"

• DIVORCE AGREEMENT

  • From: zcat
  • Description:

    American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists et al:

    We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce.... I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has run its course.
    Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

    Here is a model separation agreement:

    Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

    We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.
    You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore andRosie O'Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them).

    We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies,Wal-Mart, and Wall Street. You can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot
    Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood ..

    You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

    We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N... but we will no longer be paying the bill.

    We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

    You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a
    right. We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World.

    We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name, our flag, and "In God We Trust".

    Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

    Sincerely,
    John J. Wall
    Law Student and an American

     

    P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, &
    Jane Fonda with you.

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 28
  • Not yet rated

• AARP’s Stealth Fees Often Stin

  • From: sgin_NV
  • Description:

    Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Arthur Laupus joined AARP because he thought the nonprofit senior-citizen-advocacy group would make his retirement years easier. He signed up for an auto insurance policy endorsed by AARP, believing the advertising that said he would save money.

    He didn’t. When Laupus, 71, compared his car insurance rate with a dozen other companies, he found he was paying twice the average. Why? One reason, he learned, was because AARP was taking a cut out of his premium before sending the money to Hartford Financial Services Group, the provider of the coverage.

    Laupus stumbled onto something that many members of the world’s largest seniors’ organization don’t know: The group, formerly called American Association of Retired Persons, collects hundreds of millions of dollars annually from insurers who pay for AARP’s endorsement of their policies.

    The insurance companies build the cost of these so-called royalties and fees, which amounted to $497.6 million in 2007, into the premiums they charge AARP members, according to AARP’s consolidated financial statement for that year.

    AARP uses the royalties and fees to fund about half the expenses that pay for activities such as publishing brochures about health care and consumer fraud -- as well as for paying down the $200 million bond debt that funded the association’s marble and brass-studded Washington headquarters.

    In addition, AARP holds clients’ insurance premiums for as long as a month and invests the money, which added $40.4 million to its revenue in 2007.

    ‘Fatting the Coffers’

    “At the end of the day, it’s all about fattening the coffers of the organization,” says Thomas Orecchio, who was chairman of the Arlington Heights, Illinois-based National Association of Personal Financial Advisors until September. AARP, he says, is sponsoring insurance for its members at inflated prices.

    “It’s the dirty little secret,” he says.

    During the past decade, royalties and fees have made up an increasing percentage of AARP’s income, rising to 43 percent of its $1.17 billion in revenue in 2007 from 11 percent in 1999, according to AARP data.

    Laupus, a former teacher in Baltimore, and millions of others joined AARP in the belief it would provide discounts, services and publications. The organization ranks behind only Consumer Reports and the American Red Cross as the most trusted large group that influences U.S. politics and business, a 2007 Harris Poll found.

    AARP has helped millions with tax returns, estate planning and health care advice.

    ‘Turbulent Economy’

    With stock markets around the world plunging, savings plans in turmoil and medical costs soaring, older Americans need an organization such as AARP in their corner.

    “The turbulent economy puts more people in the difficult situation of being under- or uninsured,” says Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley. “That’s why we need to make sure individuals aren’t taken advantage of with misleading marketing, especially by a name brand advocate who carries a high level of trust.”

    Grassley sent letters to AARP Chief Executive Officer William Novelli and state insurance commissioners Nov. 3 inquiring into whether the AARP misrepresented what is covered by some health insurance policies it sold. Four days later, Novelli announced AARP would review its marketing and suspend sales of those policies.

    AARP’s mission to help seniors has been compromised by its reliance on royalties and fees, says Marilyn Moon, who was director of AARP’s Public Policy Institute from 1986 through 1989.

    ‘Conflict of Interest’

    “There’s an inherent conflict of interest,” she says. “A lot of people there are trying to do good, but they’re ending up becoming very dependent on sources of income.”

    Moon is now vice president and director of the health program at American Institutes for Research in Washington.

    Novelli, who co-founded a public relations company in 1972, became CEO of AARP in 2001. Since then, the organization has increasingly focused on marketing as a means to increase revenue, Moon says.

    AARP officials say the organization always gives priority to the needs of seniors.

    “There is no conflict of interest between the marketing of products and services to our members and our policy work,” spokesman Adam Sohn says. “Policy always comes first.”

    AARP declined requests to make Novelli available for comment.

    ‘Benefit From Our Brand’

    John Wider, executive vice president of AARP Services Inc., a for-profit subsidiary, says AARP uses royalty revenue to fund its member services. In addition, he says, insurers selling products through AARP find royalty payments are worthwhile because AARP’s endorsement lowers insurance company marketing costs and increases sales.

    “There is an efficiency they gain in being able to benefit from our brand,” he says.

    Novelli, 67, has broadened AARP’s reach and increased its clout in Washington. The association recently joined with industry and labor groups in a campaign known as Divided We Fail. That effort is seeking ways to ensure health care for all Americans.

    Novelli has expanded AARP’s marketing to include 17 types of insurance. The association collects royalties on each of those products. Its membership rose to 40 million from 35 million, and its total revenue grew to $1.17 billion in 2007 from $520 million when Novelli took charge.

    Medicare Lobbying

    Nowhere were AARP’s conflicting roles more evident than in its lobbying in support of a 2003 bill proposed by President George W. Bush to expand Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people older than 65.

    The bill, which for the first time added a prescription drug plan to Medicare, passed by a vote of 220-215 in the House of Representatives and 54-44 in the Senate. Thousands of AARP members complained that the legislation was a bad deal for seniors because it provided incomplete coverage and raised costs for seniors with low income.

    After the Medicare bill was signed into law by Bush in December 2003, AARP was able to expand its contract with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc., which underwrites AARP’s Medicare supplemental insurance plan.

    AARP increased its annual revenue from royalties by $197 million to $497.6 million from 2003 to 2007.

    Not the Least Expensive

    AARP advertises that its Medicare supplemental insurance can save people thousands of dollars. While every type of supplemental policy sold by all companies must offer the same exact coverage under federal rules, AARP doesn’t sell the least expensive.

    The AARP/UnitedHealth basic policy costs $582 a year more than a lower-cost competitor in New York and $428 more in Los Angeles, according to data on Medicare’s Web page. AARP spokesman Sohn says everyone should shop carefully.

    “The products and services AARP makes available are competitively priced,” he says. “Price is not the only factor. Service and features need to be factored in to determine full value.”

    AARP’s muscle on Capitol Hill is vested in the size and geographic reach of its membership, as well as its lobbying budget. The association donated no money to candidates in 2007, federal election records show.

    ‘AARP’s Clout’

    “They don’t even have to give any campaign contributions,” says James Thurber, director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington. “AARP’s enormous clout comes from the threat they could defeat people in Congress who don’t do what they want. They are the most powerful interest group in Washington.”

    Rob Simmons, who served as a Republican congressman from Connecticut during 2001 through 2006, says he waited to learn AARP’s position on the 2003 Medicare legislation before deciding how to vote.

    “Some people tore up their AARP cards in protest,” he says. “I told my constituents 10 days before the vote that I would wait to see what AARP had to say.”

    Simmons praises AARP’s efforts to stand up for seniors. In 2005, Novelli fought President Bush’s plan to overhaul Social Security by creating private accounts. AARP launched what it called its largest political advertising campaign ever, using newspapers and television to attack the proposal.

    As the president toured the country holding town meetings to win support, AARP sponsored its own forums nearby to criticize the plan. It argued that like an old-fashioned pension, Social Security should remain as a fixed payment to retirees -- and the money shouldn’t be gambled in investments.

    AARP Won Battle

    Responding to requests from the association, AARP members wrote or e-mailed Congress hundreds of thousands of times, AARP says. AARP won the battle, and Bush dropped the proposal.

    “AARP in my opinion is one of the foremost defenders of the rights of senior citizens,” Simmons says. “It has the staff, expertise and national stature to be an organization to be respected.”

    AARP has provided free tax preparation assistance to 47.7 million people with middle-range and low incomes. Other services include career counseling, driver safety training, financial education programs and home heating assistance.

    To help pay for its advocacy, training and lobbying, AARP gets royalties and fees for selling insurance. In 2007, the group spent $157.2 million, about 13 percent of its revenue, on advertising. It runs daily -- sometimes hourly -- spots on television and Internet ads saying its insurance policies can save members money.

    ‘Compare Us’

    Its Web page on car insurance says, “Get on the road to better coverage and bigger savings. Compare us to your current policy and you could save hundreds in the first year alone!” A TV ad for AARP’s Medicare supplemental insurance says customers can save thousands of dollars.

    At the bottom of its insurance Web page, AARP says, “Insurers and providers pay a fee to AARP and its affiliates for use of the AARP trademark and other services.”

    AARP has been in the insurance business since its founding in 1958. Ethel Percy Andrus, a former school principal, discovered that a retired teacher couldn’t afford an apartment and was living in a chicken coop.

    Andrus worked with Colonial Penn Group to provide health insurance to retired teachers starting in 1947. She expanded AARP’s offer to include health insurance for all retirees 11 years later.

    Expanded Marketing

    AARP stopped selling basic health insurance for seniors in 1965 after President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law. The organization continued to offer several kinds of insurance, including a supplement to Medicare, offering additional coverage.

    Novelli has been able to expand AARP’s marketing, having co-founded New York-based public relations firm Porter Novelli. He and his partners sold the company for an undisclosed amount to Omnicom Group in New York, the world’s largest owner of advertising agencies.

    From 1991 to 1995, he was executive vice president of CARE, an international group that fights poverty. From 1995 to 1999, he ran the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, which works to block cigarette advertising to children.

    “There isn’t any organization like AARP, and Novelli understood it,” says Tess Canja, who was president of AARP’s 21-member board in 2001, when Novelli got the post. “He’s taken AARP a notch higher.”

    ‘Everybody’s Happy’

    Novelli has reached out to younger Americans. TV commercials portray active middle-aged people, a switch from the scenes shown in the pre-Novelli era of elderly Americans sitting in wheelchairs.

    In a 29-second video on YouTube, young and old people celebrate birthdays by blowing out candles, throwing cake, spinning in office chairs and ripping paper off packages while the British punk band Buzzcocks’ song “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays” plays.

    “AARP is an organization for people who have birthdays,” a female voice-over says. “That’s because what we do, we do for all. Join us in championing your future, and the future of every generation.”

    What AARP has done for Laupus hasn’t made him want to celebrate. The former social studies teacher, now a lecturer on films at Towson University in Towson, Maryland, says AARP let him down.

    “I was under the assumption I would get discounts for automobile insurance, health insurance, house insurance,” Laupus says. Earlier this decade, he signed up for an AARP- endorsed auto policy for a 1997 Honda Accord and a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer.

    ‘Best Possible Rate’

    In 2007, he followed AARP’s Internet-based advice and went shopping for rates from other companies for the same coverage. He says that of the 13 companies he checked, AARP/Hartford -- a unit of the Hartford, Connecticut-based insurance company Hartford Financial -- charged $700 a year more than the average.

    “I figured they would be negotiating for me as a large group and get the best possible rates,” says Laupus, a tall, gray-haired man who lives in Elkridge, Maryland. “But, dumb me, when I first bought their insurance I really didn’t check around to find out what other companies were charging.”

    On March 16, 2007, Laupus wrote a letter to Novelli.

    “I have been a customer of AARP/Hartford auto insurance for many years and never had a claim,” Laupus wrote. He told Novelli he had compared his rates with eight companies and found AARP/Hartford to have the highest premiums.

    Price Shopping

    Laupus says he checked four other companies and found the same. He wrote that AARP/Hartford billed him $1,444 annually for the two cars. Laupus says Geico Corp., the insurance company owned by Warren Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., offered a price that was half as much.

    He then decided to lower that further by eliminating collision insurance on the Honda and raising the deductible for his Mitsubishi to $1,000 from $500. At the same time, he increased his bodily injury liability insurance to $300,000/$300,000 from $100,000/$300,000.

    That brought the annual cost of insurance from Geico to $683.60.

    In his letter, he explained those changes to Novelli. An AARP employee, Sharman Greber, replied two weeks later.

    “I can certainly understand your concern over the cost of insurance coverage and would like to assure you that The Hartford’s goal is to provide the highest quality product at as fair a price as possible,” Greber told Laupus in an April 2, 2007, letter.

    ‘Dare I Say Kickbacks?’

    Greber didn’t respond to requests for comment. On April 10, 2007, Laupus wrote back, questioning AARP’s dealings with The Hartford.

    “What I’m asking, bottom line, is this: Does AARP have some ‘special relationship’ with The Hartford by which it receives commissions, incentives, rebates or dare I say ‘kickbacks’?” he wrote.

    Greber replied on April 25, 2007, writing that AARP contracts with The Hartford and other insurance companies include royalties. She first wrote that AARP talked to The Hartford.

    “The representative did compare the quotations you received from Geico and Allstate, but was unable to match Geico’s premium,” she wrote.

    She added, “The royalty fee paid to the Association is used to finance the many programs and services of AARP. The Association produced and distributed more than 11 million booklets and brochures last year free of charge to help older persons become better informed about issues from caregiving and widowhood to housing and consumer fraud.”

    Laupus responded on May 2, 2007.

    ‘Rather Selfish’

    “I don’t purchase auto insurance to provide booklets and brochures about caregiving and widowhood,” he wrote. “This may seem rather selfish of me, but I purchase auto insurance to insure my auto.”

    Laupus says AARP is playing games with words. “Notice it’s not kickbacks, it’s royalty fees,” he says. “What a great euphemism.”

    David Snowden, spokesman for The Hartford, says his company offers competitive rates.

    “While we lack information to speculate we could match the other company’s rate in 2007, there’s little doubt we could have come closer if Mr. Laupus requested the same policy features,” Snowden says.

    Landscaped Atrium

    After Laupus discovered his AARP car insurance rate was too high, he became determined to learn more about how his membership money was being spent. In September, he traveled to AARP’s Washington headquarters -- two 10-story buildings that are connected by an enclosed, landscaped atrium.

    He strode into the lobby, dressed in khaki pants and a blue checkered shirt, hoping to take a tour. He noted the brass doors and the marble that stretched as far as he could see.

    “It says to people that we’re a very wealthy organization and we can afford to spend your money,” Laupus says. After showing his AARP card and telling a guard he’d been a member for more than 20 years, he was turned away.

    “We don’t give tours,” the guard told him. Laupus asked again, and the guard called AARP’s membership department, which also denied the request.

    Alan Simpson, a former Republican U.S. senator from Wyoming who chaired a subcommittee in 1995 that examined AARP, says he’s not surprised the association keeps its doors closed.

    ‘It’s a Temple’

    “It’s no wonder they don’t let you see,” Simpson, 77, says. “It’s a temple. Opulent would be the word.”

    AARP spokesman Sohn says the building is closed to visitors so the staff can work.

    “AARP takes the role of fighting for its 40 million members very seriously and this necessitates that our offices remain a place of business,” he says.

    AARP says it uses some of the money it gets from insurance royalties to fund its efforts on behalf of seniors. But not everyone agreed its 2003 lobbying for a Medicare drug prescription plan was in the best interests of members.

    President Bush pressed for prescription drug coverage for Medicare. He also wanted to turn administration of Medicare over to private companies instead of the government. AARP opposed the second goal.

    Novelli and AARP’s lobbyists met with the Bush Administration and Congress and succeeded in removing privatization from the bill, says Christopher Hansen, who as AARP’s group executive officer for state and national initiatives oversaw the association’s Medicare lobbying.

    ‘We Forced That Out’

    “We forced that out of the bill,” he says. “How? By refusing to support the legislation with that provision. It drew AARP into a big political fistfight. All AARP wanted was to get a drug benefit for its members.”

    Thousands of AARP members said they objected to the legislation altogether. One reason was that the lowest-income seniors, people who had been using Medicaid, a federal health insurance program for low-income citizens, would have to pay more for medicine under the new law.

    During the debate on the bill, two doctors at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, released a study that said the proposed changes would bring revenue to AARP at the expense of seniors.

    “AARP derives significant income from the sale of health insurance policies, and stands to make hundreds of millions more under the Medicare Prescription Drug bill,” David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler wrote on Nov. 22, 2003, as AARP was lobbying for the legislation.

    AARP knew the proposal didn’t ensure complete prescription coverage, Hansen says.

    ‘It Wasn’t Perfect’

    “It wasn’t perfect; it was flawed,” he says. AARP’s biggest concern was that the bill lacked adequate funding to fully cover the cost of drugs, Hansen says. Hansen, now CEO of Santa Clara, California-based AeA Inc., a trade association for technology companies, says Novelli had only good intentions.

    Hansen also sympathizes with those who complained. “People who were against it had a right to be angry,” he says.

    AARP felt it had to push an imperfect bill because it may not have had another opportunity to add a drug plan to Medicare, former board member Canja says.

    “We thought our members could motivate Congress later to fix the things we didn’t like,” she says. After the legislation passed, 40,000 AARP members dropped out of the organization in protest, according to AARP.

    For a While

    Some members who didn’t quit have since concluded that their AARP-endorsed insurance costs are inflated. Richard Ostor of Indialantic, Florida, says he joined AARP seven years ago to get the lowest-cost car insurance.

    He was satisfied with the insurance for a while -- until his rates started going up even though he had had no accidents or traffic tickets. In April, his AARP/Hartford premium rose to $950 a year. He shopped and switched to Geico after he found similar insurance for $640.

    “AARP has great buying power, and people should be able to get the best deal,” says Ostor, 62, a retired divorce lawyer and bar owner. “AARP fell asleep at the switch or has a very sweet deal with The Hartford. This is unconscionable, what AARP has allowed to happen.”

    Bill and Helen Cochran, an Abington, Maryland, couple who retired nine years ago, say they felt the same way when they learned they were paying more than they had to with AARP’s Medicare supplemental insurance.

    Met at Shoe Factory

    Relying primarily on Social Security income of just less than $1,400 a month, they had sold their 1,300-square-foot (121-square-meter) condominium and moved to a subsidized apartment less than half that size.

    Bill and Helen, who married 34 years ago when they both worked at the Beta Shoe Co. factory in Belcamp, Maryland, looked for other ways to trim spending. They purchased AARP Medicare supplemental insurance.

    At a picnic for seniors in June 2008, the Cochrans learned they were spending $1,079 a year more than Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co. charged for the same coverage. Bill, 72, says he called AARP to see if it could match the lower price.

    “They didn’t want to hear that,” he says. “I told them I’d found a better price, and they didn’t ask me who I was going with, but they said they couldn’t do anything about it.”

    Bill says his experience changed his view of AARP.

    “I was kind of shocked,” he says. “They’re making money on the backs of the old people. I don’t think AARP is looking out for me.”

    In the current economic crisis, $1,000 a year makes a big difference to a couple living on a fixed income, he says. “It just gets you to thinking about how much money they’re getting kicked back, and then we’re suffering by paying more for our premium,” he says.

    ‘Rates Are Competitive’

    UnitedHealth spokesman Jonathan Stone says his firm’s insurance is affordable. “We believe our rates are competitive,” he says. “Our plans all give overall value.”

    AARP-endorsed life insurance policies are also more expensive than comparable coverage by competitors, says Mark Maurer of Tampa, Florida-based Low Load Insurance Services Inc., which sells policies to seniors.

    A New York Life $50,000 permanent life insurance policy for a 65-year-old man available through AARP costs $286.17 a month, Maurer found. He says the same man can buy a $50,000 policy for 51 percent less from Cincinnati-based Columbus Life Insurance Co.

    After a half century of serving seniors, AARP may be slipping in its mission to members as its power grows, former AARP official Moon says.

    “AARP grew often for the sake of growing, and not thinking about, Is this the best way to be?” she says.

    With the U.S. economy suffering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, AARP has to decide if charging higher insurance rates in order to bolster its revenue by $497.6 million a year is the kind of help that seniors need.

    Source:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a4OkPQIPF6Kg&refer=home

  • Blog post
  • 1 week ago
  • Views: 42

• Let's talk about Czars

  • From: leftahead
  • Description:

    There sure seem to be a lot of people on the Right that have their panties in a wad over the appointment of these advisors. Not much is really made of the fact that "czar" is not an official title, but a media description. For example, do you know what they call the Director of Health and Medicine? Drug Czar. They name them "czar", because its a heck of a lot easier to explain. But, now it seems that the GOP has some major issues with czars, even though they invented them, and have used them extensively in every administration since Nixon. And, Obama has, for the most part, simply re-assigned positions that already existed. He has not invented new czar positions, as the Right would lead you to believe. The fact of the matter is that Bush had many, many more "czars" on his administration, than Obama has right now....

     

    Here, for your reference, are the 47 czars during the Bush Administration:
    
    Bush’s AIDS Czars (5)

    CNN: Bush Appointed “AIDS Czar” Randall Tobias In 2003. In a story entitled “Ex-Eli Lilly Exec Named Global AIDS Czar,” CNN reported: “President Bush tapped a former pharmaceutical executive Wednesday to coordinate his administration's $15 billion program to combat AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. If confirmed by the Senate, Randall Tobias -- the former chairman and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Co. -- would head up the administration's efforts to bring more medical workers, medicine and training to those countries hit hard by the virus.” [CNN, 7/2/03]

    NPR: Bush’s First “AIDS Czar” Was Scott Evertz.“For the first few months of the Bush administration, there was a White House Office of National AIDS Policy, but no one seemed to be working there. Public health officials and AIDS activists were concerned there would be no Bush AIDS policy. Today, with a new AIDS office director and a thrust toward international issues, that all changed sharply. The president's AIDS czar, Scott Evertz is an openly gay Republican from Wisconsin.” [NPR, 4/9/01]

    NYT: Joe O’Neill Was Bush Administration’s “AIDS Czar” In 2003. “Among the White House officials briefing the Log Cabin Republicans today was Dr. Joe O'Neill, the administration's AIDS czar, who is openly gay.” [New York Times, 5/10/03]

    AIDS Policy & Law: Carol Thompson Was Bush Administration’s “AIDS Czar” In 2006. “The heads of the U.S. government's domestic and global AIDS offices will be leaving their posts to take on new jobs. Their replacements have yet to be named. Carol Thompson, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, sometimes referred to as the national "AIDS czar," left Feb. 10 for a new job at the State Department's Africa division.” [AIDS Policy And Law, 2/24/06]

    ABC: Mark Dybul Was Sworn In As “AIDS Czar” In 2006. JAKE TAPPER (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) For its part, the Bush White House won re-election in 2004 partly by campaigning against gay marriage. PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH (UNITED STATES) I believe our society is better off when marriage is defined as between a man and a woman. JAKE TAPPER (ABC NEWS) (Voiceover) And yet, it can seem perfectly accepting of such unions, as was seen this week, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swore in as AIDS czar Dr. Mark Dybul, who is gay, while Dybul's partner held the bible. [ABC World News, 10/13/06]

    Bush’s Faith Czars (3)

    National Review: John DiIulio Was Bush’s Administration’s First “Faith Czar.” “John DiIulio is an enigma. An Ivy League professor with a Ph.D. from Harvard, tenure from Princeton, and now an endowed chair at Penn, he is also a devout Roman Catholic who refers to himself as ‘born again’ and credits black Pentecostalists for his return to faith. A pro-life, pro-family social conservative, he is also a pro-poor registered Democrat who served in the highest levels of the Bush administration as our nation's first ‘faith czar.’” [National Review, 11/19/07]

    Jim Towey Replaced DiIulio as “Faith Czar.” “A former Florida political insider who once worked as legal counsel to Mother Teresa will be named today (Friday) to head the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Cox Newspapers has learned. President Bush will announce that Jim Towey, president and founder of Aging With Dignity, will replace John J. DiIulio Jr. as director of the office the president says is central to his ‘armies of compassion’ campaign to help lift poor people out of poverty.” [Cox News Service, 1/31/02]

    Jay Hein Became “Faith Czar” In 2006. “On Aug. 21, Jay Hein became the third director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.” [Religion News Service, 9/6/06]

    Bush’s Budget Czars (4)

    Indianapolis Star: Mitch Daniels Was Bush’s “Budget Czar” In 2004. “A new political action committee, dubbed "Frugal Hoosiers for Mitch," was formed Wednesday to persuade White House budget czar Mitch Daniels to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2004.” [Indianapolis Star, 12/5/02]

    Orlando Sentinel: Joshua Bolten Was White House “Budget Czar” In 2005. “White House budget czar Joshua Bolten conceded the money was only a ‘stop-gap measure’ and Congress will need to approve more money later. FEMA is spending $500 million a day so far.” [Orlando Sentinel, 9/2/05]

    White House Bulletin: Rob Portman And Jim Nussle Were White House “Budget Czars” In 2007. “At the same time, the resignation of White House budget director Rob Portman, who is returning home to Ohio possibly to run for governor, has led to the appointment of former Congressman Jim Nussle as the new budget czar.” [White House Bulletin, 9/22/07]

    Bush’s Cleanup Czars (3)
    Tri-City Herald: Jessie Roberson And Paul Golan Were “Cleanup Czars” In 2004. “The acting assistant secretary for environmental management at the Department of Energy, sometimes called the cleanup czar, will visit Hanford next week. Paul Golan has been filling the position temporarily since Jessie Roberson resigned in July.” [Tri-City Herald, 11/9/04]

    Tri-City Herald: James Rispoli Was Cleanup Czar In 2005-2006. “James Rispoli, a key Department of Energy official for Hanford cleanup, plans a visit to the Tri-Cities next week. The assistant secretary for environmental management is scheduled to speak at a meeting of DOE's Environmental Management Advisory Board in Richland. He's held the position, sometimes referred to as the cleanup czar, since being sworn in a year ago.” [Tri-City Herald, 8/17/06]

    Bush’s Communication Czars (2)

    US News & World Report: Ed Gillespie And Dan Bartlett Were “Communications Czars.” “Recently named White House communications czar Ed Gillespie is winning rave reviews for handling critical PR issues, a sign that gives insiders confidence that the president will weather the upcoming congressional storm over the Petraeus troop surge review...You might recall that Gillespie replaced Dan Bartlett, Bush's longtime communications aide.” [U.S. News & World Report, 8/21/07]

    Bush’s Cybersecurity Czars (2)

    San Jose Mercury-News: Richard Clark Was “Cybersecurity Czar” In 2003. “Since a 2003 presidential commission issued the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, the White House has suffered from a leadership vacuum on cybersecurity. Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism coordinator, retired as cybersecurity czar just as the strategy was published.” [San Jose Mercury News, 11/12/07]

    Wired: Rod Beckstrom Was Cybersecurity Czar In 2008-09. In a story entitled, “Cyber-Security Czar Quits Amid Fears of NSA Takeover “, Wired reported: ”Rod Beckström, the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial cyber-security chief, has suddenly resigned amid allegations of power grabs and bureaucratic infighting. Beckström — a management theorist, entrepreneur and author — was named last year to head up the new National Cybersecurity Center, or NCSC.” [Wired, 3/6/09]

    Bush’s Homeland Security Czars (2)

    Vanity Fair: Tom Ridge was Bush’s “Homeland Security Czar.” “Former Homeland Security czar Tom Ridge remained the dutiful Bush & Co. team player throughout his tenure. Once he left the organization, however, he became increasingly forthcoming.” [Vanity Fair, September 2005]

    Michael Chertoff was Bush’s “Homeland Security Czar.” “The latest National Intelligence Estimates were released yesterday and they are enough to make any sane person want to head for the nearest bunker. The combined assessment of the nation's 16 spy agencies are a sobering reality check of the dangers - long and short-term - that exist right here on our own shores. Perhaps it was his own advanced look at the report that caused Homeland Security czar Michael Chertoff to have that well-publicized uneasy feeling in his ‘gut.’” [Boston Herald Op-Ed, 7/18/07]

    Bush’s Intelligence Czars (2)

    Time: John Negroponte Was Bush’s “Intelligence Czar.” “As the government's new intelligence czar and the President's primary intelligence adviser—a position created late last year by Congress after fierce lobbying by the 9/11 commission and families of the 9/11 victims—Negroponte has the job of making sure that the kinds of intelligence stumbles that led up to 9/11 and the sorts of miscalculations about Iraq's WMD programs don't happen again.” [Time, 1/20/05]

    Mike McConnell Took Over As Intelligence Czar. “Negroponte, who will be replaced as DNI by former National Security Agency chief Mike McConnell, had received some criticism for his quiet, behind-the-scenes approach to the daunting task of unifying the massive, $44 billion intelligence community.” [U.S. News & World Report, 1/4/07]

    Bush’s Manufacturing Czar (2)

    Detroit News: Albert Frink Was Bush’s “Manufacturing Czar.” “Michigan lawmakers had hoped that President Bush's manufacturing ‘czar’ would be a powerful voice in support of the state's battered factory sector. Instead, they're seething in bipartisan anger over what they see as his lack of clout -- and accomplishment. For instance, Albert Frink, U.S. Commerce Department assistant secretary for manufacturing and services, has rarely even been in the same room as President Bush in his first year and a half on the job.” [Detroit News, 4/28/06]

    William G. Sutton Replaced Frink In 2007. “The Senate recently confirmed William G. Sutton, a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral, to serve as the assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing and services. Sutton's government role as lead advocate for the manufacturing community will require perseverance in addressing the issues that constrain U.S. manufacturers' ability to compete globally. According to industry observers, Sutton will need to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Al Frink, to raise the country's awareness of such issues as the industry's skills shortage; the impact of regulations, litigation, and taxes; and the importance of free trade…The job of assistant secretary for manufacturing — sometimes referred to by NAM as the ‘manufacturing czar’ — gained momentum under Frink, who was the first to hold this position and who resigned in December 2006.” [Managing Automation, 9/29/07]
    
    Bush’s Public Diplomacy Czars (2)

    Washington Post: Karen Hughes Was Bush’s “Public Diplomacy Czar.” “Karen Hughes, the new public diplomacy czar charged with improving the U.S. image, began her maiden diplomatic voyage Sunday, meeting in picturesque settings with Egyptian students who have benefited from American largess.” [Washington Post, 9/26/05]

    Washington Post: James K. Glassman Was Bush’s “Public Diplomacy Czar.” Al Kamen wrote, “Meanwhile, the agency is also minus a chairman because the current one, James K. Glassman, who took over just a year ago, was sworn in yesterday as public diplomacy czar at the State Department.” [Washington Post, 6/11/08]

    Bush’s Regulatory Czars (2)

    Albany Times-Union: John Graham Was Bush’s Regulatory Czar. “The curious case of John Graham, the ‘regulatory czar,’ who can block any new regulation from his position inside the Office of Management and Budget, has attracted some attention because of Graham's unusual public record.” [Albany Times Union, 8/25/01]

    Washington Business Journal: Susan Dudley Was Bush’s Regulatory Czar in 2007. “President Bush avoided a nasty confirmation battle by appointing Susan Dudley as his regulatory czar while Congress was out of town. The recess appointment avoided the need for Senate confirmation of Dudley, who has been criticized as being an anti-regulatory extremist by consumer groups, labor unions and environmental organizations.” [Washington Business Journal, 4/16/07]

    Bush’s Other Czars (18)

    NPR: Neel Kashkari Was Bush’s “Bailout Czar” In 2008. “And so today, in the Rose Garden where he's made so many appearances lately, President Bush announced what he called the G7 action plan to strengthen banks across the country. Neil Kashkari, the Treasury Department's bailout czar, now expresses confidence that we are building the foundation for a strong, decisive, and effective program.” [NPR, “All Things Considered,” 10/14/08]

    US News & World Report: Leon Kass Was Reported As Bush’s “Bioethics Czar” In 2003. In a story highlighted as “College professor Leon Kass has become the nation's first bioethics czar,” U.S. News & World Report reported, “Leon Kass loves the intellectual back-and-forth of intense conversation. The man whom President Bush picked to direct a national discussion on bioethics confesses, "I believe in talk. I believe in argument, almost to a fault, if the goal is understanding, not victory." [US News & World Report, 2/1/03]

    Politico: Stewart Simonson Was Bush’s “Bird Flu Czar” In 2004. “Remember the bird flu czar? He was Stewart Simonson, appointed by President Bush in 2004 as assistant secretary of health and human services for public health emergency preparedness. Simonson's mission - his wonkish title aside - was no less than protecting the country from an avian influenza epidemic.” [Politico, 10/21/08]

    Salon.com: Eric Keroack Was Bush’s “Birth Control Czar” In 2007. “Even our birth control czar was one until Eric J. Keroack resigned amid allegations of Medicaid fraud. (Now, according to a killer bit of investigative reporting by Raw Story, it seems he may have gotten his federal job based on fraudulent qualifications as well. He claimed to have been in private practice for 20 years, but other documents suggest it was closer to five years; his much-touted experience as ‘medical director’ for nonprofit group A Woman's Concern looks as if it may have been a part-time volunteer position.)” [Salon, 5/31/07]

    The Nation: “Aids Ambassador” And “Abstinence Czar” Randall Tobias Stepped Down After He Appeared on D.C. Madam’s Client List. “So far, the most significant player to show up on Washington madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's much-discussed client list is USAID chief Randall Tobias, the former pharmaceutical company CEO who ran Bush's global AIDS initiative for its first three years. His ignominious tenure as AIDS ambassador was marked by a preference for pricey brand-name HIV drugs over cheap generics, which sharply reduced the number of people who could be treated. Ironically, given his regular ‘massages’ from call girls, when we can surmise he ignored the abstinence-only instruction to ‘keep all of your clothes all the way on all of the time,’ Tobias was also an avid defender of the President's puritanical approach to HIV prevention… Tobias is not the first abstinence czar to leave his job after running afoul of the moral agenda he promoted. Claude Allen, once the leading White House abstinence advocate, stepped down as domestic policy adviser last year after he was caught stealing.” [The Nation, 5/10/07]

    Slate: Elliot Abrams Was “Democracy Czar” In 2005. “Hours before the president's State of the Union address earlier this month—a perfect moment for burying inconvenient news—the White House announced the ascension of Elliott Abrams to the highest ranks of its foreign-policy team. Abrams has moved from the staff of the National Security Council to the post of deputy national security adviser. It's a significant promotion, one that gives Abrams both an elevated stature and new management powers. Specifically, the White House says Abrams will be in charge of ‘global democracy strategy,’ effectively making him Bush's democracy czar.” [Slate, 12/17/05]

    Washington Post: Karl Rove Was Bush’s “Domestic Policy Czar” In 2004. “In the wake of Bush's 2004 reelection, Green reports, Rove, newly promoted by Bush to domestic policy czar, concluded that the time for this realignment had come.” [Washington Post, 8/15/07]

    New York Times: John P. Walters Was Bush’s Drug Czar in 2001. “President Bush today nominated as his drug czar John P. Walters, who has long argued for jail time over voluntary treatment for drug offenders, calling him the man to battle illegal drugs that rob people ‘of innocence and ambition and hope.’” [New York Times, 5/11/01]

    NPR: David Atchison Was Bush’s “Food Safety Czar” In 2007. “There's been lots of U.S. czars since then right up to food safety czar, David Atchison, who took office this month.” [NPR, 5/16/07]

    AP: John Howard Was Bush’s World Trade Center Health Czar in 2006. “New York lawmakers and Sept. 11 health advocates urged President Obama on Monday to rehire a World Trade Center health czar who was let go last year by the Bush administration. John Howard's six-year term as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health expired last July and he was not asked to stay on. Since 2006, Howard had become the government's point person for post-Sept. 11 illness.” [AP, 2/23/09]

    ANSI: David J. Brailer Was Bush’s “Health IT Czar.” In a story titled “David J. Brailer Resigns as Health IT Czar,” the American National Standards Institute reported, “Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt announced this evening that he has accepted the resignation of Dr. David J. Brailer as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. Brailer was appointed to the position by President George W. Bush on May 6, 2004.” [ANSI, 4/20/06]

    Time: Philip Mangano Was Bush’s “Homelessness Czar.” “With a freak-show economy in which unemployment has reached 6%--a 50% increase since November 2000--but housing prices have stayed at or near historic highs, the number of homeless appears to be at its highest in at least a decade in a wide range of places across the U.S., according to Bush's own homelessness czar. ‘It's embarrassing to say that they're up,’ says czar Philip Mangano of the number, ‘but it's better to face the truth than to try to obfuscate.’” [Time, 1/20/03]

    New York Times: Donald E. Powell Was Bush’s “Gulf Coast Reconstruction Czar.” “The White House said Friday that the administration’s Gulf Coast reconstruction czar, Donald E. Powell, was resigning to return to his family in Texas.” [New York Times, 3/1/08]

    Sunday Times: Michael Gerson Was Bush’s “Policy Czar.” Andrew Sullivan wrote, “And, in fact, every single critical figure in this White House has been there from the start: political guru Karl Rove, secretary of state Condi Rice, former speechwriter, now policy czar, Michael Gerson, budget director Josh Bolten, and national security adviser Stephen Hadley. Hadley, according to the Post, schedules a full battery of meetings on Saturdays as well.” [Sunday Times, 3/19/06]

    Education Week: G. Reid Lyon Was Bush’s Reading Czar. In a story titled, “National Reading Czar to Leave Public Sector for Teacher Ed. Venture,” Education Week reported: “G. Reid Lyon, the influential chief of the branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development that sponsors studies on reading and a key adviser on the federal Reading First initiative, will step down July 1 to take a job at Dallas-based Best Associates.” [Education Week, 6/7/05]

    Business Week: John Marburger Was Bush’s “Science Czar.” In a story entitled “A Talk with Bush's Science Czar,” BusinessWeek reported: “When President Bush needs to talk science, he turns to John Marburger, director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy.” [Business Week, 3/16/04]

    CBS: Richard Clarke Was Bush’s “Terrorism Czar.” “Clarke helped shape U.S. policy on terrorism under President Reagan and the first President Bush. He was held over by President Clinton to be his terrorism czar, then held over again by the current President Bush.” [CBS 60 Minutes, 3/21/04]

    Wall Street Journal: Gen. Wayne Downing Was Bush’s “Counterterrorism Czar.” “Gen. Wayne Downing, said to be tired of battles with Pentagon's Rumsfeld, exits as the post-Sept. 11 counterterrorism czar at the White House National Security Council.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/28/02]

    AP: Bush Chose Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute For War Czar. “President Bush has chosen Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the Pentagon's director of operations, to oversee the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan as a ‘war czar’ after a long search for new leadership, administration officials said Tuesday.” [AP, 5/15/07]

     

     

    So, for the love of God, get over this phony outrage, and actually try to be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem....

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 81

• ARTISTS FORGOTTEN!

  • From: BIGBADBOB
  • Description:

    OUR FORGOTTEN ARTISTS!

     

     

     

    When I was eleven years old, I decided that I wanted to be a drummer. I started out playing a drum in a local VFW drum corps. The lessons were free and I did something you weren’t supposed to do….I learned how to play a drum roll in two weeks...Wow! I was fast and fascinated. I never thought I could do it. It looked impossible, but WOW! As it turned out, these lessons were just as important as going to Julliard. I was actually being taught the correct way to play. Even though my involvement in drum corps has been a lifetime event, playing, teaching & writing percussion scores, it was mostly an avocation….But learning how to play a drum set was a profession and career! If I was to do this, I had to make a living at it. And so I did. I formed jazz bands, both big and small, and once we were good enough I had no problem finding work. When jazz began die to down, I was hired by  a soul group and the full time journey began. This was at a time when Nightclubs and bars with live music were plentiful! These places don’t seem to exist anymore. Now if you want to make it as a band, you must provide your own built-in audience. That’s just plain dumb and lazy on the club owners part. When I started out, you played in the smaller clubs aiming for the better places. This was an incentive to improve, therefore making more money. After all it was Show Business, NOT Show Hobby! People would come from out of state just to see the NYC bands. The  added bonuses, as in my case, was when we were playing in a NYC club, people such as Wilson Pickett, Frankie Lymon, The Temptations, Moody Blues or the entire Christmas Rock & Roll show from the Brooklyn Fox would come in, get up on the stage and jam with you! Think about it…All this great talent for just the price of a drink! It was a WIN-WIN situation for both us and the fans…..It was PARTEEEEEEE!!!! So this is why it breaks my heart whenever I come into Penn Station, and see these great talented singers and musicians playing there and being ignored by people. The few that do stop and listen are treated to a great musical experience and do drop some money in the hat. They shouldn’t be made to have to resort to this to eke out a living. I talk to them constantly and find out that some of them have played on hit records and in well known bands. The rest are classically trained musicians on violin, flute, piano….This is NO way for our artists to be treated. If you knew about all the hard work that goes into playing you would agree with me. In many ways you don’t choose music, it chooses YOU!!! I never like going backwards in my life….But I do think that we should wake up the nightclub owners and go back to the way it was because it never should have changed in the first place. You develop your own fans, if they have their own…consider that BONUS points! Come on people, the next time you see a street musician playing in the street or at the Station….Stop and smell the roses and LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!! Oh yeah and drop something in the hat okay?!?!

  • Blog post
  • 2 months ago
  • Views: 33
  • Not yet rated

• My Converting To Islam

  • From: Tattoo_Gypsy
  • Description:

    OK, ok, Mr. Obama, I guess you win. All this nearly non-stop talk from you since you got elected about how Islam is a 'religion of peace' has finally convinced me to convert from Christianity to being a Muslim. Yep, ya talked me into it.

    Well, kinda sorta. I have just a few small concerns, call them conditions if you will, in order for me to convert to Islam.

    First; they really gotta quit treating their women like chitty second class citizens. Really. I mean if I convert that means the wife has to convert. And if I go around making her cover up head to toe she's gonna start throwing cast iron skillets in my direction. Judging from the looks of your wife, I'm guessing you probably know what that is like. Like most of us married folks know, when Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

    And speaking of wives, I'm not sure any more about that whole multiple wives thing. It's bad enough when you got just one wife mad as hell at ya, imagine having a whole house full of wives mad at ya. Look, I've lived with 2 girlfriends at once, many a time. Even a wife and a girlfriend a few times. And from personal experience, I can tell ya, when they are BOTH pizzed at ya at the same time, it ain't no fun. So maybe ya might talk to the Muslims about the whole multiple wives thing if I'm gonna convert.

    Second, they need to quit it with these so-called 'daughter-honor-killings'. Besides the fact I do not think I could kill one of my daughters just because she was of legal age, living on her own, and having sex with her boyfriend; besides that, I'll refer back to the wife a couple paragraphs back..

    Except if I were to try 'honor-killing' one of our daughters, the wife, instead of throwing cast iron skillets in my direction, would probably start throwing lead, as in bullets, in my direction. So to convert to Islam, I think we need to do something about the whole daughter-honor-killing thing, don't you.

    By the way, while on that same subject, maybe ya might want to remind your Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Speaker of the House Pelosi, to stop covering their heads when they go visiting to those Muslim countries. By covering their heads, they are not being respectful to their Muslim hosts-- they are disgracing every woman who ever fought for equal rights over the past 100 years or so. Including your mother, and your grandmother, on your white side. (Oh, ya forgot ya had a 'white' side? Ya did a lot of reminding us during your running for the office of President, guess we don't hear it much nowadays)

    And speaking of equal rights; even though I don't float my boat that way (a reminder from the wife) I think in order for me to convert to Islam, they really need to stop killing people because they are gay.

    Now maybe gays are not totally accepted in this society, but we don’t allow them to be killed just for being gay. And if some Muslim were to kill my niece and her girlfriend because of being gay, remember the wife and the cast iron skillet, and her shotgun, well the sister would be right next to her and I'd have double trouble. So maybe you can convince the Muslims to easy up on the entire 'gay-killing' thing.

    Now I'll be the first to admit I didn't vote for your fascist-socialist self. Yeah, ok, I'll stop for now with the entire fascist-socialist thing. This is a serious subject and I should not confuse it, or you, with other serious subjects.

    But yeah, I didn't vote for you. But, I did vote, and so did around 100 million other free Americans. And we did it; we elected a black man President and changed leaders, all without violence. And in a few years, will do so again hopefully.

    So how about those freely elected democratic governments in the Muslim world? Oh, yeah, right, not too many of them around over there. Although it seems Iraq does have one now.

    So if I'm gonna convert to Islam, I really want to be able to vote for my leaders. Since they apparently seem to like you and believe in you, and since you like to prostrate yourself to them quite a bit, perhaps you could convince these Dictator type Muslim Countries to stop being run like feudal societies that most of the rest of the world gave up half a century ago.

    I know it is sometimes politically expedient for our President to deal with dictators. Back nearly 70 years ago we even had to make a deal with a mass murderer named Stalin to try and fight another mass murderer named Hitler.

    But I see no reason why in today’s world, where the great majority of people live in democracies, that we need to make nice-nice with dictators. Just one of the things the United States of America is not about, is accepting evil dictatorships or autocracies, Mr. Obama. This country does not believe in or accept, is controlling or dominating government control of people. Thought I should point that out to ya, cause ya just might want to keep that in mind for future reference.

    Another thing that would really help my conversion to Islam, is if you would get the Muslims to quit trying to tell us they really do care about the Palestinians and that the trouble in the Middle East is because of the Palestinian problems. That is about as fulla crap as the turd of a turbin on old Mohammed's head.

    Outside of giving some Palestinian suicide bombers family some money, the Arab world hasn't done a damned thing to help Palestinians for 60 odd years, and we all know that.

    Anyone who has read history knows the Palestinian problem did not start in 1967. It started in 1948 when 7 Arab nations attacked Israel and got their azzes royally kicked. The Palestinian people willingly relocated out of the Israeli territory. The original League of Nations (later the UN) did give the Palestinians their own land. Its called Jordan.

    Oh, Mr. Obama since you are so BIG on apologies, an apology for all those Christians and Jews kicked out of the Arab countries would be nice as well.

    While the Arab world has been really good on creating the lie about the Palestinians being kicked out of their land, the Arab world has also done an excellent job of covering up all those Jews and Christians they kicked out of Arab lands.

    OK, to be honest, they did not really kick them out. The Arabs made the offer for everyone to either convert to Islam or die. Guess the Jews and Christians figured leaving was better than converting or being killed.

    I really only have one more condition for me to convert to Islam. Since you are so big on Islam, the Muslim religion (now that is. Not when you were running for president, but hey, who's counting, right)

    But since you are now so big on the Muslim religion, the 'religion of peace as you have so eloquently put it on numerous occasions, my last condition for me to convert to Islam, is I would like to see a majority of all the Muslims actually start protesting the murders and atrocities performed in the name of Islam.

    You keep telling us that the people who do these murderous acts are only a small minority of Muslims. So I need to ask; where are all the protests, where are the books and articles denouncing the Muslim violence and murders against non-Muslims?

    Hell, where is the Islamic version of Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger, Peter Paul & Mary, Woody Guthrie or Joan Baez? (OK, yeah, I'm dating myself here, so what)

    If Islam is really a religion of peace as you so often claim, then would ya mind talking them into actually showing it.

    I know I have been waiting for it for quite some time now. But all the memories I have are of Muslims out partying after the Twin Towers came down, the Pentagon was attacked and Flight 93 went down in Penn, on 9-11-01. I don't recall seeing a single Muslim protesting the murders of 3000+ innocent Americans.

    Maybe you can march out at the head of the 'peaceful' Muslims and this 'Religion of Peace' you constantly like to refer to.

    President Obama, I think it is great that you want to accept Islam (still think it's funny you didn't tell us this a year ago though BEFORE ya got elected President), but I still think it's great you want to accept Islam. That you want all Americans to accept and even embrace the Muslim faith.

    But can I ask you a question?

    Would you ask me, or any of us, to accept Adolph Hitlers 3^rd Reich Nazis? Or how about Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks, or Joseph Stalin's Communists, or how about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge?

    Any clue as to how many murders, killing, atrocities and evil mistreatments those 4 'leaders' are responsible for? Somewhere near 100 MILLION people. Roughly 1/3 of the entire current population of the United States.

    Personally, I do not see a whole lotta difference between the entire Muslim religion that can stand, cheer, dance and party the day of and days following 9-11-01 and people like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and even Saddam Hussein.

    But I'll tell ya what Mr. Obama; you really need to quit bowing to Saudi Muslim Dictator-Kings, quit doing all this brown nosing to the Muslim world and people, quit apologizing for things you have no reason to and no right on behalf of the American people to apologize for, because no matter how you feel about this Country, no matter if I voted for you or not, currently you are the President of the United States of America.

    And it is about damned time that you started acting like it.

    Because all this apology bullcrap to the mass-murdering 'religion of peace' jerkoffs is getting pretty damned old.

    But hey, if you can convince your Muslim Friends to get with the program a bit, like outlined above, sure, I'll convert to Islam. On the same exact day I vote for you as President of the United States of America.

    Maybe around the second Sunday of next week.

    Tattoo Gypsy

    

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
  • Views: 597

• War Made Easy Wayne Morse

  • From: Former member
  • Description:

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    ---

    Wayne Morse War Made Easy.flv

     

     War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq.

    Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations

  • Video blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 65

• updated: Public school expulsi

  • From: Bulls_Pulpit
  • Description:

     

    UPDATE @ THE BOTTOM ***

    School expulsions & suspensions ... and the "zero tolerance" policies. My boys are grown and graduated so there is no personal/family agenda for me. My post is to question these policies and look for others view and opinions, a few facts would be awesome as well.

     

    Here is something to ponder ... random searches in public school(s). Yes, random! May 21st (Thursday) a random search was performed at a Pennsylvania Govt school. A 15 year old young ladies purse / handbag was searched (randomly) and lo & behold there was a "weapon"! This young lady had the audacity to have an eyebrow shaver in her private posession. 

     

    Her punishment was expulsion for the rest of this year and 45 days of next years school term. Now for some background on this young lady, she is still an active Girl Scout, a team member on the school's basketball team, sings in the school choir, as well on the school's leadership team! (I am still stuck on being a scout member at 15 in the year 2009, I am impressed by her motivations). And she has plans already for her future, a nurse and or anesthetist. 

     

    The expulsion (on her transcripts) will be frowned upon by top colleges ... this girl was treated by the school using a "standard disciplinary policy that addresses all students equally".

     

    "Equally"??? This girl had plans! Am quite sure this young lady does NOT dress like a young Britney hooker! Am equally as sure she does not participate in "sexting" ... where is the being treated "equally"? ... certainly the only equal part is she is being judged is to be lump summed to the entire student body ... not by other young people who truly have aspirations for their future ... is this being treated "equal" ... maybe I am not saying what I am thinking ... but I am thinking that Govt school poicies are NOT fair. 

     

    Bottom line question(s);

    1: random searches in school?

    2: the treated equal policies? 

     

    **http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/05/21/pa_middle_school_expels_teen_with_eyebrow_shaver/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news

    **Updates: I see some pro & con about the above ... I thought I'd add some grade school expulsions & suspensions...grade school !!

    Hamiton Oh: a 3rd grade student was expelled PERMANENTLY for writing a hit list on his desk ...

    Fruitport Michigan: a 4th grader was EXPELLED because mommy added a cake knife in the bag conatining his BIRTHDAY cake ....

    Douglasville Georgia: a fifth grader EXPELLED for selling kool aid in school (highlight in story was because said kool aid was the sugar kind) ...

    Note: these ARE expulsions ... not suspensions .... Google "2 grader expelled" the stories (news reports) are astounding ... and seem to go on & on!!!!

    http://www.google.com/search?q=2+cd+grader+expelled&hl=en&rlz=1T4TSHA_enUS328&start=10&sa=N

     

     

     

    
    

     

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 200
  • Not yet rated

• Obama's Hollywood Arts Liaison

  • From: Tattoo_Gypsy
  • Description:

     

    So first, we have what is a brand new Obama Administrative Office, whose full title is the Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs.

    Probably just another way to make the federal government even larger and spend more of our tax dollars.

    Now the way I understand it, one of the reasons for this office is to allow the average American citizen direct input into the Obama administration. To find to what is on peoples minds so to speak.

    From the Whitehouse.Gov page:

    "OPL-IGA takes the Administration out of Washington and into communities across America, stimulating honest dialogue and ensuring that America's citizens and their elected officials have a government that works effectively for them and with them."

    Yeah, right, sure. I'd have to say that is working really well so far judging from all the negative comments and stories about Obama and Washington being 'out of touch' with the American People.

    Especially since April 15^th, there are supposed to be hundreds of Protesting Tea Parties all across the country, for the express purpose of letting the federal government understand they are NOT listening to us.

    Fellow Chicago lawyers and friends of President Obama, Valerie Jarrett and Michael Strautmanis, will act, respectively, as Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of this new office.

    LOL, damn, must be nice to be one of Obama's friends. He can make up a whole new administrative office to put you to work at. And give ya a fancy title, like Chief of Staff of the Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs.

    Better have plenty of room on those new business cards.

    Now one thing I have no understanding of, besides why our tax dollars is going to fund this bullcrap office in the first place, is why Obama has also hired for that that office, actor Kal Penn as a liaison between President Obama's administration and arts groups (Hollywood).

    What the hell for? It's bad enough Messiah Obama is expanding the size of the federal government past anything ever envisioned by any president, much less our Founding Fathers, who believed in LIMITED government.

    But why does this Messiah need a liaison between his administration and Hollyweird.

    According to the White House, Mr. Penn is joining the staff as the Arts Liaison Director in the Office of Public Liaison. His role will be to connect Mr. Obama with arts and entertainment groups.

    Mr. Penn backed Mr. Obama during the campaign, so he's getting a government job also. Obama keeps this up, and pretty soon, 52% of the voters are gonna be working for the Obama administration. Probably means the other 48% of the voters are gonna have to pay more in taxes to pay for this larger 'government work force'.

    But it still doesn't explain WHY Obama needs a liaison between him and the arts groups.

    There is no reasonable rationale for having a political liaison to Hollywood. No one in Hollywood cares enough to actually learn about a political situation before preaching about it to thousands of idiotic fans that accepts everything they hear from celebrities as gospel. This move just exemplifies Obama's commitment to making America dumber.

    Not to mention of course, hiring someone who specializes in "stoner" movies. That should help BO's image

    Either way, this entire Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs bullcrap office, supposedly for the average American Citizen to have a voice in government affairs, seems like nothing more than a cheap gimmick to keep people thinking they have a voice in government when it is painfully obvious, they do not have.

    Not to mention, IF one of the reasons for this so-called Office of Public Liaison, is gonna be in charge of "capturing what's on people's minds and measuring what concerns most people", then whoever does that job has the capacity to filter out whatever responses from the public they seek to retain from the Office of Public Liaison. Censorship is alive and well in America.

    Which still does not explain the 'Arts Director' job, but guess I just don't 'understand government.'

     

     

     

     

     

    
    
    
    
    Tattoo Gypsy

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 304

• And now a word from Mr Daniels

  • From: DILLIGAF
  • Description:

    2009 Soap Box Archives
    

    It's Finally Happened

    Washington has totally lost its collective mind and is drowning in a sea of make believe that transcends common sense and even political correctness.

    I'm going back to Iraq later on in the year, and I can't wait to see what the young men and women in the military think about fighting the "Overseas Contingency Operation."

    They actually thought they were fighting the War on Terror, but their new Commander in Chief and the bunch of politically correct, pantywaist loonies who serve under him are afraid of offending Osama bin Laden or some other scum-sucking, head-decapitating terrorist murderers, so they changed horses in mid stream.

    The War on Terror is now the Overseas Contingency Operation, terrorism is now referred to as "man caused disasters" and now the White House has decided that they would no longer call the Islamic fanatics -who want to destroy our way of life- "enemy combatants," but so far the Obama administration hasn't thought of anything less offensive. May I suggest "misguided well-meaning foreign citizens"? That sounds like something the White House can run with.

    If it wasn't so dangerous it would be funny. Do these people actually think that by calling something by a kinder gentler name they can make it less dangerous? This is downright stupid. Yes, I said it. It's stupid.

    It's like saying, "Mr. bin Laden, we're sorry for calling you all those terrible names. We're really sorry, and if we'll stop using those awful descriptions, will you just leave us alone? Can't we all just put some flowers in our hair and live in peace? Besides it was all that awful George W. Bush's idea."

    Well Mr. Obama, I might have missed it but I haven't heard you mention 9/11 once, and just in case you've forgotten these noble enemy comba… sorry, "foreign mischief-making citizens", -or whatever you end up calling them- of yours murdered over 3000 of our citizens in three different locations on American soil and your milksop definitions of these pus ball killers is just not good enough for me.

    I have some suggestions for your vocabulary:

    Rattlesnake - triangle-headed surface crawler

    Black Widow Spider - red dotted black circle

    Shark - fish with a toothy smile

    Grizzly Bear - big cuddly fuzzball

    Dynamite - stringed red stick

    Ted Bundy - homo sapien with a slight attitude

    Jeffrey Dahmer - peculiarly-appetited loner

    The media in this country have their heads so far up the collective posteriors of the Obama Administration that all they can do is sit back and say, "Oh isn't he wonderful? Isn't he brilliant? He has compassion and cares about everybody's feelings!"

    Folks, please don't let this bunch of new age liberal fanatics pull the wool over your eyes.

    Regardless of what the White House says, we are still fighting the War on Terror. If you don't believe it, ask some of the young heroes who patrol the roads of Iraq everyday at the risk of having their Humvees blown to kingdom come by a roadside bomb, not put there by a soldier but by a citizen terrorist and that does not compute into enemy combatant, "peace-depriving individual" or any other ridiculous politically correct term they can come up with, no matter how you cut it.

    The more Obama tries to placate these people, the weaker they will perceive us to be and you know what's sad? It will be the truth.

    I remember watching a TV show a few years ago when there was a war going on between Israel and their Arab neighbors. I remember the rapper, Vanilla Ice, walking to the microphone, raising his fist in the air and saying, "Peace in the Middle East!"

    I think that's a wonderful idea, Mr. Ice. How about you go over there and fix it for us. I'm sure you and Sean Penn could make all of the problems in the Middle East just go away.

    These idealistic platitudes may make the people who say it feel good about themselves, but it does absolutely nothing to solve the situation.

    The only thing to be accomplished by soft-pedaling the rhetoric will be to give our blood enemies a good laugh.

    I can't help but wonder how the coverage of the trade towers bombing would be reported today, would it be something like…?

    "Today misguided well-meaning foreign citizens from the Overseas Contingency Operation inflicted a Man Caused Disaster at the World Trade Center depriving some three thousand people -who probably shouldn't have been there anyway- of their livingness, and besides, we're sure they had a good excuse for doing it."

    Film at eleven.

    What do you think?

    Pray for our troops

    God Bless America

    Charlie Daniels

     

     

     

    ©Copyright The Charlie Daniels Band

  • Blog post
  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 87

• Lorrikeet

  • Views: 128
  • Since: 9 months ago