At last, some honesty at MSNBC

Lawrence O'Donnell admits he's a socialist and chides other liberals for playing with terms.

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Glenn [Greenwald], unlike you, I am not a progressive. I am not a liberal who is so afraid of the word that I had to change my name to progressive. Liberals amuse me. I am a socialist. I live to the extreme left, the extreme left of you mere liberals, okay? However, I know this about my country. Liberals are 20 percent of the electorate. Conservatives are 41 percent of the electorate, okay? So I don't pretend that my views, which would ban all guns in America, make Medicare available to all in America, have any chance of happening in the federal government, okay? You can sit there and pretend that liberals should run more liberal in conservative districts. You love the loss of the Blue Dogs. The only way, the only way you have a chairman Barney Frank, there's only one way, that's by electing Blue Dogs. It's the only way. That's the only way you have a Speaker Pelosi.

Now if he could just admit that socialists are Marxists, the air would be a lot cleaner in the studio. He's also an actor, pulls down big money by selling his image and his knowledge, which is sort of like being a private company not controlled by the government, so in my opinion, he's also a hypocrite in wanting to impoverish other people.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/11/05/lawrence-odonnell-i-am-socialist-i-live-extreme-left-mere-liberals#ixzz14RY2LrhI

The jobs report

I'm sure Obama is taking credit for the uptick in the October jobs report, however, I remember how the econmy literally fell off a cliff when it looked like Obama would be the president after he was selected as the candidate. Business knew he would not be for them, and they were already struggling. Then in the fall of this year, the predicting of the Republican take overs not only of Congress but in the states also was gaining steam. So people took hope that the Bush tax cuts would stay in place and we could finally stop the Pelosi, Obama and Reid steamroller which was flattening the will and wallets of the American people.

A serious subject treated humorously, golf and terrorism

Second-generation Indian Americans 'Return' to India

"In 2004, The New York Times reported there were 35,000 "returned nonresident" Indians in the Indian city of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). In 2009, The Economist noted that between 2003 and 2005, approximately 5,000 tech-savvy Indians with more than five years' experience in America returned to India.

A 2010 report by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group found that in 2006, 32,000 second-generation Indians born in the United States or Europe returned to India. Although the report does not define return in temporal terms, it observed that the availability of challenging job positions, strong demand for experienced workers, and the promise of economic growth were crucial in creating such reverse talent flows."
Migration Information Source - For Love and Money: Second-generation Indian Americans 'Return' to India

I don't think this is too unusual. It happened after the break up of the Soviet Union with many 2nd generation Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, etc. returning to the country of their parents. Also, after China loosened up, a number of Americans of Chinese ancestry saw new opportunity. When Ireland had its boom economy in the late 90s, many Irish diaspora returned home. It will be interesting to see if they are welcomed with open arms, since they had so many advantages the people who stayed behind didn't.

Our most famous granny terrorist speaks again

Still spewing after all these years--Bernadine Dohrn, Bill Ayer's wife, the Obamas' Chicago neighbor and friend, unrepentent terrorist still thinks conservatives, and not her ilk, are the ones to fear.
See the video, feel the chill wind blowing.

CNN debunks the cost figures from India

. . . but doesn't have any numbers to replace them.

Story here.

Rob Portman's US Senate victory speech

One last campaign appeal--Joe Miller

It's not over until it's over.

Statement from Joe Miller “The campaign remains optimistic that Joe Miller will be the next U.S. Senator from the state of Alaska. Previous write-in campaigns in Alaska have demonstrated that as much as 5 to 6% of returned ballots have not met the standard to be counted as a valid vote. As with any write-in campaign, the burden of execution rests with the candidate whose name is not on the ballot. Candidates who mount a write-in campaign opt for an uphill battle. At this point, without a single write-in ballot counted, Lisa Murkowski has no claim on a victory. To complicate the matter, the Division of Elections has yet to adequately explain how a ballot will be marked in favor of a candidate. The current standards are extraordinarily ambiguous. We trust that officials will conduct the hand count with propriety and consistency. In short, this campaign is not over! “

Joe Miller for US Senate
PO Box 72838
Fairbanks, AK 99707-2838
(907) 452-8559

http://joemiller.us/

CAIR wants OSU Christians to be more tolerant

From OSUToday: "Join us to discuss recent hostility and intolerance facing the Islamic community in America and the appropriate Christian response to the attack of other faith traditions. Indianola Presbyterian Church welcomes representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations."

109 verses in the Koran command Muslims to make war against the unbeliever. The Hadith says that even the rocks behind which a Jew hides will call out for his death.

Islam teaches that the Christian Bible, the Torah and the Psalms are all corrupted, even though those manuscripts and extant copies are much, much older than Islam's holy books, and no scholar is allowed to do critical research on the Koran.

Muhammad's followers are commanded to believe in Allah and to wage war against their neighbors.

Jesus' followers are commanded to love God and to love neighbor as themselves.

Perhaps the Christians who attend this meeting could have a few words for the CAIR representative about centuries of hostility and ignorance on their side?

Bullying on social networking sites

Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting article on the history of shaming--from the scarlet letter, to names of tax delinquents in newspapers to publicly charging for plastic bags at the grocery store to "encourage" responsible behavior. But the story lead is one of the most interesting. It involves rich, socially advantaged, well-educated young adults--the senior class at Dartmouth attempting to shame their classmates into donating for the class gift, using blogs, social networking sites, names, photos, and personal slurs. Techno-rats without a moral clue.

Oh yes, the names came from the school administration. Link.

The cost of the Civil War

From Measuring Worth, which provides seven indicators for making comparisons in US dollars between any two years from 1774 to the present (2009):

"The Civil War was one of the most devastating events in the history of the United States. It lasted from 1861 to 1865 and has been estimated to have direct cost about $6.7 billion valued in 1860 dollars. If this number were evaluated in dollars of today using the GDP deflator it would be $139 billion, less that one-fourth of the current Department of Defense budget. This would be inappropriate, as would be using the wage or income indexes. The only measure that makes sense for an expenditure of this size is to use the share of GDP, as the war impacted the output of the entire country. Thus the relative value of $6.7 billion of 1860 would be $22 trillion today, or over 150% of our current GDP.

The $6.7 billion does not take into account that the war disrupted the economy and had an impact of lower production into the future. Some economic historians have estimated this additional, or indirect cost, to be another $7.3 billion measured on 1860 dollars. This means the cost of the war (as a share of the output of the economy) was nearly $46 trillion as measured in current dollars."

Michelle Bachman's Plan for Republicans to restore America

As told to tingly leg Chris Matthews:

"BACHMANN: Well, the plan that I've been talking about all through this election is really four things. And I would encourage the new Republican leadership to take this on as the agenda in 2011. And it's very simple.

It's keep the current tax policy so no one has increased taxes.

Number two, we need to put a full scale repeal of Obamacare passed through the House, hopefully it can get through the Senate, and then

number three, we need to make sure that we secure the United States borders.

And number four, we need to make sure that we don't have a huge increase in national energy tax.

Those are the four issues that the American people want the Congress to deal with because they want to get certainty back into the economy."

Works for me.

No, Mitch. He needs to fail.

It seems that, like Obama, Mitch McConnell doesn't get it either. What is it? Is the air too thin in Washington? Why is it people don't get the Tuesday message?

"Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Thursday he wants President Obama to “change,” not fail, and said Republicans will force him from office in 2012 if he does not. “I don’t want the president to fail, I want him to change,” McConnell said in remarks at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington."

What good is a "changed" failure who doesn't know he failed? I do not want Obamacare, I do not want Cap and Tax which will further destroy the economy, I do not want a bazillion sneaky regulations brought to us by his appointed czars, I do not want more leftist, squishy judges on the Supreme Court. No, Obama needs to fail at trying to destroy our country. If it isn't too late.

After Bernanke's move this week--the additional $600 billion--I'm not sure any of it matters at this date. Hasn't anyone read what the Fed did in the 1920s which brought on the Great Depression? John Maynard Keynes who advocated "managed currency" and constant government interference neither foresaw that the Depression was coming, nor how long it would last.

"A country that doesn’t understand its own history is not well equipped to deal with its future. The Great Depression was not a failure of the old order. It was the failure of the new order that had just begun. The Federal Reserve is the most powerful institution of a new order that believed in the efficacy of government and its ability to do good. The same Federal Reserve caused the Great Depression when its wise men made a series of cumulative mistakes that contracted the money supply by one-third and wiped out purchasing power in an unprecedented fashion." The Fed's Depression and the New Deal

Humbled? Hardly!

What a silly concept. A humbled Obama? That's unimaginable for a narcissist.

"A conservative wave roared across the American political landscape last night, humbling President Barack Obama and instantly redrawing the landscape in Washington with a new place on the high perches of power for the flag-bearers of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement." The Independent

Here's what Armstrong Williams wrote: "Judging by his words yesterday, Americans should settle in for more gridlock during these next two years. Yes, at times the president seemed conciliatory. His "shellacking" comment was as accurate as it was self-deprecating. But that's where the humility ended.

Phrases such as "I didn't communicate my message better" and "We should have started earlier in convincing the American people" are not admissions of mistakes or even acknowledgements that, if he'd had a chance to do it all over again, things would be done differently. No, those are remarks from a person who to this day believes in his heart he was right all along. A supermajority of the voters didn't see it that way, but doggone it, Obama sure did, and that's all that matters.

Folks, that thought process achieves new levels of arrogance, and leaves me with little hope for the next two years. "Communicating our message better" is what losers say when they're too proud to admit they lost. That's not presidential, that's pathetic. As smart as the president is, he knew exactly what he was doing when he chose those words, and that alone makes his sincerity yesterday all the more suspect."

Please! It's o-p-h-t-h-a-l-m-o-l-o-g-i-s-t

"Moisturizers are important for the skin around the eyes, which contains no oil glands. Ms. Cryer uses two eye creams, a day cream that offers sun protection and a night cream without the "extra chemicals" of sunscreen. In the winter, Ms. Cryer even applies a little extra eye cream in midafternoon to "refresh" the skin. She sticks to "opthalmologist-tested" moisturizers that won't irritate the eyes themselves."

Today's Wall Street Journal, article by Cheryl Lu-Lien

Now that ophthalmologist Rand Paul is heading for the Senate, maybe reporters will start getting this one right.

"Dr. Paul completed a general surgery internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. Upon completion of his training in 1993, Dr. Paul moved to Bowling Green, Ken., and began his ophthalmology practice.

In 1995, Dr. Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. He has also provided free eye surgery to children from around the world through the Children of the Americas Program." Becker's ASC Review.

Alice Dancing Under the Gallows

She never hated. Will be 107 this November.

Forty years ago--our dilemmas were . . .

In 1973 in an introduction to Baker's Dictionary of Christian Ethics, Carl F. H. Henry wrote about the concerns of the day. We were a decade beyond Rachel Carson's misguided "Silent Spring" which has lead millions of Africans to their deaths through the resurgence of malaria, five years past the alarmist, best-seller, "The population bomb" by Paul Erlich, three years beyond the first Earth Day, and in the middle of a bunch of street people for Jesus.

So in the introductory essay Henry writes about spending too much money on the space race when millions went to bed hungry, about the exploding population, about junk and toxic waste being spewed into the environment, and of course, the blame the USA needed to accept for the world's problems. And he wrote about the disillusionment in the scientific/technological enterprise and the political arena.

"In the USA the Watergate scandal, worst since Teapot Dome, brought the world's most powerful nation to a political watershed. The disappointing performance of many modern democracies, the frustrated hopes of those who relied on revolution and growing disenchantment with world political organizations--first the League of Nations and now the United Nations--was wrapped the whole cultural enterprise in a mood of gray doom. . . Is the suppression of a clearly defined national interest a reasonable expectation when the alternative is a murky global communality? Are nations facing extinction by totalitarian superpowers likely to agree that a global police force must replace any and every recourse to military response, if such agreements may portend their own eclipse? On the other hand, if national self-interest is to reign unchecked, in what dread calamity will modern history inevitably explode? It is no secret that the present course, if unaltered, could eventuate in full-scale nuclear warfare before the end of this century."

He goes on to call on evangelicals to not ignore God's purposes through government as an instrumentality of justice and order in a fallen society, and to be salt and light in a fallen society.

When one sees the hunger of Christians of all denominations and theological bents starving their souls while nursing at the government grant teat for food pantries, housing and neighborhood renewal, job training programs, and even marriage workshops, it's obvious that churches now find their calling in meeting bureaucratic goals.

"Not since the fall of the Roman empire have social decay and political unrest been as widespread as today," he concludes. It seems to be a very human frailty to believe you have it worse than any who came before, whether you are evangelical, atheist, humanist, or spiritually eclectic.

Bucks for Charity 2010--the list

Back in the 80s I received recognition at Ohio State for my donation to their community drive/campaign (don't recall what it was called then--United Way, I think). I got a pin, a certificate and an invitation to gather at the Union with the President, various board members and maybe a coach or too. Imagine my surprise when I found out the party was paid for by a beer company. Alcohol probably destroys the lives of more young college students than bad grades, unrequited love, and over reaching professors. That was the last time I donated--but I always read the list of organization that get a percentage.

First on the aggregate list this year is EarthShare Ohio. I just clicked through a few names on the list (there are more at the web site than on the printed list), and you don't have to go far to find some fairly radical names, events, and causes. If you see "environmental justice," "just us" turns out to be blacks and they'll take white people's money. So it looks like Earthshare Ohio gets 3.5% of the total, and then each group on its list gets a percentage of that (that is not clearly explained in the book), like American Farmland Trust gets 20.1% and The Wilds gets 11.6%, etc. Just glancing quickly through the page of Farmland Trust I see it pushed with some reservations the 2009 Food Safety Enhancement Act, which should increase the numbers of government workers and the cost of our food while promoting more safety, and most of the provisions look like they will hurt the little grower/farmer. Not sure I understand water quality trading.

EarthShare: Who We Support - America's most respected environmental charities

After EarthShare Ohio there is United Way of Central Ohio (11.8%), United Way of Delaware County (19.7%), United Way of Fairfield Country (9.9%), United Way of Licking county (21.6%), United Way of Pickaway County (14.5%), United Way of Union County (19.0%), United Negro College Fund (13%), Community Shares of Mid Ohio (6.3%), which supports NARAL Pro-Choice, and Community Health Charities of Ohio (9.6%).

So here's my suggestion. Look through the Bucks for Charity book and if you see something that interests you, look them up on the Internet, check out their mission statement and the names of the people on the board and what legislation, particularly environmental, they support. Remember this when you see the hoopla about man made global warming. They didn't begin measuring the climate's temperatures until the end of the last little ice age, so yes, it is getting warmer. . . that happens after an Ice Age. Also, a lot of those temperature gauges are on asphalt parking lots near concrete and brick buildings. I'm just saying. . . When you're satisfied you've found an organization that matches your values and life mission, send a check directly.

Morgan Stanley Feeding America ad

Today in the Wall Street Journal I saw a very clever ad sponsored by Morgan Stanley about "food insecurity."  It was a large graphic of a piece of broccoli in the shape of a brain.  The text: "One out of four children in this country struggles to get enough food for their bodies and minds to develop properly."

I think it's very nice to have corporate donors for food banks (Feeding America is the new name for Second Harvest). However, let's take a look at this 1 in 4 statistic. As of July 2009, the gross income ceiling to use a government funded food pantry (and that's virtually all of them, even the ones run by churches) was $21,659 for one person. There are probably many people in their first jobs who would qualify, but do they consider themselve "poor" or "hungry?" Then for a family of four the gross income figure is $44,099, and for a family of 6, it's almost $60,000.  Link.

So you see what's happening here, don't you? If you get a raise to $46,000 a year, you might lose certain "poverty" benefits. Maybe it's a special health program for a disabled child, or a certain housing allowance, or a tuition waiver (I haven't looked all those up because I think you need a PhD in government grants to figure out all 70 programs for the poor).

The very programs intended to help people get a toe hold on the middle class, to become independent and strong, in the long run hold them back unless they are exceptionally healthy, young and educated. And that's how voting blocks are created, serviced and maintained.

Remembering what it was like

She's older than Bookworm, who didn't even remember what Democrats did to blacks in the South, and I'm older than she, so what did we think of Republicans back in the days we were Democrats?

Read it here.