Ragbag Headlines

Over 200,000 Sign Socialist Petition Against Black Friday

Target Employee Anthony Hardwick and Best Buy employee Rick Melaragni have unwittingly fueled the growing socialist movement in America. They’ve just launched online petitions against their store’s extended Black Friday hours, claiming that the retail giants are asking them to miss the Thanksgiving holiday. The petitions have more than 200,000 signatures and growing. Other copycats are now starting online petitions against their employers as well.

At first glance, it reads like something from a Charles Dickens novel. (Incidentally, Dickens was a Christian socialist). These poor workers are made to work ungodly hours just so Target and Best Buy can make an extra buck this holiday season.

What Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Melaragni have failed to understand, however, is that the Friday after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday” for a very important reason. It’s because this is the day where retail stores sell enough to dig out from being in the red (running a loss) to being in the black (turning a profit). Hence the name “Black Friday.” In our difficult economic times, stores must work harder than ever before to encourage customers to buy their products. This year, it means opening their doors even earlier.

The free market is demanding these hours. And if stores don’t comply, they may lose money. They may lose market share to their competitors. They may go out of business entirely. And where will Mr. Hardwick and Mr. Melaragni find themselves? Unemployed.

In a time when unemployment is at a record high in America, one would think these two young socialists would be thankful to have a job.

Lots of people have to work on Thanksgiving—Firemen, Police Officers, Doctors, Military personnel, etc.. I’m sure glad they’re working to protect me and my family. I own several small businesses. I will have to check my email, launch advertising campaigns, and make sure my web sites are running smoothly. I am not complaining because this is how I make money. And I use that money to put a Thanksgiving Turkey on the table.

I am afraid that young Americans have lost sight of the American Dream. They don’t understand how the free market works. They don’t appreciate what they have. They expect everything to be handed to them without hard work.

Wanting to spend Thanksgiving with your family is a good thing. But nobody owes them a Thanksgiving holiday. Like everyone else, they need to earn it. And if they aren’t thankful on Thanksgiving for their cushy job, I know tens of thousands of unemployed workers who would gladly take them! -Godfather Politics

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Taxing White People And Christmas

You might be asking, when have whites and Christmas been taxed? Tanning booths and freshly cut Christmas trees. Buried deep in ObamaCare is a 10 percent tax on tanning salons that went into effect July 1, 2010 to help fund the $940 billion health care overhaul bill. The targeted tax is expected to generate $2.7 billion over ten years. This means that customers are paying the tax four years before they will get any healthcare.

Only so-called white people go to tanning booths. Can you imagine what would happen if a certain hair product or procedure used only by blacks was taxed? Al and Jesse would be marching on Washington.

I know the tanning-white-people is a stretch, but it’s a stretch for a reason. Liberals want our money any way they can get it, and they will tax anything and everything they can to get it. They don’t care one wit about the consequences of a seemingly minimal tax (and most of the time we don’t either as long as they don’t tax us). “It’s only ten percent,” we say. There are some companies where ten percent can make a difference between success and failure. The assumption is that customers won’t notice the difference. Think again:

“This is going to close tanning salons,” said Joseph Levy, vice president of the International Smart Tan Network, which has 3,000 member salons. “You can’t just pass on a tax like this to customers and not have it hurt your bottom line.”

Levy estimates that about 9,000 jobs are in jeopardy and more than 1,000 salons are at risk of being forced to close their doors. The tax also targets middle-class and female business owners, with about two-thirds of tanning salons in the U.S. owned by women, he said.

In addition to putting thousands of employees out of work, Levy predicts the tax will ultimately generate 40% to 50% less than the projected $2.7 billion.

If government officials can tax one industry, they can tax any industry. We should be screaming as loud as we can, NO NEW TAXES FOR ANYBODY and CUT WHAT TAXES WE DO PAY!

In March of this year, “advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended tighter controls on artificial tanning, ranging from requiring parental consent forms to banning use by younger teens.” That’s interesting. It’s OK for a teenager to get an abortion without parental permission, but it’s not OK to get a tan. Are these people messed up, or what?

What about taxing a particular Christmas? It’s about a Christmas tree tax that became public today. The story got so much attention that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees.” This is the brainchild of the National Christmas Tree Association to promote their industry. The Association says that it’s not a tax. Then why is the United States Department of Agriculture involved? No one is opposed to a business raising money through sales for advertising to promote their products. It’s part of doing business.

Here’s the Heritage Foundation’s take on the issue:

In the Federal Register of November 8, 2011, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing David R. Shipman announced that the Secretary of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. The purpose of the Board is to run a “program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry” (7 CFR 1214.46(n)). And the program of “information” is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States” (7 CFR 1214.10).

To pay for the new Federal Christmas tree image improvement and marketing program, the Department of Agriculture imposed a 15-cent fee on all sales of fresh Christmas trees by sellers of more than 500 trees per year (7 CFR 1214.52). And, of course, the Christmas tree sellers are free to pass along the 15-cent Federal fee to consumers who buy their Christmas trees.

These two stories remind me of George Harrison’s song “Taxman,” the opening track on The Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver:

Let me tell you how it will be
There’s one for you, nineteen for me
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

(If you drive a car car) I’ll tax the street
(If you try to sit sit) I’ll tax your seat
(If you get too cold cold) I’ll tax the heat
(If you take a walk walk) I’ll tax your feet

Taxman!

‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

If you get a head head, I’ll tax your hat
If you get a pet pet, I’ll tax your cat
If you wipe your feet feet, I’ll tax your mat
If you’re overwieght, I’ll tax your fat

Now my advise to those who die
(Taxman!)
Declare the pennies on your eyes
(Taxman!)
‘Cause I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman.

And you’re working for no one, but me
(Taxman!)

Yes, I’m the taxman
Yeah, I’m the taxman

Godfather Politics

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Most Honey Sold In US Grocery Stores Not Worthy Of Name

Most of the honey sold in chain stores across the country doesn’t meet international quality standards for the sweet stuff, according to a Food Safety News analysis released this week.

One of the nation’s leading melissopalynologists analyzed more than 60 jugs, jars and plastic bears of honey in 10 states and the District of Columbia for pollen content, Food Safety News said. He found that pollen was frequently filtered out of products labeled “honey.”

“The removal of these microscopic particles from deep within a flower would make the nectar flunk the quality standards set by most of the world’s food safety agencies,” the report says. “Without pollen there is no way to determine whether the honey came from legitimate and safe sources.”

Among the findings:

• No pollen was found in 76 percent of samples from grocery stores including TOP Food, Safeway, Giant Eagle, QFC, Kroger, Metro Market, Harris Teeter, A&P, Stop & Shop and King Soopers.

• No pollen was found in 100 percent of samples from drugstores including Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS Pharmacy.

• The anticipated amount of pollen was found in samples bought at farmers markets, co-ops and stores like PCC and Trader Joe’s. –Big Health Report

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Breakthrough: Israel Develops Cancer Vaccine

Vaxil’s groundbreaking therapeutic vaccine, developed in Israel, could keep about 90 percent of cancers from coming back.

As the world’s population lives longer than ever, if we don’t succumb to heart disease, strokes or accidents, it is more likely that cancer will get us one way or another. Cancer is tough to fight, as the body learns how to outsmart medical approaches that often kill normal cells while targeting the malignant ones.

In a breakthrough development, the Israeli company Vaxil BioTherapeutics has formulated a therapeutic cancer vaccine, now in clinical trials at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem. If all goes well, the vaccine could be available about six years down the road, to administer on a regular basis not only to help treat cancer but in order to keep the disease from recurring.

The vaccine is being tested against a type of blood cancer called multiple myeloma. If the substance works as hoped — and it looks like all arrows are pointing that way — its platform technology VaxHit could be applied to 90 percent of all known cancers, including prostate and breast cancer, solid and non-solid tumors. –Big Health Report

Uncle Sam’s Watching You!

Every Breath You Take, Every Move You Make – 14 New Ways That the Government Is Watching You.

If you live in the United States today, you need to understand that your privacy is being constantly eroded.  Our world is going crazy, government paranoia is off the charts and law enforcement authorities have become absolutely obsessed with watching us, listening to us, tracking us, recording us, compiling information on all of us and getting us all to spy on one another.  If you doubt that we are rapidly getting to the point where the government will monitor every breath you take and every move you make, just read the rest of this article.  The truth is that the government is watching you more closely than ever, and they are spending billions upon billions of dollars to enhance their surveillance capabilities even further.  If our society stays on this current path, we will eventually have zero privacy left.  At this point, it is not too hard to imagine a society where we will not be able to say anything, buy anything, sell anything, assemble with others or even leave our homes without government permission.  We truly are descending into a dystopian nightmare and the American people had better wake up.

Sadly, most people living in the United States and in Europe do not realize what is happening.  Most of them think that everything is just fine.  The "Big Brother control grid" that is being constructed all over the western world squeezes all of us just a little bit tighter every single day, and most people don't even feel it.

But when you step back and take a look at the big picture, it truly is horrifying.

The following are 14 new ways that the government is watching you....

#1 In many areas of the United States today, you will be arrested if you do not produce proper identification for the police.  In the old days, "your papers please" was a phrase that we used to use to mock the tyranny of Nazi Germany.  But now all of us are being required to be able to produce "our papers" for law enforcement authorities at any time.  For example, a 21-year-old college student named Samantha Zucker was recently arrested and put in a New York City jail for 36 hours just because she could not produce any identification for police.

#2 The federal government has decided that what you and I share with one another on Facebook and on Twitter could be a threat to national security.  According to a recent Associated Press article, the Department of Homeland Security will soon be "gleaning information from sites such as Twitter and Facebook for law enforcement purposes".

Other law enforcement agencies are getting into the act as well.  For example, the NYPD recently created a special "social media" unit dedicated to looking for criminals on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

#3 New high-tech street lights that are being funded by the federal government and that are being installed all over the nation can also be used as surveillance cameras, can be used by the DHS to make "security announcements" and can even be used to record personal conversations.  The following is from a recent article by Paul Joseph Watson for Infowars.com....

Federally-funded high-tech street lights now being installed in American cities are not only set to aid the DHS in making “security announcements” and acting as talking surveillance cameras, they are also capable of “recording conversations,” bringing the potential privacy threat posed by ‘Intellistreets’ to a whole new level.

#4 More than a million hotel television sets all over America are now broadcasting propaganda messages from the Department of Homeland Security promoting the "See Something, Say Something" campaign.  In essence, the federal government wants all of us to become "informants" and to start spying on one another constantly.  The following comes from an article posted by USA Today....

Starting today, the welcome screens on 1.2 million hotel television sets in Marriott, Hilton, Sheraton, Holiday Inn and other hotels in the USA will show a short public service announcement from DHS. The 15-second spot encourages viewers to be vigilant and call law enforcement if they witness something suspicious during their travels.

#5 The FBI is now admittedly recording Internet talk radio programs all over the United States.  The following comes from a recent article by Mark Weaver of WMAL.com....

If you call a radio talk show and get on the air, you might be recorded by the FBI.

The FBI has awarded a $524,927 contract to a Virginia company to record as much radio news and talk programming as it can find on the Internet.

The FBI says it is not playing big brother by policing the airwaves, but rather seeking access to what airs as potential evidence.

Potential evidence of what?

This is very creepy.  Why is the FBI so interested in what is being said during Internet talk radio programs?

#6 TSA VIPR teams are now conducting random inspections at bus stations and on interstate highways all over the United States.  For example, the following comes from a local news report down in Tennessee....

You're probably used to seeing TSA's signature blue uniforms at the airport, but now agents are hitting the interstates to fight terrorism with Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR).

"Where is a terrorist more apt to be found? Not these days on an airplane more likely on the interstate," said Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons.

Tuesday Tennessee was first to deploy VIPR simultaneously at five weigh stations and two bus stations across the state.

#7 Thermal imaging face scanners are becoming much more sophisticated.  Law enforcement authorities in the western world are getting very excited about "pre-crime" tools such as this that will enable them to "prevent crimes" before they happen.  The following is from a recent BBC News article....

A sophisticated new camera system can detect lies just by watching our faces as we talk, experts say.

The computerised system uses a simple video camera, a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms.

Researchers say the system could be a powerful aid to security services.

But face scanners are not just a tool that will be used in the future.  The truth is that face scanners are being used all over the United States right now.  The following comes from an article posted on Singularity Hub....

Law enforcement continues to adopt new technologies in an effort to make their jobs easier and keep us safer. The latest gizmo attaches to officers’ iPhones and turns them into biometric face scanners. The scanners have already been street tested in Massachusetts. Pretty soon cops all across the US will be using them to ID suspects.

Before long, technology like this will be all over America.  In fact, the FBI has announced that it will be activating a "nationwide facial recognition service" in January.

#8 Another "pre-crime" technology currently being tested by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program.  The following description of this new program comes from an article in the London Telegraph....

Using cameras and sensors the "pre-crime" system measures and tracks changes in a person's body movements, the pitch of their voice and the rhythm of their speech.

It also monitors breathing patterns, eye movements, blink rate and alterations in body heat, which are used to assess an individual's likelihood to commit a crime.

The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) programme is already being tested on a group of government employees who volunteered to act as guinea pigs.

Do you want government officials to pull you aside and interrogate you just because you are feeling a little bit nervous one particular day?

#9 Sadly, "pre-crime" technology is even being used on our children.  The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice has announced that it will begin using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents and will place "potential offenders" in specific prevention and education programs.

How soon will it be before this type of things is applied to adults?

#10 Our children are being programmed to accept the fact that they will be watched and monitored constantly.  For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is spending large amounts of money to install surveillance cameras in the cafeterias of public schools all across the nation so that government control freaks can closely monitor what our children are eating.

#11 The U.S. government is also increasingly using "polls" and "surveys" as tools to gather information about all of us.  In previous articles, I have noted how government authorities seems particularly interested in our children.  According to Mike Adams of Natural News, the CDC is starting to call parents all over the U.S. to question them about the vaccination status of their children....

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which has been comprehensively exposed as a vaccine propaganda organization promoting the interests of drug companies, is now engaged in a household surveillance program that involves calling U.S. households and intimidating parents into producing child immunization records. As part of what it deems a National Immunization Survey (NIS), the CDC is sending letters to U.S. households, alerting them that they will be called by "NORC at the University of Chicago" and that households should "have your child's immunization records handy when answering our questions."

You can see a copy of the letter that the CDC has been sending out to selected parents right here.

#12 As I have written about previously, a very disturbing document that Oath Keepers has obtained shows that the FBI is now instructing store owners to report many new forms of "suspicious activity" to them.  According to the document, "suspicious activity" now includes the following....

*paying with cash

*missing a hand or fingers

*"strange odors"

*making "extreme religious statements"

*"radical theology"

*purchasing weatherproofed ammunition or match containers

*purchasing meals ready to eat

*purchasing night vision devices, night flashlights or gas masks

Do any of those "signs of suspicious activity" apply to you?

According to a report on WorldNetDaily, this document is part of a "series of brochures" that will be distributed "to farm supply stores, gun shops, military surplus stores and even hotels and motels."

#13 In some areas of the country, law enforcement authorities are pulling data out of cell phones for no reason whatsoever.  According to the ACLU, state police in Michigan are now using "extraction devices" to download data from the cell phones of motorists that they pull over.  This is taking happening even if the motorists that are pulled over are not accused of doing anything wrong.

The following is how a recent article on CNET News described the capabilities of these "extraction devices"....

The devices, sold by a company called Cellebrite, can download text messages, photos, video, and even GPS data from most brands of cell phones. The handheld machines have various interfaces to work with different models and can even bypass security passwords and access some information.

#14 The government can spy on us and record our conversations seemingly without any limitation, but in many areas of the country it has become illegal to watch them or record them in public.  For example, one 21-year-old man down in Florida was recently arrested for trying to document a confrontation that he was having with police on his iPhone.  But if we can't record them, how can we prove our side of the story in court?

America is becoming a much different place.

Our privacy is being eroded in thousands of different ways.

National governments and big corporations know far more about you than you probably ever would imagine.

Yes, there will always be "security threats", but we should not have to throw away any of our rights in order to be "safe".

America is supposed to be about liberty and freedom.

America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

If given the choice between living in "1984" and living in "1776", I know what my choice would be.

I would choose 1776.

I would choose liberty and freedom even if it meant that the world around me was a little bit less "safe".

What about you?

What would you choose?

The American Dream

Computer Skills

How do your computer skills compare with the ones below?

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Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?

Customer: A white one...

===============

Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.

Tech support: Have you tried pushing the button?

Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.

Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.

Customer: No, wait a minute. I hadn't inserted it yet...it's still on my desk...Sorry...

===============

Tech support: ; Click on the 'my computer' icon on the left of the screen.

Customer: Your left or my left?

===============

Tech support: Good day! How may I help you?

Male customer: Hello...I can't print.

Tech support: Would you click on 'start' for me and...

Customer: Listen, Pal, don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates..

===============

Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print.

Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'.

I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor,

but the computer still says he can't find it.

==============

Customer: I have problems printing in red..

Tech support: Do you have a color printer?

Customer: Aaaaaaaah....thank you.

===============

Tech support: What's on your monitor now, Ma'am?

Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me from the 7-11.

===============

Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.

Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?

Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.

Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.

Customer: OK.

Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?

Customer: Yes

Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?

Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah, that one does work..

=============

Tech support: Your password is the small letter 'a' as in apple,

a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.

Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters ?

=============== 

Customer: I can't get on the Internet.

Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?

Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.

Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?

Customer: Five dots.

===============

Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?

Customer: Netscape.

Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.

Customer: Oh, sorry...Internet Explorer.

===============

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer,

but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.

===============

Tech support: How may I help you?

Customer: I'm writing my first email.

Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?

Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the little circle around it?

===============

A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.

Tech support: Are you running it under Windows?

Customer: 'No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point.

The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine.'

===============

And last but not least ...

Tech support: 'Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.'

Customer: I don't have a P.

Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob.

Customer: What do you mean?

Tech support: 'P'.....on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!

Author Unknown

Adultery Web-Site Nominated for National Business Award in Britain

Global Personals, a company that set two websites for online dating, has been nominated for the National Business Awards in Britain. There’s nothing wrong with online dating sites when dating has the goal of creating families; in fact, in the modern world where the pace of life and career growth have killed the traditional ways of meeting prospective spouses, online matching services can remedy the situation to a certain extent. But Global Personals has cornered a specific niche on the market: It offers dating services for married persons who are searching for illicit affairs. To put it bluntly, it is a company specialized in encouraging and promoting adultery; it makes money by helping men and women cheat on their spouses.

For over 1,200 years adultery in England was considered a felony, a very serious crime according to the English Common Law; philandering could lead to a death sentence for both men and women. The traditional family was considered the backbone of the English society and any open assault against it was regarded as worse than treason. Kings like Henry VIII may have had their mistresses but they were careful to not make it public; the English society has always been very sensitive to infidelity, and a King who would not honor his oath to his Queen could expect his subjects to treat him with just as much loyalty as he would show her. The Seventh Commandment, “Though shalt not commit adultery,” was interpreted by the church to apply to all kinds of oaths, not only the marriage vow, and therefore a man who was cheating on his wife was expected to violate his other vows too.

The family as an institution was elevated to a lofty position of having its own legal status within the kingdom which made kings and feudal lords forced to acknowledge its place, even for the lowest classes in the society. Families were expected to be the backbone of the economy – the dissolution of the family would mean starvation for the whole country, especially in the centuries after 1300 when the climate was brutal and the technologies hadn’t yet reached the level of producing enough to feed many people. The family also trained the military; the English and Welsh longbowmen transferred the skill from father to son, of both making the bows and using them. It took many years to train a bowman; and only a family had the time and the resources to train one. The family also had a judicial function; local communities judged their own matters, and a community given to debauchery and adultery couldn’t have the self-discipline and the mutual respect of its members to produce a solid foundation of justice. Nothing could replace the family in its economic, military, and judicial functions; therefore the Common Law dealt severely with everything that would go against that most important institution.

As a result, England grew strong, much stronger than the other nations on the Continent who had better climate, greater availability of resources, and greater populations. By the 19th century it emerged as an economic giant and powerful military force. It was not the English politicians who achieved it; in fact, kings and nobles were often weak-minded or immoral or depraved. It was the English common folk, with their commitment to the Christian family who produced the strong nation that would conquer the world in the 1800s. Without the family at the foundation of the English society, Britain would never become what it was in the culmination of its empire.

And just as the rise of Britain can be traced to the strength of its families, it decline can be traced to the demise of the traditional Christian family. Nothing else can explain the rapid decline of an Empire but the lack of people who were trained from an early age to make the right moral decisions, men who were taught by their fathers to work and sacrifice, to honor their vows, to giver their lives for their wives and their children. The empire conquered not because any exceptional quality of its leaders but by the tenacity and loyalty of its soldiers and workers, and by the uncompromising devotion of men to their families. But when that devotion disappeared, there were no men worthy of the name. When families quit meaning anything, all meaning was lost. And when all meaning is lost, a society is lost.

And Global Personals is offering more of it. As if the British society has not disintegrated enough, burdened by loneliness, depression, hopelessness, socialism, and growing Muslim presence. As if the British society has discovered another solution for the ills that have been plaguing it for a generation now. Just when the British society needs to return to the social institution that made it great in the past, a company offers services that encourage the demise of that same institution. And it gets nominated for the National Business Awards.

Europe is in a deep hole, but she keeps digging. Instead of issuing a public reprimand against Global Personals for the unethical nature of their business, National Business Awards encourages them by listing them together with other companies. What is the message to the public, and what is the example that they give to Britain’s younger generation? That disloyalty and dishonesty pays. That family means nothing. That when Dad leaves the family and Mom is left to struggle economically to care for the children, this is OK.

And eventually the children grow disillusioned and confused. The result is the riots Britain had. And will have. –Godfather Politics

U.S. District Court: School can ban American flag t-shirts on … Cinco de Mayo?

Why Your Tax Bill Might Surge Next Year

In a recent tax planning meeting with one of our clients, we shocked them with what their income tax future looked like for 2013 if -- on the off-chance -- Congress continues to do nothing to provide a long-term permanent set of tax laws.

They had no idea what tax breaks were expiring this year and next year, and how much it would cost them personally in extra income tax. But they aren't alone, many Americans and even tax professionals aren't aware that their tax bill could rise dramatically next year.

These clients are your average American family and their situation is a good example of the law changes that will affect all of us. Here's their tax situation with a table summarizing the expiring tax laws that are scheduled to occur in 2011 and 2012.

Meet the Smiths: 26-year-olds Bill and Joan have been married for five years and have two young children. Bill earns about $65,000 a year in sales and Joan has gone back to work and earns about $35,000 annually. Bill owes quite a bit on his college student loans and will pay about $3,000 in interest on them in 2013. With Joan working again, they are paying $3,000 for year-round child care. Joan inherited some AT&T stock from her grandmother, which pays her $1,000 in dividends every year. Finally, counting home mortgage interest, they have about $20,000 in itemized deductions.

The first big change affecting the Smiths will be a combined increase in income tax rates, and a tightening of tax brackets as a result of the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. We estimate this will cost them $960 in 2013.

Bill will lose the complete deduction of his student loan interest in 2013, costing about $840. The pair's allowable deduction for child care will drop to $2,400 from $3,000, and they will also see their credit for children drop in half, costing another $1,000.

The marriage tax penalty will come roaring back to hit the Smiths in 2013, costing an estimated $500. The tax on their dividend income will go increase to $280 from $150, adding another $130. Finally, although we did not calculate the effect, without Congressional action to once again "fix" the alternative minimum tax, the Smiths could owe this ugly tax as well!

Luckily for the Smiths — but not for many Americans — other major changes for 2013, which do not personally affect them, include a phase out of itemized deductions and personal exemptions if their income starts to climb.

In summary, because of tax laws expiring this year and next, we estimate that the Smiths will owe $3,598 more in income tax in 2013 than in 2011 with no change in their income.

Major Individual Income Tax Benefits Expiring 12/31/2011:

• Personal tax credits applied against income tax no longer apply

• Higher alternative minimum tax exemptions revert back to extraordinarily-low thresholds

• $250 school teacher expense deduction ends

• Mortgage insurance premium deduction expires

• State and local sales tax deductions expire

• Tuition and related fees deduction end

• IRA to charity tax-free transfers stop

• 2% Social Security tax reduction ends

Major Individual Income Tax Benefits Expiring 12/31/2012:

• Marriage penalty equalization ends

• Dividends taxed at capital gains rates removed, taxed at regular rates now

• Capital gains low tax rates expires

• Removal of itemized deduction phase out for higher income Americans

• Removal of personal exemption phase out for higher income Americans

• Child care deduction limit of $3,000 reverts to $2,400

• Child credit reduces from $1,000 per child to $500 per child

• Low 10% tax bracket for low income Americans is eliminated

• Lower income tax rates and smaller brackets expires

• Refundable adoption credit and reduced deduction

• American Opportunity college education credit expires

• Major reduction in earned income credits and refunds

• Income tax exemption for debt forgiven on home foreclosures and repossessions

• Deduction for student loan interest ends

• Education IRA limit drops from $2,000 to $500

By Bob Jennings-Yahoo Financial News

Note: Bob Jennings is a CPA, EA and CFP and author of "Understanding Social Security & Medicare."

The Washington Post

“You can get a tummy tuck,
you can get a face lift,
you can get penile implants,
but you can’t fix stupid.”
- Author Unknown -

Turkey Day

^^^*^^^

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

Author Unknown

Locally Speaking

What South Carolina Can Do For The GOP Candidates

Can Mitt Romney be dislodged as the fragile but disciplined front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination? If he can, South Carolina is the best bet for the role of spoiler.

Republican primary voters here have historically ratified establishment choices, but the old establishment has been displaced by new forms of conservative political activism, the Tea Party being only the latest band of rebels.

South Carolina conservatives also seem representative of their peers around the country in being uncertain and more than a trifle confused about the choices they have been handed. They are skeptical of Romney, were disappointed by Rick Perry’s early performance, were enchanted by Herman Cain — a spell that may soon be broken — and are not sure what to make of the rest of the field.

All this, paradoxically, gives hope to the non-Romneys in the contest, including Perry but also former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who was campaigning in the state this week. Huntsman, given his low standing in the national polls, has a surprising number of high-powered supporters here. His strategy is to startle with a strong showing in the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10 and then pivot to South Carolina, which votes on Jan. 21. This seems unlikely, but not crazy.

“I have never seen a Republican primary as wide open at this stage as this primary is,” said Bob McAlister, a Huntsman supporter who served as chief of staff to former South Carolina governor Carroll Campbell. “That gives plenty of room to an unknown candidate, so that gives hope to Huntsman and, to be honest, to some of the other lesser-knowns.”

The candidate who absolutely needs to win here is Perry. It’s no accident that he announced his candidacy in Charleston. Brad Warthen, a popular South Carolina blogger (and a friend of mine from his days as editorial page editor of the State newspaper), thought at the time that Perry’s August announcement speech was pitch-perfect for the state’s conservatives in its passionately anti-government and anti-Washington tone, delivered in the city where the Civil War began. The primary and indeed, the nomination, seemed within Perry’s grasp.

And then he did a remarkable job of kicking it away. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a rising conservative star in Congress and a staunch Perry supporter who helped craft his flat-tax proposal, was frank in describing Perry’s early debate performances as “extraordinarily poor.” But given Perry’s underlying conservative strength, Mulvaney sees him as having ample time to rebuild and win back supporters who parked themselves with Cain.

It is a sign of how much Cain has been hurt by his handling of sexual-harassment allegations that supporters of rival candidates were carefully silent about the news of the past few days. Cain is undermining himself and needs no help from anyone else.

Mulvaney thinks Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan was key to his emergence because voters liked “the fact that he’s at least made an attempt of offering specifics.” But Warthen notes that there is no “emotional attachment” to Cain, which makes him especially vulnerable to a quick bursting of his bubble.

In the meantime, Romney looms over the race, still unable to manage a surge despite the missteps of his opponents. “He seems capped out at 20-something,” said former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, referring to Romney’s standing in the polls. “There’s been a philosophical angst within the Republican Party electorate about Romney, for whatever reason.” Romney’s health-care plan in Massachusetts remains a major obstacle, and charges of flip-flopping have taken hold.

The front-runner path is less promising than it used to be for another reason. Will Folks, the sometimes controversial former Sanford aide who writes the state’s most popular political blog, argues that “the old structure of South Carolina Republican politics has been overturned,” putting new forces into play. Religious conservatives, who are central to Perry’s strategy, are still important, but Folks sees another group as potentially pivotal: voters who are relative social moderates but hold conservative views on taxing and spending issues. They will be Huntsman’s targets, and Perry and Romney need them, too.

And just to complicate things further, Sanford detects “a little bit of a . . . bump” here for former House speaker Newt Gingrich.

Warthen still believes South Carolina could revert to form and support Romney as the most plausible nominee. But in perhaps no other state do the many conflicting and frequently obstreperous strains of conservatism come together — and collide. For Romney, the skilled management consultant, this will be his toughest assignment. –The Washington Post

Ragbag Headliners

‘Pox Parties’: Coming To A Mailbox Near You?

This week, press reports emerged that some parents, hoping to avoid giving their kids the chickenpox vaccine, were arranging through Facebook to pay strangers to send them “[licked] lollipops, spit or other items” from kids with the illness.

The idea is to expose the kids to the virus to build immunity without having to get a shot.

It’s a lousy strategy, doctors say.

Dr. Wilbert Mason, a professor of clinical pediatrics at USC’s Keck School of Medicine and an infectious disease expert at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said he was “dumbfounded” by the news. “I’m speechless, which will make for a very bad interview,” he told Booster Shots. “How could people be so stupid?”

For starters, he said, sending chicken poxthrough the mail probably won’t work, because the varicella virus needs cells to live in, and there probably would be very few cells in spit or on a used lollipop. “It’s unlikely the virus would survive long enough,” he said.

But more resilient types of infections — dangerous ones — could make it, including hepatitis B, group A strep, and staph germs. –Big Health Report

<><><>*<><><>

Porn Is Ruining The Sex Lives Of An Entire Generation

Young men in their 20s apparently have no groove in bed — and it’s all because they’re addicted to pornography, according to a report in Psychology Today.

But the problem is much more serious than simply either being good or bad in the sack, it’s a physiological issue causing a new generation of men to lose their libidos 30 years sooner than expected.

How did this happen?

According to the report, overexposure to sexually explicit images and video have caused men to lose interest in ordinary sexual encounters — including experiences with a real woman:

Today’s users can force [their] release by watching porn in multiple windows, searching endlessly, fast-forwarding to the bits they find hottest, switching to live sex chat, viewing constant novelty, firing up their mirror neurons with video action and cam-2-cam, or escalating to extreme genres and anxiety-producing material. It’s all free, easy to access, available within seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. –Big Health Report

<><><>*<><><>

Most Expensive Thanksgiving Ever? Super-savers Guide To Sky-high Turkey Prices

Can you afford to give thanks this year? The American Farm Bureau Federation is predicting the average 10 person turkey dinner will cost 13 percent more than it did last year. Expect to shell out at least $50 bucks for the average 10 person turkey dinner. That's the highest price for the holiday meal on record.

Blame the centerpiece. The price of a turkey spiked this year. The side dishes aren't helping either. Just about the only thing that hasn't gotten more expensive is relish, according to the AFBF. Before you crack out the hot dogs for the holidays, there's still something to be thankful for: the year's best deals on groceries are actually happening now. Extreme couponers will tell you pre-Thanksgiving is the prime time to stock up on food for the year. "Don't settle for anything less than half off, and expect even better," advises Teri Gault, C.E.O. of The Grocery Game, a money-saving supermarket sweep site. "Sales change every week. So by gathering over the course of weeks, you'll save more money, and you'll be ahead of the game, and have less shopping and hauling to do at the last minute."

More ways to save on Thanksgiving dinner here!

With that in mind, before you plan your recipes for the holiday, scan major coupon websites like coupons.com and smartsource.com to print out the best clippings and plan your menu around what's cheapest. Here's a head start...

For the turkey:

Last year, a 16-pound turkey cost about $17.50. This year it's around four bucks more. To battle bird costs, turn to rebates, says coupon guru Chrystie Corns. "This year Butterball is offering a $5 rebate when you Buy 1 Butterball Frozen or Fresh Whole Turkey," she says. That means you can turn back the clock on your turkey cost.

Another trade secret? Stack the deals. Your local supermarket may be offering discounts on turkey, but so are manufacturers. First scour local supermarket clippings for "store coupons", and then check out websites for Hormel, Butterball and other major turkey brands (here's a list) to find discounts you can double up on at the register.

For the sides:

Stuffing, sweet potatoes, fresh cranberries and peas have all gotten pricier this year, according to the AFBF. So this year, let deals dictate your side-dish menu. Check for freebies at websites like Red Plum, where a list of giveaways at national chains are posted weekly. Another tech-smart trick: download the Red Laser app to your phone and use it to scan sides you really want to make. The app will pull up the price of your dish and then roll out a list of similar products by other brands that are less expensive.

Remember you've still got time before the holidays, so you don't have to buy all your groceries in one trip. "Be open to purchasing items at different stores," suggests Corns. "For example, this week Target has the best deal on Stove Top Stuffing priced at $.89 cents."

For dessert:

Since milk's gone up 42 cents this year, check out recipes that use powdered milk which can be cheaper and lasts longer. Butter and brown sugar are also heavily discounted for the holiday season, says Gault, so factor that into your dessert decisions. The AFBF says pie shells and whipped cream have added a few cents to their price point overall, but Gault says the biggest discounts for those two baking items are available now, so you may not actually feel the pinch.

If you've got the time, consider doing your baking from scratch. Making pie crusts and dinner rolls with a little flour and yeast may require extra work, but it'll knock down your grocery bill significantly. Because biscuits and pie shells freeze well, you can actually make these ahead of time so they're good to go the big day. –Shine from Yahoo

Postal Service Rescue Plan Offered By Senators

A small bipartisan group of lawmakers announced a proposal to save the U.S. Postal Service that would make it possible to cut Saturday service in two years, close post offices and buy out 100,000 workers.

The bill would allow the cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service tap a $6.9 billion overpayment to the Federal Employment Retirement System, a move that several House Republicans have opposed, dubbing it a bailout.

The bill would direct $1.7 billion of that overpayment to offer up to $25,000 cash buyouts or up to two years of service credits toward retirement for experienced employees near retirement. If 100,000 workers take the buyout, the move could save $8 billion, according to the U.S. Postal Service.

The rest of that money could be used to pay down debt that the U.S. Postal Service has taken on to pay bills, said Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, who was among those who helped craft the deal.

"Without taking controversial steps like these, the Postal Service just isn't going to make it, and that would be terrible. said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats. "We must act quickly to prevent a postal service collapse."

Other lawmakers in on the proposal include Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat, who runs the panel that oversees the U.S. Postal Service and Sen. Scott Brown, a Massachusetts Republican.

Congress would need to pass the proposal, which has yet to be reviewed by House Republicans or the White House.

Postal unions had not yet reacted to the proposal, but they've been opposed to past recommendations that included employee layoffs.

The Postal Service is in a bind. Mail volume is down more than 20% over the past four years and losses have topped $20 billion.

The more pressing deadline: The Postal Service has until Nov. 18 to make a $5.5 billion payment that's due to its retiree health care fund. It's poised to default.

The bill would also make it so the Postal service wouldn't have to worry about such pressing health care deadlines. Under a 2006 law, the U.S. Postal Service has to prepay its retiree health care benefits within a decade. The bill would give the agency 40 years to pay for retirees' health care benefits, which would lower the required payments.

The bill also gives the agency and its unions until September 2012 to negotiate a separate health insurance plan for U.S. Postal Service retirees that cuts health care liabilities. But the bill doesn't appear to say what happens if they don't reach a deal.

The Postal Service's potential default has spurred the White House and lawmakers of both parties to offer competing bills that run the gamut from ending Saturday service to hiking stamp prices and even laying off or buying out postal workers.

The proposals have spawned a big public reaction -- neighbors packing public hearings to oppose closure of local post offices and union rallies of lawmakers' offices to protest layoffs.

For its part, the U.S. Postal Service last month announced a hike in the price of a first class stamp by one cent starting Jan. 22 to 45 cents, its latest move to help raise revenue.

Also, postcard postage will increase 3 cents to 32 cents. Letters to Canada and Mexico will jump 5 cents to 85 cents, while letters to other international destinations will spike 7 cents to $1.05.

House Republicans have been working on a bill offered by Rep. Darrell Issa of California. The bill would end Saturday service, ban the post office from promising no layoffs to new employees, and create panels -- resembling the ones convened to close military bases -- to study and recommend which post offices should be closed.

Issa said through a spokesman that he'd review the Senate bill and applauded "Senators' recognition that the Postal Service requires a fundamental restructuring and not a taxpayer funded bailout."  -CNN Money

An Italian Tail

An 18-year-old told her mother that her monthly period was overdue for several weeks already. Very worried, the mother went to the drugstore and bought one of those over-the-counter urine pregnancy test kits. The test turned out positive.

After shouting, cursing, and crying, the mother demanded, 'Who is the pig that did this to you? I want to know!'

The girl picked up the phone and made a call.

About half an hour later, a car stopped in front of the house. A distinguished-looking man and impeccably dressed in an Armani suit stepped out of a Ferrari.

After he was invited in, he sat in the living room with the father, mother, and the girl and told them, "Good morning, your daughter has informed me of the problem. I can't marry her because of personal reasons, but I'll pay not only for all prenatal and hospitalization costs but also provide financial support for your daughter and the child for the rest of their life. Additionally, if the child is a girl, I will provide a Ferrari, two retail stores, a townhouse, a beachfront villa, and a $2,000,000 bank account.

If it is a boy, aside from the above, there will be a couple of factories and instead of a $2,000,000 bank account, it will be $4,000,000.

However, if there is a miscarriage, I'll pay for all necessary medical and hospitalization costs only."

At this point, the father, who had remained silent while holding a shotgun, stood up, approached the man, placed a hand firmly on the man's shoulder, looked him directly in the eye, and told him, "Oh no you don't. If there is a miscarriage, you're gonna try again!"

Author Unknown

Energy Efficient Light Bulbs Are Killing Us!

I'm Now 76, And I'm Tired!

I'm now 76. I have worked hard since I was 17. And in spite of some serious health challenges, I put in many 50-hour work weeks, and very rarely called-in sick. I have made a reasonably good salary, but I did not just inherit my job or my income. I worked hard to get to where I am today. Given the current terrible state of the economy, it looks as though retirement is a bad idea but I am tired, very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to spread the wealth to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told that the government will take the money which I earn, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn their own.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "religion of peace," when every day I read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives, and daughters for the sake of their family's "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian, Jews and other non-Muslims because they are "infidels"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning to death teenage rape victims for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating little girls' genitals all "in the name of Allah" because the Qur'an and the Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures", we must let Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use oil money to fund mosques and madrassas [Islamic schools] which preach hate and death to non-Muslims in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, America and Canada, while no one is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other Arab country to teach about Christian love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told that I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses or stick a needle in their arm while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing highly paid professional athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties talking about their innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know that their only mistake was getting caught.

I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, be they rich or poor.

I'm really tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions but instead merely blame the government, discrimination or whatever cause for their self-created problems.

I'm tired and fed up of young people in their teens and early 20s who bedeck themselves in tattoos, body piercings, and face studs which make them unemployable and then only expect money from the government.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 76 because I know that I have only a few years left in this world, and then, I no longer have to further see how this world is rapidly deteriorating at the rate people are messing it up. Thank God, I am on my way out instead of on my way in.

However, I really pity the children and youth who have yet to face the ugliness in this world.

Note: The article above reportedly written by Bill Cosby, the well-known TV star, says it very well. It should be read by every man, woman, and child in the world who is able to read and can comprehend what he/she reads.

Is Democracy the Killer Of Liberty?

I repeat: Is democracy the killer of liberty? The dictionary defines democracy as the rule of the people. Even at its best, "democracy is the worst form of government except for all the rest," according to Winston Churchill.

Is democracy a very bad form of government? Does it hold the threat of destroying humanity's most precious right - liberty? Here are some things to think about.

In the so-called democratic societies, a semblance of democracy hobbles along with fits and starts, always on the verge of complete subversion and collapse. For instance, the Western democracies are representative democracies where the ordinary citizens do not rule. A representative democracy is, in effect, a plutocracy where moneyed people and powerful interest groups rule.

A society's rulers form a pyramid. At the base of the pyramid, we have the closest thing to democracy. The individual citizen has some sway on the locally elected officials such as the sheriff, the mayor, the city councilman, and the like. As we go up the pyramid, the voice of the individual citizen diminishes while the influence of money and power groups expands.

It is a fact that, without funds, one cannot even run for the city's dogcatcher. At the very least, the aspiring candidate needs money for posters or some handbills to make himself known to the electorate and argue why they should elect him and not his opponent.

Never mind the post of the city's dogcatcher. How about seeking to be the mayor of New York City? Michael Bloomberg is presently serving his third term as the mayor of the city. This man is reportedly the 13th-wealthiest person in the world. He spent $73 million of his own money on his first term campaign ad and apparently he has spent at least $18.5 million of his own funds again for a third mayoral term in his 2009 campaign.

Is Bloomberg, one of the greatest contemporary titans of business, a fool to spend that kind of money for a post that doesn't pay even a fraction of what he is spending? No. He is not a fool. He may indeed be a great person running for a public office. That's beside the point. The point is that it takes huge amounts of money to become a part of the pyramid. And not everyone is a Michael Bloomberg with a very deep pocket and the willingness to tap it.

Bottom line: If you aspire to become a part of the ruling pyramid, you require funds commensurate with the position you seek. Unless you are a Michael Bloomberg, you need others to pony up the dough. And people don't part with their money unless they get something for it in return.

It is here that big money and interest groups come forward and deal-making takes place. In the process, the ordinary independent citizen is basically left out. The voter is presented with a choice between two equally purchased candidates or not voting at all. And you can see why so many people refuse to exercise their precious right of voting in elections.

This is bad enough. But, there is more danger in the wings. Equal to the corruptive role of money is block voting. A combination of money and block voting is the certain death knell of liberty. In a democracy, when a large number of people, motivated by an ideology or a common goal, marry their wallets with their votes, then liberty can be subverted and eventually completely wiped out. And that's exactly what Islam is doing in much of the world.

Reinvigorated fundamentalist Islam, flush with trillions of oil money, mostly from the pockets of the oblivious and uncaring "infidel" nations, is extinguishing the flames of liberty as it moves toward imposing the monolithic Islamic Sharia on lands near and far. The stone-age rule of Sharia is not limited to the ranks of the ever-swelling faithful, but encompasses all others.

The very word "Islam" is derived from the root word of "taslim," which means submission, submission to the will and dictates of Allah as stipulated by Muhammad and elucidated by the medieval Islamic clerics.

Free people withstood the assaults of tyrannies such as fascism and communism and paid dearly in preserving liberty. Now, liberty is once again in mortal danger. This time, it's from Islam. And democracy is indeed a great potential friend of the enemy.

As I mentioned earlier, money and powerful interest groups play the critical role in a representative democracy. Islam has them both and is using them both. In the traditionally democratic societies such as those of Europe, Canada, and the United States, wave after wave of Muslim immigrants are forming powerful blocks of voters. With virtually unlimited funds, these immigrant communities are running deep roots in towns and cities of the host countries and influencing the staffing of the governance pyramid.

In a democracy, a politician's first and foremost priority is to get elected. Once elected, his highest priority is to get reelected. The imperative of getting elected makes, per force, the politician a representative of the forces that bring and keep him in office.

Unfortunately, there are about one and a half billion people deeply entrenched in many democracies, including the United States, who are enemies of democracy and devotees of Ummahism -- the Islamic theocracy, theocracy of the kind that rules in places such as Saudi Arabia -- a Sunni version -- and Iran -- a Shi'a' version. It is a fact that in Islamic societies liberty is dead. The individual is a vessel of the state and the state is the executor of the suffocating Sharia law.

Lest my warning be seen as the unwarranted rants of an alarmist, all one needs is to observe what is already happening in these newly Muslim-invaded lands. Sharia law is already in effect in many places in Europe. Significant numbers of indigenous Europeans are either fleeing to other lands or are so hopeless regarding their way of life that they refrain from having children. Even in the United States and Canada, the bulging Muslim populations are more and more aggressively pressing for adoption of the Sharia law.

Demographic changes in a democracy play a critical role in shaping the society. For example, only a couple of hundred thousand Muslims lived in the U.S. only two decades ago. By 2008, the number has swelled to a claimed seven to nine million. Once the numbers are wedded to the deep pockets of the Wahhabi and Shi'a paymaster, the fate of freedom is in serious jeopardy.

Beginning with the Constitution's adoption, America has been a Republic. But the dominant trend over the last two centuries has been to make it into a democracy as well, a representative democracy, also known as a democratic republic. A woman asked Benjamin Franklin what type of government the Constitution was bringing into existence. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Democracy is the guardian of our liberty. Imbedded in democracy are provisions that can make it implode from within. Democracy also has its own guardian: A resolutely vigilant, proactive and ethical citizenry.

What can be done? Is there a way of resisting and reversing the imminent coming Islamic assault on our most cherished right of liberty? Here are some suggestions.

* Become an active worker of liberty; instead of a passive non-caring devil-may care nihilists. Many Europeans are already paying the price of non-caring complacency as Islam is rapidly gaining greater and greater power and casting its suffocating pall on their lives.

* Interact with Muslims in your locality and try to wean them away from Islam by pointing out how the Quran and the clergy are enslaving them in a defunct ideology of intolerance, backwardness and death.

* Use the political process, while it is still responsive to the demands and wishes of freedom-loving people, by supporting laws that guard freedom and reject those that infringe on liberty.

*Actively support political candidates who are deeply committed to the tenets of freedom.

* Run for office, any office. Encourage your friends and other liberty advocates to pitch in and help in any way they can.

* Hold to account those politicians who sell themselves to the Islamists and promote Islam. These for-hire politicians will do anything they can to keep their position and benefit from the generous financial backing of the Islamists.

* Be an active educator by informing others about the creeping danger of Islamism. Islamism is seriously eroding the very foundation of liberty by a variety of means. Powerful moneyed Islamic organizations threaten anyone who dares to criticize Islam with ruinous lawsuits and even death.

* Contribute money, small or large amounts, to causes and individuals who are fighting to preserve liberty. As the old saying goes, freedom is not free.

In short, liberty is your most prized possession and democracy is the shield that protects it. Yet, this shield of democracy is vulnerable and needs to be repaired and strengthened on a regular basis. I am calling on you, the individual freedom-loving person, to play your part in the defense of freedom; not only for your sake, but also for mine and all others who cherish this precious blessing of life.

By Amil Imani

Note: FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Amil Imani is an Iranian-American writer, poet, satirist, novelist, essayist, literary translator, public speaker and political analyst who has been writing and speaking out about the danger of radical Islam both in America and internationally. He has become a formidable voice in the United States against the danger of global jihad and Islamization of America. He maintains a website at www.amilimani.com. Imani is the author of the riveting book Obama Meets Ahmadinejad and the thriller Operation Persian Gulf.

Achieving $2 Gas

Republican presidential contender Michele Bachman has said that if she is elected, gas prices will fall to $2 per gallon. Such promises have understandably been greeted with considerable skepticism. But $2 gas is exactly what America needs. The question is, how can we get it?

We can’t do it just by expanded domestic drilling. In order for gasoline prices to fall to $2 per gallon, oil prices must be cut to $50 per barrel. And oil prices are set globally, with the dominating influence being the OPEC oil cartel. Since 1973, this cartel, which controls 80 percent of the earth’s commercially viable oil reserves, has refused to expand production, thus keeping petroleum prices artificially high. While, with a more pro-business government, the United States might conceivably be able to expand its production by a million or two barrels per day, OPEC could easily counter by cutting its production to match, or more likely, by simply continuing its non-expansion policy and letting increased Chinese demand take care of the slack.

If we are ever to get $2 gas, the power of OPEC to control oil prices needs to be broken. The United States Congress could do this with a stroke of the pen, simply by passing the bipartisan Open Fuel Standard bill (H.R. 1687). This act would effectively destroy OPEC by requiring that all new cars sold in the USA be fully flex fuel, able to run equally well on gasoline, ethanol, and — most important — methanol. This latter capability is critical because methanol can be, and is, made cheaply in large quantities from coal, natural gas, or any kind of biomass without exception. The United States has only 4 billion tons of oil reserves, but we have 270 billion tons of coal, vast amounts of natural gas, and an enormous capacity to produce biomass. By requiring that all cars sold here (and thus all cars made worldwide) be compatible with methanol, the act would force oil to compete with a fuel whose sources are not controlled by the cartel, and that we and our allies possess in abundance.

Methanol has only about half the energy per gallon as gasoline, but is 105 octane, which means it can be burned more efficiently. Taken together, these two factors make methanol’s current spot price of $1.38 per gallon roughly competitive with $2 gasoline.

Of course, the passage of the OFS bill would not cause gasoline prices to crash instantly. While it would no doubt hit oil futures hard, and thus cut the speculative premium on petroleum prices, the most immediate result of allowing methanol to compete against gasoline in the vehicle-fuel market would be to send methanol prices up, perhaps by as much as 60 percent. This situation would not, however, last for long. Methanol can be made and sold profitably today for $1.38 per gallon. At a 60 percent markup, its manufacture would be super-profitable, and massive amounts of capital would rush in to expand production. This would drive the price of methanol down, dragging gasoline and oil down prices with it, until methanol reached a price point where its production offered no greater profit than that prevailing in the economy at large. The fact that methanol would reach this price — what Adam Smith would term its natural price — follows from the fact that the sources to make methanol are plentiful and diverse, so that no cartel can artificially limit its production.

This underscores the key issue. There is not a free market in oil. Adjusted for inflation, the price of oil has increased eightfold since 1973, but OPEC production has not increased at all. In a free market, such a price increase would spur increased investment, with subsequent expanded production driving the price right back down again. That is why the inflation-adjusted price of coal, and nearly every other industrial commodity, has not risen in four decades. But because of the cartel, oil production has not responded to price increases in the way that it should in a properly functioning capitalist economy. In order for the free-enterprise system to do its work and deliver the cheap fuel the world needs, the ability of this cartel to limit the world’s liquid-fuel supplies needs to be broken. The Open Fuel Standard bill would accomplish that.

High oil prices are wrecking our economy. Since the United States imports 5 billion barrels of oil per year, the current price of nearly $90 per barrel will hit us for $450 billion this year alone, a huge tax on our economy. As a result, millions of jobs and thousands of businesses are being lost. If this wealth-draining process is allowed to continue, fiscal necessity will require us to withdraw the military forces protecting our national interests abroad, without a shot being fired.

Instead of seeking to exploit this catastrophe by placing its blame on their opponents, or posing with empty promises of salvation contingent upon their promotion to higher office, politicians need to take action. Two-dollar gas is not just a nice idea for inclusion in a campaign speech. It’s a critical necessity for economic recovery.

Either we break the cartel, or the cartel breaks us. The Open Fuel Standard bill needs to be passed.

By Robert Zubrin–National Review Online

Note: Robert Zubrin is a member of the Board of Advisors of Americans for Energy and author of Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil.

Medical Update

Next time you need a blood transfusion, below is some valuable information which is good to know.

A certain research study found that a patient who needs blood transfusion may benefit from chicken blood instead of human blood.

It makes a man cocky and a woman lay better.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Author Unknown

Gaddafi: May He Never Rest In Peace!

In 1969, two entirely unrelated events occurred, linked only by the fact they involved men of violence. One was based on the life of a man who had made history more than half a century earlier; the other on the life of a man who would start making history for almost the same amount of time. But how both reacted in meeting with a violent end provides an interesting contrast.

The movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was released that year. It was based on the true story of notorious US train and bank robber, Robert LeRoy Parker (aka Butch Cassidy), who, along with his sidekick, after a relentless pursuit by a determined posse, left the US to continue their trade in South America. In 1907, they ended up in Bolivia where, in the final scene of the Oscar-winning movie, Cassidy and his partner in crime are cornered by the army. Weapons reloaded, they charge out into the open with guns blazing. Although Hollywood scripted, legend indicates the two fearlessly met their end.

In a bloodless 1969 coup, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power in Libya, beginning what would be a 42 year, brutal reign. He established a police state and security apparatus composed of about twenty percent of the population. Fear was a weapon in his arsenal to be used against his people to maintain control. He made dissent illegal; he placed bounties on Libyan critics abroad. He authorized assassinations against critics and terrorist attacks against foreigners anywhere in the world. He ceremoniously presided over putting Islamist fundamentalists to death. The United Nations declared Libya a “pariah state.”

But, as with all brutal leaders who do not hesitate to act without fear when the lives of others are involved, the reality of their own imminent death provides them with a different perspective about the value of human life. There is a sense of satisfaction in seeing how the fear they triggered within the eyes of so many victims finally is seen within their own.

As Libyan rebels closed in on Gaddafi’s final stronghold in his hometown of Sirte, a strategically located coastal city located about 280 miles east of Tripoli, the Libyan leader did not exit life by mirroring Butch Cassidy’s demise.

Sensing safety in numbers, Gaddafi attempted to escape from his compound in an 80 vehicle convoy. But such a large convoy immediately drew the wandering “eye” of a US UAV, flying quietly overhead. It, along with French war planes, took the convoy under fire, forcing several vehicles to turn back.

There is uncertainty as to what occurred next as varying accounts have been published. But with the convoy under attack, it appears Gaddafi abandoned his vehicle, seeking safety in a sewer pipe. The rebels engaged the remnants of the convoy and located him cowering amongst the pipe’s stench and filth. As was Iraq’s Saddam Hussein when he was found, Gaddafi was armed with a pistol. However, just as Saddam had vowed to fight to the death but failed to do so, so too did Gaddafi. (Ironically, it took just as long for Gaddafi to be “flushed” out of hiding once the revolution started in Libya as it took to find Saddam in his spider hole sanctuary after the US invasion.) Frozen in fear, Gaddafi never attempted to even draw his weapon. Rather than flee like Tunisia’s president or resign as did Egypt’s when their people rose up against them, Gaddafi—so blinded by power he believed he could prevail against the will of his people—chose to let his supporters fight to their death on his behalf. It was a decision that would cost him his own life.

As if oblivious to reality, upon being captured, Gaddafi inquired, “What do you want?” Then as reality set in, he said, “Don’t kill me, my sons.” Perhaps he thought the $200 billion in assets he had squirreled away over 42 years provided him with the wherewithal to negotiate for his life. But it was too late to ask any questions of a people he had ruthlessly ruled for four decades without concerns for their wants or needs.

Several cell phones recorded Gaddafi’s capture but left the sequencing of events unclear. At one point, having been punched, kicked and beaten, Gaddafi pleads, “Have pity! Don’t hit me!” A rebel responds sarcastically, “Now you know pity!” But a bloodied Gaddafi is spit upon and, at another point, is seen falling to his knees. At some point, he is placed on the hood of a truck and paraded around for all to see. In a gesture of contempt for the Libyan leader, a rebel—sitting on top the truck’s roof—defiantly clamps his foot down upon Gaddafi’s thigh.

Another video shows the truck stopped with Gaddafi unceremoniously thrown up against its grill. For perhaps the first time since 1969, a crowd gathers, not to cheer, but to jeer him. Some captors pull at his hair. Sans his hat, Gaddafi’s partial baldness was visible. But that revelation would be the least of his worries. Dazed, Gaddafi looks to be in disbelief as to what is happening. He is then seen being pulled away from the truck and out of the camera’s view. A single gunshot is heard—whether it was a Gaddafi kill shot or simply celebratory gunfire is uncertain.

Some rebels had pictures taken with either a dead or half dead Gaddafi, propped up in a “Weekend at Bernie’s”-like pose. Later photos, of a shirtless Gaddafi on the ground, appear to have been taken after the fatal shot(s) were administered. For those who needed to see with their own eyes the tyrant was really dead, his body was later put on public display.

One can imagine the fear and uncertainty a bewildered Gaddafi experienced during his last moments. For the first time in his rule, he was not controlling the fate of others—they were controlling his. The fear he had callously visited upon two generations of his people, in the end, came back to haunt him.

Various reports leave murky the details of the fatal shot(s) that finally swept the “King of Kings of Africa”—a title given Gaddafi in 2008 for having remained in power longer than any African king—into the dustbin of history. It was claimed he was killed in a crossfire with loyalist troops as he was being taken to an ambulance. There were claims he was wounded in the neck; another that he had been shot in the legs. A doctor who performed an autopsy says there were only two wounds—one to the chest and one to the head. His executioner undoubtedly wasted little time deliberating before administering the fatal coup de grace—acting out of eagerness to end a hated tyrant’s life rather than out of concern for Gaddafi’s suffering.

Life, for Gaddafi, ended where it began for him, in the town of Sirte. Never again will an innocent life be taken at the whim of the Libyan madman.

May he never rest in peace.

By Lt. Colonel James Zumwalt, USMC (ret)

Note: Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Lt. Colonel James G. Zumwalt, USMC (ret) is a retired Marine infantry officer who served in the Vietnam War, the US invasion of Panama and the first Gulf war. He is the author of "Bare Feet, Iron Will--Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields" and frequently writes on foreign policy and defense issues.