It puzzles me that pro-life groups are considered terrorists by the Department of Homeland Security. Pro-life groups do NOT bomb or kill pro-abortion facilities or leaders. There are extremists out there but anyone who murders another is not pro-life. How is my prayer for the end of abortion terrorism. Please explain this to me; how is my appreciation for human life terrorism?
How is it that people cannot see the correlation between abortion and stories like this http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-zVt9ohBMtzzXZN3EM4guLGy-zgD97K7DUG0 The woman stabbed herself to kill her unborn child and successfully killed her 9 year old. How could a mother do that? The same way a mother can walk into an abortion clinic and kill her unborn child. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad they are charging her with the death of two people but the sad fact is if she walked into an abortion clinic 7 ½ months pregnant and killed her child, it’d be called a choice. The difference is what? Can anyone rationally explain this? No, because killing children is completely irrational.
So please, Department of Homeland Security…let me know how I am the terrorist here and not the pro-abortion groups and facilities? They shout obscenities and threaten us when we peacefully protest during the 40 days for life campaign. No disturbing, yet true images of abortion, just signs reading pray to end abortion. I never knew how hate filled pro-abortion people were until I was cursed at by a passing car for praying across the street from an abortion clinic.
I sure feel safer now that the DHS is watching out for people like me instead of the hate filled pro-abortion groups.
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/041609_extremism.pdf
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Obama and the actor famous for playing a druggie
Can you imagine if Bush did this? The media would have a field day....barely a blip for Obama. And they say there is no media bias.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/08/AR2009040800950.html
Penn resurfaces in White House after "suicide"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood star Kal Penn has swapped television's "House" for the White House. The 31-year-old actor, who made his mark as the pot-smoking Kumar in the "Harold and Kumar" feature film comedies, will become associate director in the White House office of public liaison, Entertainment Weekly reported on Monday. For the past two seasons, Penn played Dr. Lawrence Kuttner on Fox's medical-mystery drama "House." His character exited the show in a violent fashion on Monday's episode by committing suicide for no apparent reason.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/08/AR2009040800950.html
Penn resurfaces in White House after "suicide"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood star Kal Penn has swapped television's "House" for the White House. The 31-year-old actor, who made his mark as the pot-smoking Kumar in the "Harold and Kumar" feature film comedies, will become associate director in the White House office of public liaison, Entertainment Weekly reported on Monday. For the past two seasons, Penn played Dr. Lawrence Kuttner on Fox's medical-mystery drama "House." His character exited the show in a violent fashion on Monday's episode by committing suicide for no apparent reason.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Commentary: Don't confuse money with happiness
I had to share this great article on money and happiness. I hope it helps you realize what life is truly about. We all need this from time to time.
By Peter BregmanSpecial to CNN
Editor's note: Peter Bregman is chief executive of Bregman Partners Inc., a global management consulting firm, and the author of "Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change". He writes a weekly column, How We Work, for HarvardBusiness.org.
Peter Bregman says good times persuaded people to sacrifice what they loved for money.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- I started my consulting business 11 years ago with a laptop computer in a living room. It grew quickly.
The first year I made more money than I had in the previous three combined, the second year I doubled that and by the third year I began to fantasize about retiring within the decade.
Then everything crashed; the dotcom revolution, the financial services industry and my business.
I had a large number of subcontractors and a small number of employees who had become friends. I also had a bad feeling things wouldn't turn around quickly.
My wife and I were in a tough spot. We had one child and another on the way, bills that were accumulating and hopes for the future that were moving out of reach.
However bad it was then, these days it's worse. Back then the recession hit certain sectors and left other ones alone. Home prices were going up, so people felt protected, and there were loans to help. Today, everything's been hit, nothing's going up and credit is frozen.
Many have already lost jobs, homes, self-identities, luxuries and necessities. And there's more to come.
That's especially true for many older Americans, who might not have 10 years to recover and who don't have sources of income other than their savings -- which have dwindled dramatically. They don't deserve to live with the fear they now feel.
I'm still living in a rental apartment because I didn't want to take out a loan I couldn't pay back. I saved money. Invested it. And now my investments are down 70 percent.
But it is what it is.
And when we wake up in the morning we are left with the question, "Now what?"
It's actually a great question, because in a situation in which we've lost control, it gives us a little back. "Now what?" means we have a choice, in this moment, to do something. What's it going to be?
I think it's a mistake to try to rebuild what we've lost. We have less now and I think we can do better with less. Having less forces choices. And consciously making those choices can bring us closer to the things we care about. Which can make a poorer life richer than a rich one.
Because the research is clear. Above a basic threshold, more money doesn't make us happier. But we think it will, so we do all sorts of things that make us unhappy in order to get it.
A senior leader in an investment bank called to tell me she was leaving her job. She realized she wouldn't make much money in the next few years and didn't want to miss her children growing up. Did you get that? She was willing to miss her children growing up if the money was good enough.
People act in ways they'd rather not in order to make money that doesn't make them happy.
Maybe, if we do this downturn right, we can get out of that cycle.
So, what makes you happy? Is it spending time with people you love? Working on a pet project? Having the time to exercise? Being part of a community and feeling cared for? Knowing the answer enables you to make decisions that will prioritize those things.
Of course, losing money can break people apart; we fight about money, people lose jobs and get depressed; tension rises as mortgage bills sit on the kitchen table unpaid; resentment builds when one person doesn't live up to his own and others' expectations.
But I am also seeing the opposite. Losing money can bring you closer to your values; can actually bring people together. It's hard to appreciate in the midst of our loss, but embracing the forced reduction in lifestyle can be positive.
I know of a couple whose marriage was saved when they moved from a bigger house into a smaller one and actually began talking to each other again.
Last weekend, two people had a beautiful wedding in Central Park surrounded by family and friends, months before they had planned, avoiding thousands of dollars of expenses and all the tension that goes with it. Why? Because she lost her job and needed to get onto his health insurance.
Friends of mine held their daughter's bat mitzvah at another friend's house, avoiding tremendous expense while creating the warmest community celebration, filled with gratitude and tears, that I have ever seen.
In 2003, after my business crashed, my wife and I decided to move to Savannah, Georgia, where she grew up and life was much cheaper. Had my business continued to grow we could never have afforded to make that choice. When the business crashed, we couldn't afford not to.
While there, we spent priceless time with her family, had another child, made lifelong friends and rebuilt my business -- this time very differently. I love consulting and writing and speaking, but the bigger the business became, the less I did those things and the more I managed others doing it.
Eventually we returned to New York. Now I'm back to a laptop in a living room and I love it again. It's smaller, more sustainable and a lot more fun. And I have the time to spend with my family and friends. My fantasy is no longer to retire; it's to keep doing what I'm doing for as long as I can.
Life is not a linear path of increasing wealth, accumulation and achievement. Don't let the money crisis draw you apart from people you love and things you love to do. Use it to draw you closer.
By Peter BregmanSpecial to CNN
Editor's note: Peter Bregman is chief executive of Bregman Partners Inc., a global management consulting firm, and the author of "Point B: A Short Guide to Leading a Big Change". He writes a weekly column, How We Work, for HarvardBusiness.org.
Peter Bregman says good times persuaded people to sacrifice what they loved for money.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- I started my consulting business 11 years ago with a laptop computer in a living room. It grew quickly.
The first year I made more money than I had in the previous three combined, the second year I doubled that and by the third year I began to fantasize about retiring within the decade.
Then everything crashed; the dotcom revolution, the financial services industry and my business.
I had a large number of subcontractors and a small number of employees who had become friends. I also had a bad feeling things wouldn't turn around quickly.
My wife and I were in a tough spot. We had one child and another on the way, bills that were accumulating and hopes for the future that were moving out of reach.
However bad it was then, these days it's worse. Back then the recession hit certain sectors and left other ones alone. Home prices were going up, so people felt protected, and there were loans to help. Today, everything's been hit, nothing's going up and credit is frozen.
Many have already lost jobs, homes, self-identities, luxuries and necessities. And there's more to come.
That's especially true for many older Americans, who might not have 10 years to recover and who don't have sources of income other than their savings -- which have dwindled dramatically. They don't deserve to live with the fear they now feel.
I'm still living in a rental apartment because I didn't want to take out a loan I couldn't pay back. I saved money. Invested it. And now my investments are down 70 percent.
But it is what it is.
And when we wake up in the morning we are left with the question, "Now what?"
It's actually a great question, because in a situation in which we've lost control, it gives us a little back. "Now what?" means we have a choice, in this moment, to do something. What's it going to be?
I think it's a mistake to try to rebuild what we've lost. We have less now and I think we can do better with less. Having less forces choices. And consciously making those choices can bring us closer to the things we care about. Which can make a poorer life richer than a rich one.
Because the research is clear. Above a basic threshold, more money doesn't make us happier. But we think it will, so we do all sorts of things that make us unhappy in order to get it.
A senior leader in an investment bank called to tell me she was leaving her job. She realized she wouldn't make much money in the next few years and didn't want to miss her children growing up. Did you get that? She was willing to miss her children growing up if the money was good enough.
People act in ways they'd rather not in order to make money that doesn't make them happy.
Maybe, if we do this downturn right, we can get out of that cycle.
So, what makes you happy? Is it spending time with people you love? Working on a pet project? Having the time to exercise? Being part of a community and feeling cared for? Knowing the answer enables you to make decisions that will prioritize those things.
Of course, losing money can break people apart; we fight about money, people lose jobs and get depressed; tension rises as mortgage bills sit on the kitchen table unpaid; resentment builds when one person doesn't live up to his own and others' expectations.
But I am also seeing the opposite. Losing money can bring you closer to your values; can actually bring people together. It's hard to appreciate in the midst of our loss, but embracing the forced reduction in lifestyle can be positive.
I know of a couple whose marriage was saved when they moved from a bigger house into a smaller one and actually began talking to each other again.
Last weekend, two people had a beautiful wedding in Central Park surrounded by family and friends, months before they had planned, avoiding thousands of dollars of expenses and all the tension that goes with it. Why? Because she lost her job and needed to get onto his health insurance.
Friends of mine held their daughter's bat mitzvah at another friend's house, avoiding tremendous expense while creating the warmest community celebration, filled with gratitude and tears, that I have ever seen.
In 2003, after my business crashed, my wife and I decided to move to Savannah, Georgia, where she grew up and life was much cheaper. Had my business continued to grow we could never have afforded to make that choice. When the business crashed, we couldn't afford not to.
While there, we spent priceless time with her family, had another child, made lifelong friends and rebuilt my business -- this time very differently. I love consulting and writing and speaking, but the bigger the business became, the less I did those things and the more I managed others doing it.
Eventually we returned to New York. Now I'm back to a laptop in a living room and I love it again. It's smaller, more sustainable and a lot more fun. And I have the time to spend with my family and friends. My fantasy is no longer to retire; it's to keep doing what I'm doing for as long as I can.
Life is not a linear path of increasing wealth, accumulation and achievement. Don't let the money crisis draw you apart from people you love and things you love to do. Use it to draw you closer.
Friday, April 03, 2009
Amazing Article
http://townhall.com/columnists/StarParker/2009/02/09/back_on_uncle_sams_plantation?page=full
Back on Uncle Sam's plantation
Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist
Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam's Plantation. I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it. I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas -- a poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism. I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.
A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty. A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"
Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.. The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families. Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.
I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed 50 percent.. I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction. Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.
Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."
Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash. There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.
Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation. In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus.
"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America 's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare, and education."
Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability." Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the SynfuelsCorporation, and the Department of Education. Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."
Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock births.
It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation.. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.
Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?
Great quote on socialism:
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Back on Uncle Sam's plantation
Star Parker - Syndicated Columnist
Six years ago I wrote a book called Uncle Sam's Plantation. I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it. I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas -- a poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism. I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.
A vast sea of perhaps well-intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960s, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty. A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"
Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems -- the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.. The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families. Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.
I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed 50 percent.. I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth-producing American capitalism. But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction. Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.
Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."
Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash. There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.
Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation. In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus.
"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending -- it's a strategy for America 's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, healthcare, and education."
Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability." Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the SynfuelsCorporation, and the Department of Education. Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."
Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single-parent homes and out-of-wedlock births.
It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation.. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.
Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?
Great quote on socialism:
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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