Wednesday, August 31, 2011
up and moving a bit slow- little sleep but the pain is duller this morning-took an ALEVE and hoping for the best.
sun is shining and the birds are tweeting. lots of bees and wasps buzzing around the past week or so.
nothing big time going on-tho my niece, alicia got a puppy yesterday and i'm excited and want to go see her.
sun is shining and the birds are tweeting. lots of bees and wasps buzzing around the past week or so.
nothing big time going on-tho my niece, alicia got a puppy yesterday and i'm excited and want to go see her.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!
~ Rocky Balboa ~
I suppose Ron Paul would prefer the clean-up of human corpses to be handled the way it was done in the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 to which he referred. Burn the un-buriable 8000 souls in funeral pyres and give the gravediggers enough whiskey to drown their sorrows in dealing with this travesty. Good going Ron. Sure beats FEMA, right Ron?
ko fan p.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream
burning man is what it is-experience it don't try to critique or understand.
Glenn Simpson:
AN IRISH BLOND IN A CASINO
An attractive blond from Cork , Ireland arrived at the casino.
She seemed a little intoxicated and bet twenty-thousand Euros on a single roll
of the dice.
She said, 'I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude'.
With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and with an Irish brogue yelled, 'Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!'
As the dice came to a stop, she jumped up and down and squealed...
'YES! YES! I WON, I WON!'
She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes
and quickly departed.
The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded.
Finally, one of them asked,
'What did she roll?'
The other answered,
'I don't know - I thought you were watching.'
MORAL OF THE STORY -
Not all Irish are drunks,
not all blonds are dumb,
But all men...are men.
AN IRISH BLOND IN A CASINO
An attractive blond from Cork , Ireland arrived at the casino.
She seemed a little intoxicated and bet twenty-thousand Euros on a single roll
of the dice.
She said, 'I hope you don't mind, but I feel much luckier when I'm completely nude'.
With that, she stripped from the neck down, rolled the dice and with an Irish brogue yelled, 'Come on, baby, Mama needs new clothes!'
As the dice came to a stop, she jumped up and down and squealed...
'YES! YES! I WON, I WON!'
She hugged each of the dealers and then picked up her winnings and her clothes
and quickly departed.
The dealers stared at each other dumbfounded.
Finally, one of them asked,
'What did she roll?'
The other answered,
'I don't know - I thought you were watching.'
MORAL OF THE STORY -
Not all Irish are drunks,
not all blonds are dumb,
But all men...are men.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Proven lies Fox news has reported in the past year
Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved.
The Blue State Post
28 August 2011
The Blue State Post
PROVEN LIES
1.Selective editing to make union proestors look violent
2.O'Reilly and Ingraham lying about Planned Parenthood
3.PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'A government takeover of health care'
4.Glenn Beck says Muslim Brotherhood wants to declare war on Israel:
5.Karl Rove says that “American troops have never been under the formal control of another nation”
6.'Fox and Friends' host says Gov. Rick Scott's approval numbers are up
7.Laura Ingraham says Massachusetts health plan is "wildly unpopular"
8.Sarah Palin says Obama has accumulated more debt than previous 43 presidents combined
9.Palin claims loss of oil production in Gulf of Mexico will cost $8 billion a day in imports
10.Sarah Palin said Democrats are planning "the largest tax increase in U.S. history"
11.Palin claims Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium will cause projected 150,000 barrel a day production drop
12.Glenn Beck says First Lady Michelle Obama has 43 on her staff while Nancy Reagan had just 3
13.Glenn Beck paints beleaguered Wilmington, Ohio, as real life Bedford Falls
14.Bill O'Reilly Lies to Bill Maher on Fox News Misreporting Cost of Obama Trip to India
15.Fox not fact checking sources and posting stories from satirical site TheOnion.com
16.Another "story" turning out to be fake that Fox reports as truth
17.Busted for fake reports of being attacked at Wisonsin protests.
18.Claims they were used by Gadafi as human shoelds, turns out they never left their hotel room.
19.FOX Anchor Lies About Bush's Linking of Al Qaeda and Iraq
20.Megyn Kelly spins poll
21.Wallace Inflates Fox News Sunday Ratings
22.Blatantly twisting Weiner's words on health care waivers
23.Top Fox exec admits lying on air about Obama
24.Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes, Urged Employee to Lie, Records Show
25.The big stink last year about the Foxgate climate change emails "Disinformers defend Foxgate email saying unequivocal warming of the climate should always be disputed"
26.Fact-Checking Fox News' Claim That They NEVER Fabricate, Smear or Lie
27.Fox Lies - Cenk Busts Fox News On MSNBC
28.Fox & Friends Newest Lie: ACORN Getting Federal Funds
29.Top 5 Fake Fox News Racist Scandals
Copyright © 2011, All Rights Reserved.
The Blue State Post
28 August 2011
The Blue State Post
PROVEN LIES
1.Selective editing to make union proestors look violent
2.O'Reilly and Ingraham lying about Planned Parenthood
3.PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: 'A government takeover of health care'
4.Glenn Beck says Muslim Brotherhood wants to declare war on Israel:
5.Karl Rove says that “American troops have never been under the formal control of another nation”
6.'Fox and Friends' host says Gov. Rick Scott's approval numbers are up
7.Laura Ingraham says Massachusetts health plan is "wildly unpopular"
8.Sarah Palin says Obama has accumulated more debt than previous 43 presidents combined
9.Palin claims loss of oil production in Gulf of Mexico will cost $8 billion a day in imports
10.Sarah Palin said Democrats are planning "the largest tax increase in U.S. history"
11.Palin claims Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium will cause projected 150,000 barrel a day production drop
12.Glenn Beck says First Lady Michelle Obama has 43 on her staff while Nancy Reagan had just 3
13.Glenn Beck paints beleaguered Wilmington, Ohio, as real life Bedford Falls
14.Bill O'Reilly Lies to Bill Maher on Fox News Misreporting Cost of Obama Trip to India
15.Fox not fact checking sources and posting stories from satirical site TheOnion.com
16.Another "story" turning out to be fake that Fox reports as truth
17.Busted for fake reports of being attacked at Wisonsin protests.
18.Claims they were used by Gadafi as human shoelds, turns out they never left their hotel room.
19.FOX Anchor Lies About Bush's Linking of Al Qaeda and Iraq
20.Megyn Kelly spins poll
21.Wallace Inflates Fox News Sunday Ratings
22.Blatantly twisting Weiner's words on health care waivers
23.Top Fox exec admits lying on air about Obama
24.Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes, Urged Employee to Lie, Records Show
25.The big stink last year about the Foxgate climate change emails "Disinformers defend Foxgate email saying unequivocal warming of the climate should always be disputed"
26.Fact-Checking Fox News' Claim That They NEVER Fabricate, Smear or Lie
27.Fox Lies - Cenk Busts Fox News On MSNBC
28.Fox & Friends Newest Lie: ACORN Getting Federal Funds
29.Top 5 Fake Fox News Racist Scandals
Ron Paul Calls Social Security and Medicare Unconstitutional, Compares Them to ‘Slavery’
By Ian Millhiser on May 15, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Appearing on Fox News Sunday this morning, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) defended his longstanding view that Medicare, Social Security (and pretty much everything else) violate the Constitution. At one point, Paul even claimed that letting Social Security and similar programs to move forward is just like permitting slavery:
WALLACE: You talk a lot about the Constitution. You say Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid are all unconstitutional.
PAUL: Technically, they are. … There’s no authority [in the Constitution]. Article I, Section 8 doesn’t say I can set up an insurance program for people. What part of the Constitution are you getting it from? The liberals are the ones who use this General Welfare Clause. … That is such an extreme liberal viewpoint that has been mistaught in our schools for so long and that’s what we have to reverse—that very notion that you’re presenting.
WALLACE: Congressman, it’s not just a liberal view. It was the decision of the Supreme Court in 1937 when they said that Social Security was constitutional under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.
PAUL: And the Constitution and the courts said slavery was legal to, and we had to reverse that.
As Chris Wallace tries to explain, Paul’s crankish view of the Constitution cannot be squared with the document’s text. The Constitution gives Congress the power to “to lay and collect taxes” and to “provide for the…general welfare of the United States,” which is exactly what Social Security does. Nor is this reading of the Constitution’s unambiguous words limited to “extreme liberals.” Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia recently told a gathering of Members of Congress that “It’s up to Congress how you want to appropriate, basically.”
Indeed, the overwhelming majority of Paul’s fellow House Republicans disagree with his bizarre view that Medicare and other government-funded insurance programs violate the Constitution. 207 Republicans voted in support of President George W. Bush’s proposal to create a federal prescription drug insurance program under Medicare, including such notables as future Speaker John Boehner, uber-tenther Scott Garrett, and future Budget chair Paul Ryan. Although the GOP more recently voted for a radical plan to phase out the Medicare program, even that slow repeal of Medicare cannot be squared with Paul’s apparent view that it violates the Constitution to allow Medicare to continue one minute longer.
Like so many other Republicans, Paul needs to learn that the Constitution is not some toy that he can take apart and reassemble to force the nation down whatever path he chooses. The Constitution’s words actually mean something, and Ron Paul is not free to ignore them.
Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), recently said that giving people a right to healthcare is the equivalent of “slavery.”
By Ian Millhiser on May 15, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Appearing on Fox News Sunday this morning, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) defended his longstanding view that Medicare, Social Security (and pretty much everything else) violate the Constitution. At one point, Paul even claimed that letting Social Security and similar programs to move forward is just like permitting slavery:
WALLACE: You talk a lot about the Constitution. You say Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid are all unconstitutional.
PAUL: Technically, they are. … There’s no authority [in the Constitution]. Article I, Section 8 doesn’t say I can set up an insurance program for people. What part of the Constitution are you getting it from? The liberals are the ones who use this General Welfare Clause. … That is such an extreme liberal viewpoint that has been mistaught in our schools for so long and that’s what we have to reverse—that very notion that you’re presenting.
WALLACE: Congressman, it’s not just a liberal view. It was the decision of the Supreme Court in 1937 when they said that Social Security was constitutional under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.
PAUL: And the Constitution and the courts said slavery was legal to, and we had to reverse that.
As Chris Wallace tries to explain, Paul’s crankish view of the Constitution cannot be squared with the document’s text. The Constitution gives Congress the power to “to lay and collect taxes” and to “provide for the…general welfare of the United States,” which is exactly what Social Security does. Nor is this reading of the Constitution’s unambiguous words limited to “extreme liberals.” Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia recently told a gathering of Members of Congress that “It’s up to Congress how you want to appropriate, basically.”
Indeed, the overwhelming majority of Paul’s fellow House Republicans disagree with his bizarre view that Medicare and other government-funded insurance programs violate the Constitution. 207 Republicans voted in support of President George W. Bush’s proposal to create a federal prescription drug insurance program under Medicare, including such notables as future Speaker John Boehner, uber-tenther Scott Garrett, and future Budget chair Paul Ryan. Although the GOP more recently voted for a radical plan to phase out the Medicare program, even that slow repeal of Medicare cannot be squared with Paul’s apparent view that it violates the Constitution to allow Medicare to continue one minute longer.
Like so many other Republicans, Paul needs to learn that the Constitution is not some toy that he can take apart and reassemble to force the nation down whatever path he chooses. The Constitution’s words actually mean something, and Ron Paul is not free to ignore them.
Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), recently said that giving people a right to healthcare is the equivalent of “slavery.”
Joe McKee:
Eric Cantor says no help for Irene victims unless there are more spending cuts. Ron Paul says FEMA should be dismantled. He said, Texas didn't need FEMA after the Galveston hurricane of 1900. The people rebuilt it themselves. He neglected to say that over 8,000 died and the Galveston Population was about 10% of what it is today. God help America.
Eric Cantor says no help for Irene victims unless there are more spending cuts. Ron Paul says FEMA should be dismantled. He said, Texas didn't need FEMA after the Galveston hurricane of 1900. The people rebuilt it themselves. He neglected to say that over 8,000 died and the Galveston Population was about 10% of what it is today. God help America.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
thinking about my mom today 2 years now.
elderly lady asked for my help at the store yesterday- she was buying "hot pockets" for the first time and wanted to know if i had a favorite. she said she is alone now and only has to feed herself and she really doesn't cook anymore.
that sort of brought it home and reminded me.
i'm not sad. mom had a good long life-just made me aware of the frailty of it all.
busy day- hard to believe it is so beautiful here and to the east of me...!
we've been doing yardwork-needed it bad! looking pretty good and i fed my rhodies and the rest that needed it.
my humming birds are sharing the feeder with some of the biggest bees and others that i've ever seen.
got the laundry done-i'll do sheets tomorrow.
steeler game tonight.
we've been doing yardwork-needed it bad! looking pretty good and i fed my rhodies and the rest that needed it.
my humming birds are sharing the feeder with some of the biggest bees and others that i've ever seen.
got the laundry done-i'll do sheets tomorrow.
steeler game tonight.
The Associated Press is reporting that Republican Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is considering lowering the minimum wage to match labor costs overseas to lure corporations back to the United States.
Her comments came in response to the question of a reporter, during a campaign stop in Florida, who asked whether changes to the minimum wage should also be considered to balance the cost of labor here and overseas. “I’m not married to anything. I’m not saying that’s where I’m going to go,” Bachmann replied. She did say she wants to look at all aspects of doing business, from regulations to tax codes, and will consider anything that will help create jobs.
Lowering the minimum wage is not a viable option to stimulate the economy. People are struggling to live on $7.25 an hour as it is. Wages overseas are far lower than they are here. So low in fact that poverty is a way of life. Before Democrats passed the minimum wage law during the Great Depression, workers struggled to make a living while corporate CEO’s made millions. And when the Great Depression hit the country, millions of American workers ended up with nothing. Corporations don’t care how low wages are. Prices will not come down to accommodate lower wages. The only thing that lowering the minimum wage will do here in America is stimulate poverty.
me- do you get it now? robber barons and serfs again!
geeeeezzz, wake up.
Her comments came in response to the question of a reporter, during a campaign stop in Florida, who asked whether changes to the minimum wage should also be considered to balance the cost of labor here and overseas. “I’m not married to anything. I’m not saying that’s where I’m going to go,” Bachmann replied. She did say she wants to look at all aspects of doing business, from regulations to tax codes, and will consider anything that will help create jobs.
Lowering the minimum wage is not a viable option to stimulate the economy. People are struggling to live on $7.25 an hour as it is. Wages overseas are far lower than they are here. So low in fact that poverty is a way of life. Before Democrats passed the minimum wage law during the Great Depression, workers struggled to make a living while corporate CEO’s made millions. And when the Great Depression hit the country, millions of American workers ended up with nothing. Corporations don’t care how low wages are. Prices will not come down to accommodate lower wages. The only thing that lowering the minimum wage will do here in America is stimulate poverty.
me- do you get it now? robber barons and serfs again!
geeeeezzz, wake up.
hoping that everyone stays safe this weekend. it's not supposed to affect us here in the bugh.
been up doing chores round here-cleaned the litter pan-that's always a highlight!!!
little timmy has some teeny tomatoes growing but he's not looking to healthy so i doubt they'll get big enought to eat.
tomorrow is my son in law, eric's birthday- a big HAPPY B'DAY to him!!!!
funny thing- the bird's are very quiet today. spooky.
been up doing chores round here-cleaned the litter pan-that's always a highlight!!!
little timmy has some teeny tomatoes growing but he's not looking to healthy so i doubt they'll get big enought to eat.
tomorrow is my son in law, eric's birthday- a big HAPPY B'DAY to him!!!!
funny thing- the bird's are very quiet today. spooky.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Threats from Hurricane Irene
1.Wind—Tropical storm force winds are likely over most of the area, with hurricane force winds possible along the immediate coast. Pender and Onslow will likely see the highest winds. Any deviation to the west may bring higher gusts to the area.
2.Rain/Flooding—Some moderate flooding may occur in coastal and northeastern counties from expected rain fall amounts of 2-12 inches. Higher amounts are expected at the coast with lower amounts near I-95. Pender, Onslow and points north and east will see the most rain.
3.Tornadoes—A tornado threat is minimal at this point, but can not be ruled out from any outer rain bands that move on shore.
4.Storm surge— Storm surge threat remains moderate. New Hanover and Pender could see minor surge as Irene approaches Saturday morning and midday. Onslow and points east will see moderate surge Saturday.
5.Coastal/marine impacts—High surf, large waves, swells, and significant beach erosion will occur and boating is not advised. The rip current threat will be high through the weekend.
Timing of the storm
•Friday afternoon — The North Carolina coast will be under hurricane warnings until the system has passed. Some weaker outer rain bands will bring scattered showers through much of the day. These rain bands may contain gusty winds, a few gusts near tropical storm force are possible.
•Friday evening— Outer rain bands will begin to move onshore by early evening. These rain bands will contain tropical storm force gusts and coastal counties may see sustained tropical storm winds by midnight. Winds will continue to increase and heavy rain will accompany more rain bands. Isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out. The strongest winds will be along the beaches.
•Saturday morning — Hurricane Irene will pass off the Cape Fear coast and should make landfall along the Crystal coast or Outer Banks. Heavy rain can be expected along coastal counties, with gusty winds at times over hurricane force. Gusts may be even higher in Onslow County (80-90 mph). Inland counties will see heavy rain but not as much. Some flooding is possible near the coast, and winds could gust near hurricane force at Surf City or Topsail Beach. Far inland counties will see a lighter showers from rain bands that reach inland. Breezy conditions can be expected through much of Saturday. Worst conditions in the Cape Fear location are expected from 4-8 AM.
•Saturday night — Rain and gusty winds will continue most of Saturday. These will begin to diminish throughout the evening as Irene pulls away from the North Carolina coast, however Irene is a large storm so it will be a slow process to get it completely out of here.
•
Tides will play into these scenarios as well:
Wrights Beach Tides-
High Tide: 06:20 AM
Low Tide: 12:23 PM
County By County Breakdown
--New Hanover County--
(Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Wrights Beach)
New Hanover County should expect to see sustained winds—between 40 and 60 mph with gusts over hurricane force, especially at the coast—and possibly 6 to 9 inches of rain because of Hurricane Irene. The county will also see very large waves, coastal erosion, and high surf and rip currents. Some storm surge is expected, but less than 5 feet. Power outages are likely.
--Brunswick County--
(Leland, Oak Island, Southport, Bald Head Island, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Hold en Beach, Shallot)
Brunswick County will likely see sustained 40 to 50 mph wind with gusts to 60 mph at the coast. Look for substantial coastal erosion due to Hurricane Irene. There will also be high surf and rip currents. 4 to 8 inches of rain (higher amounts near the coast) may be possible this afternoon through Saturday. Minor storm surge could be possible. Scattered power outages are possible.
--Pender County--
(Burg aw, Hempstead, Topsail Island, Swath, Rocky Point)
Pender County should expect to see 60 to 70 mph sustained winds for a time Saturday morning and midday, especially coastal and northern Pender (Hempstead, Topsail, Holly Ridge). Depending on Irene's exact track an 80+ mph wind gust or two can't be ruled out at the coast. Coastal erosion and large waves and swells will be likely for the beaches. There could also be minor coastal flooding and possibly 7 to 10 inches of rainfall. Storm surge could be around 5 feet, and higher with any track deviation.
Pender County has declared a state of emergency
--Bladen County--
(Elizabeth town, Kelly, Tar heel, White Lake, Clark ton, Dublin)
Bladen County can expect Tropical Storm Force winds (39+ mph) with some higher gusts —and 2 to 5 inches of rain.
--Columbus County--
(Whiteflies, Lake Acclaim, Bolt on, Greenwood, Chad bourn)
Columbus County can expect Tropical Storm force winds (39+ mph). A few gusts may be 50 mph —and 2 to 5 inches of rain.
--Onslow County--
(Jacksonville, N Topsail, Sinead Ferry, Rich lands, Brogue, Swanson)
The biggest impacts from Irene in our area may be in Onslow County, as it will be closer to the landfall of Irene. Gusts over 90 mph at the coast and rainfall amounts of over a foot are possible, especially on the north east side of the county. Very heavy surf, coastal erosion and large waves are expected along the coast. A moderate storm surge is expected and the surf will be very rough.
Any deviation to the west of current forecast would mean dramatic increase in effects for Onslow County. Sustained hurricane force winds are likely, especially at the coast.
Storm surge could be especially devastating for Onslow County, especially around Brogue and Swanson. Storm surge of 6 to 10 feet can be expected with Irene, especially near the eye. A shift to the west of the track could put New River Inlet under surge conditions for a time while Irene moves toward the coast. Winds will be onshore and water may back up in the inlet.
--Dublin County--
(Warsaw, Rose Hill, Wallace, Knoxville)
Sustained winds around 50 mph are possible with gusts to hurricane force and 4-7 inches of rain is possible. A hurricane warning remains in effect.
--Robe son County--
(Lumber ton, Pembroke, Airman, Red Springs)
The county is expected to have lesser impacts from Hurricane Irene. Saturday morning, there may be breezy conditions with showers, with a few gusty squalls.
--Sampson/Cumberland Counties--
(Fayetteville, Rosewood, Clinton, Red Springs)
The counties will experience a breezy Saturday morning, with gusts up wind up to 30 mph and some scattered showers. There may be brief times of heavy rain.
1.Wind—Tropical storm force winds are likely over most of the area, with hurricane force winds possible along the immediate coast. Pender and Onslow will likely see the highest winds. Any deviation to the west may bring higher gusts to the area.
2.Rain/Flooding—Some moderate flooding may occur in coastal and northeastern counties from expected rain fall amounts of 2-12 inches. Higher amounts are expected at the coast with lower amounts near I-95. Pender, Onslow and points north and east will see the most rain.
3.Tornadoes—A tornado threat is minimal at this point, but can not be ruled out from any outer rain bands that move on shore.
4.Storm surge— Storm surge threat remains moderate. New Hanover and Pender could see minor surge as Irene approaches Saturday morning and midday. Onslow and points east will see moderate surge Saturday.
5.Coastal/marine impacts—High surf, large waves, swells, and significant beach erosion will occur and boating is not advised. The rip current threat will be high through the weekend.
Timing of the storm
•Friday afternoon — The North Carolina coast will be under hurricane warnings until the system has passed. Some weaker outer rain bands will bring scattered showers through much of the day. These rain bands may contain gusty winds, a few gusts near tropical storm force are possible.
•Friday evening— Outer rain bands will begin to move onshore by early evening. These rain bands will contain tropical storm force gusts and coastal counties may see sustained tropical storm winds by midnight. Winds will continue to increase and heavy rain will accompany more rain bands. Isolated tornadoes cannot be ruled out. The strongest winds will be along the beaches.
•Saturday morning — Hurricane Irene will pass off the Cape Fear coast and should make landfall along the Crystal coast or Outer Banks. Heavy rain can be expected along coastal counties, with gusty winds at times over hurricane force. Gusts may be even higher in Onslow County (80-90 mph). Inland counties will see heavy rain but not as much. Some flooding is possible near the coast, and winds could gust near hurricane force at Surf City or Topsail Beach. Far inland counties will see a lighter showers from rain bands that reach inland. Breezy conditions can be expected through much of Saturday. Worst conditions in the Cape Fear location are expected from 4-8 AM.
•Saturday night — Rain and gusty winds will continue most of Saturday. These will begin to diminish throughout the evening as Irene pulls away from the North Carolina coast, however Irene is a large storm so it will be a slow process to get it completely out of here.
•
Tides will play into these scenarios as well:
Wrights Beach Tides-
High Tide: 06:20 AM
Low Tide: 12:23 PM
County By County Breakdown
--New Hanover County--
(Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Wrights Beach)
New Hanover County should expect to see sustained winds—between 40 and 60 mph with gusts over hurricane force, especially at the coast—and possibly 6 to 9 inches of rain because of Hurricane Irene. The county will also see very large waves, coastal erosion, and high surf and rip currents. Some storm surge is expected, but less than 5 feet. Power outages are likely.
--Brunswick County--
(Leland, Oak Island, Southport, Bald Head Island, Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Hold en Beach, Shallot)
Brunswick County will likely see sustained 40 to 50 mph wind with gusts to 60 mph at the coast. Look for substantial coastal erosion due to Hurricane Irene. There will also be high surf and rip currents. 4 to 8 inches of rain (higher amounts near the coast) may be possible this afternoon through Saturday. Minor storm surge could be possible. Scattered power outages are possible.
--Pender County--
(Burg aw, Hempstead, Topsail Island, Swath, Rocky Point)
Pender County should expect to see 60 to 70 mph sustained winds for a time Saturday morning and midday, especially coastal and northern Pender (Hempstead, Topsail, Holly Ridge). Depending on Irene's exact track an 80+ mph wind gust or two can't be ruled out at the coast. Coastal erosion and large waves and swells will be likely for the beaches. There could also be minor coastal flooding and possibly 7 to 10 inches of rainfall. Storm surge could be around 5 feet, and higher with any track deviation.
Pender County has declared a state of emergency
--Bladen County--
(Elizabeth town, Kelly, Tar heel, White Lake, Clark ton, Dublin)
Bladen County can expect Tropical Storm Force winds (39+ mph) with some higher gusts —and 2 to 5 inches of rain.
--Columbus County--
(Whiteflies, Lake Acclaim, Bolt on, Greenwood, Chad bourn)
Columbus County can expect Tropical Storm force winds (39+ mph). A few gusts may be 50 mph —and 2 to 5 inches of rain.
--Onslow County--
(Jacksonville, N Topsail, Sinead Ferry, Rich lands, Brogue, Swanson)
The biggest impacts from Irene in our area may be in Onslow County, as it will be closer to the landfall of Irene. Gusts over 90 mph at the coast and rainfall amounts of over a foot are possible, especially on the north east side of the county. Very heavy surf, coastal erosion and large waves are expected along the coast. A moderate storm surge is expected and the surf will be very rough.
Any deviation to the west of current forecast would mean dramatic increase in effects for Onslow County. Sustained hurricane force winds are likely, especially at the coast.
Storm surge could be especially devastating for Onslow County, especially around Brogue and Swanson. Storm surge of 6 to 10 feet can be expected with Irene, especially near the eye. A shift to the west of the track could put New River Inlet under surge conditions for a time while Irene moves toward the coast. Winds will be onshore and water may back up in the inlet.
--Dublin County--
(Warsaw, Rose Hill, Wallace, Knoxville)
Sustained winds around 50 mph are possible with gusts to hurricane force and 4-7 inches of rain is possible. A hurricane warning remains in effect.
--Robe son County--
(Lumber ton, Pembroke, Airman, Red Springs)
The county is expected to have lesser impacts from Hurricane Irene. Saturday morning, there may be breezy conditions with showers, with a few gusty squalls.
--Sampson/Cumberland Counties--
(Fayetteville, Rosewood, Clinton, Red Springs)
The counties will experience a breezy Saturday morning, with gusts up wind up to 30 mph and some scattered showers. There may be brief times of heavy rain.
News Corp Set To Air 9/11 Documentary Glorifying Bush; Producer Says He’s Not Interested In ‘Facts’
By Lee Fang on Aug 25, 2011
After spending over a decade promoting President Bush, the PATRIOT Act, and the Iraq War, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation appears to be up to the same tricks, this time with an hour-long promotional video about Bush’s leadership during the 9/11 attacks. Although News Corp. is perhaps best known for its Bush cheerleading through its Fox News subsidiary, the Bush documentary is airing on another News Corp. company with a better brand image, National Geographic.
The documentary has not aired yet, but is scheduled to come out a few days before the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Early reviews of the program, however, paint Bush as a hero who discarded politics and his right-wing agenda once the planes hit the towers. The film also depicts Bush as a leader bent on capturing Osama bin Laden, no matter what:
“It’s not one of those moments where you weigh the consequences or think about the politics,” [Bush] adds. ”You decide. And I made the decisions as best I could in the fog of war. I was determined. Determined to protect the country. And I was determined to find out who did it and go get them.”
In reality, within hours of the 9/11 plane hijackings, Bush’s Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began drawing up plans to launch a war in Iraq “even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.” Indeed, Bush aides quickly went to work undercutting the proposed commission to study the events leading up the 9/11, and despite the growing evidence linking the terrorist act with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda group, Bush never made bin Laden a priority. By January 2002, Dick Cheney told the press that bin Laden “isn’t that big a threat.” The next month, Bush said bin Laden was “not the issue.”
Will producer Peter Schnall critically, and accurately, explain to the public Bush’s actions during and after the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks? In a recent interview about the program, Schnall said he tried not to push “it too far” with the former president, and that he was “less interested in facts than how” Bush “was feeling”:
“He would only take it to so far,” Schnall tells Zap2it. “If I had pushed it too far, he might have shut down a bit more, and my goal was to get him to talk about those four or five days. I was less interested in facts than how he was feeling.”
News Corp. has a long and complicated relationship with the Bush administration. In addition to promoting the Bush political agenda for two terms on Fox News, former Bush aides have flocked to the corporation as employees (Bush’s top strategist and spokeswoman, Karl Rove and Dana Perino, are among the many Bush admin alumni seen every day on Fox News). Bush’s assistant attorney general Viet Dinh, the “chief architect” of the PATRIOT Act, is an influential board member of News Corp. now overseeing the investigation of the hacking scandal now embroiling the company.
But if there’s any doubt that News Corp. isn’t serious about its latest attempt at Bush hagiography, take a look at the publicity effort around the documentary. On Tuesday, Matt Dornic promoted a special viewing of the documentary on the FishbowlDC website. Dornic is a staffer for Quinn Gillespie, News Corp.’s lobbying firm and public relations agency in Washington, DC
By Lee Fang on Aug 25, 2011
After spending over a decade promoting President Bush, the PATRIOT Act, and the Iraq War, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation appears to be up to the same tricks, this time with an hour-long promotional video about Bush’s leadership during the 9/11 attacks. Although News Corp. is perhaps best known for its Bush cheerleading through its Fox News subsidiary, the Bush documentary is airing on another News Corp. company with a better brand image, National Geographic.
The documentary has not aired yet, but is scheduled to come out a few days before the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Early reviews of the program, however, paint Bush as a hero who discarded politics and his right-wing agenda once the planes hit the towers. The film also depicts Bush as a leader bent on capturing Osama bin Laden, no matter what:
“It’s not one of those moments where you weigh the consequences or think about the politics,” [Bush] adds. ”You decide. And I made the decisions as best I could in the fog of war. I was determined. Determined to protect the country. And I was determined to find out who did it and go get them.”
In reality, within hours of the 9/11 plane hijackings, Bush’s Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began drawing up plans to launch a war in Iraq “even though there was no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the attacks.” Indeed, Bush aides quickly went to work undercutting the proposed commission to study the events leading up the 9/11, and despite the growing evidence linking the terrorist act with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda group, Bush never made bin Laden a priority. By January 2002, Dick Cheney told the press that bin Laden “isn’t that big a threat.” The next month, Bush said bin Laden was “not the issue.”
Will producer Peter Schnall critically, and accurately, explain to the public Bush’s actions during and after the horrific 9/11 terrorist attacks? In a recent interview about the program, Schnall said he tried not to push “it too far” with the former president, and that he was “less interested in facts than how” Bush “was feeling”:
“He would only take it to so far,” Schnall tells Zap2it. “If I had pushed it too far, he might have shut down a bit more, and my goal was to get him to talk about those four or five days. I was less interested in facts than how he was feeling.”
News Corp. has a long and complicated relationship with the Bush administration. In addition to promoting the Bush political agenda for two terms on Fox News, former Bush aides have flocked to the corporation as employees (Bush’s top strategist and spokeswoman, Karl Rove and Dana Perino, are among the many Bush admin alumni seen every day on Fox News). Bush’s assistant attorney general Viet Dinh, the “chief architect” of the PATRIOT Act, is an influential board member of News Corp. now overseeing the investigation of the hacking scandal now embroiling the company.
But if there’s any doubt that News Corp. isn’t serious about its latest attempt at Bush hagiography, take a look at the publicity effort around the documentary. On Tuesday, Matt Dornic promoted a special viewing of the documentary on the FishbowlDC website. Dornic is a staffer for Quinn Gillespie, News Corp.’s lobbying firm and public relations agency in Washington, DC
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Mayonnaise Jar & Two Beers...
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else..
He asked once more if the jar was full...
The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed..
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..
The sand is everything else---the small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.
Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID!
LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS..........
IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.
He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else..
He asked once more if the jar was full...
The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed..
'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..
The sand is everything else---the small stuff.
'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.
If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Spend time with your children.
Spend time with your parents.
Visit with grandparents.
Take your spouse out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.
Set your priorities.
The rest is just sand.
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.
The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.
Please share this with someone you care about. I JUST DID!
LIFE ISN'T ABOUT WAITING FOR THE STORM TO PASS..........
IT'S LEARNING HOW TO DANCE IN THE RAIN
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Big Government? Obama Has 273,000 Fewer Federal Employees Than Reagan
August 24, 2011
By Ray Medeiros
Every single Republican today talks about being a Reagan conservative. This is a conservative that believes in small government, reducing federal spending and ultimately runs a lean and mean government. They talk about this stuff in campaigns, but in practice they failed miserably.
In fact HISTORICALLY, it is has been Democratic presidents who have reduced the size of the federal government. The Republicans have lied to the people so much that I believe the current crop somehow BELIEVES the history as they have been told, rather than researching the facts for themselves. This may be a stretch, but I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which tracks the number of employees per year, the data shows that the “conservatives” for small government are really just big government conservatives. I know that is an oxymoron, but numbers don’t lie.
Let’s start with President Carter.
On December 31st 1976 (Not Carter’s term yet), total nonmilitary personnel was 2,883,000. By December 31st 1980 the end of his term (minus a month), the total in nonmilitary personnel was 2,875,000.
Federal government nonmilitary employees shrunk by 8,000 employees under Carter.
On January 21st, 1981, President Reagan started with 2,875,000 nonmilitary federal employees.
By the end of Reagan’s terms the total number of nonmilitary federal employees was 3,113,000. That is an INCREASE of 238,000
Let’s move on to President George H.W. Bush.
On January 20th, 1989, total federal nonmilitary employment was 3,113,000
by the end of his only term, President George H.W. Bush had 3,083,000 federal nonmilitary employees on the books. That is a REDUCTION of 30,000 employees.
President Bill Clinton came into office with 3,083,000 and by the END of his TWO TERMS he reduced the number of Federal employees to 2,703,000. That is a reduction of 380,000 federal employees.
Now finally, President George W. Bush came into office with 2,703,000 nonmilitary employees and by the time his terms were through, the total nonmilitary federal employees on the books were 2,756,000, which is an INCREASE of 53,000 employees.
The small government, lean and mean political party, seems to be the Democratic Party. President Clinton reduced the size of the federal government’s nonmilitary employees by OVER 10%.
The “so called” small government President Reagan INCREASED the nonmilitary size of government by almost 10%.
In fact, Democratic president Bill Clinton reduced the size of the federal government employee size to PRE- REAGAN levels.
Clinton left office with 2,703,000 and Reagan started his term in 1981 with 2,875,000
The Reagan conservatives, in fact the entire GOP TODAY are trying to frame President Obama as a big government liberal but again, the numbers don’t lie.
By the end of 2010, the United States STILL has less employees on the books than we did back in 1980 even though the population has grown from 226,545,805 to approximately 330,000,000 in 2010.
TOTAL NONMILITARY EMPLOYEES IN 1980 — 2,875,000
TOTAL NONMILITARY EMPLOYEES IN 2010 — 2,840,000
We have 35,000 less nonmilitary employees under President Obama than we had 30 years ago.
So it comes to mind that those who claim to be Reagan small government conservatives and blame Democrats for growing government are either lying to the American people or are themselves willfully ignorant
August 24, 2011
By Ray Medeiros
Every single Republican today talks about being a Reagan conservative. This is a conservative that believes in small government, reducing federal spending and ultimately runs a lean and mean government. They talk about this stuff in campaigns, but in practice they failed miserably.
In fact HISTORICALLY, it is has been Democratic presidents who have reduced the size of the federal government. The Republicans have lied to the people so much that I believe the current crop somehow BELIEVES the history as they have been told, rather than researching the facts for themselves. This may be a stretch, but I am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which tracks the number of employees per year, the data shows that the “conservatives” for small government are really just big government conservatives. I know that is an oxymoron, but numbers don’t lie.
Let’s start with President Carter.
On December 31st 1976 (Not Carter’s term yet), total nonmilitary personnel was 2,883,000. By December 31st 1980 the end of his term (minus a month), the total in nonmilitary personnel was 2,875,000.
Federal government nonmilitary employees shrunk by 8,000 employees under Carter.
On January 21st, 1981, President Reagan started with 2,875,000 nonmilitary federal employees.
By the end of Reagan’s terms the total number of nonmilitary federal employees was 3,113,000. That is an INCREASE of 238,000
Let’s move on to President George H.W. Bush.
On January 20th, 1989, total federal nonmilitary employment was 3,113,000
by the end of his only term, President George H.W. Bush had 3,083,000 federal nonmilitary employees on the books. That is a REDUCTION of 30,000 employees.
President Bill Clinton came into office with 3,083,000 and by the END of his TWO TERMS he reduced the number of Federal employees to 2,703,000. That is a reduction of 380,000 federal employees.
Now finally, President George W. Bush came into office with 2,703,000 nonmilitary employees and by the time his terms were through, the total nonmilitary federal employees on the books were 2,756,000, which is an INCREASE of 53,000 employees.
The small government, lean and mean political party, seems to be the Democratic Party. President Clinton reduced the size of the federal government’s nonmilitary employees by OVER 10%.
The “so called” small government President Reagan INCREASED the nonmilitary size of government by almost 10%.
In fact, Democratic president Bill Clinton reduced the size of the federal government employee size to PRE- REAGAN levels.
Clinton left office with 2,703,000 and Reagan started his term in 1981 with 2,875,000
The Reagan conservatives, in fact the entire GOP TODAY are trying to frame President Obama as a big government liberal but again, the numbers don’t lie.
By the end of 2010, the United States STILL has less employees on the books than we did back in 1980 even though the population has grown from 226,545,805 to approximately 330,000,000 in 2010.
TOTAL NONMILITARY EMPLOYEES IN 1980 — 2,875,000
TOTAL NONMILITARY EMPLOYEES IN 2010 — 2,840,000
We have 35,000 less nonmilitary employees under President Obama than we had 30 years ago.
So it comes to mind that those who claim to be Reagan small government conservatives and blame Democrats for growing government are either lying to the American people or are themselves willfully ignorant
me- THIS is how the american wealthy live. now- it's America and you can spend what you have on whatever you care to-that isn't the issue- the issue is-
these are the people that would "suffer" under the repeal of the bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
these are the folks that supposedly need those tax breaks to continue so that they can create jobs-well-where are the jobs?
the prez doesn't want tax increases- he wants the bush tax cuts for these guys to expire(as even bush supposedly intended them to do after 1o years-that are up by the way)
now cantor and his buddies call that a tax INCREASE- i call it over 10 years of getting money they DIDN'T use to create jobs!
STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters..... S. T. R.
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ...she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this.
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(e.g., It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
I have done my part. Will you?
STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ...she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.
They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.
Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this.
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(e.g., It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
I have done my part. Will you?
America's True History of Religious Tolerance
The idea that the United States has always been a bastion of religious freedom is reassuring—and utterly at odds with the historical record
By Kenneth C. Davis
Smithsonian magazine, October 2010
America's True History of Religious Tolerance
Related Books
Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
by Susan Jacoby
Henry Holt and Co., 2004
America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
by Kenneth C. Davis
HarperCollins, 2009
A Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten Fighters from America's Hidden History
by Kenneth C. Davis
Smithsonian Institution Press, 2010
More from Smithsonian.com •Harper Lee's Novel Achievement
Wading into the controversy surrounding an Islamic center planned for a site near New York City’s Ground Zero memorial this past August, President Obama declared: “This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are.” In doing so, he paid homage to a vision that politicians and preachers have extolled for more than two centuries—that America historically has been a place of religious tolerance. It was a sentiment George Washington voiced shortly after taking the oath of office just a few blocks from Ground Zero.
But is it so?
In the storybook version most of us learned in school, the Pilgrims came to America aboard the Mayflower in search of religious freedom in 1620. The Puritans soon followed, for the same reason. Ever since these religious dissidents arrived at their shining “city upon a hill,” as their governor John Winthrop called it, millions from around the world have done the same, coming to an America where they found a welcome melting pot in which everyone was free to practice his or her own faith.
The problem is that this tidy narrative is an American myth. The real story of religion in America’s past is an often awkward, frequently embarrassing and occasionally bloody tale that most civics books and high-school texts either paper over or shunt to the side. And much of the recent conversation about America’s ideal of religious freedom has paid lip service to this comforting tableau.
From the earliest arrival of Europeans on America’s shores, religion has often been a cudgel, used to discriminate, suppress and even kill the foreign, the “heretic” and the “unbeliever”—including the “heathen” natives already here. Moreover, while it is true that the vast majority of early-generation Americans were Christian, the pitched battles between various Protestant sects and, more explosively, between Protestants and Catholics, present an unavoidable contradiction to the widely held notion that America is a “Christian nation.”
First, a little overlooked history: the initial encounter between Europeans in the future United States came with the establishment of a Huguenot (French Protestant) colony in 1564 at Fort Caroline (near modern Jacksonville, Florida). More than half a century before the Mayflower set sail, French pilgrims had come to America in search of religious freedom.
The Spanish had other ideas. In 1565, they established a forward operating base at St. Augustine and proceeded to wipe out the Fort Caroline colony. The Spanish commander, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, wrote to the Spanish King Philip II that he had “hanged all those we had found in [Fort Caroline] because...they were scattering the odious Lutheran doctrine in these Provinces.” When hundreds of survivors of a shipwrecked French fleet washed up on the beaches of Florida, they were put to the sword, beside a river the Spanish called Matanzas (“slaughters”). In other words, the first encounter between European Christians in America ended in a blood bath.
The much-ballyhooed arrival of the Pilgrims and Puritans in New England in the early 1600s was indeed a response to persecution that these religious dissenters had experienced in England. But the Puritan fathers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony did not countenance tolerance of opposing religious views. Their “city upon a hill” was a theocracy that brooked no dissent, religious or political.
The most famous dissidents within the Puritan community, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, were banished following disagreements over theology and policy. From Puritan Boston’s earliest days, Catholics (“Papists”) were anathema and were banned from the colonies, along with other non-Puritans. Four Quakers were hanged in Boston between 1659 and 1661 for persistently returning to the city to stand up for their beliefs.
Throughout the colonial era, Anglo-American antipathy toward Catholics—especially French and Spanish Catholics—was pronounced and often reflected in the sermons of such famous clerics as Cotton Mather and in statutes that discriminated against Catholics in matters of property and voting. Anti-Catholic feelings even contributed to the revolutionary mood in America after King George III extended an olive branch to French Catholics in Canada with the Quebec Act of 1774, which recognized their religion.
When George Washington dispatched Benedict Arnold on a mission to court French Canadians’ support for the American Revolution in 1775, he cautioned Arnold not to let their religion get in the way. “Prudence, policy and a true Christian Spirit,” Washington advised, “will lead us to look with compassion upon their errors, without insulting them.” (After Arnold betrayed the American cause, he publicly cited America’s alliance with Catholic France as one of his reasons for doing so.)
In newly independent America, there was a crazy quilt of state laws regarding religion. In Massachusetts, only Christians were allowed to hold public office, and Catholics were allowed to do so only after renouncing papal authority. In 1777, New York State’s constitution banned Catholics from public office (and would do so until 1806). In Maryland, Catholics had full civil rights, but Jews did not. Delaware required an oath affirming belief in the Trinity. Several states, including Massachusetts and South Carolina, had official, state-supported churches.
In 1779, as Virginia’s governor, Thomas Jefferson had drafted a bill that guaranteed legal equality for citizens of all religions—including those of no religion—in the state. It was around then that Jefferson famously wrote, “But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” But Jefferson’s plan did not advance—until after Patrick (“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”) Henry introduced a bill in 1784 calling for state support for “teachers of the Christian religion.”
Future President James Madison stepped into the breach. In a carefully argued essay titled “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” the soon-to-be father of the Constitution eloquently laid out reasons why the state had no business supporting Christian instruction. Signed by some 2,000 Virginians, Madison’s argument became a fundamental piece of American political philosophy, a ringing endorsement of the secular state that “should be as familiar to students of American history as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution,” as Susan Jacoby has written in Freethinkers, her excellent history of American secularism.
Among Madison’s 15 points was his declaration that “the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every...man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an inalienable right.”
Madison also made a point that any believer of any religion should understand: that the government sanction of a religion was, in essence, a threat to religion. “Who does not see,” he wrote, “that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?” Madison was writing from his memory of Baptist ministers being arrested in his native Virginia.
As a Christian, Madison also noted that Christianity had spread in the face of persecution from worldly powers, not with their help. Christianity, he contended, “disavows a dependence on the powers of this world...for it is known that this Religion both existed and flourished, not only without the support of human laws, but in spite of every opposition from them.”
Recognizing the idea of America as a refuge for the protester or rebel, Madison also argued that Henry’s proposal was “a departure from that generous policy, which offering an Asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every Nation and Religion, promised a lustre to our country.”
After long debate, Patrick Henry’s bill was defeated, with the opposition outnumbering supporters 12 to 1. Instead, the Virginia legislature took up Jefferson’s plan for the separation of church and state. In 1786, the Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom, modified somewhat from Jefferson’s original draft, became law. The act is one of three accomplishments Jefferson included on his tombstone, along with writing the Declaration and founding the University of Virginia. (He omitted his presidency of the United States.) After the bill was passed, Jefferson proudly wrote that the law “meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew, the Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.”
Madison wanted Jefferson’s view to become the law of the land when he went to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. And as framed in Philadelphia that year, the U.S. Constitution clearly stated in Article VI that federal elective and appointed officials “shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution, but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
This passage—along with the facts that the Constitution does not mention God or a deity (except for a pro forma “year of our Lord” date) and that its very first amendment forbids Congress from making laws that would infringe of the free exercise of religion—attests to the founders’ resolve that America be a secular republic. The men who fought the Revolution may have thanked Providence and attended church regularly—or not. But they also fought a war against a country in which the head of state was the head of the church. Knowing well the history of religious warfare that led to America’s settlement, they clearly understood both the dangers of that system and of sectarian conflict.
It was the recognition of that divisive past by the founders—notably Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison—that secured America as a secular republic. As president, Washington wrote in 1790: “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunity of citizenship. ...For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens.”
He was addressing the members of America’s oldest synagogue, the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island (where his letter is read aloud every August). In closing, he wrote specifically to the Jews a phrase that applies to Muslims as well: “May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants, while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and figtree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
As for Adams and Jefferson, they would disagree vehemently over policy, but on the question of religious freedom they were united. “In their seventies,” Jacoby writes, “with a friendship that had survived serious political conflicts, Adams and Jefferson could look back with satisfaction on what they both considered their greatest achievement—their role in establishing a secular government whose legislators would never be required, or permitted, to rule on the legality of theological views.”
Late in his life, James Madison wrote a letter summarizing his views: “And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
While some of America’s early leaders were models of virtuous tolerance, American attitudes were slow to change. The anti-Catholicism of America’s Calvinist past found new voice in the 19th century. The belief widely held and preached by some of the most prominent ministers in America was that Catholics would, if permitted, turn America over to the pope. Anti-Catholic venom was part of the typical American school day, along with Bible readings. In Massachusetts, a convent—coincidentally near the site of the Bunker Hill Monument—was burned to the ground in 1834 by an anti-Catholic mob incited by reports that young women were being abused in the convent school. In Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, anti-Catholic sentiment, combined with the country’s anti-immigrant mood, fueled the Bible Riots of 1844, in which houses were torched, two Catholic churches were destroyed and at least 20 people were killed.
At about the same time, Joseph Smith founded a new American religion—and soon met with the wrath of the mainstream Protestant majority. In 1832, a mob tarred and feathered him, marking the beginning of a long battle between Christian America and Smith’s Mormonism. In October 1838, after a series of conflicts over land and religious tension, Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs ordered that all Mormons be expelled from his state. Three days later, rogue militiamen massacred 17 church members, including children, at the Mormon settlement of Haun’s Mill. In 1844, a mob murdered Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum while they were jailed in Carthage, Illinois. No one was ever convicted of the crime.
Even as late as 1960, Catholic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy felt compelled to make a major speech declaring that his loyalty was to America, not the pope. (And as recently as the 2008 Republican primary campaign, Mormon candidate Mitt Romney felt compelled to address the suspicions still directed toward the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) Of course, America’s anti-Semitism was practiced institutionally as well as socially for decades. With the great threat of “godless” Communism looming in the 1950s, the country’s fear of atheism also reached new heights.
America can still be, as Madison perceived the nation in 1785, “an Asylum to the persecuted and oppressed of every Nation and Religion.” But recognizing that deep religious discord has been part of America’s social DNA is a healthy and necessary step. When we acknowledge that dark past, perhaps the nation will return to that “promised...lustre” of which Madison so grandiloquently wrote.
Kenneth C. Davis is the author of Don’t Know Much About History and A Nation Rising, among other books.
Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Americas-True-History-of-Religious-Tolerance.html#ixzz1VxxbBUCt
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
7 Religious Rules to Consider Breaking.
by Jim Palmer
.
Rule #1: Don’t cultivate friendships with people of different religions or spirituality.
Rule #2: Mistrust what you most deeply feel.
Rule #3: Limit your experience of God to the people, places and programs associated with institutional church.
Rule #4: Never question the underlying premises you’ve been taught about God.
Rule #5: Believe you need to be rescued from yourself and cured from your own badness.
Rule #6: Resign yourself to the idea that the big payoff happens after you die.
Rule #7: Make it about having correct theology rather than being love in the world.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Cathy Moore Casper:
New GOP Pledge--
"I pledge allegiance to Grover Norquist,
and to the corporations for which he lobbies,
one nation--except when we have to use race, resentment, anti-Semitism and religious intolerance, to get elected,
under God--as long as we do not quote Jesus on taxes & the poor
indivisible--unless South Carolina & Texas want to try secession again,
with liberty & justice for all--straight white people, who are not illegal immigrants, or their descendants.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
~Marcus Aurelius~
Saturday, August 20, 2011
"This is what [the Republican] party now is:
a religious movement clothed in anti-government radicalism. It has nothing to do with the conservative temperament, conservative political thought or conservative ideas. It is hostile to most existing institutions, especially government, contemptuous of the courts, and seized of an ideology as rigid as any far-left liberalism, as utopian as any wide-eyed socialist, as fanatical as anything the left spawned in the 1960s. And it has hijacked an entire political party; and recently held to ransom an entire country."
- Andrew Sullivan, Conservative
a religious movement clothed in anti-government radicalism. It has nothing to do with the conservative temperament, conservative political thought or conservative ideas. It is hostile to most existing institutions, especially government, contemptuous of the courts, and seized of an ideology as rigid as any far-left liberalism, as utopian as any wide-eyed socialist, as fanatical as anything the left spawned in the 1960s. And it has hijacked an entire political party; and recently held to ransom an entire country."
- Andrew Sullivan, Conservative
addictinginfo.org
Republican Senator Admits That He Wants To Bring America Down
Utah's Republican Senator Mike Lee.
In a Monday evening interview on Hardball With Chris Matthews on MSNBC, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah admitted that he wants to bring America to its knees if an amendment is not passed in Congress that would force Americans to live under conservative governance despite which party the people elects. Here is the transcript.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: How many days do you think we have, on the outside, to get this debt ceiling through before we have a problem? How many days?
LEE: I don’t know, maybe ten days.
MATTHEWS: Okay, in ten days you want to change the United States Constitution by two-thirds vote in both houses? That’s what you’re demanding.
LEE: Yes. If possible we can’t change the Constitution just in Congress but we can submit it to the states. Let the states fight it out.
MATTHEWS: And you think you’re being reasonable by saying you want a two-thirds vote in the House, which is Republican, and in the Senate which is Democrat. You want the Democratic Senate, by a two-thirds vote, to pass a constitutional amendment or you want the house to come down?
LEE: Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying and I’ve been saying this for six months.
click to delete
Lee’s amendment would require all tax increases by passed by a super majority of Congress, two-thirds of each house, which makes it virtually impossible to raise taxes. This is especially of interest to the wealthy and corporations. That particular provision is similar to the anti-tax amendment passed in California which killed that state’s finances. Lee’s amendment would also require spending levels to drop to the 1966 level, which would be catastrophic to all Americans. The 1966 level was $134.4 billion, compared to $3.5 trillion in 2010. To get back to 1966 levels, Social Security and Medicare would be cut by 25% and many other programs and departments would be wiped out or watered down to the brink of uselessness, even national security. The nightmare gets worse actually. Because Lee would be writing these cuts and requirements into the Constitution, the American people would lose the power to overrule them by electing different people. In other words, even if America voted to give 100% of government control to Democrats, we would be forced to always live under conservative rule.
This invisible power that Republicans wish to write into law is a complete perversion of our Constitution and values. Add to that the fact that Republicans also want to create a supercongress, which basically is a third house in which a handful of politicians can pass legislation by an up or down vote, and what you get is a conservative tyranny legitimized by the Constitution. And Lee’s leverage is the American economy. Lee, and I assume other Republicans, are willing to bring down the American economy through catastrophic default and millions of American jobs with it, so that they can re-write the Constitution to force us to live under conservative rule. If Americans think Republicans love the Constitution and the people, they are sorely mistaken.
THIS IS WHAT RICK PERRY HAS DONE FOR TEXAS!
1) Ranked 49th in teacher pay 2) 1st in the percentage of people over 25 without a high school diploma 3) 41st in high school graduation rate 4) 46th in SAT scores 5) 1st in percentage of uninsured children and overall population uninsured 6) 3rd in percentage of people living below poverty level 7) 47th in Per Capita Income If thats what he did in Texas Imagine all he can do for the rest of us!!!!!
1) Ranked 49th in teacher pay 2) 1st in the percentage of people over 25 without a high school diploma 3) 41st in high school graduation rate 4) 46th in SAT scores 5) 1st in percentage of uninsured children and overall population uninsured 6) 3rd in percentage of people living below poverty level 7) 47th in Per Capita Income If thats what he did in Texas Imagine all he can do for the rest of us!!!!!
my grandpug angus is here for the day. angus is very sociable with other dogs-max, isn't. so i have the gate up separating the two-i'm hoping to change max's outlook. when i got max there were no other dogs around here.
angus has had other dogs to play with since he was a puppy.
max is whining and barking for me and angus is whining and fussing because he wants to play with max!
angus has had other dogs to play with since he was a puppy.
max is whining and barking for me and angus is whining and fussing because he wants to play with max!
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