Reflections of Me

It is not often I sit down and take stock of my life. I know my life's passion, besides God and my family, is writing. It is what drives me and what fills my soul. The interesting thing? As much as it matters to me is how little it matters to those around me.

Interestingly, 85% of juvenile delinquents are functionally illiterate and yet getting adults to read, showing a good example to their children, is almost impossible. More than 60% of all prison inmates are functionally illiterate. Yet trying to get anyone to listen is like talking to someone blind, deaf and mute.

There are those who would rather play Warcraft, City of Heroes or a multitude of other multiplayer online games and video games then spend time reading to their children. Others would rather play football, basketball, racquetball . . . anything that keeps them from actually having to sit down and read or interact with their families. I've heard yet others say they they don't enjoy it and would rather walk over hot coals than read a book. (I've had that same reaction to some books too. But there are thousands upon thousands of authors and books. I promise you, if you will look, you'll find authors you enjoy and books you cannot put down.) Reading is at the core of all we are and all we hope to become.

Some of the fondest memories of my childhood were laying on my stomach on the living room floor in front of the fireplace, my chin propped on my hands, listening to my mother read to us every night. The firelight low, the lamp near my mother's head beaming a circle around her, the moon shining softly through the living room window. These memories are deep and dear. The James Herriot series (All Things Bright & Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, All Creatures Great and Small, And the Lord God Made Them All, just to name a few) was our favorite. The mishaps of this countryside British veterinarian kept us entertained for weeks, months and years on end. I remember tears rolling down our faces as peals of laughter ran through our home. Oh, the situations that man got himself into! And yet, I have spoken to so few people who can relate a similar, even remotely similar, experience.

I grew up in a home surrounded by books. Oh we played football, volleyball, basketball, we danced, we played, we gardened, we prepared and canned our harvests, we went to church and school, we cheered and we played . . . and we read.

My own sweet husband, who is brilliant and very literate, doesn't like to read either. That's a hard pill for a published author, such as I, to swallow. To have something I value so greatly be dismissed out of hand is a blow to the soul. Yes, I'm possibly overreacting, but it does hurt. Interestingly, it is not just my husband. Entire segments of the American population react in the same way. I've had the following conversation thousands of times:

"Wow, you wrote a book?"

"Five, actually."

"That is so amazing. I could never do that."

"Do you like to read?" I reply.

"Oh no," they say. "I don't have time for that."

Death knell to an author and to a nation.

An illiterate nation is a third world nation, plain and simple. Yes, the current political climate is insane, the economy even more so. Our southern border is so porous entire classes of criminals waltz back and forth over the border without hesitation, taking over American border towns without a single shot fired. The governors of the border states pay no attention. The law enforcement agencies pay no attention. Our president ignores the situation. These illegal immigrants can't speak English let alone read it. But portions of our American government want to give them the right to vote so they can choose that man, or woman, who will give them the most stuff. God forbid they should actually work to improve themselves, their situations and circumstances. How could they start? By learning English, but no, they want everyone to learn Spanish so they don't have to stretch themselves or their minds.

People are angry about the government's investment/bailout plan . . .and why? Let me quote these people:

"What does it do for Scranton?"

"What does it do for Denver?"

"What does it do for New York?"

"What does it do for me?"

Those words are the core problem of this entire nation. Me, me, me. To hell with the nation, what will it do for me? They don't know the ramifications of this bailout plan, nor have they truly ever lived through a time of famine . . . but my grandmother did and the relating of those memories are vivid in my mind.

My husband and I have just come out of seven years of famine and are just easing into the low end of prosperity...right when the rest of the nation is tanking. We have been so poor that we couldn't pay for my husband's medications, let alone our rent. But I don't recall, ever saying, "Why isn't the government stepping in and saving me? Why isn't someone bailing us out.?" With the help of family and friends we made it through. Now the tables have turned and we get to help and we count it a great privilege.

But I don't hear that on the news, read it in the newspapers or hear that on the street. I only hear, "This bailout doesn't help me so I don't want it." There are real reasons to not like this bailout, it doesn't help me just isn't one of them.

That's just disheartening. And I guarantee these people don't read and they should. Fiction, nonfiction, I don't care. Certainly, readers of fiction think outside the box, tend to reach further and accept fewer limitations, but read . . . I don't care what. (Okay, scratch that. I'd be forever grateful if you would forego Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. That's just drivel. Anyway, I digress.) If every American today had read the works of the founding fathers, studied the Constitution and thrown their all into living up to the responsibilities and privileges of being an America we wouldn't be in trouble right now. This I can state with a certainty. But no, most Americans haven't read the Constitution. Most Americans have never looked past the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence where we told the King of England . . . See ya! And then we backed that up with the blood and lives of Americans. Most Americans have never read the collected works of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin . . . . pick one, how many can say they've read them?

According to the literacy report released by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

• About one in 20 adults in the U.S. is not literate in English
• 11 million Americans lack the skills to handle many everyday tasks
• 30 million adults may not be able to make sense of a simple pamphlet
• Adults with ability to perform challenging and complex reading tasks made an average yearly salary of $50,700 in 2003. That is $28,000 more than those who lacked basic skills.

But people just don't have time to read books. You need to make time. You can't afford to buy books? There's this little place called a public library. Yeah, it's pretty cool. You can go get a library card and check out as many books as you want, free of charge, as long as you bring them back on time. You can educate your minds and fill your souls . . . but why do that when you can be playing Warcraft? Silly me.

My heart hurts, literally hurts. To have my work, and the work of my peers, valued so little. To know the salvation of our nation lies in the education of a people. An education free of hidden agendas and completely steeped in American principles and values. To know that all we have to do is open a book and enlighten our minds . . . to know that will not happen. This is the saddest thing of all.

Obama Wants NRA Ads Banned

So much for the 1st and 2nd Amendments. Obama doesn't like his record being questioned, pretty much because he has no legs to stand on when it is thoroughly examined. So here's his camp's response to the NRA ads which have been playing in key states:

Obama Wants NRA Ads Banned
Saturday, September 27, 2008 8:10 PM
By Newsmax Staff

The Obama camp has been threatening television and radio stations to keep them from airing anti-Obama ads.

The latest target is the NRA and stations in Pennsylvania.

Earlier this week, the National Rifle Association's Political Victory Fund released a series of radio and television spots to educate gun owners and sportsmen about Barack Obama's longstanding anti-gun record. In response to the NRA-PVF ads, a clearly panicked Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are doing everything they can to hide Obama's real record by mounting a coordinated assault on the First Amendment.

They have gone to desperate and outrageous lengths to try to silence your NRA by bullying media outlets with threats of lawsuits if they run NRA-PVF's ads.

The Obama camp is particularly angry with an NRA ad entitled "Hunter" which lays out Obama's record on gun control.

You can see the "Hunter" ad -- Go Here Now.

Other NRA ads include "Way of Life" and another focusing on Joe Biden's record, "Defend Freedom, Defeat Obama."

This week, Obama's campaign general counsel Bob Bauer wrote seeking to censor the ads at stations in Pennsylvania.

"Unlike federal candidates, independent political organizations do not have a 'right to command the use of broadcast facilities,'" Bauer writes. "Moreover, you have a duty 'to protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising.'"

"This advertising is false, misleading, and deceptive," Bauer continued. "We request that you immediately cease airing this advertising."

The NRA says Obama's camp are sending out these "intimidating cease and desist letters" to cable operators and television stations, threatening their FCC licenses if they run the ads.

The NRA charged that "Obama and the DNC have been using strong-arm tactics reminiscent of Chicago machine politics to try and cover up the truth and silence NRA by forcing the stations to assist them in hiding Obama's radical anti-gun record."

And now, Obama and the DNC have opened a new front in their assault on your First Amendment rights by calling on their followers to contact these station managers to demand that the stations not run NRA-PVF's ads.

NRA stands behind the accuracy of these ads, and NRA attorneys have responded to the Obama campaign's despicable and abusive attempt to trample on the First Amendment by sending a thorough rebuttal to station managers. This rebuttal clearly and conclusively refutes the Obama campaign's fallacious claims that the ads are inaccurate.

The NRA has set up a web site detailing its position on Obama at www.gunbanobama.com.

A copy of the NRA's letter to station, written by its counsel Cleta Mitchell, follows below:

MEMORANDUM

CLIENT-MATTER NUMBER

999100-0130

TO: Station Managers

FROM: Cleta Mitchell, Esq.

Counsel to National Rifle Association

DATE: September 25, 2008

RE: Documentation for Advertising by National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund ("NRA-PVF")

This firm serves as counsel to the National Rifle Association (“NRA”) and the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund ("NRA-PVF"), which is the federal political action committee of the NRA and the sponsor of certain advertising purchased and soon-to-be purchased on your station. It has come to my clients’ attention that the Obama for President campaign is engaging in an effort to prevent or stop the airing of certain ads by NRA-PVF, falsely alleging that the ads are ‘inaccurate’. The Obama presidential campaign apparently relies on an article appearing in the Washington Post on September 23, 2008 to support its contention hat the NRA-PVF ads should not be aired.

The Washington Post is hardly an objective news source on any subject related to the issues to which the NRA is dedicated, having spent decades attacking not only the NRA but also fighting against the legislation and policies NRA supports to protect the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as supporting every conceivable government proposal or policy any officeholder or candidate suggests to weaken and disrupt the guarantees of the Second Amendment. It is therefore no surprise that the Washington Post would now attack the NRA for advertisements which truthfully disclose the anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment record of Barack Obama, the candidate supported by the Washington Post.

Attached please find the point-by-point refutation of the Washington Post’s article about the NRA-PVF ads regarding Obama’s record on the Second Amendment, as well as an article disclosing the bias of the decidedly not neutral “FactChecker” on which the Washington Post article is ostensibly based.

The NRA devotes 100% of its time and resources to protecting the Second Amendment and fighting for government policies and legislation furtherance of the rights of the American people to keep and bear arms.

The legislative and policy record of candidates and officeholders such as Barack Obama are well known and documented by the NRA on an ongoing basis. NRA-PVF’s advertising during the 2008 election cycle is based on that extensive research and documentation, which is being furnished to you with this Memorandum.

Accordingly, we respectfully request that your station disregard the shamefully false assertions from the Obama campaign and its attorneys regarding the NRA-PVF ads and that the ads run in accordance with the purchase(s) made by NRA-PVF in the media buy.

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Review of Get Smart

I'm covering for my girlfriend, Linda, right now, the yourLDSneighborhood movie reviewer. She's been in the hospital, so Alvin and I headed back over to Festival Cinemas Utah, to watch a movie there for the last time. I'm very sad. I've watched many a movie and BYU football game there. But that's neither here, nor there. We hope Linda recovers quickly and is back to reviewing movies soon.

Alvin really wanted to see Get Smart and I just wasn't as excited about it. Sete had already seen it and said it was very funny, so off we went, the three of us, to watch Get Smart. I laughed so hard, and was still laughing when I left the theater. In fact, I'm laughing as I write this review. There was one particular scene that sent me over the edge, and is still making me laugh. I tried to tell my sister about it and ended up laughing so hard I could barely get the words out.

Here's the movie trailer:



It doesn't even do the movie justice. This is an exceedingly funny movie and a triumph for Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway. Of course, Hollywood always has to throw in a couple of things that simply aren't amusing, but those were kept to a bare minimum and were but seconds long. I do wish Hollywood would decided to simply skip the occasional inserts of crude humor. They weren't necessary at all. It was a well-written script that took me back to my childhood, sitting my living room, watching Get Smart. This was so much funnier than that, but it was a nice trip down memory lane.

From the imdb.com movie database, we grab this full summary (warning, spoiler alert):

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) works as an analyst at Control, a U.S. spy agency that was supposed to have closed after KAOS was defeated. However, KAOS is far from being dead. KAOS penetrates Control and steals the names of all their field agents, and they then begin to kill Control agents around the world. The Chief (Alan Arkin) promotes Maxwell Smart, designates him Agent 86, and partners him with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Smart has always wanted to be a field agent, but he wanted to be partnered with the best, Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson). Smart is given a little training and some spy-tech gadgets to help him do his job. Smart and Agent 99 have uncovered information of where Siegfried (Terence Stamp), the sinister head of KAOS is located, and they go after him to stop him from taking over the world. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Also, does not do justice to the movie.

Maxwell Smart is an analyst for Control, the super secret agency created to battle KAOS. That part is true. Max has always wanted to a field agent, but his weight and physical limitations always stood in the way. So year after year he failed the field agent test, until this time. Sadly, his skills as an analyst are far too valuable for him to receive the promotion he'd been longing for. And that's when it all begins . . . KAOS attacks Control and there are only two agents which haven't been compromised. Max, Agent 86 and Agent 99. Funny, funny, funny.

The nice part about this, Max does get to kick a little butt, not just his own. Because he is his own worse enemy. Good action sequences, very funny scenes and lines and a touch of romance.

It is rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence and language.

I recommend parents watch this movie first before viewing it with their children. But I do give this movie two thumbs up!

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Health: Hair, Skin & Nails, Part 8

From the end of our previous installment: You can supplement your diet with royal jelly, spirulina, kelp, B Vitmains which help to strengthen your nails.

Calcium and phosphorous, found in high amounts in fresh carrot juice, are excellent for strengthening nails.

A number of herbs can be taken in order to strengthen your nails. They are:

Evening Primrose and Gotu Kola.

And moving on:

HAIR

---

The things we do to our hair these days should be outlawed. I’m one of the guiltiest parties. Dye for the gray, perm for the straight hair, gels, mousses, flatteners, hair sprays, it goes on and on. Add to that the stresses of summer, fall and winter activities where your hair is constantly exposed to the sun, wind and chlorine of pools and your hair is screaming for help.

Lackluster hair, flat hair, thin hair, curlier hair, straight hair, brittle hair, split ends . . . the problems go on and on. Most of these can be addressed with nutrition and exercise. Really, 99.9% of them can be addressed with that. Many things that are good for the hair are also good for the skin and nails. This is why these topics have crossed over one another throughout this series.

Biotin, good for the hair, skin and nails, is critical to your diet. So are the Omega 3-6-9's. All the Vitamin B’s help in that area, as does drinking lots of clean water daily, eating good amounts of fruits and vegetables, keeping your proteins sources high quality . . . all of it.

One of the issues women face today, because of all we do to our hair and exceedingly poor diets, is hair loss. Hair Loss is divided into three major areas.

• Telogen Effluvium, also known as Diffuse Hair Loss can be suspected if there is an overall thinning of hair from the entire scalp. There are numerous possible causes, including nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, extreme or prolonged emotional stress, illness etc. This condition does not lead to complete baldness and can resolve itself once the underlying cause is corrected.

• Androgenetic Alopecia is characterized by thinning on the top and crown areas. The follicles in these areas begin to shrink, causing finer hair with a shorter life span. Eventually the cells within these affected areas stop producing hair. This type of hair loss will not cause total baldness. It may first show up during hormonal changes such as pregnancy, birth control pills, menopause or hormonal changes which occur during periods of extreme stress.

• Alopecia Areata usually begins as a round bald patch and may progress to total hair loss from the entire scalp and body. It is believed to be an autoimmune disorder which can be triggered by many factors such as illness, high fever, bacterial or viral infection, extreme stress, trauma, allergy, fungal infection etc. The follicles under the scalp lie dormant but remain alive for an indefinite period of time, making a good possibility for re-growth to occur.

Whatever may have caused your hair loss, as long as the follicle has not been destroyed there is always a possibility for re-growth, according to hair specialists. Remember, it is important to deal with the causative issue contributing to your hair loss as it may be a symptom of a greater problem.

Another critical part of attaining healthy hair would be your hair care. The following section outlines a number of tips which help to maintain the healthiest hair possible despite the constant damage inducing treatments.

TIPS FOR THE HAIR

Proper hair care is also critical to healthy hair. Any hair stylist, at least one who knows what he or she is talking about, will tell you that quality products along with regular trims are a necessary part of hair care. A few tips which I have found to be extremely useful in maintaining the mane of hair I am so vain about.

• A humectant hair product attracts moisture to the hair while an anti-humectant repels moisture. Use a humectant to combat static electricity and an anti-humectant to deal with humidity.

• Adapt hair style to your face. If you have a long thin face, a shorter, softer, rounder hair style will flatter you more. If you have a Campbell-Soup-Kid face, long, straight hair is just your style. Avoid the trends. Find a hairstylist that has your best interest in mind and not the need to impose the latest trend or antiquated age style, and stick with him or her.

• Get enough sleep. Hair will tend to act up when you are under stress, not eating well or getting enough rest. Remember that if you take good care of your body, your hair will show the results.

• Short hair draws more attention to your eyes. So if you’ve gone from long to short, adjust your makeup accordingly to play up the extra attention. “Eyes are the window to the soul”, as the old saying goes, play them up with shorter hair and makeup.

• The perfect cuts for fine hair are:

The Bob: a short bob will give your hair volume and a healthier look.

The Chop: a basic bob with uneven ends gives the cut dimension.

The Cap Cut: an all bangs approach is best for petite or oval faces and plays fine hair up to its highest qualifies.

The Crop: any short tapered cut draws the focus to your eyes and away from any flaws you are self-conscious about.

The Lightly Layered Mid-Length: can provide a variety of options with a slightly diagonal cut and layers.

• Color treated hair requires daily moisturizing to prevent the hair from becoming overly dry.

• When using a blow dryer to dry your hair, hold the blow dryer at least 6 inches away from your head, keep it moving at all times, using a cool setting.

Check in next Thursday for the next installment in healthy hair, skin and nails, thereby enjoying all over health.

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LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.

More, more and more . . .

So the Republicans think John McCain won the debate. The Dems think Barack Obama won. There's a shocker. Obama's people are bashing John McCain, so much for not doing "politics as usual", I guess he threw that thought out the window when he started getting attacked on his record, his policies and his choices. Man, he really hates that.

Other people think John McCain looked tired. Well, duh. He's been in Washington, D.C. working his butt off trying to find a workable resolution to the current economic crisis. He flew into Mississippi for the dog and pony show that Obama was convinced had to move forward. Then he flew straight back to Washington, D.C. to get back to work. And he looked tired and Barack Obama looked fresh. Really people, you're not that stupid are you?

Somehow, people seem to think Barack Obama's economic plan is a good idea. Did you all forget that his "little" plan has a trillion dollar price tag? Have you forgotten what he wants to do? I've certainly listed his "plans" multiple times on his blog and really had no desire to do it again.

Oh, then let's talk about Sarah Palin. The liberal media has attacked with a visciousness that is astounding . . . and disheartening. I've heard commentators ask, "Why is she hated so much?" I can tell you. I know the answer.

Sarah Palin is a beautiful woman, but that is completely beside the point. She is a conservative and that is completely the point. She is a wife and mother, and happy to be so. She is prolife, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-U.S., pro-military . . . everything the libs hate. She's strong, intelligent and confident. She suffers no fools.

The left is completely rabid about Sarah Palin, unequically stating that she does not represent the thought process or beliefs of the American woman. Wrong. She does. She represents the thoughts and beliefs of millions of American women, millions upon millions, who don't believe in murdering their own children, becoming defenseless against aggressors and we do believe in taking care of our families in whatever ways become necessary, including hunting and fishing.

I have to admit, I'm sick to death of the left. I'm sick to death of city elitists who look down on people who give them food, the clothes on their backs, the vehicles they drive and the gas they use to drive them. I'm sick to death of the "you're subhuman if you don't believe in abortion" (there's an oxymoron if I ever heard one). I'm sick to death of politics. But here's a great video that really breaks it down as to the reason we're in the mess we're in and whose to blame.



Update: Apparently this video has been pulled from YouTube due to Warner Brothers Music claiming a music copyright violation. Interesting. Well, hopefully the producers of the video will remake it quickly and get it back up right away. It had valuable information, including the prominent Democrats now claiming they are the saviors of the American people stopping legislation which would have prevented the mess we are currently in.

So the left can point fingers all they want, but the record clearly shows who began what and then perpetuated the problem. It's a shame that shortsighted and ignorant Americans, like Barack Obama, want to blame it all on President Bush. You see, that's easier than finding out the truth for yourself. Not just part of it, but the whole truth, beginning with Jimmy Carter.

So let's not forget the earmarks and pork that is being built into this $700,000,000,000 bail out by the Democrats. So much for rescuing our financial systems, it's back to what can "I" get out of this. (Let's start with all these CEOs giving back their golden parachutes, that should be a drop in a very big bucket they created, starting with the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.) Let's not forget that we need to start drilling in America now. Let's not forget that we must close our southern borders. Let's not forget that America faces a hosts of problems beyond the machinations and finances of Wall Street and our banks. This is what they get for trying to screw the American people. Their little house of cards falling down around their ears.

Sorry, no Sunday Brunch today.

Review of Henry Poole Is Here

The other day, Alvin and I decided to hit a dollar movie at Festival Cinemas Utah. It's our favorite dollar theater and we go as often as we can. This time we went to see Henry Poole Was Here. Starring Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, Adriana Barrazza and George Lopez, we wanted to see it from the first moment and we weren't disappointed.


To summarize:

Henry Poole is a businessman who abandons his life, moves back to his childhood neighborhood and determines he is going to live out the remainder of his life, which is not long, alone. Changing his attitude will take a miracle. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for him, there appears to be a semblance of the face of Jesus Christ in the rust stains on his new stucco job, which is quickly discovered by a nosy neighbor who has her own ties to Henry's house. From that point on he deals with said nosy neighbor and watches with mixed emotions of disbelief and anger as it escalates into a stream of devout Catholics determined to worship at this miraculous manifestation of Christ . . . in his backyard.

He is yanked from his misery, range and sorrow by the grief of a mother and the silence of a little girl. Throughout the movie he is encouraged to reach out and have a little faith in what appears to be the unbelievable.

This movie is not filled with music, explosions or suspense . . . but is a simple movie filled with power of the human emotion and learning to face one's own mortality, only to learn . . . well, you'll have to watch it in order to find out what Henry Poole learned.

I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. There is nothing inappropriate for children, except they would be bored by it. For adults, I recommend it to everyone. It is definitely going into my home DVD library.

It is rated PG for thematic elements and some language.

Chris Cannon Came Through

As I have mentioned on this blog over and over, Chris Cannon has been fighting hard for the 3rd Congressional District for many years. Oil shale was one of the areas that he was pushing hard on because Utah is so rich in it.

Congratulations, Chris! And thank you for all your hard work. You've been a fantastic congressman and have represented us well on issue after issue.

The Deseret News reports:

House ends ban on oil shale, offshore drilling
By Lee Davidson
Deseret News and Associated Press
Published: Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008 12:29 a.m. MDT

WASHINGTON — The House, responding to growing public demand for more domestic energy, voted Wednesday to end a quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts — and a more recent ban on developing oil shale in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado.

Extension of the bans for another year was left off a $630 billion-plus stopgap government spending bill that President Bush had threatened a veto — possibly shutting down the government — if the bill had included Democratic proposals that Republicans said allowed too little drilling and development.

It gave Republicans a key win on energy policy. But it was also a victory for moderate Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

He had persuaded House Democratic leaders earlier to support dropping the ban on developing oil shale ban to instead allow it in states that approve it, which Utah likely would. Democrats proposed to include Matheson's language in the stopgap spending bill, and put it in an earlier Democratic energy bill.

While Matheson's language was not in the final spending bill, he said, "The bottom line is that the moratorium on oil-shale development lapses in a week because I succeeded in building strong bipartisan support for opening up the option."

He added, "We need to find more oil in our country, and Utah's resources are a key part of the effort."

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, also said, "Today's news is a victory for common sense and a breakthrough in energy development for Utah and our nation."

He added, "Americans have spoken loud and clear that we need to find more American energy today so we don't face a similar energy crisis in the future. This decision puts us closer to answering their calls."

Utah, Colorado and Wyoming may have up to 1.8 trillion barrels of oil trapped in oil shale by some estimates. Environmental groups strongly opposed lifting a moratorium on issuing final rules to allow leases for development, saying it will threaten wild areas, use huge amounts of scarce water and hurt global warming.

The bill was approved 370-58 and now goes to the Senate, where it is likely to be approved within the next few days, also without the bans.

The decision to avoid a fight with the White House over offshore drilling marks a major shift by Democrats on energy policy and a reflection that the GOP argument for more domestic energy production had found a support among voters this election year, even though coastal states long have worried that offshore drilling might cause spills, soil beaches and threaten their tourist businesses.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain has made expanded offshore drilling a central part of his campaign, arguing that access to an estimated 18 billion barrels of oil in the off-limits Outer Continental Shelf is essential if the country is to become more energy independent.

People can make all the claims they want, but I know for a fact Chris has been fighting this battle his entire time in Congress. With the ban lifted, Shell Corporation can move forward with drilling for shale oil in Utah immediately. Well assuming the 47 permits required by the federal government have either been obtained or rendered unnecessary. Yeah right.

Nonetheless, congratulations, Chris. Thank you! Prosperity will pour into Utah from another source besides technology and herbs. In a matter of two years diesel will be flowing onto the market, the byproduct of oil shale is jet fuel, flight prices should reduce, the airlines can be functioning normally and things should be better. If the Democrats will just stay out of the way.

Chris recommended to me, some months ago, that we purchase a diesel vehicle. I've been looking at natural gas, but the news report last night created some hesitation there. Now diesel . . . yeah, that one I can work with.

Now, if Congress will allow the continued research into alternative sources without chopping off oil we'll all be in better shape. Because I forgot to mention the astronomical cost of gas as helping destabilize our economy.

Oh yeah, if we can just get someone to focus on our southern border. No, I haven't forgotten the severe security risk our southern border presents. The southern border of Texas has been completely overtaken by Mexican gangs and there is no English to be spoken in any of those towns. The problem will only grow worse.

Economy. Check. Now be smart with the chance we've been given. Okay, uncheck! Pork and egos are standing in the way. Oh yeah, and the wise ones demanding oversight and accountability. The Republicans are deeply concerned about the socialist aspect of this plan and want its implementation. They want to come up with a better plan.

Oil. Check. Don't get in the way.

Now illegal immigration and our southern border.

You rock, Chris!

Recipe: Pancakes

Everyone is so used to using pancake mixes or heading out to the local breakfast joints to get some really good pancakes. Me, I grew up with a mother who cooked every single one of our meals from scratch. She was really good at it too.

We grew up on a small, small farm. Goats, chickens, a cow, a pig, dogs, cats, gardens, orchards, greenhouse . . . my mother raised us on home cooked, home grown meals which sustained me until they figured out what was wrong with my heart. Which is an entirely different story I will get into on another day. I promise.

But back to the point. Pancakes. This recipe has been in my family for I don't know how long, but I know it goes back to pioneer days. So I invite you to step up to your kitchen counter and join me in a breakfast enjoyed by my family for decades, if not centuries.

Pancakes

1 1/4 c. Flour
3 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Salt
3 T. Oil
1 Egg
About 1 c. Milk

Mix the ingredients, in order, in a mixing bowl. Blend on medium speed with a mixer.

Heat a griddle, be it cast iron or teflon, until the water you flick from your fingers dances on the griddle.

Pour the desired amount on the pan.

Wait until the batter bubbles before turning pancake.

Pancake is completely done when the center bounces back from a light touch.

Serve with:

Butter and syrup,
Strawberries and fresh whipped cream,
Summer Berry Sauce and fresh whipped cream, or

Top with fried eggs and bacon, as my husband is fond of doing.

Any way you serve it, it is delicious!

*Note: If your pancakes are too dark by the time the bubbles begin to appear your pan is on too high, lower the temperature. For my griddle, it works best between the Low and Medium temperature settings.

Happy Eating.

Return to the Neighborhood.

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Politics As Usual with Obama

"Country First" is his motto. Yesterday, Senator John McCain announced he would suspend campaigning for the next few days and return to Washington, D.C. to deal with the mess of the American economy. He asked Obama to do the same and to delay the presidential debate on Friday in order that this critical matter might be dealt with in an efficient and responsible manner:

"I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Barack Obama and myself,” Mr. McCain said in New York on Wednesday afternoon. “It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem."

What was Barack Obama's response? Did you think he'd agree and actually head back to Washington, D.C. to do the job the people of Illinois elected him to do? Because if you did, you'll be surprised. Or maybe you won't, you see, I've got Obama figured out. Lookin' out for number one, that's our Obama.

Here is the full text of the New York Times article:

OBAMA REBUFFS McCAIN ON DEBATE

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and MICHAEL COOPER
Published: September 24, 2008

Senator John McCain on Wednesday injected another surprise into his presidential campaign, announcing that he would suspend campaigning on Thursday and seek a delay in this week’s planned debate so that he could return to Washington to try to forge a consensus on a financial bailout package.

“I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Barack Obama and myself,” Mr. McCain said in New York on Wednesday afternoon. “It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

A short time later, Mr. Obama appeared at a news conference in Clearwater, Fla., and said that while he agreed “there are times for politics and there are times to rise above politics and do what’s right, ” he saw no need to cancel the debate, scheduled for Friday night at the University of Mississippi.

“This is exactly the time when people need to hear from the candidates,” he said.

He added: “Part of the president’s job is to deal with more than one thing at once. In my mind it’s more important than ever.”

Mr. Obama said that he and Mr. McCain had spoken for about five minutes by telephone on Wednesday afternoon, but during that conversation he said he was not left with the impression that Mr. McCain planned to skip the debate. The two men agreed in principle to issue a joint statement about the bipartisan need for a government bailout, providing it met a list of oversight conditions.

While aides to both sides said a statement was in the works, it was overtaken by a series of behind-the-scenes maneuvers between the rival campaigns. Advisers to Mr. Obama said they were taken by surprise at Mr. McCain’s call to postpone the debate and suspend his campaign.

The proposed $700 billion bailout package has met with deep skepticism from Democrats and Republicans alike this week. Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama — both under pressure to signal what they would do — have said that they favored taking some kind of action though warned that significant changes to the proposed measure were needed.

In announcing that he was going to stop campaigning, Mr McCain said that “it has become clear that no consensus has developed to support the Administration’s proposal. I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time.”

Republicans, in particular, have been skeptical of the package, and are looking to Mr. McCain, now the party’s de facto leader, for leadership.

Mr. McCain said that after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Thursday, he would return to Washington to work on the bailout package.

Although Mr. McCain was the first to emerge on Wednesday afternoon and announce a change in campaign plans, Mr. Obama began the exchange with his Republican rival on Wednesday morning.

“At 8:30 this morning, Senator Obama called Senator McCain to ask him if he would join in issuing a joint statement outlining their shared principles and conditions for the Treasury proposal and urging Congress and the White House to act in a bipartisan manner to pass such a proposal,” said Bill Burton, the spokesman for the Obama campaign.

“At 2:30 this afternoon,” he added, “Senator McCain returned Senator Obama’s call and agreed to join him in issuing such a statement. The two campaigns are currently working together on the details.”

Some Democrats reacted skeptically to Mr. McCain’s surprise announcement, charging that it seemed like a political ploy to try to gain the confidence of voters concerned about the economy.

“What, does McCain think the Senate will still be working at 9 p.m. Friday?” Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said in an interview, referring to the scheduled start time of the debate. “I think this is all political — I wish McCain had shown the same concern when he didn’t show up in the Senate to vote on the extension of the renewable energy tax credit.”

Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who is leading House Democrats in negotiating the bailout deal with the administration, was dismissive of Senator McCain’s announcement. “It’s the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys,” Mr. Frank told a group of reporters outside the House chamber.

But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, quickly went to the Senate floor and declared Mr. McCain’s proposal "an outstanding idea."

“The threats to Americans, and their homes, savings and retirements, is not a partisan problem and it won’t be fixed with a partisan approach,” Mr. McConnell said. “Americans want to know that their home values and college funds and retirement accounts are safe. In other words, that the problems on Wall Street are not going to spread to Main Street. So I appreciate my colleague’s proposal and I hope that it is given serious consideration.”

For its part, the University of Mississippi said it was “going forward with the preparation for the debate.”

“We are ready to host the debate, and we expect the debate to occur as planned,” the statement said. “At present, the university has received no notification of any change in the timing or venue of the debate.”

It is not the first time this year that Mr. McCain has sought to suspend the campaign. When the Republicans gathered in St. Paul at the beginning of the month, Mr. McCain suspended the first day of the party’s national convention because of concerns about Hurricane Gustav, which was bearing down on the Gulf.

Nor is it the first surprise to come from the McCain campaign. Earlier this month, the Arizona Republican stunned the political world by selecting Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his vice presidential running mate.

Both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama have said that action must be taken to bring the economy out of a tailspin, but have urged greater oversight built into the proposal, to monitor how the Treasury Department plans to use taxpayer money to take distressed assets off the hands of failing financial firms, as well as guarantees that taxpayer money is not used to enrich Wall Street executives.

Mr. McCain made the call after spending more than an hour preparing for Friday’s debate at the Morgan Library and Museum — which, by coincidence, is where J. Pierpont Morgan bailed the country out of the great financial panic of 1907 by locking the leading bankers of the day in his library and forcing them to come up with a rescue plan.

Speaking to a small pool of reporters at his hotel in midtown Manhattan, Mr. McCain read his statement from a Teleprompter, and took no questions.

He also canceled a planned appearance on “Late Night With David Letterman.”

Mr. McCain has sometimes sent mixed signals about the bailout package. He struck a negative tone Monday in Scranton, Pa., warning, “We won’t solve a problem caused by poor oversight with a plan that has no oversight.”

On Tuesday he continued to press for changes to the proposal, but sounded a more urgent note that something must be done, declaring in Michigan that “further inaction is simply not an option.”

The fiscal crisis has put both candidates in a tremendously uncomfortable position — torn between an unpopular plan to use $700 billion in taxpayer funds to bail out Wall Street firms, or to risk what the Bush administration warns would be a widening financial crisis that could wipe out the savings of retirees, make it difficult to secure mortgages or college loans, and send the economy into a downward spiral.

So the Dems and the liberal media are sticking with the idea that the debate and campaigning should go forward. Obama sticking true to form, not showing up to vote, debate or do his job. Maybe they haven't noticed we're in an economic crisis unlike anything we've faced since the Great Depression. I guess the Obamas would be okay if millions upon millions of Americans were out of work and hungry. Me? Not so much.

I express admiration for the choice John McCain made today. The debate on Friday is one that Obama was weak on and McCain was strong on. Maybe this is the only way Obama can win, if John McCain is to busy trying to rescue the economy to show up and trade barbs with him. Perhaps Obama should have thought of that before he decided to eschew his responsibility and pretend that he somehow could win Friday's debate. War on terror, foreign relations . . . not your strong points, Obama.

Let's face facts, the American people pay no attention to debates. Oh they listen, they express opinions, but they don't vote for the clear cut winners. If they did, we'd have a Romney/Palin ticket, not a McCain/Palin ticket. But that is beside the point. It is my opinion Senator John McCain made the right choice to return to Washington, D.C. to facilitate a resolution to the "bail out" option which has increasing opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The oversight is weak, the plan is poor and placing $700,000,000,000 in the hands of one man is just plain crazy. But . . . it does have to be fixed and move forward with proper oversight and dispersement of the funds.

Senator McCain can do more good for the American people in Washington, D.C. this weekend. And as was so glibly asked "do you think the Senate will work through the weekend?" Yeah, that's exactly what I expect. It's not the time for them to waltz off to the Hamptons, to their yachts, to their playgrounds and play while the freakin' U.S. economy is crumbling around our ears. We aren't Rome and they are not a collective Nero. I absolutely do expect someone to lock them in the Senate, and the Congress in the House until a solution has been reached. I'm just positive once they aren't allowed to go home I'm sure they'll find a solution.

So if the Presidential debate goes forward on Friday, I say "Boo on Barack Obama." We're supposed to vote for you when you can't even be bothered to return to your job and do it?" Yeah, I don't think so. Just one more reason to not vote for you, not that I needed another. All the others were good enough.

This blog supports the McCain/Palin ticket. And yes, Sarah Palin made the difference for me. This blog supports the war on terror. This blog supports America. This blog supports the American military. And this blog is Candace E. Salima.

A Potpourri of Political Thoughts

It's so nice of the Democrat strategists to tell us we don't know our own minds and that Sarah Palin makes no difference to anyone in regards to voting for John McCain or not. Cause I was pretty damn sure she made all the difference to me. Here's why:

1. John McCain showed great wisdom and strength of character in choosing her as his VP running mate. This gave me more confidence in him.

2. She's pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, pro-Constitution, pro-Founding Father,s pro-America, pro-family, pro-God and exceedingly conservative. I was so sure that's why I'm enthusiastic about voting the McCain/Palin ticket now. But I'm glad the morons over on the left set me straight on that.

3. I was so positive that I liked Sarah because she's a "git-r-done" kind of person. She hunts. She fishes. She isn't a hothouse flower who wilts at the first sign of opposition. She's taken on corrupt politicians and businessmen . . . and won. She stripped the Alaskan budget of all excesses and worked to balance the budget. She's a devoted wife and mother. She is the mother of an American soldier. But liberal strategists are right, she doesn't matter to me and I'm really grateful they set me straight on that.

NOT!

Don't you idiots presume to tell me how I think, how I feel and what is important to me. You are traitors to the American people who believe in the validity and soundness of the Constitution of America. You are traitors to the American people who believe in fiscal responsibility and maintaining the Republic our founding fathers set up to protect the American people.

You want me to vote for Barack Obama, the communist? I don't give a damn that the man is black. He could be purple with green stripes, or as fair-haired and blue-eyed as one of Hitler's mythical perfect race and I STILL WOULDN'T VOTE FOR HIM! He's a communist. Are you so stupid as to think I don't get that.

• Obama wants universal health care paid for by the American taxpayer.
• Obama wants to control education of our children from the federal government.
• Obama wants to tell us how warm we can keep our homes and what we can drive.
• Obama wants us to give up our 2nd-Amendment rights (and you can argue all you want that he doesn't, but he stated, for the record, in an Illinois race that he supported the abolishment of the 2nd Amendment (paraphrased there.)
• Obama voted, 3 SEPARATE TIMES, for babies who survived abortions to be left to die, receiving no medical care or help.
• Obama has no problem with the high price of gas, he just thinks it went up too fast for the American people to accept. He said Europe pays upwards of $8 why shouldn't we?
• Obama is against drilling for oil here in the U.S. He'd rather Americans lose their homes, lose their cars, lose their ability to even go to the grocery store unless its a couple of blocks away and leave us a broken people than drill for oil in America.
• Obama's programs he wants to put in place will break the American people and economy and can only be implemented if democracy is tossed out and communism fully implemented.

Oh yeah, I gotta vote for him because he's black. Only if I lose the last working brain cell in my head!

NOT. It's the typical Democrat "tax and spend" policy that has driven America to the brink time and time again.

Call me racist all you want. What I am is a thinking American woman who takes Obama's words at face value. Because I have to tell you people, he hasn't tried to hide any of this. He will, I promise you, spend America into third world nation status. He will, this "I am not an American citizen, but a world citizen" betray us to our enemies in every way you can possibly come up with. Vote for Obama, I think not.

And moving on:

41 days to go until the Presidential race and Barack Obama is still in the race. So I am left to wonder, are Americans so enamored of voting for a "black man" as to not recognize he will destroy this nation. I refer you to his voting record. I refer you to his rhetoric. I refer you to his beliefs. I refer you to his books. A vote for Obama is a vote for the wholesale destruction of America.

Have you been so sucked into the bull taught in the public school systems: that America is the problem, that America is the terrorist, that America is the aggressor, that America is the "great Satan" as the head lunatic in Iran is fond of saying, that would be Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad, for those of you who don't know who he is.

America is the greatest nation on earth. Our constitution is divinely inspired and uniquely designed to protect the American people from a government gone mad. We do not invade other nations and keep them. We do not undergo the wholesale slaughter of a religion or people because we don't like the way they think, look, believe or behave. We don't have wholesale genocide amongst our people and our cultures. We have spent the last 7 years fighting the attack on American soil. We have built nations. We have defended her peoples. We have built schools, libraries, restored churches, created democracies, liberated men, women and children, built bridges and infrastructres and so very much more. We have shipped tons upon tons of food, medical supplies and clothing to nations ravaged by nature and war. Our people and our soldiers have flown across the world to help others in need.

We are a great nation and I refuse to accept this lie which has been perpetuated in the classrooms of America. I thank my God for a mother who was educated, knowledgeable and wise enough to correct the falacies we were taught in school. I am grateful for the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh who stand as sentinels against the liberals of the nation who would ultimately and completely destroy America. I am grateful for the likes of politicians who can shake off the bipartisanship and truly work together to represent the best interests of this nation. (Yes, I know they are far and few inbetween.)

I am an American and could not be prouder of, nor love my country anymore than I do. A fierce patriotism burns deep within my soul for this nation forged in the flames of the American continent. It is this country which allowed the fully restored and complete Gospel of Jesus Christ to roll forward throughout the world. I am an American. I will not cower. I will not betray. I will not hang my head in shame.

Moving on to the economy:

We face scary times. A number of events which began during the Clinton adminsitration coalesced to cause the economic disaster we currently face:

• The trading of futures (predicting what things would sell for in the future and then driving those prices up to meet those predicted amounts)
  
• Junk mortgages (giving mortgages to people who couldn't afford the amounts)
  
• The greed of corporate CEOs (no, we should not privatize these corporations, but if any of them receive portions of the bailout currently being debated, these CEOs but NOT RECEIVE their golden parachutes. It's the only level of industry where you can fail, get fired and be compensated to the tune of millions upon billions.)
• Congressional laziness, greed and bipartisan wrangling
• If you don't have the money, don't buy it.
  

Just to name a few. Yes, these bailouts are necessary, sadly. Had we stopped long ago we would not be in this situation. If young people didn't feel like they have to everything right away that took their parents a lifetime to build, our economy would be in a much better situation. If Wall Street wasn't driven by greed and the need to rob the American people, even the world, of all their resources. If . . . if . . . if . . .

McCain's call for an oversight committee is a great idea. Senator McCain, the more you do the better I feel about voting for you. The McCain/Palin ticket has my support.

Love it! Mitt Romney, Warren Buffet and Bloomberg. A Republican, a Democrat and an Independent . . . brilliant businessmen, two politicians, two lawyers . . . oh yeah, I'm completely comfortable with putting them in charge of riding herd on Poulsen and the federal government's handling of the bailout funds. I call on Congress to approve this and approve it immediately! And make sure you give this oversight committe teeth and restrictions.

If we want the economy fixed, let's put these men in charge who have already accomplished wild success in the private industry. Give them the right to veto any nonsensical or ridiculous dispersion of funds to individual corporations. Let's make this happen and happen now.

Oh yeah, Senator McCain, when you win, put Mitt Romney in as the Secretary of the Treasury and give him the ability to fix this economy.

The Undefended City by Bill Whittle

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant and a true understanding of what has been taught to the last two generations of America. I thank God, truly and completely, my Father in Heaven, for a mother who did not leave my education up to what I was being taught in school. We went over everything taught to us in school and my mother set us straight on what had been skewed and outright changed. She taught us of the true history of America and our Founding Fathers. She instilled deep within my heart a love and true patriotism of this great country for which we are so privileged to live.

This article is brilliant and I had to share!

September 19, 2008 12:30 PM

The Undefended City
No despair.

By Bill Whittle

When I first got to college, back in the last few weeks of the Seventies, I finally got a chance to see an ordinary game of Dungeons and Dragons. My immediate inclination was to play as a Paladin: the pinnacle of Lawful Good, a character required to dash in and fight overwhelmingly powerful evil forces anywhere and at whatever odds. These contests were short, depressing and hilarious, but all D&D really came down to in the end was slaying small monsters, taking their gold, buying slightly better gear and then slaying slightly larger monsters. Why not just save some time and become a Vorpal Sword distributor? Then you get the weapons and the gold, and people bring them both to you. And so a larval conservative was born. And I never played again.

That was the attitude I took into The Lord of the Rings when the first of the trilogy appeared in 2001, just a few months after the Two Towers actually did fall and the idea of good and evil suddenly became — to me and no doubt to you too — a great deal less ironic and a great deal more real.

And there, in the darkness, staring up at that screen, I marveled at this monumental font of deep and eternal ideas: the aversion to facing danger, even when it is right in front of us; the value of old and true allies; the corrosive force of addiction; responsibility forsaken, then reclaimed… and through it all the fear that we may be lesser sons of greater fathers, and that we may no longer have the courage or the will to defend the City entrusted to our care.

This, and more, what was what John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was trying to teach me, down that dark river of the future — and he ought to know. The Lord of the Rings was written between 1937 through 1949… years of dark waters, indeed.

A few years before Tolkien put pen to paper, an event took place that a man of his education would have undoubtedly been aware. On February 9^th, 1933, the ruling elite of the world’s great Civilization held a debate in the Oxford Union. With thunderclouds growing dark across the English Channel, at a time when resolute action could still have averted the worst catastrophe the world has ever known, these elites resolved that “This House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country.”

The Resolution passed by a vote of 275 to 153. Needless to say, this vote did not avert the fight. It guaranteed it.

How much of the weight of that, I wonder, sat along side him as he penned page after page about the decline of the Men of the West. For taken in its entirety, The Lord of the Rings is about the collective regeneration of the will and courage of a previous age, and ends with the hope that the greatest days of the City lie yet ahead.

I live a few miles from Santa Monica High School, in California. There, young men and women are taught that America is “a terrorist nation,” “one of the worst regimes in history,” that it’s twice-elected leader is “the son of the devil,” and dictator of this “fascist” country. Further, “patriotism” is taught by dragging an American flag across the classroom floor, because the nation’s truest patriots, as we should know by now, are those who are most able to despise it.

This is only high school, remember: in college things get much, much worse.

Two generations, now, are being raised on this poison, and the reason for that is this: the enemies of this city cannot come out and simply say, “Do not defend the city.” Even the smartest among us can see that is simple treason. But they can say, “The City is not worth defending.” So they say that, and they say that all the time and in as many different ways as they are able.

If you step far enough back to look at the whole of human history, you will begin to see a very plain rhythm: a heartbeat of civilization. Steep climbs out of disease and ignorance into the light of medicine and learning — and then a sudden collapse back into darkness. And it is in that darkness that most humans have lived their lives: poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

The pattern is always the same: at the height of a civilization’s powers something catastrophic seems to occur — a loss of will, a failure of nerve, and above all an unwillingness to identify with the values and customs that have produced such wonders.

The Russians say a fish rots from the head down. They ought to know. It may not be factually true that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, the saying has passed into common usage because the image as the ring of truth to it: time and time again, the good and decent common people have manned the walls of the city, and have been ready to give their lives in its defense, only to discover too late that some silk-robed son of a bitch has snuck out of the palace at midnight and thrown open the gates to the barbarians outside.

And how is this done, this “throwing open of the gates?” How are defenders taken off the walls?

Well, most of what I learned about Vietnam I learned from men like Oliver Stone. This self-loathing narcissist has repeatedly tried to inculcate in me a sense of despair and outrage at my own government, my own culture, my own people and ultimately myself. He tried to convince me — and he is a skillfull man — that my own government murdered my own President for political gain. I am told daily in those darkened temples that rogue CIA elements run a puppet government, that the real threat to the nation comes from the generals that defend it, or from the businessmen that provide the prosperity we take for granted.

I sit with others in darkened rooms, watching films like Redacted, Stop-Loss, and In the Valley of Elah, and see our brave young soldiers depicted as murderers, rapists, broken psychotics or ignorant dupes –visions foisted upon me by bitter and isolated millionaires such as Brian de Palma and Paul Haggis and all the rest.

I’ve been told this story in some form or another, every day of every week of the past 30 years of my life. It wasn’t always so.

But it is certainly so today. And standing against all this hypnotic power — the power of the mythmakers in Hollywood, the power of the information peddlers in the media, the corrosive power of America-hating professors on every campus in America… against all that we find an old warrior — a paladin if ever there was one — an old, beat-up warhorse standing up in defense of his city one last time. And beside him: a wonder. A common person… just a regular mom who goes to work, does a difficult job with intelligence and energy and grace and every-day competence and then puts it away to go home and have dinner with the family.

Against all of that stand these two.

No wonder they must be destroyed. Because — Sarah Palin especially — presents a mortal threat to these people who have determined over cocktails who the next President should be and who now clearly mean to grind into metal shards the transaxle of their credibility in order to get the result they must have. Truly, they are before our eyes destroying the machine they have built in order to get their victory. What the hell is so threatening to be worth that?

Only this: the living proof that they are not needed. Not needed to govern, not needed to influence and guide, not needed to lecture us on our intellectual and moral failings which are visible only from the heights of Manhattan skyscrapers or the palaces up on Mulholland Drive. Not needed. We can do it — and do it better — without all of them.

When all is said and done, Civilizations do not fall because of the barbarians at the gates. Nor does a great city fall from the death wish of bored and morally bankrupt stewards presumably sworn to its defense. Civilizations fall only because each citizen of the city comes to accept that nothing can be done to rally and rebuild broken walls; that ground lost may never be recovered; and that greatness lived in our grandparents but not our grandchildren. Yes, our betters tell us these things daily. But that doesn’t mean we have to believe it.

Ask the common people of all politics and persuasions aboard Flight 93 whether greatness and courage has deserted America. Through this magical crystal ball — the one we are using right now — we common people can speak to one another. And by reminding ourselves and those around us of who we are, where we came from, what we have achieved together and of the marvels we have yet to achieve, we may laugh in the face of despair and mock those people that think a man with an MBA from Harvard knows more about running a gas station than the man that actually runs the gas station.

It is the small-town virtues of self-reliance, hard work, personal responsibility, and common-sense ingenuity — and not those of the preening cosmopolitans that gape at them in mixed contempt and bafflement — that have made us the inheritors of the most magnificent, noble, decent and free society ever to appear on this earth. This Western Civilization… this American City… has earned the right to greet each sunrise with a blast of silver trumpets that can bring down mountains.

And what, really, is a Legion of Narcissists and a Confederacy of Despair against that?

— Bill Whittle lives and works in Los Angeles.

Health: Hair, Skin & Nails, Part 7

From our previous installment:

Any multi-vitamin which contain adequate amounts of the above listed vitamins, minerals and nutrients will stand you in good stead. If your body has what it needs it can send the necessary nutrients to your hair, skin and nails. After all, isn’t that what we’re shooting for here? Good health that shows.

SUPPLEMENTATION FOR THE HAIR

When looking to add supplementation in your diet in the form of vitamins and mineral formulas for your hair, make certain the one you choose has a good balance of the following:

Niacin, Folic Acid, Vitamin B-12, Biotin, Pantothenic Acid, Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Manganese, Choline, Inositol, Para Amino Benzoic Acid, L-Isoleucine, L-Leucine, L-Lysine, L-Methionine, L-Phenylalaninr, L-Threonine, L-Tryptophan, L-Valine, L-Aspartic Acid, L-Serine, L-Glutamic Acid, L-Proline, L-Glycine, L-Alanine, L-Cystine, L-Tyrosine, L-Histidine, and L-Arginine.

In addition, there are numerous herbs which help with hair growth and health. They are as follows:

Aloe, Apache Plume, Bayberry, Curry Leaf, Hibiscus, Little Mallow, Maidenhair Fern, Peruvian Balsam, Soap Tree, and Sweet Vernal Grass.

For further definition of what each of these herbs do for the hair, please check Appendix A in the back of the booklet. There you will find additional things these herbs are known to do, just as a note of interest.

SUPPLEMENTATION FOR THE SKIN

Vitamin C and Biotin, along with a number of your basic nutrients are necessary for health skin. If you are eating a healthy diet and have selected and are faithfully taking a quality mutli-vitamin you’re well on your way to healthy skin.

Some additional herbs which can help with skin conditions are as follows:

Aloe, Alder Buckthorn, Almond, Angelica, Baical Skullcap, Balloon Vine, Barberry, Basil, Bayberry, Bishop’s Weed, Bittersweet, Bloodroot, Buckthorn, Gotu Kola, Hibiscus, Maidenhair Fern, and Parsley.

SUPPLEMENTATION FOR THE NAILS

There are particular nutrients which are necessary for healthy nails. Dryness, brittleness, hang nails, white bands, splitting nails are symptoms of lack of a particular nutrient.

• Dryness and brittleness are caused by a lack of Vitamin A and Calcium.
• Hang nails are caused by a lack of Protein, Folic acid and Vitamin C.
• White bands across the nails are caused by Protein deficiency.
• Splitting Nails can be caused by a lack of sufficient hydrochloric acid.
• Excessive dryness, very rounded and curved ends, as well as darkening of the nails can be caused by an insufficient intake of Vitamin B12.
• White spots on the nails can be caused by lack of Zinc.
• Cuts or cracks in the nails may indicate a need for more water. You should be drinking a minimum of 64 ounces a day of clean water.
• Red skin around the cuticles can be caused by poor metabolism of essential fatty acids.

Eat a diet composed of 50% fruit and raw vegetables in order to supply necessary vitamins minerals and enzymes. Lack of Biotin, found in chocolate, organ meats, oatmeal, egg yolk, soy, mushrooms, bananas, peanuts, and brewers yeast, can be tied to graying skin, hair loss, brittle nails and a multitude of illnesses.

Drink plenty of water and other liquids, staying away from carbonated and alcoholic drinks (unless your using beer for a hair treatment.)

You can supplement your diet with royal jelly, spirulina, kelp, B Vitmains which help to strengthen your nails.

Calcium and phosphorous, found in high amounts in fresh carrot juice, are excellent for strengthening nails.

A number of herbs can be taken in order to strengthen your nails. They are:

Evening Primrose and Gotu Kola.

Check in next Thursday for the next installment in healthy hair, skin and nails, thereby enjoying all over health.

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Making the Most of Personal Revelation

I'm going to try, every Sunday, to post something spiritual and uplifting. I've got to back to the roots of who I am. I am a Latter-day Saint. I am an American. I am a daughter of parents who sacrificed to give me what I have today. I am the wife of a man whom I adore. I, am a daughter of God.

And so I joined the Queen of Chaos' Sunday Brunch:

Personal revelation is one of the key differences between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mormons, and other Christian churches. We believe we have the right to speak with and be spoken to by our Heavenly Father.

Brigham Young taught:

This people believe in revelation. This people did believe and do believe that the Lord has spoken from the heavens. They did believe and do believe that God has sent angels to proclaim the everlasting Gospel, according to the testimony of John [see Revelation 14:6–7] (DBY, 38).

We often hear it said that the living oracles must be in the Church, in order that the Kingdom of God may be established and prosper on the earth. I will give another version of this sentiment. I say that the living oracles of God, or the Spirit of revelation must be in each and every individual, to know the plan of salvation and keep in the path that leads them to the presence of God (DBY, 38).

The Lord is not everywhere in person; but he has his agents speaking and acting for him. His angels, his messengers, his apostles and servants are appointed and authorized to act in his name. And his servants are authorized to counsel and dictate in the greatest and what might be deemed the most trifling matters, to instruct, direct and guide his Saints (DBY, 41).

No man can gain influence in this Kingdom, and maintain himself in it, magnify his calling without the power of God being with him. Persons must so live that they can enjoy the light of the Holy Spirit, or they will have no confidence in themselves, in their religion, or in their God, and will sooner or later turn from the faith (DBY, 33).

It was asked me by a gentleman how I guided the people by revelation. I teach them to live so that the Spirit of revelation may make plain to them their duty day by day that they are able to guide themselves. To get this revelation it is necessary that the people live so that their spirits are as pure and clean as a piece of blank paper that lies on the desk before the [writer], ready to receive any mark the writer may make upon it (DBY, 41).

No earthly argument, no earthly reasoning can open the minds of intelligent beings and show them heavenly things; that can only be done by the Spirit of revelation [see 1 Corinthians 2:9–14] (DBY, 37).(“Chapter 6: The Communication between God and Man,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 41)

Indeed, we not only have the right to answers for our prayers, but we have the right to be inspired, guided and protected by our Father in Heaven.

Elder Richard G. Scott, a living apostle, spoke in length about getting the most out of any personal revelation that is received in a CES (Church Educational System) Symposium in 1998. Without going into any great length, and breaking it down to a simple statement, he said that if we were to write down any revelation we receive and then ask if there were more, more would come. His talk detailed this process in detail as well as offering the caution to be humble and teachable.

Taking this advice to heart, I have received the most precious and personal revelation, pertaining to my family and me, that I never would have imagined. You must understand, our Father in Heaven waits to hear from each of us. Much as you would call your mother or father now, to catch up and re-establish and strengthen that love and familial connection, our Heavenly Father wishes for you to do the same.

My sweet friends, remember who you are. For you are children of God, beloved of our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ. Who you are matters to Heavenly Father. Your happiness or sorrow matter to Jesus Christ. Your life, every minute of every day, is lovingly watched over, rejoiced over, grieved over and wept over as decisions are made and consequences are met, be they positive or negative.

You have a right to kneel, pour your heart out and if you are willing to be still and listen, hear, literally hear the words with your heart, our Father in Heaven wishes you to feel or hear.

The first place to start would be to shake off your preconceptions and prejudices, with a humble and loving heart, kneel and ask: Is Jesus Christ the Messiah? Did He redeem the world? Is He the Son of God? Are you my Heavenly Father? Do you love me? Do you believe in me? Will you help me?

I assure you, the answers will come. Maybe not immediately, maybe a day, week, month, year or decades later, but the answer will come and you will clearly remember your question when the answer comes. When you finish praying, and listening, write all your thoughts down and then place them in a quiet and safe place where you can turn back to them often.

Your Father in Heaven did not send you to mortality without the means to "call home." Prayer is that very sacred manner by which we may "call home." I urge you to do it and do it often. You may be completely surprised by the changes which will take place in your life.

Recipe: Beef Pot Roast

My schedule is off, sorry folks. Recipes will now appear every Monday and the Health columns will show up on Thursdays.

One of my favorite dishes is to sit down to the table, surrounded by my husband and our nephews who willingly spend time with their auntie and uncle and dig into pot roast.

A great substitution for beef, for both health and taste, is beefalo or buffalo. It is very high protein and nutrients and extremely low in fat. When times are good, Alvin and I eat only buffalo and beefalo. So give it a try one day, you might like it.

Best place to find beefalo or buffalo for sale? Ebay. I kid you not. That's where I've purchased almost every bit of buffalo or beefalo we've enjoyed.

Beef Pot Roast

4 to 5 lb. Beef Roast
2 T. Extra Virgin Light Olive Oil
2 C. Boiling Water
2 Cubes Beef Bullion
1/2 t. Salt
1 t. Black Pepper
1 t. Emeril Lagasse’s Original Essence Seasoning
4 Medium Potatoes
2 Carrots
1 Celery Stalk
1 Small Onion

Trim fat from roast and sear each side of the roast in hot olive oil. This traps the flavor inside the meat as well as adding a wonderful flavor to the roast. Place roast in a deep roasting pan.

Unwrap the 2 cubes of beef bullion and put into 2 cups boiling water and let dissolve. Pour over the roast.

Sprinkle garlic salt, salt, black pepper and Emeril Lagasse’s Original Essence Seasoning over the roast, covering every part. Add potatoes, carrots, celery stalks and small onion. Let cook at a simmer for four hours, occasionally adding water if the necessity arises.

Absolutely the best when served with home made bread, fresh out of the oven.

Happy Eating.

Sponsored by:

Put Your Homes in Order

By Carrie A. Moore
Deseret News
Monday, Sept. 15, 2008 12:28 a.m. MDT

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President Thomas S. Monson asked Latter-day Saints to love their neighbors and to put their homes in order during a regional meeting Sunday in the Conference Center.

The president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to thousands at the gathering and thousands more tuned in via satellite feed to 77 other locations, with translation into more than a dozen languages. The multi-stake conference included LDS congregations in the Salt Lake City North Area.

"Let there be no anger among us," he said, quoting 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon. "Let their be no disputations among you. ... he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me."

He encouraged Latter-day Saints to set their homes in order, according to a scriptural admonition in the Doctrine and Covenants, to include prayer and instruction for young children in how to pray. He recalled a time he and his wife were kneeling with their 3-year-old son, who was learning to pray and was asking God to bless a member of their congregation who was ill.

"Bless Sister Lister, Henny Penny, Chicken Licken and Turkey Lurkey," the boy prayed, as his parents smiled quietly. "Never dismiss the prayer of a child," he urged, noting the family was "later humbled as Sister Lister sustained a full recovery."

Fasting is another mark of a faithful household, he said. As a boy, he learned to appreciate God's blessings through fasting when his mother would send him down the street with a plate of food for a neighbor who was alone before the family sat down to eat. President Monson said he once suggested to his mother that since he and the other family members were all hungry from fasting that day, maybe he could deliver the food after they finished their own meal.

She declined, saying his own meal would taste better after he delivered the food to a friend in need. "She was right, it did," he said.

Making one's home a house of faith includes petitioning God for needed blessings and asking for his help. One couple in Colorado did so when their young missionary son in Germany decided he wanted to come home shortly after arriving there. As a visiting general authority to their stake conference, President Monson prayed with the couple that their son would find the courage to stay and complete his assignment.

When the father asked why their faith was being tested after they had worked so hard to help their son serve, President Monson asked where he was serving and told the couple their prayers were not in vain, as he had been assigned to meet with the missionaries in Germany within the month. He interviewed their son, who stayed and served an honorable mission.

He urged members to build a house of learning by studying the scriptures regularly and to read good books with their families, especially young children, in order to develop a lifelong love of learning.

Making one's home a house of glory includes the need "to be sincere with God. You can not be one person and pretend to be another," he said. "We can't live a lie ... .It is by being consistent that we can assure a house of glory."

A house of order includes time for family, for work, for study, for recreation and for self, and "above all, time for Christ.

Developing a house of God is one where "clean thoughts, noble purposes, ready hearts and ready hands" are dedicated to helping and serving others. One missionary exemplified the teachings of such a home when he was hospitalized and facing major surgery, President Monson said.

The missionary shared the basic principles of the gospel with five other men in his room before he was taken into the operating room, and the men decided among them to fast for his recovery, though none of them knew much about the LDS Church except what the missionary had shared with them.

The operation was a success, and as President Monson — who was then serving as mission president — attempted to pay the surgeon, he refused to take the money. "He said he had never before performed a surgery where he knew that his hands had been guided by a power higher than his own."

"This, then, is your building project, brothers and sisters, to organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing, and to establish a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."

E-mail: carrie@desnews.com

When will the rest of American Law Enforcement and Government get it?

I received this in an email and absolutely HAD to pass it on! When will the rest of the nation catch on?

"You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb.

Well...SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

"Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

"Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

"The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

"The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

"The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

"I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

"Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.

"Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.

"TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO "HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF "AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER

"THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY: "Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the ' Tent City Jail':

"He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

"He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights . Cut off all but 'G' movies.

"He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

"Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

"He took away cable TV until he found out there was a federal court order that required cable TV for jails, so he hooked up the cable TV again only let in the Disney Channel and The Weather Channel.

"When asked why the weather channel, he replied, 'So they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working ON my chain gangs.'

"He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.

"When the inmates complained, he told them, 'This isn't The Ritz/Carlton.....If you don't like it, don't come back.'

"More On The Arizona Sheriff:

"With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports:

"About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued Pink Boxer Shorts.

"On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before.

"Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their PINK SOCKS."

'It feels like we are in a furnace,' said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the TENTS for 1 year. 'It's Inhumane.'

"Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: 'It's 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear, But They Didn't Commit Any Crimes,So Shut Your Mouths!'

"Way To Go, Sheriff!

"Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves. "If you agree, pass this on. If not, just delete it.

"Sheriff Joe was just reelected Sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona."

Now, I inmates don't live in luxury, and they are in constant fear for their lives, but let's face it, our current prison system isn't working. More criminals are being created then we can possibly imprison. Prison time means nothing to them and they waltz in and out through a revolving door.

But when will the rest of the country catch on to Arpaio's way of doing things. Let's get these cities up everywhere! Put the inmates to work, just as he has in Arizona. If you're in a climate that is to harsh for outside gardens, build a massive commercial greenhouse and put them to work in there. It can be done, just follow Arpaio's model. Shoot, imagine how much money we could save that way!