HB for Nook and Kindle...

Did you know that you can download a sample of HB to your Nook or Kindle?

And... you can get the Nook or Kindle app for your iPhone or iPad too!!!

Download a free sample..... get up to 58 pages on Nook... :)

Oh... and check out Voki the Snow woman... She has a message about HB...

Voki the Snow woman has a message for you about HB :)

Voki

www.cydwebster.com

Available for Nook and Kindle too!

http://www.cydwebster.com/HB.html

NATIONAL STUDY ON HAZING/PLEDGING/MIP: PLEASE PARTICIPATE Monday, December 20, 2010 12:15 PM

For more than a year now, my colleagues and I have been conducting dozens of empirical studies on Black Greek-letter organizations. One study, the largest of them all, is the study on hazing/pledging/MIP (Membership Intake Process). My close friend from graduate school and colleague -- Dr. Shayne Jones -- is heading up this project. Among other things, the findings from this study should help us better ascertain why hazing persists within BGLOs, what types of members remain active within BGLOs, how brotherhood/sisterhood is cultivated within BGLOs, what BGLO members desire in a "process," etc. All participation is confidential; the study takes about an hour and is quite probing. The full details of the study and the link to the study are at:

https://academictrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3rz3o1bnuSYvZIg&SVID=Prod

Please participate, and pass this message along to any and every BGLO member you know.

Brotherly,

Gre

_____________________________
Gregory S. Parks, J.D., Ph.D.

Visiting Fellow, Cornell Law School

www.gregoryparks.net

---

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I feel like we're living in a whirlwind of fools in Wash DC as they carry out their orders as they have been paid by Corporations to do. How can we live in what was considered the greatest country on earth, and allow people to perish due to the inability to pay for health care? How great can we be, when folks face bankruptcy or homelessness if they get sick and need help?

With this mentality... how did anyone decide that Dr. Jack Kevorkian should go to jail? It's wrong for folks to personally decide they have no more fight left and tired of suffering, but insurance companies can tell folks that you can't afford help, so die. Wow!

And now we have our controlled media, so quiet about the fact that GOP/Teabags got what they wanted. Deficit be damned!!! We can all see the fraud in all that protesting up to November. Seems that as Dick Cheyney said... 'deficits don't matter'... as long as it's benefiting the wealthy.

I saw the quote by MLK this morning in an email I received from BLACKNJ and these things popped into my mind. I will continue to pray for increased wisdom and learning so that we can live civilly together... and not perish as fools!

http://blacknj.org/

Cheyney said 'deficits don't matter'... remember?

Ok so where were the Teabags when Dick Cheyney said this? And now, they stand firm with no compromise ever considered, on their platform that deficits don't matter... as long as wealthy folks benefit. Its incredible that they get so much support, from some folks who have nothing, and worse, on government assistance. We are living in a time of insanity.

[[[

Cheney to Treasury: "Deficits don't matter"

Former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill was told "deficits don't matter" when he warned of a looming fiscal crisis.

O'Neill, fired in a shakeup of Bush's economic team in December 2002, raised objections to a new round of tax cuts and said the president balked at his more aggressive plan to combat corporate crime after a string of accounting scandals because of opposition from "the corporate crowd," a key constituency.

O'Neill said he tried to warn Vice President Dick Cheney that growing budget deficits-expected to top $500 billion this fiscal year alone-posed a threat to the economy. Cheney cut him off. "You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter," he said, according to excerpts. Cheney continued: "We won the midterms (congressional elections). This is our due." A month later, Cheney told the Treasury secretary he was fired.]]]

http://www.ontheissues.org/2004/Dick_Cheney_Budget_+_Economy.htm

Last Thoughts Before the Turkey Comes Calling ...a letter from Michael Moore

Last Thoughts Before the Turkey Comes Calling ...a letter from Michael Moore

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Friends,

As I head off for Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a final thought with you about this past week's news regarding the health care executives who sat around that table in Philadelphia four years ago and decided on a course of action to, if need be, "push Michael Moore off a cliff."

Having spent the week reading all their secret documents (and the book "Deadly Spin"), it's clear that there was something far more scary to these companies than me.

They were, in fact, scared of you. They were afraid YOU would end up pushing them over their own greedy cliff.

Yes, they spied on me and my family in the hopes of finding something with which to smear me and my film, "Sicko." Finding nothing (sorry, guys, I live a pretty boring life), they then resorted to the old chestnuts that have been hurled at me by General Motors, the Bush White House, the National Rifle Association and others since my first film 20 years ago, and they essentially boil down to this:

"Don't listen to him! He hates America! He hates our way of life! He's not telling you the truth! He plays fast and loose with it! Patriots, don't waste your good money to see his movie!"

And it's that last message that's at the epicenter of their biggest fear. Back in 2007, these health insurance companies believed that if you strolled inside a theater showing "Sicko", their golden goose would be cooked.

They knew, according to former health care exec and whistleblower Wendell Potter, that the truth was up there on that screen -- and the LAST thing they wanted was for millions of Americans to be exposed to it.

Why? Well, we need look no further than the document containing their own secret directive on how they should deal with the movie:

"[We Must] Prepare for the Worst Case...SiCKO evolves into a sustained populist movement."

There it is. Their biggest fear. Their "worst case" scenario. That YOU, the American public, would rise up against them. I wasn't their worst nightmare -- you were. Their own research and private polling showed that you were getting fed up with how they were screwing you, gouging you, ripping you off, denying you coverage and flat out just kicking you off the insurance. They knew, according to Potter, that they were killing 45,000 of you every year simply by denying you coverage.

We Americans don't like people who kill us. We're the kind of people who will throw billions of dollars and the mightiest military on earth at just one guy because he killed just 2,977 people. What would we do if we discovered who's killing 45,000 of us every year? How fast would we act to sever the head of that beast?

You don't need to answer that question because the executives of the country's health insurance conglomerates already know it -- it's their big "What If", followed by an even bigger "Holy Shit." "What If the millions of average Joes and Janes ever got it together enough to bring us all down, to end our profiting off the misery of others? What If the citizenry one day begin electing representatives who couldn't be bought and who would end our for-profit health insurance racket?" Holy shit, indeed.

Yes, they feared that day more than anything else, and a movie coming out before a big election year with two popular Democrats pushing for some vague version of universal heath care was all that was needed to get Big Insurance to spend millions of dollars to attack me. These corporate kingpins knew they had pushed their luck too far and now they were worried that a movie -- a movie! -- could ignite a "populist movement."

All that money spent smearing me because they thought you would get up from your theater seat and start a revolution.

It's a great compliment to you. They fear the power you have. But that's 'cause they're good at math. They know there will always be more of us than there are of them. And unless they can repeal "one person, one vote," they know they are doomed. In the meantime they will try to maintain the power they have by buying off politicians, dumbing us down, distracting us with Dancing/Ice Skating/Drinking with the Stars and getting us so scared we'll acquiesce to having naked pictures taken of us at airports this Thanksgiving weekend. Over the river and through the body scan, to grandmother's house we go...

So let us give thanks today that the richest 1% begrudgingly know that we are still, on paper at least, in charge. It is, I believe, a glimmer of hope of what we could possibly accomplish in the coming new year.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

MADEA'S 10 RULES FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER GUESTS

(This has been circulating for a few years around the holidays... but it's still funny!)

Now that Thanksgiving is approaching, it is time to review, copy and send to your guests . . . .

MADEA'S 10 RULES FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER GUESTS

1. Don't get in line asking questions about the food. 'Who made the potato salad? Is it egg in there? Are the greens fresh? Is the meat in the greens turkey or pork? Who made the macaroni and cheese? What kind of pie is that; who made it? Ask one more question and I will punch you in your mouth, knocking out all your fronts so you won't be able to eat anything.

2. If you can't walk, or are missing any limbs, sit your ass down until someone makes your plate for you. Dinner time is not the time for you to be independent. Nibble on them damn peanuts and walnuts to hold you over until someone makes you a plate.

3. If you have kids under the age of twelve, I will escort their little asses down to the basement and bring their food down to them. They are not going to tear up my damn house this year. Tell them that they are not allowed upstairs until it's time for Uncle Butchie to start telling family stories about their mommas and papas. If they come upstairs for any reason except that they are bleeding to death, I will break a foot off in their asses.

4. There is going to be one prayer for Thanksgiving dinner! JUST ONE! We do not care that you are thankful that your thirteen year old daughter gave birth to a healthy baby or your nephew just got out of jail. Save the talk for someone that gives a damn. The time limit for the prayer is one minute. If you are still talking after that one minute is up, you will feel something hard come across your lips and they will be swollen for approximately 20 minutes.

5. Finish everything on your plate before you go for seconds! If you don't, you will be cursed out and asked to stay your greedy ass home next year.

6. BRING YOUR OWN TUPPERWARE!! Don't let me catch you fixing yourself a plate in my good tupperware knowing damn well that I will never see it again! Furthermore, if you didn't bring anything over, don't let me catch you making a plate, period, or it will be a misunderstanding.

7. What you came with is what you should leave with! Do not leave my house with anything that doesn't belong to you. EVERYBODY WILL BE SUBJECTED TO A BODY SEARCH COMING AND GOING OUT OF MY DOMAIN!!!

8. Do not leave your kids so you can go hopping from house to house. This is not a DAYCARE CENTER . There will be a kid parent roll call every ten minutes. Any parent that is not present at the time of roll call, your child will be put outside until you come and get him or her. After 2 hours, I will call ACS on you ignorant ass!!

9. BOOK YOUR HOTEL ROOM BEFORE YOU COME INTO TOWN!! There will be no sleeping over at my house! You are to come and eat your dinner then take your ass home or to your hotel room. EVERYBODY GETS KICKED OUT AT 11:00 pm. You will get a 15 minute warning bell ring.

10. Last but not least; ONE PLATE PER PERSON!! This is not a soup kitchen. I an not trying to feed your family until Christmas dinner. You will be supervised when you fix your plate. Anything over the appropriate amount will be charged to you before you leave. There will be a cash register at the door. Thanks to Cousin Alfred and his greedy ass family, we now have a credit card machine. So Visa and Mastercard are now being accepted.

HAD to Share This (Being an Open Letter from Us Lefties to the Goobers)

Link

A return to failed policies. This is funny!

Election Day today... disappointed already!

So what does it say about us as a nation, when we wake up in the morning to hear instructions about what to do if your polling place has problems with their voting machines? I mean... it's not like they're used every day, every week, every month... even. How is it, that they have so many problems with these machines?

I was the first person again, to enter the polling place in my district this morning... only to find that the voting machine wasn't working. I was instructed to use the Emergency Ballot and I filled the first one out wrong and had to tear it up because it isn't aligned like the ballot that we receive in the mail. So... you really have to pay attention. Folks who speak/read English as a second language may have problems too... but that's what the polling place judge is for.

It was a quirky process where I had to walk to one side of the room to get the paper ballot, then go to the other side of the room to sit behind a cardboard shield to fill it out. Then they forgot to give me the envelop to put it in.... so the woman got up and searched for the envelopes.... meanwhile, 3 people walked in and when they were told that they have to fill out an Emergency Ballot, 2 of them walked out.

And this is a huge problem, because a lot of folks will not make it back after work to vote. What a shame.

Here's some NJ voting info..... Hope it works out better for the rest of you folks! :)

http://www.866ourvote.org/tools/documents/files/NJ-FAQ.pdf

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting.shtml

Now you get mad????

After 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad?

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed energy company officials to dictate energy policy and push us to invade Iraq.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over $800 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn't get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.

You didn't get mad when over $10 billion in cash just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when Bush rang up $10 trillion in combined budget and current account deficits.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major U.S. city, New Orleans, drown.

You didn't get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend, the filthy rich, over a trillion dollars in tax breaks.

You didn't get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several decades.

You didn't get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.

You didn't get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US Citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement, and home values.

You finally got mad when a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick...Oh, Hell No!

VOTE on November 2nd!!!!!

Quality has been flushed down the 'low flow' toilet!

I wrote a blog about this years ago... and unfortunately, things have not gotten better. It is just sad that we live in a world where no longer is quality a priority... it's all about how cheap can a product be made, and how much money can be reaped in a short amount of time for it. It's not about long term sales anymore... just sell the junk until no one buys it anymore, make as much as you can and then move on to something else.

How do we stop rewarding this bad behavior? And the reason I am so pissed this morning is because my printer broke last night.... and I wanted to print fliers (with that expensive ink that I bought), to pass out in NYC today at the Circle of Sisters Expo. UGH!

I have 3 HP printers... 1 is an old clunker from the early '90s that still works fine. It's an old black and white, high volume printer that uses one of those huge toner cartridges. I also have another old HP color printer... it's at least 8 years old now.... it still works fine but it's 'pre' photo card capable and the print quality isn't all that great, but it still works.

And then I have this stupid HP printer i bought a little over a year ago. First, the wireless part stopped working a few months in. I gave up on trying to figure that out, and now, it just stopped working altogether. It keeps saying that my ink cartridges are incompatible.

I went online last night and found a lot of the same complaint about other HP printers too. They give all kinds of steps to take, try this, try that.... get service. Please! The damn printer cost $80. How much will it cost to take it somewhere to get serviced? I don't even remember if I paid for a warranty package... I suppose I'll take a look in my file now that I've calmed down a bit... LOL! I was ready to take the damn printer to the dumpster last night.

What printers are the best to have these days?

We should share more about quality products. Have a great day everyone!

A Boot to the Head ...from Michael Moore

A Boot to the Head ...from Michael Moore

Tuesday, October 28th, 2010

Friends,

There she was, thrown to the pavement by a Republican in a checkered shirt. Another Republican thrusts his foot in between her legs and presses down with all his weight to pin her to the curb. Then a Republican leader comes over and viciously stomps on her head with his foot. You hear her glasses crunch under the pressure. Holding her head down with his foot, he applies more force so she can't move. Her skull and brain are now suffering a concussion.

The young woman's name is Lauren Valle, but she is really all of us. For come this Tuesday, the right wing -- and the wealthy who back them -- plan to take their collective boot and bring it down hard on not just the head of Barack Obama but on the heads of everyone they simply don't like.

Teachers union? The boot!

Muslim-looking people? The boot!

Thinking of retiring soon? The boot!

Living in a house you can no longer afford? The boot!

Doing a bit better with your minimum wage? The boot!

Stem cell research, the bullet train, reversing global warming? Ha! The boot for all of you!

What? You like your kids being covered by your health plan 'til they're 26? The boot for them and the boot for you!

In love with someone of your own gender? A double boot up the ass for every single one of you sick SOBs!

Hoping there's a few jobs left here in the U.S. when you graduate? How 'bout just a nice boot to your head instead?

And most importantly, the last boot is saved for the black man who probably wasn't born here, definitely isn't a Christian and possibly might be the Antichrist sent here to oversee the destruction of our very way of life. A boot to your head, Obama-devil!

Yes, one big boot is poised to stomp out whatever hopey-changey thing we might have had two years ago and secure this country in the hands of the oligarchs and the culture police.

And if they win on Tuesday, they plan to show no mercy. They will not speak of bipartisanship or olive branches or tolerate any filibuster threats. They will come in and do the job with a mandate they'll perceive the electorate will have given them. They will not fart around for two years like the Democrats did. They will not "search for compromise" or "find middle ground." They will not meet you halfway on the playing field. They know that touchdowns aren't scored at the 50-yard line. Unlike our guys, they're not stupid or spineless.

Make no mistake about it, my friends. A perfect storm has gathered of racists, homophobes, corporatists and born agains and they are on fire. Two years of a black man who secretly holds socialist beliefs being the boss of them is more than they can stomach. They've been sick to death since the night of 11/04/08 and they are ready to purge. They won't need a rope and tree this time to effect the change they seek (why bother when a nice shoe on another's skull will do just fine, thank you).

They simply need to get their base to the polls (done), convince enough people Obama is responsible for the fact they don't have a job or a secure home (done), and then hope enough of us Obama-voters are so frustrated, disappointed and downright mad at the Dems (done) that we'll either stay home Tuesday or, if we vote, we won't be carpooling with 10 others to the polls.

Done? Or not?

These Republicans mean business. Their boots are all shined and ready. But they've got one huge problem:

The majority of Americans don't agree with them.

The majority want the troops home. The majority want true universal health coverage. The majority want the thievery on Wall Street to be stopped. The majority believe that global warming is happening, that social security shouldn't be privatized and that unions are a good thing.

Too bad the majority party has done precious little to bring about the change for which the majority voted. Yes, change takes time. But try telling that to someone who hasn't worked in two years. Or who hears the knock of the foreclosure sheriff at the door. The booted-up minority knows how to make hay in a situation like this. All they need is us, the disappointed, dismayed, disgusted us.

What say you? Stay home and punish the weak-kneed, sell-out Democrats? Or spend every free moment you have between now and Tuesday trying to protect what little progress has been made so we can live to fight another day (even if it is with "allies" like a Democratic Party that will more than likely still not get the message of what they need to do -- and has, in fact, spent much of the past two years giving progressives the boot)? Perhaps our job, post-election, is to provide a gentle but swift boot in the bee-hind of the party whose mascot is an ass.

Right now, we've got 112 hours. Seems like enough.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. I'll be on The Rachel Maddow Show tonight! Be sure to tune in to MSNBC at 9:00pm ET/PT.

The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us.

(email I received today)

This article sums up the true Republican strategy as well as any I've seen
for while. All the rest of what is touted as Republican is window dressing
to attract fools and racists...which it does. They are pushing the middle
class into poverty and the poor into abject poverty.

Yet the poor and middle class let it happen by not participating for a host
of ignorant reasons. The sadness is overwhelming.

If the high earners paid in proportion to the benefits the society has
afforded them, all the US debt would be paid and all employed doing the
things necessary to meet our needs--like keeping bridges from falling down
in Minnesota and educating our children... By the way, they'd have just one
less Bentley.



-------------------------------------
The Perfect Storm That Threatens American Democracy
http://www.alternet.org/news/148558

The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom
120 million of us.
-------------------------------------

George W. Bush Reveals His Biggest Failure Was Not Privatizing Social Security

George W. Bush Reveals His Biggest Failure Was Not Privatizing Social Security

Former President George W. Bush signaled on Thursday that he sees not privatizing Social Security as his greatest failure from the eight years he served in the White House, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The unpopular Republican leader made the suggestion while speaking at a trade conference in the Windy City, where he discussed his legacy and also offered a glimpse into what readers can expect from his forthcoming memoir, Decision Points.

"I would like to be remembered as a guy who had a set of priorities, and was willing to live by those priorities," explained Bush. "In terms of accomplishments, my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country safe amidst a real danger."

Bush poked fun at himself in addressing how his thoughts will be delivered in his memoir.

"I have written a book," he said. "This will come as quite a shock to some. They didn't think I could read, much less write."

With the 2010 midterm election just weeks away, it's possible that the comments from the former president may leave some members of the GOP community a bit uneasy. Over the summer, it was reported that the release date for Bush's memoir -- November 9 -- had Republicans concerned that the timing could hurt the party's chances at the polls.

Matt Latimer, a former Bush appointee, wrote about the matter at the Daily Beast at the time:

[Some] Republicans, particularly those most closely tied to the Bush regime, actually argue the book could help the party by reminding some voters of what they liked about Bush. Still, that has not stopped some Republicans, traumatized over the last two election cycles, from fearing the worst. "Monumentally bad timing" was the reaction of one former Bush aide who learned of the book release date. Another prominent conservative compared the Bushies' public-relations savvy to LeBron James. "Selfish and stupid" was another noted right-wing columnist's reaction

As the criticism relates to Bush's regret that he couldn't achieve privatizing social security, it seems that his remarks couldn't have come at a worse time.

Time magazine reported earlier this week on Democratic efforts to score points with voters ahead of the midterms on the social security issue. In some cases, Democrats are even tying the matter to the former president.

"Instead of helping seniors," explained House Speaker Pelosi's office to the publication, "Republicans, backed by their allies on Wall Street, are threatening to privatize and cut Social Security, just as they tried to do under President Bush."

It shouldn't come as a surprise that following the former White House leader's remarks on Thursday, Democrats were quick to once again pounce on the issue.

"Republicans' agenda is what it always was -- turn the Social Security seniors worked hard to earn over to Wall Street," said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Press Secretary Ryan Rudominer. "If Republicans has their way, seniors could have lost 40 percent of their retirement investments when the market crashed. America's seniors deserve better."

Heaven and Hell

HEAVEN AND HELL
>
> While walking down the street one day a Corrupt Senator was tragically hit
>by a car and died.
>
> His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
>
> "Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there
>is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're
>not sure what to do with you."
>
> "No problem, just let me in," says the Senator..
>
> "Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from the higher ups. What we'll do is
>have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend
>eternity."
>
> "Really?, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Senator.
>
> "I'm sorry, but we have our rules."
>
> And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down,
>down to hell.
>
> The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In
>the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and
>other politicians who had worked with him.
>
> Everyone is very happy and in evening dress. They run to greet him, shake his
>hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense
>of the people.

> They played a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster, caviar and the
>finest champagne.
>
> Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having
>a good time dancing and telling jokes.
>
> They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it
>is time to go.
>
> Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...
>
> The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter
>is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven.."
>
> So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving
>from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before
>he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
>
> "Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your
>eternity."
>
> The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have
>said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better
>off in hell."
>
> So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell..
>
> Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land
>covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking
>up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.
>
> The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.
>
> "I don't understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there
>was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne,
>and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and
>my friends look miserable. What happened?"
>
> The devil smiles at him and
>says,
>
>
> "Yesterday we were campaigning ...
>
> Today, you voted.."
>
> Vote wisely on November 2, 2010

40 Years of Marriage

40 Years of Marriage

A married couple in their early 60s was celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table. She said, For being such an exemplary married couple and for loving each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish.

The wife answered, Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband.

The fairy waved her magic wand and - poof! - Two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

The husband thought for a moment: 'Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will ever come again. I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me.

The wife and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish.

So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof! The husband became 92 years old.

The moral of this story: Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember fairies are female!

Dems Come Alive! ...a follow-up from Michael Moore

Dems Come Alive! ...a follow-up from Michael Moore

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

Friends,

Ok! We're halfway through the week and we're off to a great start. Last week I gave the spineless Dems five friendly suggestions for things they could do on the off chance they were interested in winning the midterm elections on November 2nd:

1. Deliver a blunt, nonstop reminder to the American people about exactly who it was that got us into the mess we're in.

2. Declare a moratorium on home foreclosures.

3. Prosecute the banks and Wall Street for the Crime of the Century.

4. Create a 21st century WPA (hire the unemployed to rebuild America).

5. Pledge that no Dem will take a dime from Wall Street in the next election cycle.

So how are we doing 5 days later? Not bad! It turns out that at least some of these ideas were so simple even elected Democrats could come up with them!

1. Dems have started running tough, killer ads that have balls and SAY WHAT NEEDS TO BE SAID. Check these out:

In the California Senate race, Barbara Boxer is going after Carly Fiorina on the outsourcing Fiorina did as CEO of HP.

Rep. Tim Bishop of Long Island, New York hits his GOP opponent Randy Altschuler on how HIS business sent jobs overseas.

Richard Blumenthal half-nelsons his Connecticut Senate opponent (and former WWE CEO) Linda McMahon who said we should consider cutting the minimum wage and then lied about having said it.

Jeez, it's like they wanna win! More of these, please -- NOW!

2. Foreclosure Moratorium fever among the Dems has amazingly swept the nation in the last week!

Democratic Attorneys General all over the country are now demanding moratoriums for their states: California (Jerry Brown, now running for Governor), Connecticut (Richard Blumenthal, now running for Senate), Delaware (Joe Biden's son Beau), Massachusetts (Martha Coakley, who probably wished she'd done this earlier since she lost the special Senate race in January to Scott Brown), Illinois (Lisa Madigan), Texas (Greg Abbott -- a Republican!) and Colorado (John Suthers -- another Republican!). And so is Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (at the urging of Rep. Ellijah Cummings, who you may remember from 'Capitalism: A Love Story').

Meanwhile, the Attorneys General of Iowa, Ohio and North Carolina are opening probes into the mortgage industry. And the banks are feeling the heat -- GMAC, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have already suspended foreclosures in 23 states (with Detroit's Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, calling on them to extend it to Michigan and the rest of the U.S.).

Wells Fargo? Citibank? Are you paying attention? Now's the time to do something good so you can later mention it to the sentencing judge.

Rep. Gabrelle Giffords of Arizona has called for a nationwide foreclosure moratorium, and Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey says that may be necessary.

And it goes on and on. Check the special section on my website that I'm updating every day as more and more Democratic officials announce they will no longer allow banks to kick families out of their homes.

3. Prosecute the bastards! Looks like that's what they're maybe finally going to do. Check out this stunning letter sent to Attorney General Holder yesterday by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and 30 other members of congress (PDF):

"...we urge you and your respective agencies to investigate possible violations of law or regulations by financial institutions in their handling of delinquent mortgages, mortgage modifications, and foreclosures. ... The excuses we have heard from financial institutions are simply not credible three years into this crisis. ... It is time that banks are held accountable for their practices that have left too many homeowners without real help."

According to the New York Times, banks will likely face a "wide range of government investigations" for years. Judges may ask for them to be indicted for perjury or obstruction of justice. The Justice Department could prosecute banks for mail and wire fraud, or for making false statements to the government. And the SEC could open civil investigations.

Now we need to hear the Justice Department announce their investigation.

And look -- Larry Summers is gone. Great move! The people's advocate, Elizabeth Warren, is in -- genius move! If that's the direction Obama is now heading in, then these bankers may be shaking in their Salvatore Ferragamos.

So, not a bad start, Democrats (20 months late)! Just four weeks to go and I'm feeling that maybe, just maybe, we may prevent the All Souls Day Massacre. The pundits, who are essentially tools for the Corporate States of America, may have to eat a lot of crow. And if the Dems escape death's door, they had better not let this nonsense happen again.

So, President Obama and Congress, let's get busy on ideas #4 (WPA jobs) and #5 (pledge to take no further campaign money from Goldman and their friends).

C'mon everybody -- there's at least 3 million of you reading this (including the 700,000 of you who are my Twitter followers and my 300,000+ close Facebook friends). Let's pressure the Dems to quit cowering and kick some butt -- NOW!

Tell them it's easy and to repeat after us:

* Stop the foreclosures!
* Prosecute the banks and Wall Street and war profiteer corps!
* Remind the public 24/7 who created the mess!
* Announce a real jobs program!
* Promise not to take Wall Street's dirty money!
* Win the election!

Simple!

Do it!

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. On a different subject... One of the most moving, hopeful and powerful documentaries I've seen this year (or any year) opens at the Quad in NYC on Friday. It's called, "Budrus," and it's about a town by that name in the West Bank. The Palestinians in that town (and many of their Israeli neighbors on the other side of the Wall that's being constructed) come up with a way to totally undo the Israeli Defense Forces: pledge to defeat the occupiers by never firing a bullet, never throwing a stone, never causing any harm to their Jewish brothers and sisters. Whoa! What happens next is so effed up, so incredible, you have to see this movie to believe it. The film is brilliant. It won the top Founders Prize for nonfiction film at my film festival this summer. It will soon be coming to other cities. Do not miss it!!!

Five Ways the Democrats Can Avoid a Catastrophe and Pull Off the Mother of All Upsets

Five Ways the Democrats Can Avoid a Catastrophe and Pull Off the Mother of All Upsets

Friday, October 1st, 2010

Friends,

The election is one month from tomorrow and, yes, it looks hopeless. November 2nd -- the day the Dems are expected to crash and burn.

Sadly, it's a situation the Democrats have brought upon themselves -- even though the majority of them didn't create the mess we're in. But they've had over a year and a half to start getting the job done to fix it. Instead, they've run scared ever since they took power. To many, the shellacking they're about to receive is one they deserve.

But if you're of a mindset that believes a return to 2001-2008 would be sheer insanity, then you probably agree we've got no choice but to save the Democrats from themselves.

Memo To: President Obama and the Democratic Party Leadership

From: Michael Moore

Subject: 5 Things Dems Can Do to Turn It Around by November 2nd

1. Immediate Wall-to-Wall TV Ads, Internet Videos, and Appearances Hammering Who the Hell Put Us in the Misery We're In.
We Americans have very short attention spans (Quick: Who Won the Oscar for Best Picture last year? The World Series? Exactly.). People need to be reminded over and over that it was the REPUBLICANS who concocted and led the unnecessary invasion of two countries, putting us in our longest war ever, wars that will eventually cost us over $3 trillion. Bush and Co. also caused the biggest collapse of our economy since the Great Depression. I don't know a single person in Hollywood who wouldn't shoot and produce those spots for you for FREE. Dems: Do not pull a single punch on this. Quit being a bunch of wusses and let the bastards have it! The public will be astonished that you've found your courage and your spine. We expect you to be Muhammad Ali, not Ally McBeal.

2. Indict the Criminals.
Announce that the Justice Department will seek indictments against both those who caused the economic collapse and those who became war profiteers. Call it for what it is: organized crime. Use the RICO statutes. Use the basic laws that make fraud of any kind a crime. Get in the face of those who stole the billions, make them pay for it -- and the people will love you. We want Dirty Harry, not Dirty Dancing.

3. Announce a Moratorium on All Family Home Foreclosures.
Last month (August) there were more home foreclosures than in any month in U.S. history. Worse than any month in the worst year ever, 2009. The bleeding hasn't stopped -- it's only gotten worse. And now, this week, two of the largest crime organizations who are throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of their homes (GMAC and JPMorgan Chase) have been forced to momentarily stop doing this. It turns out, they don't really have the paperwork to prove they actually own these houses! It's madness. So if you do one thing for the middle class this week, do this. It will take an hour of your time to draw up the decree and issue it. We'd rather watch "It's a Wonderful Life" than "Poltergeist."

4. Announce a New 21st Century WPA.
"Who's hiring? THE GOVERNMENT IS HIRING!" Put together a simple plan to hire enough people to repair our roads, fix up our aging schools, and rebuild our infrastructure. Fund this by taxing the richest 1% who have more financial wealth than 95% of Americans combined! Unemployment will drop to 5%. Can you pass it? Well, you sure can't unless you try! And as you're trying, announce that you will force the Republican senators (who until now simply have had to say they "intended" to filibuster in order to kill a bill) to have to actually filibuster! Make them stand on the floor of the Senate and read from the phone book 24/7. They won't last a day. And America will see them for who they really are.

5. Declare That No Democrat Will Accept ANY Wall Street Money in the Next Election Cycle.
Pick a day in the coming week. Have all your fellow Democrats in Congress stand in front of the Capitol (with President Obama) and pledge that if America allows you to retain control of Congress, none of you will take a penny from Wall Street for the 2012 election. Instead, promise to accept donations of only $2, $5 and $10. You will also pledge not to take a job as a lobbyist or lawyer for ANY corporation for ten years after you leave Congress. The message will be a powerful one to the average American fed up with corrupt political hacks. Act like Honest Abe, not Fast Freddie -- and see what happens.

And here are two bonus suggestions: Use what sense of humor you have and go after these candidates and their agenda with all the hilarious ridicule they deserve. And quit complaining about "the base" not doing enough to help you. You want help? Do something this week to earn it. I've offered five suggestions. I'm sure the rest of "the base" has a few more.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Tony Blair admitted that it was never about 9/11

I must say, I was shocked this evening to see him admit this. Wolf Blitzer was too... he made him repeat it. I was literally amazed at his rationalization for going to war in Iraq. Truly an abomination. Incredible.

How to handle office conflicts.

How to handle office conflicts.

Obama Will Triumph -- So Will America By Frank Schaeffer

FRANK SCHAEFFER

Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times best selling author.

Obama Will Triumph -- So Will America
By Frank Schaeffer

Before he'd served even one year President Obama lost the support
of the easily distracted left and engendered the white hot rage of
the hate-filled right. But some of us, from all walks of life and
ideological backgrounds -- including this white, straight, 57-year-
old, former religious right wing agitator, now progressive writer
and (given my background as the son of a famous evangelical leader)
this unlikely Obama supporter -- are sticking with our President.
Why?-- because he is succeeding.

We faithful Obama supporters still trust our initial impression of
him as a great, good and uniquely qualified man to lead us.

Obama's steady supporters will be proved right. Obama's critics
will be remembered as easily panicked and prematurely discouraged
at best and shriveled hate mongers at worst.

The Context of the Obama Presidency

Not since the days of the rise of fascism in Europe , the Second
World War and the Depression has any president faced more
adversity. Not since the Civil War has any president led a more
bitterly divided country. Not since the introduction of racial
integration has any president faced a more consistently short-
sighted and willfully ignorant opposition - from both the right
and left.

As the President's poll numbers have fallen so has his support from
some on the left that were hailing him as a Messiah not long ago;
all those lefty websites and commentators that were falling all
over themselves on behalf of our first black president during the
2008 election.

The left's lack of faith has become a self-fulfilling "prophecy"--
snipe at the President and then watch the poll numbers fall and
then pretend you didn't have anything to do with it!

Here is what Obama faced when he took office-- none of which was
his fault:

# An ideologically divided country to the point that America was
really two countries

# Two wars; one that was mishandled from the start, the other that
was unnecessary and immoral

# The worst economic crisis since the depression

# America 's standing in the world at the lowest point in history

# A country that had been misled into accepting the use of torture
of prisoners of war

# A health care system in free fall

# An educational system in free fall

# A global environmental crisis of history-altering proportions
(about which the Bush administration and the Republicans had done
nothing)

# An impasse between culture warriors from the right and left

# A huge financial deficit inherited from the terminally
irresponsible Bush administration.

And those were only some of the problems sitting on the
President's desk!

"Help" from the Right?

What did the Republicans and the religious right, libertarians and
half-baked conspiracy theorists -- that is what the Republicans
were reduced to by the time Obama took office -- do to "help" our
new president (and our country) succeed? They claimed that he
wasn't a real American, didn't have an American birth certificate,
wasn't born here, was secretly a Muslim, was white-hating "racist",
was secretly a communist, was actually the Anti-Christ, (!) and was
a reincarnation of Hitler and wanted "death panels" to kill the
elderly!

They not-so-subtly called for his assassination through the not-so-
subtle use of vile signs held at their rallies and even a bumper
sticker quoting Psalm 109:8. They organized "tea parties" to sound
off against imagined insults and all government in general and
gathered to howl at the moon. They were led by insurance industry
lobbyists and deranged (but well financed) "commentators" from
Glenn Beck to Rush Limbaugh.

The utterly discredited Roman Catholic bishops teamed up with the
utterly discredited evangelical leaders to denounce a president who
was trying to actually do something about the poor, the
environment, to diminish the number of abortions through
compassionate programs to help women and to care for the sick! And
in Congress the Republican leadership only knew one word: "No!"

In other words the reactionary white, rube, uneducated, crazy
American far right,combined with the educated but obtuse
neoconservative war mongers, religious right shills for big
business, libertarian Fed Reserve-hating gold bug, gun-loving
crazies, child-molesting acquiescent "bishops", frontier loons and
evangelical gay-hating flakes found one thing to briefly unite
them: their desire to stop an uppity black man from succeeding at
all costs!

"Help" from the Left?

What did the left do to help their newly elected president? Some of
them excoriated the President because they disagreed with the bad
choices he was being forced to make regarding a war in Afghanistan
that he'd inherited from the worst president in modern history!

Others stood up and bravely proclaimed that the President's
economic policies had "failed" before the President even instituted
them! Others said that since all gay rights battles had not been
fully won within virtually minutes of the President taking office,
they'd been "betrayed"! (Never mind that Obama's vocal support to
the gay community is stronger than any other president's has been.
Never mind that he signed a new hate crimes law!)

Those that had stood in transfixed legions weeping with beatific
emotion on election night turned into an angry mob saying how
"disappointed" they were that they'd not all immediately been
translated to heaven the moment Obama stepped into the White House!
Where was the "change"? Contrary to their expectations they were
still mere mortals!

And the legion of young new supporters was too busy texting to pay
attention for longer than a nanosecond. "Governing"?! What the hell
does that word, uh, like mean?"

The President's critics left and right all had one thing in common:
impatience laced with little-to-no sense of history (let alone
reality) thrown in for good measure. Then of course there were the
white, snide know-it-all commentators/talking heads who just
couldn't imagine that maybe, just maybe they weren't as smart as
they thought they were and certainly not as smart as their
president. He hadn't consulted them, had he? So he must be wrong!

The Obama critics' ideological ideas defined their idea of reality
rather than reality defining their ideas-say, about what is
possible in one year in office after the hand that the President
had been dealt by fate, or to be exact by the American idiot nation
that voted Bush into office. twice!

Meanwhile back in the reality-based community - in just 12 short
months -- President Obama:

#Continued to draw down the misbegotten war in Iraq
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Thoughtfully and decisively picked the best of several bad choices
regarding the war in Afghanistan
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Gave a major precedent-setting speech supporting gay rights
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Restored America 's image around the globe
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Banned torture of American prisoners
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped the free fall of the American economy
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Put the USA squarely back in the bilateral international community
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Put the USA squarely into the middle of the international effort
to halt global warming
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stood up for educational reform
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Won a Nobel peace prize
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Moved the trial of terrorists back into the American judicial
system of checks and balances
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Did what had to be done to start the slow, torturous and almost
impossible process of health care reform that 7 presidents had
failed to even begin
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Responded to hatred from the right and left with measured good
humor and patience
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Stopped the free fall of job losses
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Showed immense personal courage in the face of an armed and
dangerous far right opposition that included the sort of disgusting
people that show up at public meetings carrying loaded weapons and
carrying Timothy McVeigh-inspired signs about the "blood of
tyrants" needing to "water the tree of liberty".
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

#Showed that he could not only make the tough military choices but
explain and defend them brilliantly
(But that wasn't good enough for his critics)

Other than those "disappointing" accomplishments -- IN ONE YEAR --
President Obama "failed"! Other than that he didn't "live up to
expectations"!

Who actually has failed...

...are the Americans that can't see the beginning of a miracle of
national rebirth right under their jaded noses. Who failed are the
smart ass ideologues of the left and right who began rooting for
this President to fail so that they could be proved right in their
dire and morbid predictions. Who failed are the movers and shakers
behind our obscenely dumb news cycles that have turned "news" into
just more stupid entertainment for an entertainment-besotted
infantile country.

Here's the good news: President Obama is succeeding without the
help of his lefty "supporters" or hate-filled Republican detractors!

The Future Looks Good

After Obama has served two full terms, (and he will), after his
wisdom in moving deliberately and cautiously with great subtlety on
all fronts -- with a canny and calculating eye to the possible
succeeds, (it will), after the economy is booming and new industries
are burgeoning, (they will be), after the doomsayers are all proved
not just wrong but silly: let the record show that not all
Americans were panicked into thinking the sky was falling.

Just because we didn't get everything we wanted in the first short
and fraught year Obama was in office not all of us gave up. Some of
us stayed the course. And we will be proved right.

PS. if you agree that Obama is shaping up to be a great president,
please pass this on and hang in there! Pass it on anyway to ensure
that his "report card" gets the attention it deserves.