The Great Depression Explained

"From 1926 to 1929 the attention of the world was chiefly focused upon the question of American prosperity. As in all previous booms brought about by expansion of credit, it was then believed that the prosperity would last forever, and the warnings of the economists were disregarded. The turn of the tide in 1929 and the subsequent severe economic crisis were not a surprise for economists; they had foreseen them, even if they had not been able to predict the exact date of their occurrence. The remarkable thing in the present situation is not the fact that we have just passed through a period of credit expansion that has been followed by a period of depression, but the way in which governments have been and are reacting to these circumstances. The universal endeavor has been made, in the midst of the general fall of prices, to ward off the fall in money wages, and to employ public resources on the one hand to bolster up undertakings that would otherwise have succumbed to the crisis, and on the other hand to give an artificial stimulus to economic life by public works schemes. This has had the consequence of eliminating just those forces which in previous times of depression have eventually effected the adjustment of prices and wages to the existing circumstances and so paved the way for recovery. The unwelcome truth has been ignored that stabilization of wages must mean increasing unemployment and the perpetuation of the disproportion between prices and costs and between outputs and sales which is the symptom of a crisis."

Speaking of Mersenne Prime

LOS ANGELES - Mathematicians at UCLA have discovered a 13 million-digit prime number, a long-sought milestone that makes them eligible for a $100,000 prize.

The group found the 46th known Mersenne prime last month on a network of 75 computers running Windows XP. The number was verified by a different computer system running a different algorithm.

"We're delighted," said UCLA's Edson Smith, the leader of the effort. "Now we're looking for the next one, despite the odds."

It's the eighth Mersenne prime discovered at UCLA.

Primes are numbers like three, seven and 11 that are divisible by only two whole positive numbers: themselves and one.

Mersenne primes — named for their discoverer, 17th century French mathematician Marin Mersenne — are expressed as 2P-1, or two to the power of "P" minus one. P is itself a prime number. For the new prime, P is 43,112,609.

Thousands of people around the world have been participating in the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, or GIMPS, a cooperative system in which underused computing power is harnessed to perform the calculations needed to find and verify Mersenne primes.

The $100,000 prize is being offered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation for finding the first Mersenne prime with more than 10 million digits. The foundation supports individual rights on the Internet and set up the prime number prize to promote cooperative computing using the Web.

The prize could be awarded when the new prime is published, probably next year.

Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/

Billion, Trillion, Sex...?

(from one of those emails I received)

How many zeros in a billion?

This is too true to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the
Word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about
Whether you want the 'politicians' spending
YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
But one advertising agency did a good job of
Putting that figure into some perspective in
One of it's releases.

A.

A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B.

A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C.

A billion hours ago our ancestors were
Living in the Stone Age.

D.

A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E.

A billion dollars ago was only

8 hours and 20 minutes,

At the rate our government

Is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...

let's take a look at New Orleans .

It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator,

Mary Landrieu (D)

Is presently asking Congress for

250 BILLION DOLLARS

To rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number...

What does it mean?

A.

Well... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans

(every man, woman, and child)

each get $516,528.

B.

Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C.

Or... If you are a family of four...

Your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C

Are all your calculators broken??


Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting Licen se Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?

Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to

Press '1'

For English.

I hope this goes around the

USA

At least 100 times

What the heck happened?

Once upon a time, I conducted research on what a trillion would look like since I'm interested in the national debt.

That is 1 billion multiplied by 1,000. Then there is quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, septillion, octillion, nonillion, decillion, undecillion, 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000; 100013; short scale: one duodecillion; long scale: one thousand sextillion)

* Mathematics: 170,141,183,460,469,231,731,687,303,715,884,105,727 (≈1.7×1038) is a double Mersenne prime
* Cosmology: The Eddington-Dirac number is roughly 1040.
* Physics: e^2/Gm^2 \,, the ratio of the electrical to the gravitational forces between two protons, is roughly 1040.

Well, you get the picture.

Letter To Mr. Hamilton

(This is the text of the letter I mailed to UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton yesterday)

Dear Mr. Hamilton,

For the record, I'm not what you would call a Vol fanatic in that I don't paint my room orange, don't have an orange car (although the General Lee would be awesome), don't wear orange boxers, etc... I’m also not one who calls for the coaches’ heads after each loss either. Having played briefly in high school and still having retained a love for the game, I know how difficult it can be. Of course, I would love to coach, but that is another story for another day.

This being said, there was something about the game against the Gators this weekend that really rubbed me the wrong way. It wasn’t merely a case of who ran better plays or who had better players. Blocking is blocking, cheerleading is cheerleading, and tackling is tackling. But there was no enthusiasm from the players. There was no unity. It felt like another man was trying to mess with your wife and you just stood there or another woman was messing around with your boyfriend and you just ignored it. The reason Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison do so well is their unity and their trust in each other. They care about each other. They probably have cookouts at each other’s homes.

Ultimately, football like other areas in life is one of passion. If one doesn’t enjoy his or her work, it doesn’t matter how much fame or money someone has. I’m a good judge of body language and facial expressions and often focus on those when interacting with people more than necessarily what they are saying. I can tell they were uptight. This was the problem for years when we played Alabama. While sometimes, coaches like presidents are unfairly blamed for all the world’s ills, when it comes to their immediate realm; they are the ones who set the tone. The head coach should be able to replace players when someone else isn’t getting the job done. They set the tempo and the tone of the team. Players can either get with the program or sit on the sideline. But where is the tempo? What does this team want to accomplish? I sometimes wonder if it has come to the point where coach Fulmer is putting his health in jeopardy. Even when things are going well, coaches have a tendency to not sleep much, eat well or what have you. Personally, while I love football, it is not so important that it warrants a heart attack or some other life-threatening illness.

I don’t know what the future holds. But if Fulmer and the other coaches in addition to certain players are just going through the motions and just collecting a paycheck for the sake of it, then it isn’t worth it. If Fulmer does decide to step down, I don’t want it to be because he was forced out like what happened to Johnny Majors. I still to this day think how the UT administration at the time handled that particular affair to be disrespectful. Ultimately, it is best that Fulmer decide it on his own terms and perhaps be content with what he has accomplished including a National Championship. But, while a part of me appreciates that perhaps he wants to stay because he is a competitor, if he is just staying to collect a paycheck, then he would be wasting his time and everyone else’s too. I just hope everything works out for the best, but difficult decisions are going to have to be made before too long.

I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Chris Fortner

Student/Auto loans, Credit Cards added to bailout

"His predictions have been consistently wrong in the last year," he said. "It's a sad fact, but Americans can no longer trust the economic information they are getting from this administration. There are much better ways of dealing with this problem than forcing American taxpayers to pay for every asset some investor doesn't want anymore."

Bailouts will lead to rough economic ride

By Ron Paul
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Ron Paul is a Republican congressman from Texas who ran for his party's nomination for president this year. He is a doctor who specializes in obstetrics/gynecology and says he has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He served in Congress in the late 1970s and early 1980s and was elected again to Congress in 1996. Rep. Paul serves on the House Financial Services Committee.

(CNN) -- Many Americans today are asking themselves how the economy got to be in such a bad spot.

For years they thought the economy was booming, growth was up, job numbers and productivity were increasing. Yet now we find ourselves in what is shaping up to be one of the most severe economic downturns since the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, the government's preferred solution to the crisis is the very thing that got us into this mess in the first place: government intervention.

Ever since the 1930s, the federal government has involved itself deeply in housing policy and developed numerous programs to encourage homebuilding and homeownership.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were able to obtain a monopoly position in the mortgage market, especially the mortgage-backed securities market, because of the advantages bestowed upon them by the federal government.

Laws passed by Congress such as the Community Reinvestment Act required banks to make loans to previously underserved segments of their communities, thus forcing banks to lend to people who normally would be rejected as bad credit risks.

These governmental measures, combined with the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy, led to an unsustainable housing boom. The key measure by which the Fed caused this boom was through the manipulation of interest rates, and the open market operations that accompany this lowering.

When interest rates are lowered to below what the market rate would normally be, as the Federal Reserve has done numerous times throughout this decade, it becomes much cheaper to borrow money. Longer-term and more capital-intensive projects, projects that would be unprofitable at a high interest rate, suddenly become profitable.

Because the boom comes about from an increase in the supply of money and not from demand from consumers, the result is malinvestment, a misallocation of resources into sectors in which there is insufficient demand.

In this case, this manifested itself in overbuilding in real estate. When builders realize they have overbuilt and have too many houses to sell, too many apartments to rent, or too much commercial real estate to lease, they seek to recoup as much of their money as possible, even if it means lowering prices drastically.

This lowering of prices brings the economy back into balance, equalizing supply and demand. This economic adjustment means, however that there are some winners -- in this case, those who can again find affordable housing without the need for creative mortgage products, and some losers -- builders and other sectors connected to real estate that suffer setbacks.

The government doesn't like this, however, and undertakes measures to keep prices artificially inflated. This was why the Great Depression was as long and drawn out in this country as it was.

I am afraid that policymakers today have not learned the lesson that prices must adjust to economic reality. The bailout of Fannie and Freddie, the purchase of AIG, and the latest multi-hundred billion dollar Treasury scheme all have one thing in common: They seek to prevent the liquidation of bad debt and worthless assets at market prices, and instead try to prop up those markets and keep those assets trading at prices far in excess of what any buyer would be willing to pay.

Additionally, the government's actions encourage moral hazard of the worst sort. Now that the precedent has been set, the likelihood of financial institutions to engage in riskier investment schemes is increased, because they now know that an investment position so overextended as to threaten the stability of the financial system will result in a government bailout and purchase of worthless, illiquid assets.

Using trillions of dollars of taxpayer money to purchase illusory short-term security, the government is actually ensuring even greater instability in the financial system in the long term.

The solution to the problem is to end government meddling in the market. Government intervention leads to distortions in the market, and government reacts to each distortion by enacting new laws and regulations, which create their own distortions, and so on ad infinitum.

It is time this process is put to an end. But the government cannot just sit back idly and let the bust occur. It must actively roll back stifling laws and regulations that allowed the boom to form in the first place.

The government must divorce itself of the albatross of Fannie and Freddie, balance and drastically decrease the size of the federal budget, and reduce onerous regulations on banks and credit unions that lead to structural rigidity in the financial sector.

Until the big-government apologists realize the error of their ways, and until vocal free-market advocates act in a manner which buttresses their rhetoric, I am afraid we are headed for a rough ride.

I'm Voting For Chuck Baldwin

After several months of deciding between Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr, I’ve decided this past weekend to vote for Baldwin now that he has been confirmed to be on the ballot in Tennessee.

Policy-wise, they agree on a lot of the general issues facing this nation and world which I'm interested in. I'm an independent who feels the so-called major parties merely pander to the audience they are before albeit with some minor differences in details.

Specific issues that are a concern of mine are the national debt, the devaluation of the Dollar, foreign policy and general economic issues such as right to work laws, taxation and the government's involvement in the economy. I'm a proponent of the free-market which is not to be confused with capitalism although some people confuse them as being one and the same. I also despise socialism and all its derivatives.

Ultimately, I decided on Baldwin because he understands that this is not an issue of political parties competing for the most votes. It is a matter of standing up for the basic rights and liberties inherent in all human beings, not just whatever the ruling class decides are rights and what are privileges. If the Democrats and GOP want to keep going down that road, then more power to them. Ultimately, we'll answer to a higher being anyways. I prefer to uplift my standards as it is.

Not to mention I don’t think the way Barr handled the press conference in Washington to have been an effective method and makes me wonder if Barr thinks we can unite by dividing the movement. Either we hang together or hang separately. After all, what difference does it make whether one thinks taxes should be higher or lower if we are being gassed in a concentration camp?

Dancing With The Stars Premieres Tonight

Dancing With The Stars Season Eight will premiere tonight.

I'm rooting for the pair of Brooke Burke and Derek Hough this season.

Some others I've voted for in the past were Marlee Matlin, Leeza Gibbons and Jane Seymour both of whom had Tony Dovolani as their dancing partner. Lucky guy!

Check out my own take on Dancing With The Stars Presidents style!

Fire Phillip Fulmer Petition Online

If you want to sign the petition, go here. I will be sending a letter to the UT Athletic Director this week and post it here eventually. I'm not what you would call a Vol fanatic in that I don't paint my room orange, don't have an orange car (although the General Lee would be awesome), don't wear orange boxers, etc...

But there was something about the game against the Gators this weekend that really rubbed me the wrong way. More to come!

The Impending Healthcare Revolution

I've been a follower and practitioner of so-called alternative medicines for several years now. I turned on the radio in my car this morning as I was leaving from work. An individual whose name I can't recall was talking about Hyaluronic Acid, antioxidants, in addition to a product by Purity Products called HA Joint Formula.

The basic concept is that in order to reverse aging or slow aging down, it has to be addressed at the molecular level. Botox injections, plastic surgery, makeup, etc... are mostly artificial and address your outside appearance. But you could look like you are younger, and still have heart trouble, joint pain, and what have you.

Another product that I've been looking into is Meaningful Beauty. Of course, it is targeted towards women, but men have issues associated with aging too. So there you go.

Antioxidants are also found in blueberries, strawberries, dark chocolate, plums and olives. So eat more fruit in addition to checking out these products.

My overall point is that we have a healthcare crisis in this country. We need to start becoming proactive again about our health as well as other areas of our lives instead of being dependent on government programs, insurance agents and doctors who may or may not know what they are doing. No one is going to do it for you, so you might as well be proactive anyways.

If politics was mud wrestling!

I would be much happier. Jello wrestling, oil wrestling, even honey.
Any ladies that read my blog want to try this?

There Is No Gas Shortage

Bodman appears to be protecting the speculators in oil, as opposed to looking after the interests of all Americans. President Bush, apparently, has never talked to the Energy Dept.'s Energy Information Agency to see whether gasoline demand is actually up. More troubling, the writer of that particular Associated Press article obviously didn't look up the EIA's numbers to verify the President's assertions. They weren't accurate.

Sarah Palin's Answers: Very Troubling

by Chuck Baldwin
September 16, 2008

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin gave her first exclusive interview as John McCain's Vice Presidential running mate to ABC's Charles Gibson last week. Her answers were very troubling, especially to those of us who believe in constitutional government. On foreign policy, especially, Palin reveals herself to be just another neocon; one who would enthusiastically promote Bush's preemptive war doctrine.

Speaking of the Bush doctrine, it was extremely enlightening that Sarah Palin demonstrated surprising ignorance as to what the Bush Doctrine is. Gibson asked: "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?" Palin's response: "In what respect, Charlie?" Continued questions revealed that Sarah Palin was totally ignorant of the Bush doctrine.

When Gibson properly defined the Bush doctrine as being the determination of President Bush to unilaterally, preemptively launch anticipatory military attacks and invasions against foreign countries (without a Declaration of War from Congress, I might add), Palin said the President "has the obligation, the duty" to launch such attacks. No wonder John McCain likes her so much.

Palin went on to make further statements that must have made John McCain proud. When asked if she would be willing to take America to war with Russia in order to defend Georgia, she responded by saying, "Perhaps so."

Egad! Do John McCain and Sarah Palin envision--even desire--war with Russia? John McCain is already on record as supporting sending troops to Georgia; now Sarah Palin suggests that even war with Russia is a possibility. Over what? Has Russia deployed troops along our borders? Has Russia threatened to invade the United States? Are McCain and Palin truly willing to launch a war with a nation that has thousands of ICBMs in its nuclear arsenal, when our own security has not been threatened? And just how many other countries are McCain and Palin willing to defend with American toil and blood? All of Europe?

Instead of promoting European states such as Georgia joining NATO, America should promote dismantling NATO. The reason for NATO's existence ended when the cold war with the former Soviet Union ended. It is past time for European states to take responsibility for their own defense. To promote American hegemony in Russia's backyard (which is exactly what we are doing by promoting the expansion of NATO) not only serves to reignite the cold war, it could inflame an all-out, very hot war. Is this what McCain and Palin want?

With Palin's willingness to launch a possible war with Russia, I suppose it is a small thing that she has no problem with the United States invading smaller countries such as Pakistan. To quote Sarah Palin, "We have got to have all options out there on the table."

Many people familiar with John McCain have tried to warn the American people about the warmongering, hot-tempered senator. To quote one of McCain's fellow POWs, Phillip Butler (who was a POW for 8 years, 2 1/2 years longer than McCain), "I can verify that John [McCain] has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly, that is not the finger I want next to that red button."

Only one time during Sarah Palin's interview with Charles Gibson did she refer to the U.S. Constitution, constitutional government, or her responsibility as Vice President to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. This is very troubling. Can it be that Sarah Palin is simply another politician who is ignorant and unconcerned regarding constitutional government? If so, the fact that she is a social conservative would make this dereliction no less egregious.

Speaking of social conservatism, Sarah Palin's response to Charles Gibson's question regarding abortion is also troubling. Everyone knows that John McCain is extremely weak on the life issue. He openly and repeatedly supported embryonic stem cell research. Ms. Palin says she opposes it. So, how would this conflict affect her position as McCain's Vice President? It wouldn't.

According to Palin, she would not let a "personal opinion" interfere with a McCain administration's policy that differed from hers. In other words, she would support McCain's pro-embryonic stem cell research decisions. I am sure this would also be true as John McCain increases federal funding for abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, which is something that McCain has also repeatedly done. Pray tell, how many other "personal opinions" is Sarah Palin willing to sacrifice in order to be John McCain's running mate? Already my previous column's cogitations are being borne out.

Since my last column, I have discovered that Sarah Palin did nothing to prevent the state of Alaska from being a sanctuary state for illegal aliens. The La Frontera web site credits Lou Dobbs as noting that, according to an August 14, 2006 report by the Congressional Research Service, at least two Alaskan cities have don't ask, don't tell sanctuary policies in place for illegal aliens: Anchorage and Fairbanks. Beyond that, Alaska has a statewide policy that forbids state agencies from using resources to enforce federal immigration law.

It makes perfect sense that Sarah Palin would embrace (or do nothing to oppose) John McCain's pro-illegal immigration policy, as this is one of the issues he is most passionate about. It is absolutely inconceivable that John McCain would ever select a running mate that did not share (or that would oppose) his pro-illegal immigration convictions.

Of course, Charles Gibson never bothered to inquire concerning Sarah Palin's attitudes toward the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), free trade deals (such as NAFTA, FTAA, etc.), the burgeoning North American Community, the NAFTA superhighway, etc. It really doesn't matter. I think we all know where Governor Palin comes down on all of the above. She will continue to support America's participation in and financial support for the U.N.; she will, as former Presidents and Vice Presidents have done, ingratiate herself with the CFR. Good grief! Her boss, John McCain, is a longstanding member of the CFR. She will enthusiastically support free trade deals, which destroy American jobs and encroach upon American independence and sovereignty; she will not oppose the North American Community, or any other form of globalism. And if called on, she will promote the NAFTA superhighway.

In other words, Sarah Palin will offer no resistance to the escalating New World Order (America's greatest threat), her conservative leanings on social issues notwithstanding.

Sarah Palin's answers did reveal one positive: she seems to be solid on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. That is encouraging, because with the way that both Republicans and Democrats are leading America, it may not be long before we will need to actually exercise that right.

*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link.

© Chuck Baldwin

This column is archived.

A Salute To Our U.S. Constitution

By Chuck Baldwin
September 17, 2008

On this date in 1787, the U.S. Constitution was adopted. 39 delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (Rhode Island did not send a representative) affixed their signatures to the greatest civil document ever conceived by men. Famous patriots such as George Washington, Roger Sherman, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, George Clymer, and Abraham Baldwin were among this gallant group.

Under divine Providence, it has been allegiance to the Constitution that has preserved our liberties and protected our very way of life. Most of the problems, failings, and frustrations that plague our nation today are due to the propensity of our civil magistrates to ignore or blatantly abuse constitutional government. Accordingly, fidelity to the Constitution would likely repair most of the damage done by this neglect.

It is the responsibility of a free people to jealously guard the principles upon which their liberties are predicated. For citizens of these United States, the principles that duly protect our liberties are contained in the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. Therefore, it is incumbent upon every American to studiously familiarize himself with these documents.

Furthermore, it is the duty of every American to stubbornly hold their elected representative, at every level of government, accountable to his or her oath to the Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is the contract that every civil magistrate makes with "We the People." Failure of an elected representative to fulfill that oath to the Constitution should be met with swift and certain rejection by the people at the polls. Nothing else should matter. Republican or Democrat, man or woman, black or white, believer or unbeliever: it is the responsibility of every civil magistrate to submit to the restrictions and instructions of the Constitution.

Our Constitution (along with the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence) was formed, framed, and founded upon the eternal principles contained in Natural Law, which proceeds forth from man's Creator and Redeemer. No people in human history have ever been so blessed as the people of the United States to inherit such a legacy. Such a heritage serves only to heighten our own responsibility, as "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

On this Constitution Day of 2008, may this generation of Americans live up to its responsibility to valiantly bequeath to our posterity the same legacy of freedom that was so bravely and miraculously bequeathed to us. For the sake of freedom, for the love of our children, and for the safety and security of our republic, may each of us determine for ourselves--and commit to Almighty God--to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Your Dollar May Not Be Worth All You Think It Is

What also spoke volumes was the flimsy excuse that the Treasury Department used in its defense: that the ruling would create an undue financial burden for the government. This is pretty odd coming from a government that passes thousands of laws that create undue burdens for individuals and businesses. Not to mention that the Treasury Department through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints approximately 37 million currency notes each day with a face value of about $700 million.

Will We Have Another Great Depression?

Well, one thing I learned about history is that it always repeats itself.

The excess credit which the Fed pumped into the economy spilled over into the stock market, triggering a fantastic speculative boom. Belatedly, Federal Reserve officials attempted to sop up the excess reserves and finally succeeded in braking the boom. But it was too late: by 1929 the speculative imbalances had become so overwhelming that the attempt precipitated a sharp retrenching and a consequent demoralizing of business confidence. As a result, the American economy collapsed. Great Britain fared even worse, and rather than absorb the full consequences of her previous folly, she abandoned the gold standard completely in 1931, tearing asunder what remained of the fabric of confidence and inducing a world-wide series of bank failures. The world economies plunged into the Great Depression of the 1930's.

For more information, check out What Is A Dollar?

When It Rains, It Pours

Within the span of less than a week, gasoline shoots up to around $5 a gallon (some claim price gouging while at the same time saying the Hurricane caused it, so which is it?), Lehman collapses and Merrill Lynch was bought out by Bank of America. This on top of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailout that will only cause more harm in the long run. When the fundamentals are out of whack and this is continually ignored, then the recovery should there ever be one will only take longer. The Great Depression lasted about ten years in large part due to the federal government's interference (both Hoover and Roosevelt share blame) to wit, the unemployment rate in 1940 was higher than when FDR first took office. So for those FDR defenders who think he is a God, get off your high horse. Keep in mind that the Great Depression in addition to numerous recessions occurred after the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Its record speaks for itself. The dollar has loss about 98% of its value since that time. In other words, a hamburger that would have cost a nickel in 1913 would be about a dollar today. You could have bought a house for $5,000-$7,000.

To say the least, it will be some time before this economic recovery takes place and so as long as the people in power keep screwing around, it will take even longer taking many people with them. Indeed, history does repeat itself. I just pray that that history will also mean better times ahead...eventually.

Vote Fraud: It Works Either Way

"[C]onservative activist Tamara Hall of Bozeman filed a complaint based on Gov. Schweitzer's own statements.

Hall said Schweitzer boasted in the speech that “he designed a plan to threaten poll watchers on Indian reservations, personally applied pressure to the elections officer in Butte/Silver Bow while votes were being tabulated and manipulated the media for purposes of diminishing a call for a recount.”

Secret Organizations And Hidden Agendas

The result of this two-party charade is that Americans – and those in most other countries in the Western World – are the victims of a great deception. Voters have been fooled into thinking they are participating in their own political destiny when, in reality,
they are being herded into a high-tech feudalism entirely without their consent and, to a large degree, even without their knowledge. This is accomplished by the mirage of a meaningful choice at election time when, in fact, the major parties and their candidates are merely two branches of the same tree of collectivism. Voters today are not attracted to candidates because of their political principles. They have none. Political principles are never allowed as a topic of debate, anyway. Instead, voters make choices on the basis of candidates’ good looks, their smiles, how clever they are in televised debates, their perceived sincerity, and especially how many “benefits” they promise to give to some citizens that are paid from taxes from other citizens. Legalized plunder is a powerful motivator, and it is used with precision by both major parties.

Hitler reacts to Vol's loss to UCLA

Check Your Tires!

What does automobile safety mean to you? You probably think of seatbelts, airbags and defensive driving. But don’t overlook your tires.


They are the only things that actually touch the road. The right tires can improve safety. But poorly maintained tires are hazardous.


But what if brand new tires were a hazard? Well, some are. This Video of the Day presents a disturbing fact. ABC News discovered that tires, like food, have an expiration date. After a certain age tires become dangerous to use.


The investigators also found no regulation governing the sale of aged tires. This video will help you spot unsafe tires. Pay attention. It may save your life.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

(Photo courtesy: Baby MacKenzie Foundation)

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and the Baby MacKenzie Foundation is planning an exciting Festival on Sept. 27th.

The event will be held at the Boys & Girls Club (Ruritian Park) on Hwy. 92 in Jefferson City!

For more information, you can contact the Baby Mackenzie Foundation at (865) 397-3895 or email Cindy L. Curington, Executive Director.

China and Japan hail U.S. mortgage rescue

(We had better not get into a shooting war with China, Japan or Saudi Arabia for that matter. What a situation to be in.)

By Yoko Nishikawa and Mike Dolan

TOKYO/LONDON (Reuters) - China and Japan, the biggest buyers of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bonds, on Monday praised Washington for rescuing the ailing mortgage giants, but investors said the bailout had not ended global credit market misery.

As battered financial stocks rallied and investors sold safe-haven bonds, analysts cautioned that the plan announced on Sunday was more a sign of the perilous state of the global financial system than of an imminent recovery

"We find it difficult to see how it is bullish that the heavy hand of government is needed to such an extent," Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg said.

"In our view, the takeover of Fannie and Freddie is actually a testament to how broken the financial system is at this time."

China and Japan, the biggest and the second-biggest holders of the Fannie and Freddie bonds, welcomed the bailout.

"I think it will have a positive impact on the world economy as it eases worries over the U.S. economy through more stable financial markets in the United States," Japanese Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki told reporters on Monday.

Freddie (FRE.N) and Fannie (FNM.N) bond holders are the most likely long-term beneficiaries of the U.S. government's move which puts existing shareholders last in line in any claims.

Bonds from the agencies -- around $180 billion of which mature by the end of the year, according to Reuters data -- were trading a full percentage point above U.S. Treasuries on Friday.

On Monday the bonds they were effectively as safe as U.S. government debt, but bond dealers said none had changed hands during morning trade in London.

"We think a compression is likely," Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients, of the spread over Treasuries.

The price of U.S. government bonds sank on Monday and yields jumped as the bailout removed some of the fear that had crept back into markets in recent weeks and had fuelled a 'safe-haven' bid to bonds

The cost of insuring against the risk of a U.S. government default on its debt rose, with credit default swaps (CDS) widening on five-year and 10-year Treasury debt.

U.S. stocks futures and Asian and European share markets soared after the news of the takeover that could become the costliest U.S. bailout ever. UBS (UBSN.VX) and Mizuho Financial (8411.T), two casualties of the year-long credit crisis, jumped 10 percent and 11 percent respectively, leading rallies among banks in Europe and Asia.

Financial firms have posted over $500 billion in credit losses and write-downs since credit markets seized up a year ago after defaults on U.S. home loans.

"We expect the action would lead to stabilize the U.S. MBS (Mortgage-Backed Securities) market, financial market and the international financial market," Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told reporters in Basel on the sidelines of the Bank of International Settlements meeting in Switzerland.

According to U.S. Treasury data, Japan is the second-biggest holder of U.S. agency debt with $229 billion, after China with $376 billion as of mid-2007.

"Different people may have different responses. From my point of view this is positive." China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said.

PAULSON TO EXPLAIN TO G7

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in an interview with U.S. radio broadcast on Monday that the plan had been structured in a way to protect U.S. taxpayers.

He also told WAMU radio, monitored via the Internet in London, that the move had been taken after the Treasury had found "major structural flaws" in the two agencies.

Paulson was due to explain the details of the rescue to his Group of Seven counterparts later on Monday, Japan's Ibuki said.

By rushing to the rescue of institutions that own or guarantee almost half of the $12 trillion in U.S. home mortgage debt, Washington has removed one source of anxiety that has plagued markets and helped push Japan, Europe and United States toward recession.

But investors and analysts were quick to point out that a risk of collapse of the lenders and a U.S. housing market meltdown were not the only threats looming for the world economy.

"You've got to try and separate this GSE deal and what's going on with the banks (shares) from what's going on in the economy. That's not changed because of what has happened with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," said Kenneth Broux, financial markets economist at Lloyds TSB in London.

The cost of protection against default in U.S. Treasury debt edged up and the dollar gained against the yen , but lost to the euro and several other currencies.

The Treasury took $1 billion in preferred senior stock in each company, but its equity stake could reach as much as $100 billion in each.

Freddie Mac shares tumbled more than 50 percent in Frankfurt (FRE.F) when trading began on Monday. Freddie and Fannie, which serve a government mission to support housing, were put in a conservatorship that allows their stock to keep trading but puts common shareholders last in line in any claims.

Paulson had hatched a plan in early July to shore up the struggling firms with a promise of fresh loans and a government injection of capital if either company was pushed to the brink of collapse.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were so large that "a failure of either of them would cause great turmoil in our financial markets here at home and around the globe," Paulson said.

But talks on an aid package ended abruptly in the past few days and policymakers decided to seize the firms, industry sources with knowledge of the events said.

"We were given an ultimatum -- do you want to die slowly or do you want to die quickly?" one company source said.

(Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa in Tokyo, Tamora Vidallet and Natsuko Waki in Basel, Patrick Rucker in Washington, Kevin Plumberg in Hong Kong, Rob Taylor in Canberra, Vidya Ranganathan in Singapore, Jamie McGeever in London; Writing by Tomasz Janowski)

Silent Movie Actress Anita Page Dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anita Page, an MGM actress who appeared in films with Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford and Buster Keaton during the transition from silent movies to talkies, has died. She was 98.

Page died in her sleep early Saturday morning at her home in Los Angeles, said actor Randal Malone, her longtime friend and companion.

Page's career, which spanned 84 years, began in 1924 when she started as an extra.

Her big break came in 1928 when she won a major role — as the doomed bad girl — in "Our Dancing Daughters," a film that featured a wild Charleston by Crawford and propelled them both to stardom. It spawned two sequels, "Our Modern Maidens" and "Our Blushing Brides." Page and Crawford were in all three films.

Page's daughter Linda Sterne said her mother had been good friends with Marion Davies and Jean Harlow, and for about six months in the 1930s lived as a guest in William Hearst's massive castle on the Southern California coast.

"She was the best mother I could have," Sterne said. "She was wonderful."

In 1928, the New York-born Page starred opposite Chaney in "While the City Sleeps."

The following year, she was co-star of "The Broadway Melody," the 1929 backstage tale of two sisters who love the same man. The film made history as the first talkie to win the best-picture Oscar and was arguably the first true film musical.

In his 1995 book "A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film," author Richard Barrios reserved much of his praise for Bessie Love, the veteran actress who played the other sister. But he called Page "intensely likable — sincere, well-meaning, endearing, in much the same fashion as Ruby Keeler several years later — and, of course, quite beautiful."

Variety wrote in 1929 that Page "is also apt to bowl the trade over with a contribution that's natural all the way, plus her percentage on appearance. ... She can't dance, (but) the remainder of her performance is easily sufficient to make this impediment distinctly negligible."

Among Page's other films were two of Keaton's sound films, "Free and Easy" in 1930, and "Sidewalks of New York" in 1931; "Night Court," with Walter Huston in 1932; and "The Easiest Way" in 1931, in which Clark Gable had a small role.

For a short time Page was married to composer Nacio Herb Brown, who wrote songs for "The Broadway Melody," but the marriage was annulled within a year, Sterne said.

Page stopped acting in 1936 when she fell in love with Herschel House, a Navy aviator. The couple married six weeks later and Page happily adapted to life as an officer's wife, hosting many parties at their home in Coronado, a city peninsula in the San Diego Bay, Sterne said.

The couple had two daughters, Linda and Sandra.

After House died in 1991, Page went on to return to films. In 1994, she appeared in the suspense thriller "Sunset After Dark."

Most recently, she had a cameo in the horror film "Frankenstein Rising," due out later this year.

Daunte Culpepper Retires

On September 4, 2008, Culpepper announced his retirement. He expressed his frustrations with the NFL in an e-mail he wrote to NFL Network's Adam Schefter, stating he felt that he was "not welcome to compete for one of the many jobs that were available at the quarterback position."[25]

Wrote Culpepper:

Farewell NFL

When Free agency began this year, I had a new sense of excitement about continuing to rebuild my career in the same way that I had rebuilt my knee after my catastrophic injury in 2005. Unfortunately, what I found out was that the league did not share any of the optimism about me as an Unrestricted Free Agent that I expected. In fact, there was an overwhelming sense that there was no room for me among this year’s group of quarterbacks; whether in a starting, competing or a back-up role. No matter what I did or said, there seemed to be a unified message from teams that I was not welcome to compete for one of the many jobs that were available at the quarterback position. It seems that the stance I took in both Minnesota and Miami regarding my rights as a person and player has followed me into Free Agency.

After taking a long look at my career and my personal convictions, I have decided to begin early retirement from the NFL effective immediately. Since the beginning of training camp I was told that my opportunity would come when a quarterback gets hurt. I cannot remember the last time so many QBs have been injured during the preseason. I have been strongly encouraged from family, friends and league personnel to continue to be patient and wait for an inevitable injury to one of the starting quarterbacks in the league. I would rather shut the door to such “opportunity” than continue to wait for one of my fellow quarterbacks to suffer a serious injury. Since I was not given a fair chance to come in and compete for a job, I would rather move on and win in other arenas of life.

The decision I made in 2006 to represent myself rather than hire an agent has been an invaluable experience. I now understand why so many people within the NFL community are uncomfortable with a player really learning the business. The NFL has become more about power, money and control than passion, competition and the love of the game.* Regardless of this shift, players’ rights are still supposed to be a part of this league. Since I will not be given the opportunity to honor the memory of Gene Upshaw by wearing a patch on my uniform this year, I will instead spend some of my energy applying what he taught me about standing up for what is right and not sitting down for what is clearly wrong.

I want to thank my family and my fans for their unwavering belief in me as a person and a player. I embraced both the peaks and the valleys of the game and my career. I am a better person today as a direct result of the experience of playing in the NFL. I can now focus on the enjoyment of watching some of the greatest athletes in the world play the game I love without the distraction of waiting for those elusive return phone calls.

Thankfully,

Daunte Culpepper

*I've long had a dream to work in the NFL in some capacity perhaps as a scout. I already knew that given my lack of playing football in college, my chances were slim at best. However, I persisted for ten years writing GM's, Human Resource people among others. Finally, this year, I've decided to put some dreamy goals on hold and now focusing on my first career choice again, producing or writing screenplays for movies and TV shows.

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

One word of note: George W. Bush is not a conservative at least not in the traditional Old Right sense of the GOP which was led by Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater, etc... He actually has more in common with Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy. The GOP has a split personality quite frankly.

Watching Sarah Palin

I have not paid any attention to the DNC or RNC taxpayer funded propaganda pieces this past two weeks. However, I did tune in to watch Sarah Palin, John McCain's choice for Vice President speak.

For the record, I'm still undecided with either Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr or sitting out this election for the first time ever as my options. None of the Above would be great too if it were on the ballot.

As for Sarah, she went through the typical routine such as her family, being governor, among other things. Slowly, I started to see more from her in terms of policies or ideas particulary on cutting our dependence on foreign oil. She is attractive, just enough to be pleasing, but not coming off like a Hollywood creation such as Mitt Romney. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders and carries herself well.

Ultimately, the office of Vice President unless you are Dick Cheney is to provide emotional support to the President or fill in when the president can't go. Other than that, I find the office to be mostly filler. We are voting for a president right?

RNC Chairman Lies About Votes for Ron Paul

I watched the convention on C-SPAN and listened carefully to the roll call votes as they were being cast..

At the end of the voting, RNC Chairman Mike Duncan announced that McCain received 2,372 votes, Ron Paul received 5 votes, and Romney received 2 votes. He lied. He also can't add. That's only 2,379 votes. 2,380 votes were cast..

Alaska cast 5 votes for Ron Paul..
Oregon cast 4 votes for Ron Paul..
Washington cast 4 votes for Ron Paul..
West Virginia cast 2 votes for Ron Paul..
That's 15 votes for Ron Paul, not the 5 votes that Duncan announced..

Utah cast 2 votes for Romney..

Idaho cast 26 of its 32 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 6 votes..
Maine cast 20 of its 21 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 1 vote..
Minnesota cast 35 of its 41 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 6 votes..
Nebraska cast 31 of its 33 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 2 votes..
North Carolina cast 65 of its 69 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 4 votes..
Pennsylvania cast 73 of its 74 votes for McCain. They didn't say who received their other 1 vote. I'm in Pennsylvania. I attempted to become a delegate. I know Pennsylvania had 4 definite Ron Paul delegates on the convention floor. I learned that one of our delegates, Muriel Crabbs, stated that she planned to vote for McCain. It appears that 3 of our other Ron Paul delegates also voted for McCain..

The total votes for other candidates was 20..

McCain received 2,343 votes, not the 2,372 votes that Duncan announced..

You can see what the actual floor vote was here:

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/R.phtml

http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/R-HF.phtml

"Sarah Smile" on Sarah Palin Day

By David Fowler, President

History will be made in November regardless of who wins the Presidential election. And while all “experience” will be an issue – who has enough and of what kind – the Presidential tickets teach us something important we shouldn’t forget. What the nomination of Sarah Palin should teach us is that elections at the local level matter!
What the nomination of Sarah Palin should teach us is that elections at the local level matter!

We direct enormous amounts of money, time, energy and effort toward the federal level and electing the right people. That is all well and good. But a little more attention paid to campaigns at the state and local level could result in better choices at the federal level. For example, consider that Barack Obama was, just four years ago, a state Senator and it was his first elected office. And Sarah Palin’s first elected office, just twelve years ago, was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska .

Consider that six years ago, four of Tennessee ’s current nine U.S. Representatives were serving in the Tennessee General Assembly. Seven of the current 33 state Senators started their public service holding office in local government. And to put this into a larger historical context, three of the 19 U.S. Presidents (nearly 20%) who held office in the 20th century got their start in local government. Trivia question: Can you name these three presidents? (Keep reading for the answer).

The point is that holding office at one level can often be the building block for holding office at the next level. The school board member or county commissioner becomes the state Representative or Senator. The state Representative or Senator becomes a U.S. Senator or Representative or Governor (and don’t think a flock of current state Representatives and Senators won’t be eying the 2010 Governor’s race).

So when you go to the polls in November to vote for your state Representative or state Senator, ask yourself, “Is the kind of person with the kind of values that I would want to help launch to the ’next level’ of political office? Ask yourself, “By not getting involved and not voting, who am I helping start a run up the ladder of political office?” Like “small town mayor” Sarah Palin, you never know where that legislator from the “small town” might wind up.

To avoid being in that position a few years from now, know who you are voting to send to the General Assembly. The results of FACT’s Legislative Candidate Survey will soon be posted on-line and you should see where the candidates for your district line up. And make sure the person you vote for represents your values.

You may recall the old Hall and Oats song (yes, I’m old enough to remember them) “Sarah Smile,” and if so, we hope Sarah Palin will still be able to keep smiling as the days unfold.

And if you don’t think and do what the group thinks and does, you are betraying the “group” which, by the way, you may never have considered yourself to be a part of in the first place.

She has already been attacked by those who find a pro-life, Christian woman gun owner an anathema to women’s rights. It is amazing to me how, for all our stress on liberty, equality, individuality and autonomy, we find an increase in “group think” and “class identification” For example, all women are a part of the “women’s movement,” all laborers must be part of the “labor movement,” all African American’s must be Democrats, all homosexuals must support the “gay agenda” and on and on. In other words, people in a certain “class” or “group” begin to think that everyone with physical or economic characteristics similar to those in the “group” are members of the group. And if you don’t think and do what the group thinks and does, you are betraying the “group” which, by the way, you may never have considered yourself to be a part of in the first place.

In this I’m reminded of DeTouquville’s prediction in Democracy in America about the rise of such thinking:
The nearer the people are drawn to the common level of an equal and similar condition, … [their] readiness to believe the multitude increases, and opinion is more than ever mistress of the world. … [I]t may be foreseen that faith in public opinion will become for [Americans] a species of religion, and the majority its ministering prophet.

There is, and I cannot repeat it too often, there is here matter for profound reflection to those who look on freedom of thought as a holy thing and who hate not only the despot, but despotism. For myself, when I feel the hand of power lie heavy on my brow, I care but little to know who oppresses me; and I am not the more disposed to pass beneath the yoke because it is held out to me by the arms of a million men.

Group think and political correctness are grave threats to the pursuit of truth and freedom in America . It is okay for a woman to oppose abortion and to go hunting.

So, Sarah, keep thinking for yourself. And keep smiling!

Perhaps the most serious charge against Governor Palin is she’s not ready for the “big time” of Washington politics and the Vice Presidency. There’s more than a little humor and irony here if you ask me.

And while some have said that running a state the size of Alaska does not provide sufficient “executive experience,” I’m sure Governor Palin will smile when folks begin to realize that the size of the state budget she administers is nearly twice as large (even when adjusted for inflation) as the Arkansas budget that President Bill Clinton administered in 1991, the year before he became President.

While every ‘small town” mayor should be proud that “one of their kind” could prove worthy of a Vice Presidential nomination, from some of the reaction to Governor Palin’s background, you might have thought that only a Mayor from a large city like Detroit or Washington, D.C., would be competent to serve as Vice President.

At first, I laughed at such a criticism because everyone has to start somewhere, but then I got to thinking about Washington politics. It was then that I remembered that the Mayor’s of those two Cities have had all kinds of moral and ethical and legal problems…..So, maybe Governor Palin’s protagonists are right….those kinds of mayors are better qualified for Washington politics! Keep smiling Governor!

And while some have said that running a state the size of Alaska does not provide sufficient “executive experience,” I’m sure Governor Palin will smile when folks begin to realize that the size of the state budget she administers is nearly twice as large (even when adjusted for inflation) as the Arkansas budget that President Bill Clinton administered in 1991, the year before he became President. At the time, Arkansas had the 37th largest state budget; Alaska ’s state budget is currently ranked 32nd. I can see it now - detractors will now call her fiscally irresponsible and a big spender.

Keep smiling Governor!

Since being nominated, it has now been revealed that Governor Palin’s daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. Some liberals have gone apoplectic in calling her a hypocrite.

I find such a charge amusing from a press that would cover up an affair and possible out-of-wedlock child by someone who was actually a candidate (John Edwards and for President no less), rather than the child of a candidate. But, even hypocrites can identify hypocrisy, so let’s examine the charge a bit more closely.
My guess is that what liberals and Christian detractors don’t get is a Christian who says sex outside marriage is wrong and then says they love the child who has done the wrong thing. But what they don’t get is that any other response is what would, indeed, be hypocritical.

First, I would imagine that those who would level such a charge are childless, or at least have not yet parented a teenager! Parents know that their kids are not perfect. And they know that even perfect parents can have troubled kids. The Rev. and Mrs. Billy Graham, I presume, were okay parents, but their son, Franklin Graham, sure broke their hearts a number of times. The fact is parents are not their children, especially when those children are old enough not to come under a parent’s watchful eye every moment.

But second, and most importantly, Governor Palin has not said that premarital sex is now good and she thinks it is a great thing. It would be hypocritical to change her position on sex within marriage now that her child has rejected her parent’s values.

My guess is that what liberals and Christian detractors don’t get is a Christian who says sex outside marriage is wrong and then says they love the child who has done the wrong thing. But what they don’t get is that any other response is what would, indeed, be hypocritical.

There are two priceless stories in Christendom to those of us who have experienced God’s grace which is the revelation that shows us how short we have fallen and simultaneously shows us the forgiveness for which the “exposed” heart then cries out. The first story is Jesus telling the woman caught in adultery, who the crowd wanted to stone, that her sin was forgiven and to go and “sin no more.” The second is the Prodigal Son - a picture of the God who knows we have chosen a selfish course that will lead to our destruction but who longs to receive us with open arms when we return with repentant, contrite hearts.

For Christians, these stories tell us what the Apostle John summarized this way: Jesus was “grace and truth.” Grace, to be grace, needs the truth for, without truth, we don’t see the need for grace. Grace is meaningless to the person who believes there is no truth which, by thought or deed, we can violate. And truth needs grace, for without it the truth can be harsh and unforgiving and too much to bear.

For the Christian grace is recognizing the distortions of truth that we call sin and acknowledging them to be what they are. And it is also offering hope and redemption in the face of that sin.

Governor Palin is not a Christian hypocrite. No, she has shown us both truth and grace.

Answer to the trivia question: Can you name the three U.S. Presidents who held office in the 20th Century who had their start in elected office at the local level?

1. Jimmy Carter – school board chairman (1950’s, Sumter County, Georgia)
2. 2. Harry Truman – county court judge (equivalent to a county commissioner) (1922, Jackson County, Missouri)
3. Calvin Coolidge – city council (1898, Northampton, Massachusetts)

Copyright 2008 Family Action Council of Tennessee, Inc.
2479 Murfreesboro Road, No. 362
Nashville, TN 37217-3554
615-469-4209
info@FACTn.org

Jamboree By The Lake

This past weekend, I went to Winchester, Tennessee to attend the Jamboree By The Lake 2008.

I went primarily to see Ashleigh Cole. I previously visited this Memorial Day weekend to attend her graduation. Look for my ten-part series that I did in June.

I slept most of Friday and laid around my brother's house in Tullahoma. I drove down to the lake briefly on Saturday morning, but the heat and especially the humidity was unbearable for me. So I stayed indoors most of the day again and then ventured out around six o'clock that evening. I left around nine that evening having taken a few pictures. Sunday was the big day. I dropped by the Kings Cross Church that I attended briefly when I lived in Tullahoma. I took a long nap that afternoon before heading out again around 5.

Read's Ashleigh's blog for more details on what happened. It will save me the writing since my body and mind are still tired. I never get enough sleep it seems. I also uploaded pictures for everyone to see. However, I will say the dinner at the Western Sizzlin was pretty good. It has been a long time since I ate there.

9 Fat-Burning Eating Tips

Ever since you were a kid popping Flintstones Chewables, you've known that Vitamin C is good for you -- and that certainly hasn't changed. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant AND has been shown in studies to help burn fat. So, if you're looking for a snack, how's about a nice, juicy grapefruit? The theory is that grapefruit helps to lower insulin levels, which keeps you from being hungry all the time! We know it smacks of classic diet food, but those Ruby Reds are MIGHTY delicious! If it's too sour for you straight, sprinkle it with some no-calorie sweetener like Splenda or stevia.

Fairly good information except stay away from the chemical artificial sweetners. You're much better off just using stevia which is a natural powdered sweetner that's even sweeter than sugar. It actually helps the body maintain correct insulin levels and is alkalizing. It is found in the natural herb section of stores. Also, watch what kind of fish you eat. Some have high levels of mercury and other toxins. It's best to eat fresh caught Atlantic salmon for omega 3 oils.

All Quiet On The Western Front

I have always been very interested in the first World War and a fan of the classic 1930 movie for about 15 years now. On this site you get some info about the upcoming 2009 release of All Quiet On The Western Front.

I found out about it on IMDB while doing a search on my favorite costume designer today, Deborah Lynn Scott. The good thing is that they want a 'gritty, journalistic approach' The bad thing is that as you can read they won't be completely faithful to the book which makes me afraid. In general, I am not too crazy about American war movies - they portray war as heroic and sexy. But you know what? No veteran ever used those terms in describing their experiences and I've talked with many of them. How is contracting malaria for a month in Burma while fighting off Japanese night-time suicide attacks sexy? I would rather be a home with my wife and kids so to speak.

I am actually wondering if they will even take a German approach (like in the book). Generally, I dislike remakes with a passion. But there are some movies where it can be warranted and this would be a case in point. I hope this movie will make more people interested in World War 1 - where people had to deal with the most horrible circumstances imaginable. 1914-1918 sadly seems to be forgotten by a lot of people and the world doesn't seem to have learned from it at all.